Member of the House of Representatives from the 11th congressional district of Massachusetts (1947-1953).
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, USA. The teenager loved sports: he played baseball and basketball, and was fond of athletics. In high school, the young man had a reputation as a disorganized and frivolous student who behaved defiantly and “rebelliously.” After school he graduated with honors from Harvard University.
Having received higher education John decided to continue his studies and went to study law at Yale University, but the Second World War began and the guy brought up on patriotism and self-sacrifice goes into the army.
Kennedy saw action during World War II. After the war, he took up journalism, but then agreed to his father’s persuasion and plunged into political life countries. John entered the United States House of Representatives instead of Congressman Michael Curley and began his political career.
Already in 1953, the young politician took the seat of senator. In this post, he was remembered primarily for his refusal to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy, accused of anti-American behavior, since he worked with his brother. Kennedy would later say that he “fulfilled the usual quota of mistakes for a politician.”
In 1960, Kennedy nominated himself for the presidency of the United States from the Democratic Party, and his opponent was Richard Nixon. John was narrowly elected president on November 8, 1960. Taking the oath January 20, 1961 Kennedy officially took office as the 35th President of the United States of America.
As president, Kennedy develops the “New Frontiers” program: raising the minimum wage, improving social insurance, and reorganizing housing construction. But a number of the president's proposals were rejected by Congress.
Kennedy's domestic policy cannot be called unambiguously successful. The economy's initial surge then gave way to stagnation, with the sharpest decline in stock market shares since the terrible crash of 1929. John managed to reduce the unemployment rate and lower the prices of oil and steel, but because of this, his relations with industrialists worsened. At the same time, it is thanks to the president that serious steps have been taken to normalize the racial issue and equalize the rights of black people. And the race with the USSR for space exploration led to the start of the large-scale Apollo program. It is interesting that the US President proposed to Secretary General Nikita Khrushchev to join forces on this issue, but was refused.
Foreign policy can be characterized by an improvement in relations with the Soviet Union, but at the same time several other hot spots have worsened. There were many intense conflicts under Kennedy, the most famous of which were the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Crisis, and the failed Bay of Pigs landings. At the same time, John Kennedy founded the Alliance for Progress, which greatly helped Latin American countries economically, initiated the signing of a trilateral treaty between the USSR, the USA and Great Britain banning nuclear weapons tests, and was going to withdraw troops from Vietnam. Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, on the contrary, launched large-scale military operations there.
Thirty-fifth US President John Kennedy assassinated November 22, 1963 in the city of Dallas. As the presidential motorcade passed through the city streets, shots were heard. The first bullet hit the president in the back of the neck and came out of the front of the throat, the second hit the head and caused destruction of the skull bones in the back of the head. Kennedy was urgently taken to the operating room, where, half an hour after the assassination attempt, despite all the efforts of the doctors, his death was pronounced. The president was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington.
Former Marine Lee Harvey Oswald has been arrested on suspicion of Kennedy's murder. It is interesting that he was detained for the murder of a policeman 40 minutes after the death of the president, but during the investigation he turned out to be the main official suspect. Since Oswald was shot two days later by local resident Jack Ruby, who broke into the station, there is no specific testimony from this man. Ruby also lost his life, so the assassination of John Kennedy still remains one of the biggest mysteries in US history.
The official report of the Warren Commission on the investigation into the circumstances of the Kennedy assassination was published in 1964. According to this report, Oswald was the president's killer, and all the shots were fired by him from the top floor of the book depository building. According to the report, no murder plot could be identified. A 25-year security classification has been placed on all documents containing information about the assassination attempt on Kennedy by order of President George H. W. Bush in 1992.
John Kennedy Awards
Received during hostilities
Navy and Marine Corps Medal
Purple Heart
United States Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal
Medal "For the Asia-Pacific Campaign"
World War II Victory Medal
Received in peacetime
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography (1957)
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Order of the Star of Italy
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Memory of John Kennedy
Kennedy's portrait appears on the 50-cent coin issued in 1964
In 1963, New York Idlewid International Airport was renamed international Airport named after John Kennedy. At the same time, the airport code was replaced by a combination of the letters JFK (according to the initials of John Fitzgerald Kennedy)
Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968) - US Attorney General 1961-1964, US Senator from New York 1965-1968. He ran for President of the United States in 1968, but was assassinated in June 1968.
Jean Ann Kennedy Smith (b. 1928)
Edward Moore Kennedy (1932-2009) - US Senator from Massachusetts from 1962-2009. He ran for President of the United States in 1980, but lost in the primaries to then-President Jimmy Carter.
In 1953, Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, from this marriage four children were born, two died shortly after childbirth; survived by daughter Caroline and son John. John died in 1999 in a plane crash.
Arabella (b. and d. 1956),
Caroline Kennedy (b. 1957)
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. (1960-1999). Crash on a plane in July 1999.
Patrick (b. and d. 1963).
After the death of John Kennedy, Jacqueline married Aristotle Onassis (died 1975). She died in 1994.
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Biography
The first training in Kennedy's biography took place at a boarding school in Connecticut, then he studied at Princeton and Harvard. He lived in London for some time, observing European politics.
In 1941, John Kennedy's biography began serving in the US Navy, and he soon received the rank of lieutenant. During the fighting, when John Kennedy was the captain of a torpedo boat in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, he injured his back. In 1953 he married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier.
Kennedy represented the Democratic Party and then became a Massachusetts senator. In 1956, the first political loss in Kennedy's biography occurred: he did not win the election for vice president. In 1957, after publishing three of his books, he received the Pulitzer Prize. In November 1960, John Kennedy was elected President of the United States and took office in January 1961.
Kennedy's policy as president was aimed at improving relations between the USSR and the USA and space exploration. However, in addition to this, the reign in Kennedy’s biography coincides with the Cuban Missile Crisis, as well as US intervention in the Vietnam War.
On November 22, 1963, John Kennedy was shot twice while driving in Dallas. Murder suspect Lee Harvey Oswald was also killed while in police custody. The facts of Kennedy's assassination are still controversial.
Relations with the Armenian lobby in America
The Kennedy family's acquaintance with the Armenian diaspora took place in Boston, Massachusetts. The father of the family, Joseph Kennedy, being a businessman, was very familiar with the Armenian Mugar family, who are still considered one of the most successful business families in the United States.
It is no secret that the Armenian diaspora in California already had impressive resources by that time; in the period 1950-1970, more than 600 thousand ethnic Armenians lived in the state. Representatives of the Armenian diaspora already played one of the key roles in the political and economic life of the state, and Armenian businessmen such as Kirk Kerkorian, Alex Yemenidzhyan and Robert Artsivian were considered the most successful. However,
The Armenian diaspora, represented by the Mugar family and leaders of Armenian organizations, supported the candidacy of young John Kennedy in the elections to the House of Representatives from Massachusetts.
In 1951, the newly elected congressman became one of the initiators of the adoption of the most important document on the facts of genocide. This document was prepared by a group of congressmen led by John Kennedy and sent to the international court in May 1951. This document noted:
| “The Genocide Document is the result of inhumane and barbaric acts that were committed in some countries before and during the Second World War, when entire groups of religious, racial and national minorities were threatened with deliberate destruction and extermination. The phenomenon of genocide has existed throughout human history. The persecution of Christians by the Romans, the pogroms of Armenians by the Turks, the massacre of millions of Jews and Poles by the Nazis are clear examples of the crime of genocide.” |
Adoption of this document can rightfully be considered the first major success in the cause of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. As a senator from Massachusetts, John Kennedy participated in the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the victims of the Armenian Genocide in Boston.
During the same period, the Democratic Party nominated the young Senator John Kennedy for the presidency of the United States. The Armenian diaspora supported the young senator from Boston, who, moreover, had already shown in practice his support for the Armenian side.
John Kennedy won the election by a narrow margin. Thus, he became the first Catholic US president.
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Miscellaneous
- A close friend of John Kennedy, who, in particular, helped him in the election campaign for the Senate, was the famous Boston lawyer of Armenian origin, Richard Ovan.
- During Cuban missile crisis, negotiations with the US President were conducted by Anastas Mikoyan. The USSR Ambassador to the USA Anatoly Dobrynin in his monograph “Purely Confidential” says that Mikoyan and Kennedy quickly found mutual language. Mikoyan himself also notes in his memoirs that he had personal friendly relations with John and Robert Kennedy. It is not surprising that the only representative of the USSR participating in the farewell ceremony for President Kennedy (killed on November 22, 1963) was Anastas Mikoyan.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Dallas. First he studied at the Dexter School, and after the family moved to New York in 1927, he entered the Riverdale Country School. The future president was not an excellent student.
At the age of 13, John entered Canterbury Catholic School. There he became interested in sports. Young Kennedy was particularly interested in athletics, as well as basketball and baseball.
In 1935, the young man entered Harvard, but soon changed his mind about studying there and sent his documents to the London School of Economics and Politics. Lectures there were given by Prof. G. Laski. Kennedy later attended Princeton University.
In the summer of 1937, John traveled around Europe. There he met with Cardinal Pacelli.
The trip had a strong influence on Kennedy's worldview. Impressed by the fascist regime in Italy and the National Socialist regime in Germany, he wrote a work that soon became a separate book. The final title of the work is “Why England Slept.” The book's circulation was 80,000 copies. The young author received $40,000.
Beginning of a political career
John Kennedy began his political career under the influence of his father. At his request, D. M. Curley, a Massachusetts congressman in the US House of Representatives, vacated his seat in favor of the young Kennedy.
In 1947-1953 Kennedy, a Democratic congressman, represented Boston in Congress. In 1953, he became a senator, beating his main rival in the fight for the seat, G. Lodge. During this time, the future head of the United States made several unexpected decisions. The most controversial was the refusal to investigate the “anti-American activities” of Senator D. McCarthy.
President of the United States
In November 1960, John Kennedy was elected president. He took the oath of office on January 20, 1961. The new president's administration included individuals with connections in America's financial and monopoly circles, as well as experienced politicians.
In particular, the administration included such personalities as L. Johnson, D. Rusk, R. McNamara, R. Kennedy.
My wages the president donated to charity.
Domestic policy
From 1960 to 1964, the United States' GDP grew to $685 billion. Average annual inflation was 1%.
Kennedy Jr. took a number of measures to combat unemployment and create new working conditions. The quality of training of qualified personnel has also been improved. In 1961, a law was passed to help “depressed” areas of America. In 1962, a law was passed on the retraining of those workers who were laid off. Law on vocational education was adopted in 1963
Studying short biography John Kennedy, you should know that in 1964, a nationwide food assistance program for the poor began operating. About 367,000 people received government food stamps.
President Kennedy adhered to A. Lincoln's model. He openly supported M. L. King. In 1963, their meeting took place.
Death
John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas. L.H. Oswald was detained on suspicion of murdering the president. Two days later, the alleged killer was shot and killed by Dallas native D. Ruby. The “Avenger” also died in prison.
Other biography options
- President Kennedy was an avid fan of Cuban cigars. Before signing a decree expanding the trade embargo against Cuba, the president asked for as many cigars as possible.
- John Kennedy was assassinated on Elm Street. The name of the famous film is a kind of reference to his fate.
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John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States. This is a remarkable personality in the history of the country. Idol of millions, handsome man was killed mysteriously after serving in office for less than three years. However, during this period he managed to do a lot - during his time the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, the Apollo space program was launched, and there was a shift in public consciousness towards improving the rights of blacks.
Today, Kennedy is the most popular President of America for Russians. However, we should not forget that a person in such a position cannot consist entirely of positive traits. A significant part of its merits is the work of PR services. Today, archives of those times are becoming available, which make it possible to debunk some myths about John Kennedy.
John Kennedy was wildly popular among Americans. Today, more than half a century later, Americans' love for their president seems limitless. In fact, at the time of his death, Kennedy was supported by only 58 percent of voters. Even Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan had higher ratings when they left office. However, it is worth saying that Kennedy was still the most popular of all the country's rulers since 1937, when such polls began. On average, seven out of ten Americans said they were satisfied with their president's performance.
During the Cold War, Kennedy proved himself to be a peace-loving politician. The negative traits of this president are associated with his love affairs. But in politics he is considered a model of peacefulness and the main opponent of supporters of war. They say that it was Kennedy who was able to resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis, redirect resources from the army to space, creating the Peace Corps. Fans of the politician believe that with him America would not have gotten involved in the Vietnam War. After all, a few days after the assassination of Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson signed NSAM 273, which marked the beginning of the invasion of the distant Asian country. Yes, and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara stated that Kennedy could smooth out the conflict, and not resolve it with the help of weapons, as his follower did. In fact, all this is a beautiful myth. Kennedy himself, together with his administration, constantly intrigued against the governments of other countries. In particular, the Cuban project, which turned into the Cuban Missile Crisis, initially provided for the assassination of Castro. The CIA launched a number of assassination attempts on the Cuban leader, naturally, with the knowledge of the head of the country. Regarding Vietnam, Kennedy spoke out in an interview in September 1963. The President said that withdrawing troops from Vietnam would be a mistake. After all, then the communists would immediately come to the country, who would then target Burma and India. For the next 10 years, American politicians made full reference to this phrase. And Kennedy not only supported the war in Vietnam, he essentially prepared it. It was the American authorities who sanctioned the overthrow, and possibly the murder, of President Ngo Dinh Diem. So Kennedy was not such a nice peace-loving guy.
Everyone in the Kennedy family was a successful politician. It is believed that Kennedy's sons were prepared for big politics by their father. He himself actively supported Roosevelt, being part of his inner circle. But what seemed to be a successful political career went downhill because of his convictions. Joseph considered it necessary to adhere to American isolationism during the Second World War. But his father’s hopes and ambitions were supported by his sons John, Robert and Edward, who fought for the presidency. During the fight for John's post, the whole family worked for victory, investing huge amounts of money in this project. Even the politician’s mother, Rosa, became a participant in the TV show “A Cup of Coffee with Kennedy,” answering questions from viewers. So John's victory in the election meant success for the whole family. Robert Kennedy visited Prosecutor General in his brother's administration, and then as a senator. He ran for president in 1968 but was assassinated five months before the election. The younger brother, Edward Kennedy, became a senator from Massachusetts, serving from 1962 to 2009.
The Kennedy family was happy. On the one hand, the men achieved a lot, but on the other hand, Kennedy had to endure too many tragedies. They even talked about the curse of the family. It is difficult to say for certain about such intangible things. Researchers have found evidence of the Kennedy assassination in Nostradamus' predictions. Not only was John killed, but Robert suffered a similar fate just 5 years later. And the older brother, Joseph, died in 1944 as a pilot. His plane, packed with explosives, never reached its target, exploding in the sky. Thus, of the four brothers, only one managed to live a full life. And the Kennedy sisters had a hard time. Kathleen died in a car accident at the age of 28, and Rosemary, having been mentally retarded since childhood, essentially ceased to be human as a result of an unsuccessful operation. She spent the rest of her life in a monastery. Such a series of tragedies within one family really makes one think about a curse. And subsequent generations of Kennedy were haunted by death - deaths from overdoses, accidents, accusations of rape.
Kennedy was happily married. In May 1952, John met 23-year-old Jacqueline Bouvier. A year later the engagement took place, and on September 12 the wedding took place. At the time of John's inauguration as president, Jacqueline became the youngest first lady of the United States in history, she was only 31 years old. The wife was able to become a fairy-tale princess for the White House. She created a new image of the country's first lady. Jacqueline communicated with the press and influenced fashion. And although her husband was constantly surrounded by scandals, both in politics and public life, she constantly supported John. America couldn't stop looking at this couple. In addition, two of the four children died, which aroused the sympathy of the entire nation. The tears in the eyes of the first lady left no one indifferent. As soon as John's ratings were in jeopardy, PR people immediately brought Jacqueline to the fore, who returned people's love. But family life was overshadowed by John’s constant infidelities, which in general was not a secret. After the death of her husband, Jacqueline married Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis in 1968, which caused resentment and misunderstanding among Americans. After all, the first lady continued to live, and not mourn. And only after her death from cancer in 1994 did Americans forgive their Jackie Kennedy.
Kennedy was a successful politician. The core idea of Kennedy's presidency is embodied in his legendary phrase: "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." The media created an image of a charismatic president, talented, tough and energetic, defending the interests of the country. In addition, Kennedy was an excellent speaker, captivating his audience at press conferences. He was excellent at explaining his failures in foreign and domestic policy, blaming everything on his predecessors. But in the eyes of millions of his fellow citizens, Kennedy remained a kind of knight who bravely fought for America. Later it became clear that Lyndon Johnson carried out the health care reform, and it was he who finally granted civil rights to blacks.
Kennedy was assassinated in the prime of his life. In November 2002, medical reports on the health of the country's 35th president were disclosed and published. It turned out that John Kennedy was not at all as big as he seemed. He had a number of serious illnesses. Kennedy suffered from pain in his damaged spine, which no medical procedures could correct. The president also had digestive problems and suffered from Addison's disease (a problem with the adrenal glands). It is known that Kennedy was often given painkiller injections before speeches to make him look energetic and healthy.
John Kennedy became a new type of president. Kennedy was in many ways a “first” for this post. This is the first head of the country born in the 20th century, the first Catholic president and the youngest. At the time of taking office, John Kennedy was only 43 years old. It must be said that the president was indeed strikingly different from his predecessors. Eisenhower generally said directly that he was no longer a politician, but a playboy, as if from Hollywood. But this is exactly the kind of man America needed in the 1960s. She was tired of staid father-presidents; she needed freshness, youth, a president-lover. In this regard, Kennedy turned out to be an excellent candidate. He smiled from the covers of magazines and television screens; ordinary Americans believed his charm, not particularly listening to his election speeches. Kennedy simply looked more impressive than his rivals. And in the confrontation with the USSR, the young president successfully opposed Nikita Khrushchev. American Kennedy seemed like a simple, understandable guy. The politician’s entourage was also young, the average age of the team was only 45 years.
John Kennedy always dreamed of being president. When Joseph, the first heir, was born, his grandfather said that his parents would try to make him the president of the United States. Only the war intervened in the calculation. The father of the family, Joseph Sr., stood for American non-intervention to the last, which turned out to be a mistake. Political shortsightedness cost his career; his eldest son had to pay for his father’s mistakes. He fought, but died while performing a dangerous mission. But it was Joseph who was supposed to lead the family clan to the White House. Suddenly, John became a new hope for his father. This witty, handsome intellectual did not even think about a career as a politician, planning to devote himself to journalism. John admitted to his friends that now his father had decided to bet on him and there was nothing left to do but obey. Even the wedding to Jacqueline Bouvier, which took place in 1953, was a good step for a career. An educated, intelligent and beautiful wife was an excellent candidate for the post of First Lady. It is said that it was Joseph Sr. who blessed the beneficial marriage.
Kennedy's victory came in a televised debate with Nixon. The series of four televised debates was new to the 1960 presidential race. It immediately became obvious how much Senator Kennedy appearance and superior in energy to its competitor. However, after his first speech on September 26, Nixon learned from his mistakes and became more active. He placed particular emphasis on foreign policy, where he was stronger. The few polls that were conducted then show that what little dividends Kennedy received from his first speech had disappeared by Election Day. Moreover, the popular President Eisenhower supported Nixon until the end of the race. The vote showed Kennedy receiving 49.72 percent of the vote to his rival's 49.55 percent. The difference turned out to be tiny, only 119 thousand votes. So the debate was an unforgettable precedent, but it did not affect the balance of power.
Kennedy was a liberal president. This is a fairly popular myth, because Kennedy is associated with the civil rights movement, and his political heirs were called the much more liberal brothers Robert and Edward. In fact, the president pursued a cautious and conservative policy, planning to be re-elected in 1964. Kennedy behaved similarly in the economy, limiting spending and deficits. And after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy spoke out so unequivocally against communism that even Reagan and other Republicans quoted him. The president was timid and uncertain in his views on civil rights, beginning to disappoint the leaders of the movement. It was only in 1963 that Kennedy openly spoke out against discrimination against blacks and equal rights. His indecisiveness led blacks to choose provocative tactics and begin to act more radically.
Thanks to Kennedy, Americans landed on the moon. In May 1961, it became clear that America was losing the space race. The president himself allowed himself a number of frankly inappropriate statements. However, the administration immediately began to actively consider alternative ways to develop the program. At first it was decided to send astronauts to Mars, but this turned out to be very impractical. NASA then turned its sights to the moon, but in September 1963 Kennedy was still interested in what it would do for the country. The President even approached Khrushchev with a proposal to stop the space race and establish a Soviet-American partnership for a joint manned flight to the Moon. Secretary General answered in the affirmative, as Kennedy announced in his speech to the UN in the fall of 1963. However, the plans were thwarted by the new administration. Thus, it is obvious that Kennedy imagined the development of the space program differently than what ultimately happened.
After Kennedy's assassination, Lyndon Johnson continued his work. Johnson enjoyed the good reputation of his predecessor. The 36th president mentioned his name in public speeches more than 500 times, more than anyone else. However, one should not think that Johnson was a less charismatic Kennedy clone. For example, the presidents had different approaches to the fight against poverty. Before traveling to Dallas, Kennedy considered the program proposed by his assistant Heller, but agreed to try it only in a few cities. He didn't want to run into budget overruns. The day after Kennedy's assassination, Heller met with Johnson. Tom really liked the “folk” program. Johnson ordered the project to be given the highest priority and to move ahead at full speed. Another example is the Vietnam War. It is not known whether Kennedy would have withdrawn troops from there, but he obviously would not have driven an army of half a million to Asia, as Johnson did.
Half a century after Kennedy's assassination, everything about this case is already known. In fact, even after half a century, the full picture of what happened is unknown. Many government documents remain closed. Authorities estimate that there are 1,171 unreleased CIA documents relating to November 22, 1963. And this is just the visible part of the iceberg. It is impossible to close that story without considering these documents. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush signed an executive order mandating that all secret documents. However, expect the next rulers to come under pressure from the CIA to maintain the secret. In addition, new technologies are emerging that can provide a fresh perspective on those events. Thus, an analysis of the Dallas police audio recording made it possible to prove that two people were shot.
Kennedy's killer was... Hundreds of articles and books have been written on this topic, and many films have been made. On September 24, 1964, a commission led by US Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren presented a report to the White House. According to him, the only perpetrator was Lee Harvey Oswald, who had no accomplices. In 1966, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison began his investigation. He believed that the murder was organized by far-right activists with ties to the CIA and Cuban exiles. Suspects included former pilot David Ferry and banker Shaw. The first never lived to see the trial, and the jury found the second accused not guilty. In 1975, the Rockefeller Commission examined CIA abuses, including the Kennedy assassination. No evidence of intelligence involvement was found. There are many alternative versions of Kennedy's assassination. The customers are called the government, bankers, the Soviet Union, the mafia, Cubans and even aliens. However, it seems that no one will ever know the truth.
Kennedy emerges as the model of a modern democrat. For Kennedy, communism was not just an alien ideology, he was outraged by godlessness. In his speeches, the president paid quite a lot of attention to religion, which in modern America is typical only for the most conservative Republicans. In a speech in 1955, Kennedy declared that religion is not just a weapon, it is the essence of the struggle. Faith in God elevates a person and makes him responsible. Modern democrats have slightly different approaches.
Kennedy was a pioneer in the implementation of civil rights. This is one of the main myths about Kennedy. It is no coincidence that Martin Luther King described the president and his brother Robert as cautious and defensive politicians. Kennedy did not allow the 1963 March on Washington. The president held back the abolition of segregation until the last moment, fearing losing the support of southern Democrats in future elections. And the civil rights law that abolished segregation was passed by Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
Kennedy had many mistresses. But this is true. Today there are many memories of the politician’s rich sex life. Actresses, models, secretaries tell how they had affairs with Kennedy both before his wedding and after. Intimate letters are even put up for auction. And the president’s most famous mistress, Marilyn Monroe, quite possibly even lost her life because of her love for John. They say that she was going to reveal to the public the secret of her affair with the politician. The intelligence services, fearing a scandal, quietly removed the unnecessary witness. It is no coincidence that the actress’s room was stuffed with listening devices. To the public, John was an exemplary family man, appearing with Jacqueline. For the sake of her husband's career, the wife maintained the illusion of a happy, loving family.
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy - 35th President of the United States- born May 29, 1917 in Brookline (Massachusetts), died November 22, 1963 in Dallas (Texas). President of the United States from January 20, 1961 to November 22, 1963.
No other president of the 20th century so inspired the imagination of his contemporaries and penetrated so deeply into the collective consciousness of Americans as John F. Kennedy. His youthful exuberance, cool, ironic rationality, and media charm signaled the transition to a new generation that was determined to break out of the tranquility of the final years of Eisenhower's presidency into the unknown, fateful "new frontier." During Kennedy's presidency, the world entered the threshold of nuclear war, but he himself seemed to emerge even more hardened from successive crises.
The White House, to which he, along with his handsome family and brain trust of intellectual advisers, brought a fresh wind, was soon surrounded by the romantic aura of Camelot from the Arthurian epic. The capital, Washington, also became outwardly the center of a superpower, responsible for the “Free World”, for a global informal empire. The urge to create an idol of the “leader of the free world” became irresistible when Kennedy, after two years and ten months as president, fell victim to an assassination attempt that plunged the nation and, indeed, many Europeans into shock and mourning. As after the assassination of Lincoln, the image of personal sacrifice in the name of high, universal values began to overlap and transform historical reality. Among the general public, the “Kennedy myth” is still valid today, although historians and publicists have long been trying to create a sober analytical and even extreme critical point of view.
John Fitzgerald (Jack) Kennedy in Brookline, Massachusetts, was the second of nine children in an Irish Catholic family that quickly became one of the wealthiest in the country and gained access to the elite of the East Coast. The upbringing of Joseph's father, who in the twenties laid the foundation for a $200 million fortune through clever stock speculation, was one of intense physical and mental competition; The orderly, strict mother Rose showed little emotion towards her children. At boarding school in Connecticut, John was an average student, but his classmates expected him to be especially successful in practical life. His studies at Princeton and Harvard were constantly interrupted by illness. His father's appointment as US Ambassador to London allowed him to live in England for a long time and make long trips around Europe, where he observed the development of fascism in close proximity. The event that left its mark on his youth was the debate over English appeasement policies and American intervention in the Second World War. world war. Shying away from his father's isolationism, in his graduate work at Harvard he advocated the decisive struggle of democracy against the totalitarian threat. An expanded edition of this work, entitled “Why England Slept,” was a great success after the fall of Paris in the summer of 1940. Thanks to his father's influence, Jack, despite his weak physical constitution, joined the US Navy and participated in the Pacific War as the commander of a fast torpedo boat. When his boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer in August 1913, he, despite being wounded, managed to escape with the surviving crew members on the island and contact American units. After major back surgery, he was honorably discharged from the Navy at the end of 1944 with the rank of first lieutenant. Health problems were later presented as a consequence of this injury and sports accident. The main cause was Addison's disease, drug treatment which led to a number of negative side effects. The extent to which this secret illness, which often left him in severe pain, affected the performance of his presidential duties remains controversial in research. Since his older brother Joseph, a naval pilot, died in 1944, Jack became the hope of the Kennedy family. He inherited his father's ambition and, with the support of his family clan and a wide circle of friends, began to systematically create a political career. His marriage to the elegant, attractive Jacqueline Leigh Bouvier in 1953 turned out to be very useful in this regard. Although Kennedy subjected this relationship to stress in the form of numerous love affairs (in 1954 it almost came to divorce), in public life and in the election campaign, his wife Jackie always loyally stood by his side. They had three children, one of whom died shortly after birth.
Never losing an election, Kennedy represented his Boston congressional district from 1947 to 1953 as a Democratic member of Congress and then entered the Second House as a Massachusetts senator. In domestic policy he called for social reforms and better conditions life for the working class and minorities, in foreign policy he supported the Marshall Plan and NATO, but criticized Truman's policies towards China. Already at the beginning he spoke of the challenge posed by “Soviet atheism and materialism,” which could only be resisted by “constant vigilance.” He watched the anti-communist campaign of Joseph McCarthy, who was close to his father, with ever-increasing mixed feelings, but without clearly distancing himself from it.
As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kennedy began to express himself in speeches and articles on foreign policy issues, and he was particularly interested in decolonization and new nationalism in Africa and Asia. He gained attention outside the United States in 1957 when he criticized French colonial policies in Algeria and advocated for independence for the African country. He questioned conventional patterns of thinking when he demanded increased development assistance and called for understanding of the neutralizing tendencies in young states. Another key event that Kennedy shared with many Americans of his generation was the Sputnik shock of 1957. He concluded from Soviet success in space that communist dictatorships were better equipped for the future than the democratic West, and that their own "lag" in many areas, from education to missiles, must now be eliminated through redoubled efforts.
Ever since Kennedy narrowly lost the vice presidential nomination to Adlai E. Stevenson at the 1956 Democratic convention, he was considered the future man of the party. In domestic politics, he moved towards the left-liberal sector, which was manifested in his advocacy for the rights of trade unions and black Americans. He used re-election to the Senate in 1958 as a test of his bid to succeed Eisenhower. His victory, by the largest margin of victory in Massachusetts history, was virtually the start of the 1960 presidential race. Thanks to the election campaign, brilliantly organized by his younger brother Robert (Bobby), he was able to defeat all internal party competitors, including Hubert Humphrey and Lyndon Johnson. He used the fact that a Catholic had never held the office of president, which was repeatedly cited against him, offensively, making himself a defender of the modern understanding of religion and the separation of church and state. The Democratic Party Convention in Los Angeles nominated him in July 1960 as a presidential candidate in the first round, and Kennedy completed his success by acquiring southerner Lyndon Johnson as a candidate for the post of vice president. When he entered the campaign, he proclaimed a breakthrough to a “new frontier”; this slogan, with a strong pull towards the traditional American drive for missionary and exploration, going beyond the boundaries of the electoral battle, became the hallmark of the Kennedy presidency.
In discussions with his Republican opponent Richard Nixon, who as Eisenhower's vice president had the advantage of fame and experience, Kennedy advocated social reform, progress and forward movement in all areas. First of all, he shifted onto the Republicans, without touching the popular Eisenhower personally, the responsibility for the loss of US prestige in the world and promised to contain the dangerous decline of American power. At the same time, he appealed to the idealism of his compatriots and willingness to sacrifice, which found a strong response, especially among young people and in intellectual circles. The family's money and good connections made it easier to compete for favor with voters, as did brother Robert's organizational talent and his own ability to quickly establish personal contacts with people. In using television, which played an important role in the election campaign for the first time, Kennedy proved to be the more deft candidate. Many observers and scholars today are convinced that the four big televised debates between Kennedy and Nixon, watched by some 100 million Americans, were decisive for the youthful-looking senator from Massachusetts. A rested and well-prepared Kennedy eliminated doubts about his political experience and left an impression of freshness and dynamism over a weary Nixon. On Election Day, however, Kennedy's lead of about 120,000 votes out of 68.8 million voters turned out to be small. Kennedy's success in major cities, among Catholics and African-Americans. The latter, he owed to efforts to register black voters in the South and, perhaps, to a telephone conversation with Coretta King, whom he assured in the weeks before the election of his solidarity with her arrested husband, civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
From the very beginning, Kennedy's presidency was marked by the new and unusual; The first president born in the 20th century was, at 43, both the youngest elected holder of the highest office in the history of the United States and also the first Catholic in the White House. The inaugural address on January 20, 1961, which he formulated with his brilliant adviser Theodore Sorensen and with foreign policy in mind, clearly revealed the president's concerns and ambitions. On the one hand, he warned against the imminent danger of the destruction of humanity by nuclear weapons, on the other hand, he appealed to the vitality of the American nation, which is called upon to defend freedom: the whole world must know that Americans “will pay any price, bear any burden , will endure any hardship, support any friend and confront any enemy” to accomplish this mission. Global confrontation is approaching the “hour of greatest danger,” and the United States must wage “a long struggle in the twilight.” Later, in the oft-quoted phrase, “Ask not what Your country can do for You—ask what You can do for Your country,” Kennedy urged each of his countrymen to take personal responsibility for the existence of this rivalry. . The speech made an impression, but was not received positively by everyone. Its apocalyptic overtones, emphasis on selflessness, and far-reaching hidden obligations to allies and “friends” disturbed some attentive listeners.
When distributing posts in the cabinet and choosing a staff of advisers, Kennedy, due to his small advantage in the elections, had to take into account consistency and non-partisanship to a certain extent. He appointed the pragmatic Republican Douglas Dillon as Treasury Secretary, recalled former Army Chief of Staff General Maxwell Taylor from retirement and appointed him as special military envoy, and retained Allen Dulls as CIA chief to win the trust of the business world, the military, and the intelligentsia. Realizing that with his victory the “torch was passed to a new generation,” he surrounded himself primarily with younger specialists and managers, who were partly admired as intellectual “eggheads” or as a “think tank”, and partly watched with distrust . These include, first of all, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy (born in 1920), dean of Harvard University; economics and decolonization specialist Walt Rostow (b. 1916), professor of history at MIT, and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (b. 1916), who rose to the top after studying economics at Berkeley and Harvard to the president of the Ford concern. A strong influence was Kennedy's brother Robert (b. 1925), who also attended Harvard and who, as Attorney General, had primary responsibility for civil rights policies. The close circle of trusted people also included Harvard historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (b. 1917), lawyer Theodore Sorensen (b. 1928), who had been Kennedy's assistant since 1952, and press secretary Pierre Salinger (b. . in 1925). Since Kennedy wanted to keep all the reins of foreign policy in his hands, he promoted Adlai Stevenson to the post of US Ambassador to the United Nations and chose the loyal and colorless Dean Rusk (b. 1909) from Georgia as Foreign Secretary. who eventually ran the Rockefeller Foundation. Kennedy found a foreign policy adviser in the conservative camp in the person of Dean Aikeson, who was Secretary of State under Truman.
With Kennedy's team, whose average age was 45 (versus 56 in the Eisenhower administration), a new spirit and a new style entered the White House. In accordance with Rostow’s slogan: “Let’s get this country moving again,” the institution of the presidency was to become both a foreign and domestic political center of inspiration and initiative for the nation and the entire “free world.” While Eisenhower had become increasingly aware of the limits of his transformative powers and had shown traits of passivity and disillusionment toward the end of his presidency, there was now a flurry of activity. It was based on the optimistic assumption that through intellectual analysis and energetic leadership, any problem could be solved and that, through sheer willpower, the United States could be made a model of global modernization. This, from today's point of view, naive sense of the "feasibility" and exemplary character of American development for the whole world was characteristic of the "imperial presidency" which Kennedy represented better than his predecessors and successors.
The transformation also affected the organization of the government apparatus, which Eisenhower adjusted to the military structure of the world war headquarters. This system, based on hierarchical competence and clear adherence to orders through chains of command, was replaced by Kennedy, who had little experience with bureaucracy, with a flexible, unorthodox, highly personal leadership style. The decisive center has moved from the cabinet to the Council National Security, whose members often discussed current problems in small, specially formed groups and committees. Kennedy expected that his advisers and experts would offer him several options from which he could choose the appropriate solution. For the advantages of mobility and creativity, which such management undoubtedly had, it was necessary to pay with disadvantages, which included difficulties in coordination between ministries and a certain spasmodicity and lack of predictability in the decision-making process.
Hand in hand with the new organization went a changed self-presentation, in which Kennedy preferentially used television to establish direct, immediate communication with the American people. The reason for this was given not only by big speeches on the state of the nation or foreign policy crises, but also by regular press conferences at which Kennedy answered questions from journalists without special preparation. The broader scene, only now being perceived correctly, was represented by trips abroad. They gave Kennedy the opportunity to make keynote speeches in symbolic locations, which contributed to his popularity. In addition, Kennedy maintained close relationships with leading journalists such as James Reston of the New York Times, from whom he expected self-restraint if they spoke out on sensitive national security issues. Kennedy’s important trump card was his oratorical gift, which he improved through constant exercise. One German observer testified that he exudes an atmosphere “that is at once coldly businesslike and endearingly cordial... Today one can make politics if only one keeps a distance from things soberly, matter-of-factly and with a certain amount of ironic superiority.” . The realism and frankness of which the president often believed his public was capable should have convinced him that the goals he set were not born out of dreamy idealism, but were reasonable and achievable. After Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt, Americans again found in Kennedy a charismatic leader, and the media amplified this impact around the world. For the American governmental system, however, this meant that weight shifted sensitively from the individual states to the federal government, and there from the legislative to the executive branch.
But it was precisely in the area of domestic policy that Congress offered significant resistance to the President's intention to take the initiative and achieve a legislative program. From time to time, Republicans and conservative Democrats in the southern states came to an alliance that slowed down the rise of the Kennedy administration. Domestically, the “new frontiers” contained an ambitious agenda, which included revitalizing the economy through tax cuts, improving social insurance, patient services and education, urban revitalization and progress in rice integration. Many of these initiatives stalled in Congress or could not be implemented quickly in a complex federal system. Economically, Kennedy benefited from the favorable market conditions; the big tax cuts were largely unnecessary. The total social product grew by an average of 5% per year, and the rate of inflationary rise in prices, despite a slight increase in government debt, was only 2%. The members of the economic council, under the leadership of Walter Heller, were convinced that the economy could be put on a long, unwavering course of growth by “command” methods. When they finally managed to put their ideas into practice under President Johnson, many of the assumptions turned out to be illusory.
Kennedy was able to leave his mark on foreign policy when, in October 1962, Congress empowered him with the Trade Expansion Act to effectively reduce tariffs, which were then carried out throughout the world as part of the “Kennedy Round” of GATT until 1967. While trade unions generally greeted the Kennedy administration favorably, distrust, at least initially, of Kennedy's interventionist economic and financial policies prevailed in the business camp. This mistrust was strengthened when Kennedy in 1962 massively influenced the pricing of steel concerns by reducing government orders. The stock exchange reacted with a sharp drop in the exchange rate, but the general public stood behind the president.
On the racial issue, Kennedy's tactics were careful not to unnecessarily irritate the white population of the southern states. Taking into account the international situation, he believed that the consent of the Americans should be strengthened; on the other hand, he recognized the need to end discrimination against blacks, which was contrary to the democratic ideals of America and represented a vulnerability for communist propaganda in the Third World. Caught off guard by the explosiveness of the civil rights movement, the administration was often forced to act against its will. In serious cases, Kennedy did not hesitate to decisively demonstrate the authority of the federal government. On many occasions he sent federal police or federal troops into the South or mobilized the National Guard when it came to race riots or when blacks were being prevented from entering schools and universities. When he sent Congress a draft civil rights bill in 1963, more than 200,000 white and black civil rights activists, led by Martin Luther King, demonstrated in Washington for its speedy passage. Kennedy feared violence, but then explained his support on television in the following words that a nation "will not be truly free until all its citizens are free." Promise of equal civil rights, especially those not infringed voting rights for blacks in the South, was implemented by Congress only after Kennedy's death.
From the very beginning, the president paid special attention to foreign policy. Here, neither Congress restrained his will, nor did the Constitution establish clearly visible barriers to him. During his short presidency, there was an unprecedented accumulation of crises and conflicts. The awareness that the Soviet Union had forced the United States into “global defense” gave rise to the need to demonstrate will, firmness and strength, as well as an increased need to acquire international political prestige. At the same time, Kennedy was fully aware of the dangers to the existence of mankind generated by atomic and hydrogen bombs. In contrast to his sometimes heated rhetoric, in practice he acted very cautiously and tried to keep the risk of escalation to a minimum. At the same time, as a good politician, he always took into account the interests of the Democratic Party and the prospects for re-election. He tended to overestimate the power of the communist dictatorships in the Soviet Union and China and lived with constant concern that the United States might lose its credibility as a great power among allies and enemies. Therefore, with a powerful conventional weapons program, Kennedy wanted to expand the space for his own actions. With a new strategy of covert war, he hoped to deal with the infiltration of communist-inspired, Moscow- and Beijing-backed liberation movements in the colonies and former colonial areas.
The Cold War hotspots were Berlin and Cuba, two hotbeds of crisis inextricably linked because the Soviet Union could pressure West Berlin to keep the United States from acting against its Cuban satellites. This consideration already played a role when Kennedy spoke out during the crisis in April 1961 against open military support for Cuban emigrants who, with the help of the CIA, landed on the island. The president prevented greater domestic political damage by taking full responsibility for the disastrous failure of this operation, planned under Eisenhower. Relations with CIA Director Allen Dulles and the Chief of the General Staff, who had given the enterprise a high chance of success, were consequently clouded for a long time.
At a conference on top level In Vienna on June 3-4, 1961, the self-confident Nikita Khrushchev informed the still uncertain Kennedy about his intention to conclude a separate peace treaty with the GDR. Kennedy viewed this first attempt at personal diplomacy as his own defeat because he was inferior to Khrushchev in the ideological debate. On August 13, 1961, the US government, despite various hints from the secret services, was taken by surprise by the construction of the Berlin Wall and took more than a day to express its opinion. Since the Soviet Union did not act directly against West Berlin and did not encroach on free access to Berlin, assessed as “essential,” Kennedy saw no reason to expand the crisis on his part. The apparent willingness of the Americans to come to terms with the virtual division of the city and nation acted as a shock to many Germans, which eliminated their hope of unification; Bundeschancellor Adenauer suspected that the US government might concede even more on the issue of the status of West Berlin. The corresponding East-West negotiations also did not take place, as did the threatening separate peace treaty between the Soviet Union and the GDR,
The powers found themselves on the brink of nuclear war in the dramatic Cuban Crisis in October 1962. Here again, Kennedy's position was characterized by caution and restraint, although the deployment of Soviet medium-range missiles with nuclear warheads in Cuba represented a direct challenge to the United States. At the White House crisis headquarters, which met almost continuously for two weeks, Kennedy rejected both the bombing of the missile sites and the invasion of the island. Instead, he decided on a “soft” version of the “quarantine” of Cuba through American naval units. Despite the extreme tension, the thread of negotiations did not break between Kennedy and Khrushchev. The President made it easier for his counterpart to switch to a conciliatory position, promising that if the missiles were withdrawn, the United States would no longer attack Cuba militarily. Later, however, Kennedy authorized secret service efforts to "de-stabilize" the hated Castro regime. If Khrushchev had stubbornly adhered to his demand for the simultaneous withdrawal of American missiles from Turkey, then Kennedy, through the mediation of the UN, would have made even greater concessions.
The Western public, unaware of the background of the crisis, celebrated the outcome of the conflict as a personal triumph for the president. Kennedy himself looked at things much more soberly. Looking into the “nuclear abyss,” he became convinced that the Soviet government shared his interest in limiting the arms race and that he and Khrushchev, with whom he could directly contact via the “red phone,” should work together to this goal. These were the first shoots of the “policy of détente,” the motives and goals of which he outlined in more detail in a keynote speech at the American University on June 10, 1963. Here he paid tribute to the heavy losses Soviet Union during the Second World War and stimulated increased communication between East and West to overcome the vicious circle of mutual mistrust. He achieved his first concrete success with an agreement to stop nuclear testing, which he signed together with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Khrushchev. At this time, Washington was already closely monitoring the growing tensions between the Soviet Union and China. Kennedy, it seems, even hoped that he could persuade Moscow to joint action against the Chinese atomic weapons program.
But in areas of the world that were undeveloped and liberated from colonial rule, Kennedy did not want to give in to the communist Soviets without a fight. Looking to the future, he considered this “third world” to be his own “battlefield” in the conflict between dictatorship and democracy. He relied on a combination of economic aid and military support to prevent communists from exploiting the social conflicts that inevitably arise during the transition to modernity for their political ends. At the same time, he wanted, as evidenced by his approach to Egyptian President Nasser and his readiness to “neutralize” Laos, to dissociate himself from the basic principle that a developing country can only be for or against the West. It is necessary to support non-communist, progressive nationalist forces, even if they have taken a course “outside the bloc.” At the same time, the Kennedy administration faced a double dilemma: in many cases these forces were so weak that they could not break through even with outside help; Elsewhere, especially in Latin America, their support would mean abandoning traditionally pro-Western authoritarian regimes and having to come to terms with at least temporarily unstable relations. The example with Nasser again clearly shows that Kennedy and his advisers tried to correctly assess the self-dynamics of regional conflicts: rapprochement with Egypt was incompatible with a security guarantee and arms supplies for Israel.
Two noteworthy initiatives that Kennedy undertook with the Third World in mind reflect the spirit of the New Frontier especially clearly: the Alliance of Progress, a cooperative agreement with 19 Latin American states, for which Congress granted 20 billion dollars for 10 years; and the “Peace Corps,” which sent development aides to Africa, Asia and Latin America, and whose founding drew enthusiastic approval precisely among students in the United States. The high expectations many Americans had for both projects, however, were not realized. Because of the enormous needs of developing countries, which even an expert like Rostow had greatly underestimated, Kennedy's financial and personnel assistance programs could achieve only minor changes. Nevertheless, the president managed to awaken in the United States a problematic consciousness on development issues that the Europeans did not yet have.
Kennedy chose South Vietnam as the touchstone for demonstrating the United States' determination to live up to its global political responsibility and stop the advance of communism. For him, this country, where 15,000 North Vietnamese and Chinese-backed Viet Cong guerrillas operated in 1961, was the strategic key to all of Southeast Asia. He rejected a direct military invasion, as General Taylor and Rostow, among others, demanded. Moreover, the struggle had to be waged according to the precisely developed doctrine of the “hidden war” - covertly, by a combination of military, economic and psychological measures. The goal was to win the “hearts” and feelings of the South Vietnamese population and thereby dry up the stock of sympathy for the guerrillas in that country. After initial successes, in July 1962, at the suggestion of McNamara, it was decided to gradually return about 6,000 American military advisers from 1965. Since 1963, however, the situation worsened, and by the end of the year the number of US military advisers in South Vietnam had already increased to 16,000. But back on September 2, 1963, Kennedy declared that this was a war of the Vietnamese people and last resort The Vietnamese themselves must win or lose it. Following the assassination of dictator Diem in early November 1963, in which the CIA was at least indirectly involved, American activity entered a new phase shortly before the President's death. How Kennedy would have reacted to changed circumstances is the most controversial issue in research and journalism. Given his general caution and orientation towards a “hidden war,” the assumption that under Kennedy’s leadership the United States would not have gotten involved in a conventional war cannot be ignored.
In another set of problems, issues of nuclear strategy, politics in Europe and relations with allies are intertwined in a difficult tangle. Kennedy and McNamara intended to replace the doctrine of "massive retaliation," which relied on deterrence, with a more flexible strategy to respond appropriately to potential conflicts at each stage of escalation. This required a strengthening of conventional military forces, which Kennedy vigorously pursued during his tenure as president. Among the alliance's European partners, this reorientation raised concerns that the United States could break away from NATO and undermine its nuclear defense guarantee. The idea of a "multilateral nuclear force" consisting of ships, with which Kennedy wanted to sweeten his concept for the Europeans, did not receive mutual love, with the exception of Bonn, and was never implemented. Kennedy's "grand design", a plan for a new similar structure in which Western Europe was supposed to play the role of a junior partner of the American leading power. This plan clashed with French President Charles de Gaulle's vision of a "Europe of Fatherland" that would become a power in its own right between the Soviet Union and the United States. A heavy blow for Kennedy was de Gaulle's January 1963 veto of Great Britain's entry into the EEC, approved by the United States. He was no less disappointed that Adenauer soon signed a German-French friendship treaty in Paris. In response to American pressure, the Bundestag “softened” the agreement with a preamble that emphasized the need for Atlantic cooperation. Kennedy's visit to Germany in June 1963 primarily served the purpose of dissuading the population of Germany from the “false path” of the German-French alliance directed against the United States. The triumphant receptions that awaited the president in Cologne, Frankfurt and Berlin showed that his calculations were correct. What remained in the memory of the Germans, still in shock from the construction of the steppe, was, first of all, the renewed guarantee of the defense of West Berlin, symbolically reinforced by the phrase spoken in German: “I am a Berliner.” These words, sent from the square in front of the town hall in Schöneberg to hundreds of thousands of people - and on radio and television to all Germans - were meant to express throughout the world the internal connection between the steadfastness of West Berliners and democratic aspirations.
Five months after the emotional high point of his presidency, Kennedy was shot and killed. November 22, 1963 while driving in a motorcade through Dallas. The visit to Texas was supposed to serve as preparation for the fight for re-election in 1964. The speech, which he was no longer able to deliver, said that the Americans of his generation were “more by fate than by choice, guardians on the fortress walls of the freedom of the world.” The development of events between the assassination attempt and the funeral procession to Arlington National Cemetery, which evoked associations with Lincoln’s funeral procession from Washington to Springfield, compressed in the minds of many contemporaries into an epochal turning point, into the “loss of innocence,” which was later confirmed in the war in Vietnam. Because of this, speculation that Kennedy might have been the victim of a conspiracy has receded. An investigative commission appointed by President Johnson, headed by Federal Chief Justice Earl Warren, concluded in 1964 that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. On the one hand, there was no undoubted contrary evidence, and on the other, the commission members clearly did not want to further worry the population with speculation. Also in 1977, an investigative committee formed by Congress failed to shed light on this issue. The past decade has seen a lot of attention paid to conspiracy theories - including the Mafia, the KGB, Cuban exiles and the CIA - sparked by numerous books and Oliver Stone's 1991 film DFK. But the lifting of the suppression order on hitherto secret materials, which Congress undertook in response to the debate generated by the film, has not yet provided credible evidence for the theory of an assassination plot.
The tragic end of John F. Kennedy, which escalated into a family disaster five years later with the assassination of Robert Kennedy, certainly contributed greatly to the creation of the legend and the emergence of the “Kennedy Myth.” But there are other, deeper reasons for the charm that emanates from the 35th President of the United States. John F. Kennedy managed to bring the American nation out of a certain lethargy into which it threatened to fall last years Eisenhower's presidency. He more than fulfilled his promise to his compatriots to give them “1,000 days of intense presidential leadership.” He was a "purebred politician" who seemed to enjoy the stress of governing despite constant pain in back. Many of his initiatives contained good beginnings, which were then, however, implemented without the necessary consistency or whose time horizon far exceeded the duration of his presidency. A noteworthy attempt to simultaneously conduct " cold war"and to penetrate into the essence of the similarity with the ideological and political enemy already concealed all the advantages and contradictions of the later policy of détente.
In at least one respect, the vision of a “new frontier” took concrete form: still under the impression of the “satellite shock,” Kennedy demanded that Congress in May 1961 approve a space program that would put the United States before the end of the decade The moon and brought him back safely. With this, he gave the start signal for the “race to the Moon,” which the Americans won with a slight advantage over the Soviet Union in July 1969. In addition to gaining prestige, Project Apollo, costing billions of dollars, meant a massive opportunistic program and a technological breakthrough that catapulted the United States into the computer age.
In his personal life, Kennedy himself and his family clearly operated on a different scale than for mere mortals. By distributing positions to his brother Robert and his son-in-law Sargent Schriever (he led the Peace Corps), Kennedy attracted considerable criticism. Added to this was the fact that his brother Edward, Teddy, took the senatorial seat vacated by John in 1960. Family life in the White House; was in many ways a beautiful appearance with which the media satisfied the mass public's need for romantic veneration. Through his combination of intelligence, wealth, beauty, success, power and happiness, Kennedy embodied the hopes, desires and illusions of millions of their countrymen. A commentator once rightly noted that Americans have never been closer to monarchy than under John and Jackie Kennedy. The president's sexual escapades, which were then unknown to the public, are today, in a changed social climate, regarded by many as a weakness of character. But respect for Jacqueline Kennedy, who was at one time resented because of her second marriage to the Greek shipowner Onassis, increased even more after her death from cancer in 1994. She had no political influence, but she knew how to act as a “first lady.” » create your own field of activity. Thanks to her interest in modern art and culture, the White House and even the capital Washington acquired a liberal, open-world flair and the avant-garde became acceptable in polite society. Both Kennedys saw a close connection between artistic creativity and the freedom that a democratic society guarantees to the individual. This testament of their short, intense “rendezvous with history” is preserved by many cultural institutions of the capital, but above all, the Kennedy Center on the Potomac, opposite their common grave in Arlington.
When preparing the material, Jurgen Heideking's article "The Imperial President" was used.
