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The image that won't go away

Reader comment on item: Memories of John F. Kennedy's Inauguration

Submitted by Chester Anthony (Turkey), Mar 12, 2011 at 07:47

JFK died over a year before I was born, and although I grew up in a Republican family that was critical of him as a liberal, as I aged I started to wonder how inadequate Kennedy really was. By the time I had studied US-Soviet relations during the Cold War at the graduate level, I began to realize that the Soviet leadership must have perceived him as a "kid" who would be easy to intimidate over Cuba. The Soviets underestimated him, clearly, and today no one really questions that it was the Soviets who "blinked" first.

I still imagine the Soviet leaders watching the image of Kennedy explaining the Cuban crisis to the American public in a televised address, and I wonder what Khrushchev and his cohorts must have been thinking. I think Kennedy should still be credited for showing an unexpected toughness and resolve when many in the military and intelligence community (in both the USA and USSR) must surely have been dismissing him as a spoiled Harvard brat who only cared about leading a decadent lifestyle. Many around the world were frightened of nuclear armageddon, but Kennedy held firm. Had he not, America's decline as a world power might have come much earlier, and with much worse consequences for the world.

The videotaped image of his death remains the most indelible image of political murder in my mind, and I believe it is both a stain on America's national consciousness, and a source of powerful collective guilt.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (17) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
The image that won't go away [249 words]Chester AnthonyMar 12, 2011 07:47183341
My political awakening as well but [62 words]John WhiteFeb 25, 2011 18:24182972
Kennedy: bad president [80 words]abajo Fidel, abajo RaúlFeb 13, 2011 08:19182616
2JFK?? [61 words]Progressive EdJan 30, 2011 12:20182137
agree to disagree [47 words]Barbara BurrightFeb 3, 2011 18:12182137
Our Country is NOT Our Government [120 words]MikeFeb 17, 2011 04:24182137
Thank you [55 words]Jay1Jan 27, 2011 21:53182084
I too [107 words]Rick FergusonJan 25, 2011 22:05182047
1Long-lasting Kennedy Legacy [425 words]M. ToveyJan 26, 2011 19:29182047
JFK. [145 words]AlbertE.Jan 29, 2011 09:44182047
Kennedy Inauguration Speech [14 words]RCCAJan 24, 2011 22:24182025
How would things be different? [39 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Stu FaginJan 24, 2011 00:39181991
Memories [281 words]Peter HerzJan 26, 2011 18:46181991
Kennedy [22 words]Hessel MeilechJan 23, 2011 16:45181976
Tears for Kennedy [53 words]Alan TaikeffJan 23, 2011 16:10181971
John F. Kennedy's Inauguration [68 words]Phil DragooJan 23, 2011 15:32181968
Kennedy [30 words]Kieran GallagherJan 23, 2011 07:25181959

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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