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FirmhandKY -> RE: John F. Kennedy (8/28/2008 10:09:28 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: jlf1961
John F. Kennedy never had a chance to prove himself, however, I would point out that he was the first President to push for Equal Rights for African Americans, he pushed the US into the space race, he stood toe to toe with Nikita Khrushchev, and didn't blink.
While the US forced the Soviet Union to pull First Line Short Range Ballistic Missiles out of Cuba, all the Americans had to do was pull some obsolete Short Range Missiles out of Turkey, which were already slated for deactivation.
The truth is that Three groups had reason to see Kennedy killed, Organized Crime, the Cubans, and the Soviet Union. The fact that Lee Harvey Oswald had defected to the Soviet Union then recanted his statements is one of the major reasons behind the various conspiracy theories concerning JFK's death.
For what he was able to accomplish during his short time in office, he did manage to get more of his programs through Congress than most other Presidents.
As for the criteria that is used to define Kennedy as a great president, it stems from his stance against the Soviet Union during the Missile Crisis and pushing for the US to beat the Russians to the moon with a manned flight.
I'm not saying he was a bad President. I'm just challenging the oft heard BS that he was a "great" President.
Civil Rights started earlier. You can make several arguments about where, but I'd note that Truman de-segrated the military and started putting Civil Rights on the national agenda again, and it was LBJ who actually get the Civil Rights Act passed.
Space race ... check.
He went "toe-to-toe" with the Russians because he was seen as an amateur, and easily buffaloed by Khrushchev. The Cuban missile crisis and the Berlin Wall were a direct result of Kennedy's weakness in foreign policy.
he did manage to get more of his programs through Congress than most other Presidents.
You have some kind of proof of this?
Firm
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