President Kennedy’s legacy today

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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On Nov. 8, 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy defeated current Vice President Richard M. Nixon for president of the United States. The victory came by very narrow margins in both the popular vote and electoral count. Supporters celebrated him as a charismatic, inspirational young president.

Barely three years later, Kennedy was dead, gunned down in Dallas.

Today, the nation observes the 50th anniversary of his assassination.

It's difficult to measure the impact of JFK's legacy and that horrible event on today's world. The “tragic hero” mantra is worn, his personal indiscretions are more widely known, and many historians and scholars do not rank Kennedy in the top tier of presidents.

They point to legislative setbacks and a deepening, troubling military commitment in Vietnam, and “reckless” support of an invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.

An agenda never finished.

But clearly there were major achievements during his short time in office. His office gave voice and support to minorities during the tumultuous civil rights struggles, even though his party, the Democrats, were the majority in Congress and controlled the segregated South.

He pushed the nation to regain the space race lead from the Soviets, leading to an American being the first to walk on the moon.

He was credited for preventing regional wars in Cuba and Germany and possibly even World War III.

JFK's legacy, then, is a mixed one, as it is for all presidents. And no one can be sure how history would have judged him had he survived the assassin's bullet.

Perhaps what's most significant about President Kennedy was his ability to convey optimism and hope to many Americans that our future could be better, that we could still dream and achieve things that no other nation had yet achieved. It was a message for all time.

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