John F. Kennedy as the 35th President Essay Example
John F. Kennedy as the 35th President Essay Example

John F. Kennedy as the 35th President Essay Example

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  • Pages: 4 (1087 words)
  • Published: October 2, 2021
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The 35th president of the United States by the name John F. Kennedy, who reigned for only 2 years, was the youngest man to be elected to the office. Unfortunately, he was assassinated in Dallas which is in Texas, in November 22, 1963, hence becoming the youngest president to die also. He was a democratic Congressman who was determined by serving as a role model, to bring good changes in the country (Burner 211).

During the reign of John F. Kennedy, there were tremendous changes which took place. The following are the changes witnessed during his reign although some were achieved while others could not be achieved; this is due to his early death which occurred immediately after he was elected to the office. Therefore, the following are some of his successes that he was able to accomplish during his pre

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sidency.

John F. Kennedy played a crucial role in revolutionizing American politics. For instance, Television began to have a real influence on voters, the long and drawn-out election campaigns became the storm whereby the style came to be a very important complement to substance (O’Donnell 89). In the attempt to respond to the increased demand of the people, he took several actions in the cause of equal rights and called for new legislation of civil rights. His great vision of America really extended to the central role of the arts in an important society and also to the quality of the national culture.

He opt America to resume its old mission which recognized it as the first nation to be dedicated to the revolution of human rights. So, he brought about American idealism to the aid of developing

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nations with the help of his party which was referred to as Alliance for Progress and the Peace Corps. However, the hard reality of the Communist Constraint still remained. He had a crucial goal which was aiming at ensuring a world of law and free choice hence eliminating the world of coercion and war. His administration therefore worked until it saw the beginning of new hope for both the peace of the world and the equal rights of Kennedy had already promised a lot but the only challenge towards achieving what he had promised was lack of the opportunity to follow through.

According to one notable biographer, it was unfinished life, since he had no ample time to accomplish and implement his promises. As a result of that, assessments of the policies of his leadership as the president still remain fixed.
According to Burner (211), Kennedy had lived a life that was full of comfort and privilege, and his congressional career which was relatively short had been unremarkable. He lived this life just before winning the presidency. It is revealed that majority of the voters really yearned for the character of Kennedy during his youth whereby he was very dynamic and politics implied. However, the other group of people who never yearned for his dynamism was really worried as they perceived that Kennedy’s inexperience led him to making a poor choice of leading the nation especially at that time when it was very challenging.

The early errors which were made during judgment, especially in the Bay of Pigs fiasco, actually confirmed and made it clear concerning existence of these fears. The administration was then in trouble by the summer

of 1962. A certain difficult and challenging cold war climate abroad persisted, there was increased bold activist kind of groups which were really yearning and demanding for change, an antagonistic congress prevailed at home and presence and existence of a discouraging economic outlook all highly contributed towards an increase in negative view of the Kennedy White House.

In the course of fall of 1962, that negative impression began to change. A significant and substantial success was notable in the showdown over Cuba; it was contributed by some luck as well as skillful statesmanship. This then led to improvement in the economic situation. However, there was a partial nuclear test ban treaty which was caused by the long-running difficulty negotiations (O’Donnell 89). The power of southern segregationists was very slowly, although steadily was being worn down by the occasional limited intervention, which was done by the federal government, and the work of the civil rights activists.

Serious issues were still held pending. The situation in South Vietnam deteriorated during the entire summer and fall of 1963. The U.S military totaling to 16,000, who were believed to be advisers, had already been dispatched to the country by the end of the presidency of John F. Kennedy. What was very important was that the administration partially had no realistic plan to look for viable means and strategies to bring the conflict to an end. Some viable progress had been attained in the area of Civil Rights; however, these successes had come basically in spite of – not due to the White House. There was emergence of bloody conflict which was becoming more prevalent on America’s streets. Moreover, the racial injustice

remained rampant.

A wide spectrum has been spanned as a result of the assessments of the presidency of Kennedy. For instance, early studies carried out and written by New Frontiersmen close to President Kennedy, which were very influential were openly admiring. They built upon based on the collective grief from Kennedy’s public slaying, which was the quintessential national trauma. Several historians later focused on John Kennedy’s questionable personal morals as well and also focused on the seedier side of Kennedy family dealings. Recently carried out works have tried to look for a middle ground (Burner 211)

Although his presidency saw quite a number of successes, there were basically two major failures associated with it and which were mostly based in the area of foreign policy. These were the escalation of US involvement in Vietnam and the Bay of pigs. The Bay of Pigs invasion was totally a fiasco. Although the US supported the invaders so much to make the invasion take effect, they never did it enough to an extent of giving it a chance to succeed. Therefore, permitting the invasion to take place showed poor judgment and was treated as a clear failure (O’Donnell 89).

The US also got more deeply involved in Vietnam under the presidency of Kennedy. He also watched the US support Ngo Dinh Diem who oppressed many of his people. The US also accepted him to be withdrawn and also facilitated his assassination leading to the US unity to support a pattern of governments that truly had very little credibility with their own people.

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