Was JFK honestly a good President?

[Goldwater]

Better than his successor.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

If it wasn't for the way the media idolized him, uplifted him and touted his family or the fact that he was handsome, charming and stylish or that he had family who were powerful figures in politics, I believe Kennedy, on the merits of his Presidency itself, would've faded into obscurity in the way William McKinley has. Who really remembers McKinley's two years in office? JFK was a celebrity President--no more.

His biggest, most enduring legacy is an ongoing embargo with Cuba and an industry in which conspiratorial thrive.

First off, dawg, McKinley had well over four years in office, not two. No idea where that came from. Secondly, to use McKinley as an example of a meaningless president is preposterous. Any other explanation may be attained upon request.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

He should have used Taylor or Harding.

[dead0man]

Yeah, there's nothing as annoying as the way JFK is now idolized as some kind of iconic President while his Presidency was largely uneventful.

Indeed, it's almost as annoying as the idolization some lefties today have with "hey hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?".

Except LBJ actually did many great things. Sure, he also made a terrible mistake, but at least you can't deny that he was in many ways a much more important figure than JFK.

I can agree with that, he did get a lot more people killed due to his actions than all the Presidents since have combined.  That is very important to the many millions of families missing their fathers, brothers and sons.  If the great things he did (which were inevitable with or without him) out weigh that for you, so be it.  Me, I don't like pointless war and death.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yeah, there's nothing as annoying as the way JFK is now idolized as some kind of iconic President while his Presidency was largely uneventful.

Indeed, it's almost as annoying as the idolization some lefties today have with "hey hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?".

Except LBJ actually did many great things. Sure, he also made a terrible mistake, but at least you can't deny that he was in many ways a much more important figure than JFK.

I can agree with that, he did get a lot more people killed due to his actions than all the Presidents since have combined.  That is very important to the many millions of families missing their fathers, brothers and sons.  If the great things he did (which were inevitable with or without him) out weigh that for you, so be it.  Me, I don't like pointless war and death.

It's pretty obvious you are not open to a reasoned and objective discussion on this. It's sad, for you, but it's OK.

[DevotedDemocrat]

I can agree with that, he did get a lot more people killed due to his actions than all the Presidents since have combined.  That is very important to the many millions of families missing their fathers, brothers and sons.  If the great things he did (which were inevitable with or without him) out weigh that for you, so be it.  Me, I don't like pointless war and death.

The great things he did really weren't inevitable. And under his watch, the death toll wasn't anywhere near what it turned out to be. It was around the same level as the Korean War's when he left office. Nixon's tenure saw another 20,000+ American deaths and thousands more Vietnamese.

[dead0man]

It's pretty obvious you are not open to a reasoned and objective discussion on this.

Perhaps.

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Thank you.

The great things he did really weren't inevitable. And under his watch, the death toll wasn't anywhere near what it turned out to be. It was around the same level as the Korean War's when he left office. Nixon's tenure saw another 20,000+ American deaths and thousands more Vietnamese.

Maybe you can blame a percentage of the deaths under Nixon on Nixon, especially after a couple of years in office, in the same way that eventually Obama gets to take responsibility for the GWoT and the drug war caused deaths.  But to deny that the LBJ turned Vietnam from a sideshow, into a defining point (and not a positive one) for the US is silly.

[Napoleon]

The false claims and revisionist history make this thread utterly worthless.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I kind of agree on a lot of the good things LBJ doing being inevitable, it kind of reminds me of the Nader apologists who argue that Nader is the only reason cars have seat belts today (because obviously without Nader no one else would ever propose or push for legislation mandating them and they wouldn't become a standard feature every car company would include anyway even if not mandated. So dumb.) It's pretty absurd to believe that without LBJ segregation and the type of voter suppression present in the South at the time would've survived to the present day and that there would've never been any Civil Rights Act or court decisions against them in the last 50 years. However that doesn't mean the situation today would not have been worse had that action not been taken early. And as far as the Great Society goes, most of those programs were not necessarily inevitable.

It's just as annoying though to defend him by arguing that Vietnam as it turned out (or a similar war) was inevitable as well no matter who was President.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

A decent president who is overly romanticized by the fact that he was assassinated.

Exactly.  I certainly sympathize with the fact that he was assassinated at such a young age, but he was nowhere near as good a president as people think he was.  He wasn't a terrible one, just very overrated.  Same goes for Clinton.

Clinton had/has that same charisma factor plus the fact that Clinton presided over a booming economy and a generally peaceful period in US history.

True, but that was because of the fall of the Soviet Union and Clinton's compromises with Republicans.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Kennedy's high ranking is mix of legend, charm and martyrdom. He was not great nor even near-great President, but a decent one (which, as compared to most of the politicians, is something). Not very principled nor effective in pushing his agenda, but inspired his generation. For handlind of the Cuban Missile Crisis he deserved highest praise.