(Updated: Originally published November 29, 2006)
I don't write about it much because the truth is self-evident; however, this dis to a truly brave and honorable member of the aristocracy (despite his crimes in Vietnam, Cuba and other places).
Anyone who even remotely believes Oswald popped off the great man with a rifle that had a defective scope is unworthy of entering into a discussion of anything. Computer models and forged historical records can "prove" anything; the man was gunned down because the established order perceived a threat in this sickly, thoughtful and empathic person the world knows as JFK.
JFK was appalled at the evil contained in the Operation Northwoods documents, and had intended to serve the people of America, not the power structure.
Come to think of it, maybe that's why he is off the list!
"In pantheon, whither JFK?" by Peter S. Canellos/Boston Globe November 28, 2006
WASHINGTON -- In the decades since his assassination 43 years ago last week, John F. Kennedy's reputation has waxed and waned, but his status as one of the signature figures of his era -- America's Camelot president -- has held up. But now, as Kennedy begins a sad retreat from living memory, the man who was hailed as the symbol of his generation may be losing his place in the American pantheon.
The Atlantic Monthly asked 10 eminent historians to rank the 100 most influential Americans of all time, and Kennedy did not make the cut. Worse, he was named on only two ballots.
These types of lists -- mixing athletes, entertainers, theologians, and others -- are always subject to challenge, and there are plenty of people on the list who are far less familiar to current-day Americans than Kennedy is.
But the list isn't short on presidents. In fact, it contains Kennedy's three immediate predecessors and his two immediate successors, meaning that every president from 1933 to 1974 is on the list except Kennedy.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt ( No. 4) and Harry Truman (21) shaped great events. Dwight Eisenhower (28) was chosen both for his World War II command and his presidency.
Kennedy's successors, Lyndon Baines Johnson (44) and Richard Nixon (99), occupied similar historical space to Kennedy, but stood on far more turbulent ground -- largely because of their own actions. Perhaps for that reason, they made the cut and Kennedy did not. Ronald Reagan, credited with ending the Cold War, clocked in at a robust 17.
"There are many . . . figures who, but for the grace of God, might have been influential rather than obscure, and who hang like shadows around their better-remembered counterparts," wrote Atlantic associate editor Ross Douthat in an essay accompanying the list.
"LBJ is shadowed by JFK, who, though hardly obscure, earned the votes of only two panelists; without an assassin's bullet, it would have been Kennedy wrestling with civil rights and Vietnam."
Or NOT! Vietnam WHY he was killed!
A University of New Hampshire historian, Ellen Fitzpatrick, said she was among the two who included Kennedy.
She ranked him at 35, and justified the selection based on his "mythic stature," the generational shift he brought to the presidency, and the historical benchmark of his assassination.
"I think the impact of Kennedy's death alone -- regardless of his impact as president -- puts him on the list," said Fitzpatrick. "If [Wal-Mart founder] Sam Walton makes the list, John F. Kennedy should be on the list."
But she said that historians tend to view historical figures in light of present values, and that Kennedy's standing has suffered because of present-day skepticism about "the optimism the '60s represented," the virtues of liberalism, and the sense of presidents as heroes.
The panelists -- who included Pulitzer Prize winners Doris Kearns Goodwin [a self-admitted plagiarist, but what the hell, she's got the rep, talking heads always on the shows, you know, typical class bullshit, which is what this society is all about] , Walter McDougall , Gordon S. Wood , and David M. Kennedy -- clearly viewed JFK as more of a phenomenon than a truly influential figure.
Throughout the '60s and most of the '70s, few people made such a distinction: Kennedy routinely topped public polls to pick the greatest presidents, and even historians placed him among the finest chief executives. In 1982, writer Garry Wills declared that America was suffering from a "Kennedy imprisonment": Voters craved leaders with Kennedy's charismatic style, which Wills considered reckless.
Now, historians seem ready to believe that Kennedy's fame was entirely a matter of style -- and of grief. In this view, ranking JFK among the top presidents would be like putting James Dean among the greatest actors or Princess Diana among the most important royalty: Any responsible historian would have to painstakingly separate fact from myth, and accomplishments from appearances.
Still, the historians may have overcorrected. By the 1980s and '90s, TV miniseries would routinely portray Kennedy as ruthless and profane; in one, Kennedy spent much of the Cuban missile crisis swearing and muttering about possible damage to his reputation.
But when tapes of the actual deliberations became public, Kennedy was solidly articulate: He solicited input from a wide range of advisers and outside specialists, deftly debated various approaches, showed respect but not too much deference to the Joint Chiefs, and crafted a combination of military actions and diplomatic thrusts that completely outmaneuvered the Soviets.
It was a textbook example of presidential leadership under perhaps the greatest pressure faced by any chief executive. Johnson and Nixon -- and others of Kennedy's successors -- could have learned from it.
Peter S. Canellos is the Globe's Washington bureau chief. National Perspective is his weekly analysis of events in the capital and beyond."
Let me put those last two paragraphs up in bold italics so you get the complete reverberations of what happened in 1962:
"But when tapes of the actual deliberations became public, Kennedy was solidly articulate: He solicited input from a wide range of advisers and outside specialists, deftly debated various approaches, showed respect but not too much deference to the Joint Chiefs, and crafted a combination of military actions and diplomatic thrusts that completely outmaneuvered the Soviets.
It was a textbook example of presidential leadership under perhaps the greatest pressure faced by any chief executive. Johnson and Nixon -- and others of Kennedy's successors -- could have learned from it."
Perhaps the greatest pressure ever faced?
The threat of total nuclear war?
Perhaps?
What a GREAT PRESIDENT -- in stark contrast to what we have now!
There is no doubt; while not a saint, JFK was a great man.
That is why they cut him down!
"Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet... we all breathe the same air... we all cherish our children's futures... and we are all mortal." -- JFK, at American University, 1963
That brought tears to my eyes.
Rest in Peace, Mr. President.
