Kennedy Presidency: Legend, Policy, Tragedy

Anthology Introduction

The Kennedy Presidency Digital Anthology

When viewing and judging John F Kennedy’s presidency, three issues can be considered to give one a better picture of his efficacy and legacy. These are his legend, his foreign and domestic policies, and the effect of his assassination. This anthology seeks to propose these issues to 11th Grade AP US History students for them to grapple with from their own considered, contextual opinions. These documents are part of an attempt to inspire the students to ask more questions of their own to spur their own avenues of inquiry.

As Kennedy’s presidency was just over 50 years ago, it is still in the memory of many, but not in the memory of many more including today’s students. Thus, his record is embedded in legend starting with his campaign and pre-presidential campaign ads and speeches. As president, his mixed foreign policy success in the midst of the Cold War can be seen in Cuba with the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis in particular. Domestically, his administration’s halting progress on civil rights clearly illustrated his mixed success on the home front. Finally, his assassination played a great role in growing the legend while it cast a pall on the ideals, high hopes, and expectations with which he entered office.

As Kennedy ran for president, he sold himself as an active moderate who would move the country forward into the 1960’s and away from the stodgy past of the Eisenhower Administration. He illustrated this active moderation through his Kennedy Jingle Ad, which balanced experience with youth, which would appeal to a wide range of different constituent groups as illustrated by the different faces in the background of his ad. The ad packaged all of this with a catchy, upbeat, memorable tune.

The Kennedy legend grew as he campaigned. He spoke in a very down to earth and friendly tone while on the stump and made connections to the local people and their issues and how they fit in the greater national political scene. He also became a star in many people’s minds. This can be seen though his effect on the locals during his speech in Sioux City, Iowa.

Finally, his legend was built further as he reached back to the epitome of American exceptionalism with his “The City Upon a Hill” speech. Kennedy, however, used exceptionalism to raise the expectations and judgements of his presidency as he asked the American people to use specific questions and ideas to judge the effectiveness and morality of his presidency. He asked the US to hold his presidency to exceptionally high standards.

In the foreign policy realm, Kennedy had mixed results, which can be seen clearly in relations with Cuba. His administration failed badly in the fumbled Bay of Pigs invasion, but in clear contrast dextrously handled the perilously dangerous Cuban Missile Crisis. The contrast can be seen in the three letters included in this anthology. Kennedy’s greater stature after the Cuban Missile Crisis can also be seen in the Herblock cartoon, "Let's Get a Lock for This Thing" as he and Khrushchev are struggling together to keep the nuclear monster boxed safely up.

On the domestic front, the administration also had mixed results and this can be seen by his hesitant steps forward in civil rights. John Lewis’ critical speech from the March on Washington captured the ambivalence that many African Americans felt toward Kennedy and his policies. Lewis supported the civil rights bill, but at the same time criticized its limited scope and potential with a litany of examples of abuses being unaddressed.

Finally, there is the effect of Kennedy’s assassination. This crime had a strong influence on his legend and how the American public viewed and continued to view his high hopes, exceptional expectations, and his policies. Herblock’s cartoon for the Washington Post, "With a Good Conscience our Only Sure Reward…” in the immediate aftermath of the assassination clearly captured the shock and sorrow through the images of the flag at half mast and the grieving multicultural population. However, by using Kennedy’s words from his inaugural speech, Herblock asked his audience to judge whether the former president and the country at large could say that they had a good conscience after almost three years of the Kennedy Presidency, which is a question that can still be asked. As the cartoon was commemorating the President and his actions, he was also asking people to examine the President and his actions.

Through this anthology, in the final analysis, the 11th Grade AP US History students will be able to see that the Kennedy Presidency began with a mix of legend, high hopes, ideals, and high expectations, which became a mix of success, failure and political hesitancy, and was finally cut short by assassination, which left Americans both future and contemporary with terrible shock and sadness and many questions as to what the Kennedy Presidency was and how it can and should be viewed.

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