John F. Kennedy is......

[DevotedDemocrat]

What do you feel about the general opinions/legacy of JFK? Is he overrated? Underrated? Or is the general consensus and love of him justified?

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

a sexgod.

[Miles]

Somewhat overrated.

[Maxwell]

Wildy Overrated in a lot of circles, somewhat underrated in Internet circles.

[barfbag]

Most people who are assassinated become overrated. Kennedy was appealing and a good leader but could've done more with Cuba. What happened to him was a horrific tragedy.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

he's been so overrated that the conventional wisdom is that he's overrated, and so he has become underrated.

[politicallefty]

Probably somewhat overrated, but I would still say he was an above average President.

[TDAS04]

Somewhere in between options 1 & 2.  He was pretty good, but certainly not as great as many people think. 

[Antonio the Sixth]

Somewhat overrated. It is fair to say that his overratedness is paradoxically overrated by some.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Wildly overrated.  If he hadn't been assassinated, people probably wouldn't deify him the way they do.  That being said, it was certainly sad to see a young, charismatic president like him be gunned down in the prime of his political life.  And in terms of his actual accomplishments, he was a fairly decent president, just not as great as people think he was.

[Pessimistic Antineutrino]

Not a bad president, but the whole "martyr" deal made him out to be "one of the greats". He's somewhat overrated, but not as overrated as some think.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Is my favourite President. Still kinda overrated.

[Peter the Lefty]

If anything, somewhat overrated, but Tony said it quite well.  His overratedness is overrated by many.  Mainly, people pay too much attention to him and not enough to his brother Bobby, who, had he been elected President, easily would've surpassed John in becoming the icon of modern American liberalism.

[Supersonic]

Somewhat overrated.

Wildly overrated in the UK.

[PJ]

I still have a Kennedy campaign poster from my grandparents, I'd say very slightly overrated.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Wildly overrated. I can't think of anything off the top of my head that he did. Every thing he did a President Nixon or a President LBJ could have done better if they were in charge during those two years.

[anvi]

he's been so overrated that the conventional wisdom is that he's overrated, and so he has become underrated.

God, I'm so glad I'm not in politics. 

Actually, I would be interested to hear from people who lived through Kennedy's presidency what sorts of impressions of him people, maybe those who voted for him in particular, had during his three years in the Oval Office.  Obviously his persona and campaign created a certain glamor around him.  But I'd be interested to hear what people thought of him during his term, whether they were disappointed, encouraged, inspired or indifferent.  There is obviously distortion in Kennedy's case because he was brutally murdered in front of everybody.  But it's also been my experience that presidents tend to be more vilified during their presidencies and lionized afterward.  My parents had positive associations of his presidency, including my dad, who was an Eisenhower Republican of sorts.  But I wonder what others who remember his term think.

[nolesfan2011]

Somewhat overrated. It is fair to say that his overratedness is paradoxically overrated by some.

yep