Was John Kennedy a conservative?

[RINO Tom]

JFK being a "conservative" *back then* is only slightly less annoying and stupid than the assertion that Eisenhower was a "progressive" *back then*.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I think there is no doubt that Kennedy would have been a disappointment to "progressives" of the time, and that in general he had some cautious instincts, but his last few years in the Senate were spent cozying up to northern liberals in preparation for his presudential run, and the "liberal" line of 1960 was to increase spending in general; this was a line that he towed. It should be noted that, in 1958, with recession looming, Nixon sided with Eisenhower's liberal Labor Secretary in saying that taxes should be lowered. Eisenhower, firmly committed to the idea of a balanced budget, rejected such advice. In short, tax cuts were a differently-depicted political issue then.

[SNJ1985]

No, but he definitely wouldn't be able to win the Democratic nomination today.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

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JFK speech at Notre Dame, Jan 1950.

Though he speaks to students/graduates on the task of responding to this new reality rather than proposing any policies or making a call to reverse it, there is a sentiment here one could call conservative.

[RINO Tom]

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JFK speech at Notre Dame, Jan 1950.

Though he speaks to students/graduates on the task of responding to this new reality rather than proposing any policies or making a call to reverse it, there is a sentiment here one could call conservative.

This is true, one could.  But I am of the thinking that, for example, Hamilton was indisputably to the right of Jefferson, even though the latter supported "limited government," as he supported that METHOD for a very liberal/progressive MOTIVE.  I agree with what many said above, that JFK was largely an opportunist, but I think the following is rather clear: whether he thought small government or big government would achieve the liberal ends he had in mind, the ends he desired still stemmed from a liberal ideology.

[All Along The Watchtower]

No mention of him being buddies with Joe McCarthy? (along with Bobby and especially the dynasty's patriarch).

[RINO Tom]

No, but he definitely wouldn't be able to win the Democratic nomination today.

Calvin Coolidge couldn't win my party's nomination, but he was more conservative than the guy who just did.

[All Along The Watchtower]

No, but he definitely wouldn't be able to win the Democratic nomination today.

Calvin Coolidge couldn't win my party's nomination, but he was more conservative than the guy who just did.

Depends entirely on how you define "conservatism." Philosophically, I absolutely agree with you. But the unfortunate reality is that your party has, in recent years and at the national (emphasis) level, been"Southernized", "evangelicalized" (specifically, white evangelicals of the neo-fundamentalist kind) and has had white identity politics and all the crass bigotry that comes with it become alarmingly popular among much of its voter base. And the fact that in American politics, "conservative" has become a synonym for reactionary, dogmatically right-wing, and illiberal tendencies only makes it worse.  

But I'm sure you already knew all of this.

[JoshPA]

fiscally he was a conservative.

[JoshPA]

I think jfk could be in th europe way (  conservatives in europe are more to the blue dogs then the republicans look at the tories.

[Don Vito Corleone]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-Qg_4zqpDI

JFK was more conservative than liberal.

I will just copy my response from the comments here.

This video is a prime example of Cherry Picking. Sure JFK did some arguably conservative things, but he would still be a Liberal today. For example, people saying JFK would be a republican always mention that he cut taxes, but they never mention that JFK cut taxes to 70% (in the top marginal bracket), whereas today the top bracket is 40%. To all the people making this argument, would you vote for a candidate who promised to increase taxes to 70%? Probably not, because people who make this argument tend to be conservatives, and JFK was a liberal. And they never mention any of the Liberal things JFK did, like negotiating with Americas enemies, increasing the minimum wage, passing a law saying Women had to be Paid the same as men (funny because most people who make this argument hate feminists), and increasing spending on social security, which was paid for through increased payroll taxes. Does that sound like a Conservative to you? 

[Yank2133]

Kennedy tax cuts in 1963 were demand side, which was Keynesian. So I don't know why some conservatives point that as evidence of JFK being a conservative.