John F. Kennedy

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John F. Kennedy

Black and white portrait of President Kennedy distributed by the White House

John F. Kennedy was the president of the United States. He was also

the

youngest president and the first Roman Catholic. Although he was only

in

power for 2 years and 10 months his legacy still lives on today,

through books,

images, buildings and numerous conspiracy theories. American society

over

the years has portrayed him as an American Hero fighting for peace and

justice. The media have cultivating this image of, “The Camelot

legend.” After

his assassination on 22nd November 1963 the myth of Kennedy was

formed.

The legend developed as a means to alleviate peoples suffering and

shock,

Kennedy went down in history as one of the most important presidents.

He

was seen as the mirror of American Culture, the all-American man and

with

his death, some say his career took off. Polls after his death saw

Kennedy as

being the most popular president, beating the likes of George

Washington or

Abraham Lincoln. Undeniably Kennedy was a great leader, with an

appealing

personality but his achievements during his presidency have become

matters

of much debate. He did do great work to force soviet leader Nikita

Khrushchev

to back down in the Cuban Missile Crisis and also is famous for

initiating the

space programme. This aside, “Even a well informed person in the

street

would have difficulties in naming a single historical event or

achievement

which can be credited to JFK.”[1]

It is Kennedy’s character and private life that

captured the public’s imagination n...

... middle of paper ...

...gcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/jfk/default.htm,

accessed 06/10/2005

[8] B. Dooley, The Cuban Missile Crisis - 30 years on, ( History

Today, vol.42 issue 11. Oct 1996)

[9]B Dooley, John F Kennedy, (Times Archive, vol. 42. issue11 Jan

1992)

[10] Ibid

[11] http://www.jfklibrary.org/lesson_space_race.html

[12]H. Brogan, Kennedy, (Longman Press, 1996), p.116

[13] http://www.space.com/news/kennedy_tapes_010822.html

[14] M Luther King, John F. Kennedy (Transition, no. 15, 1964.) 27-28

[15] Ibid

[16] B Dooley, John F Kennedy, (Times Archive, vol. 42. issue11 Jan

1992)

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[KY1] /This didn’t happen until well after Johnson. Faith in the

presidency and almost all other institutions was at an all-time high

when K took office.

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