Yes. Too bad he didn't shoot his younger brother.

But, getting back to Kennedy.... there seems to be a trend whereby people look back at JFK with some type of unreal and romanticized notions of his presidency. The user who started this thread clearly is looking at it through that lens.

Kennedy wasn't all that popular or all that beloved in his short time in office. Half the country liked him and the other half couldn't care less about Kennedy.

He was barely elected. If Richard Nixon had contested the election, it is very possible Kennedy may not have won in the final result. He squeaked into the White House through corruption and manipulation of the voting process.

He also didn't make many friends in Washington. Making his own brother Attorney General right off the bat was an unprecedented feat of nepotism.

His fuckup of the Bay of Pigs didn't win him many friends nor did it instill much confidence in him. Even from members of his own party.

The public was curious and fascinated by Kennedy because he was young, he had a young wife, and very young children while serving as president. He was a young president who was assassinated while in office. That in of itself created the romanticized version of the Kennedy years that everyone has been served up ever since his murder. He has been somewhat deified in the American lexicon.

Had Kennedy lived, he would have most likely been reelected, but the social strife of the times in the later 1960's would still have occurred and would have left huge stains on his legacy and his presidency. If he had lived, no one would be looking back on his time in office with a romanticized view of the times. Does anyone look at LBJ's time in office with any fondness?

Kennedy wasn't all that inspirational in his time. He was a curiosity. He had youth on his side. However, if the public at the time really knew the truth about JFK, they would have hated him. If they knew the truth about him, he may not have been reelected if he had lived.

Many people forget that JFK was protected by the media and they presented the image to the public that JFK wanted presented. If JFK had been a Republican, would the media back then still have been so kind knowing all they knew about him? I kind of doubt it.

I am still baffled at how anyone can make any type of bizarre connection between JFK and Star Trek.

Quote:

The difference between the Republicrats & Demoplicans is minimal to the point of stupid... There's only one thing we can do (short of armed revolt)... NO INCUMBENTS IN 2008 and DR.RON PAUL for Prez!

I agree that the differences between many of the Democrats and Republicans currently serving is minimal. However, the party platforms are very different. Their philosophies of government are different.

I agree that many incumbents are HUGE problems. The Senate is the biggest of all cesspools. It is by far the biggest problem with the US government. It is a cesspool of coagulated scum and vermin.

I disagree about Ron Paul. The guy is a kook. He may be a kook that occasionally says something right, but he is a kook nonetheless.

Ron Paul and Mike Gravel from the Democrat side of the aisle should get together and do a buddy film. Something like a new version of a Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau movie. Maybe "Grumpy Old Candidates".