Axel Reyes: Kennedy 1983- A Look at John F. Kennedy as President

This post was originally posted at FRS Daily Press

There have been several movies about John F. Kennedy. Because even though he only lived forty-six years there were so many things that went on in his life that were worth writing and filming about. Like his Navy career, what he did right after that trying to decide what he would do the rest of his life. His first campaign for the House of Representatives in 1946, his time in the House, he was a bit of a playboy there.

And not very disciplined, but of course he had the great name and was such a charming man and likable. His friendship with Richard Nixon in the House and later in the Senate. Sen. Kennedy’s name and charm was good enough for him to keep his job in the House and then even running for the Senate in 1952. His first Senate campaign of course being elected the same year that Dwight Eisenhower.

Jack Kennedy was elected to the Senate in 1952 and served in the last Republican Congress until 1995 with the Gingrich Revolution. Jack Kennedy’s time in the Senate, where he becomes more serious and takes the job seriously and puts in the time and work because of course he had bigger goals, Sen. Kennedy writes a book in the Senate Profiles in Courage where there was some controversy about whether Sen. Kennedy wrote the book or was the book written by Ted Sorenson one of his Senate staffers.

Adlai Stevenson the 1956 Democratic nominee considers Sen. Kennedy as his Vice Presidential nominee which would’ve been a disaster for Sen. Kennedy. Because GOV. Stevenson lost to President Eisenhower in a landslide and Kennedy wouldn’t of made much of a difference. I believe Hollywood for the most part has done a very good job with Jack Kennedy with making movies about him.

Unlike Oliver Stone with Richard Nixon, they haven’t tried to cover Jack Kennedy’s whole life with one huge movie. They’ve broken his life up in several stage. There was one mini-series alone I believe shown by CBS about the Kennedy’s relationship between them. Especially Jack and Bobby with union leader Jimmy Hoffa. Another movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 from 2000, another movie about Sen. Kennedy’s involvement in Civil Rights. A new Mini Series in 2011 about the Kennedy Presidency, a movie about Jack Kennedy’s navy career.

You could make another movie about Jack Kennedy’s Congressional career or the great presidential election of 1960 that featured Jack Kennedy and Dick Nixon between two future presidents. Or another movie about the Bay of Pigs Crisis in 1962 the failed attempt to oust Fidel Castro as President of Cuba. There are so many things that happened in Jack Kennedy’s life that are fascinating that are worth making public either by book, TV or movie that trying to cover the whole life in one movie or mini-series is too much, because you’re bound to miss something.

The Kennedy mini-series from 1983 with Martin Sheen is a pretty good, but not great mini-series. And it focus’ just on the Kennedy Presidency, starting on Election Night 1960 when of course Sen. Kennedy is elected President in one of the closest presidential elections of all-time beating of course a sitting Vice President who worked for a very popular President in Dwight Eisenhower beating Dick Nixon in 1960, a very long election night. Sen. Kennedy finds out that he’s just been elected President 6 or 7 the next morning. Jack Kennedy deserves several movies about him, all focusing on different aspects of his life.

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Crazy Weird Cool Show: Pure History Specials- JFK’s Women: The Scandals Revealed

Liberal Democrat

This piece was originally posted at The New Democrat

If the media back then reported on public officials private lives as they do today, John F. Kennedy never becomes President of the United States. JFK was Bill Clinton on steroids when it came to having affairs with women other than his wife. It is not just the multiple women, but multiple women at the same time and a different women on each night and a new women that had connections to really dangerous and powerful people who had goods on Jack Kennedy that could’ve brought down his political career. Like how JFK was elected President in 1960 with the mob’s role in the Illinois election.

To look at it now I think it is somewhat amazing that the most powerful man in the world had so many people who all had the goods on them that could’ve brought him down or used him to blackmailed him to get the President to layoff on their illegal operations. It is also somewhat amazing that a President of the United States could be so irresponsible with not only his own personal life, but then risk not only his own political career which is his business. But allow for that it affect how he did his job as President of the United States and having to make his own personal affairs part of his administration’s business.

But even with all of Jack Kennedy’s personal baggage, if anything his administration was tougher on people who had the goods on him, so to speak like the Italian mafia and actually went hard against the mafia and put forward policies that brought down the mafia over the years. The mafia could’ve told President Kennedy “we have the goods on you, so you better not mess with us, or we’ll release what we have on you to the media”. They had the goods on JFK, but JFK’s brother Robert Kennedy was a different story where they didn’t have anything on him. And RFK was also Attorney General of the United States. And his Justice Department went after the organize crime real hard.

You could say that Jack Kennedy was simply too irresponsible to be President of the United States. That his private life was simply too dangerous for him to be President. And again if his private life were public back then, he probably doesn’t get elected President and I’m not sure he would get elected President today with the same lifestyle. Because his private affairs wouldn’t have been private and the people would really know what kind of man JFK was.

But the fact is as President he was very responsible in the job and in the White House, (when he was working) and his Justice Department actually went hard and brought down people who could’ve really hurt him politically. And I’m sure part of that had to do with the fact that he had the goods on some of these organize crime people as well. Similar to Bill Clinton the man in public was much different from the man in private. The man in private is reckless, but the man in public is responsible and does his job the best that he can do it.

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Marilyn Monroe: Happy Birthday Mr. President (1962)

Source:Miss Malevolent– Hollywood Babydoll Marilyn Monroe, singing Happy Birthday, to President John F. Kennedy, in 1962.

“Marilyn Monroe – Happy Birthday Mr. President”

From Miss Malevolent

President Kennedy had the line of the night, at least from what I heard saying that after hearing Marilyn Monroe sing Happy Birthday to him, he could now retire from politics. I mean after hearing a goddess like that with that voice sing Happy Birthday to you, what is the point of going on, what else could you even hope to accomplish at that point after hearing Marilyn sing Happy Birthday to you.

It’s not just the President of the United States being the only politician that may be lucky enough to get Happy Birthday sung to you by Marilyn Monroe, but that Jack Kennedy might have been the only politician lucky enough to have Happy Birthday sung to them. Jack Kennedy was certainly ahead of his time as far as how he related to Americans. Because he wasn’t just judged by the job he did as President, which of course all President’s are and he wasn’t just judged by how he related to Americans personally, which of course all President’s are.

But JFK was also judged by how he related to people in a social way, he was our first hip President, someone who related well the entertainment community, including Hollywood. Which is a big reason why he had so many friends out there. Like Peter Lawford, who also happened to be his brother-in-law, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and many others. That is how this event happened.

You can also see this post on Blogger.

You can also see this post at FRS FreeState, on WordPress.

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David Von Pein: ‘1964 Interview With Karen Carlin’

Source:David Von Pein– local Dallas media interviewing Karen Carlin in 1964.

Source:The Daily Press 

“1964 INTERVIEW WITH KAREN CARLIN (AN EMPLOYEE OF JACK RUBY’S)”

From David Von Pein

Perhaps one of the most famous nightclub employees of all time. I don’t know much about Karen Carlin and maybe that is because that there isn’t much to know about her, but what I get is that she was an attractive woman who worked for Jack Ruby at Jack Ruby’s nightclub, The Carousel in Dallas. And worked there simply because she needed the money. But that she’s not someone who has much if any information about Jack Ruby other than Ruby might have shot Lee Harvey Oswald the assassin of President John F. Kennedy. She simply worked for the man and only worked there because she needed the money. Because he husband had a hard time holding a good job.

You have to know that this whole story had to do with the assassination of an American President, John F. Kennedy who was President of the United States. This was so very new to most people in the country and the first presidential assassination that was covered in the electronic age with network TV and network news. And any person that might of had some connection to someone who was a big part of this story was automatically seen as suspect, or at least as a potential suspect.

Karen Carlin, not only knew Jack Ruby the killer of Lee Oswald who assassinated the President, but she worked for him. Which meant that people automatically assumed that she must know something important about this story.

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CBS News: Bulletin- JFK Assassination Coverage: 11/22/1963

Source:CBS News– longtime anchor Walter Cronkite, about to announce the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Source:The Daily Press

“Assassination of John F. Kennedy, mortal shooting of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, as he rode in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. His accused killer was Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine who had embraced Marxism and defected for a time to the Soviet Union. Oswald never stood trial for murder, because, while being transferred after having been taken into custody, he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby, a distraught Dallas nightclub owner.”

From Britannica

“This video footage from the late morning – early afternoon of Nov. 22nd 1963 was taped live from CBS. As is often the case with such events, the initial reports prove to be the most accurate…

From PDMR Documentaries

CBS News had just gotten the word from either one of their correspondents that President John F. Kennedy had died from bullet wounds that he received from the assassin that shot him in Dallas, Texas, on this horrible November day in 1963. And their number one news anchor and the number one news anchor Walter Cronkite was about to announce it and was emotional in doing that.

Source:CBS News– longtime anchor Walter Cronkite, about to announce the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

You hate to have something like a presidential assassination, or any assassination really have to be the test of the quality of your news coverage or not. But unfortunately greatness only tends to come in times of tragedy and when you’re tested. Times of war and being under attacked, when riots are going on, a death in the family, someone being out of work like your father, or another close relative and you don’t know what the future is going to look like and you fear for it. But unfortunately that is how humans tend to operate. When we’re not tested we tend to be somewhat lax and go back to our everyday normal activities.

And I think our network coverage from CBS News, perhaps especially as they were our biggest news operation back then and NBC News and even the much smaller ABC News, they were all really tested without precedent in how you cover a tragedy like this.

No precedent in how you cover a presidential, or any other assassination in the electronic age of broadcast news and network news. All they had is the training and resources that they had to work with when. Which was make sure their people are on the story and getting the information needed and make sure the network executives are giving you the network air time to cover the story.

The JFK assassination is not the only reason why Walter Cronkite is America’s newsman and why we haven’t seen a network news anchor as good since. But it is certainly a reason, because you really got to see how professional and great he was and had to be and couldn’t afford any mistakes.

You also got to see his human side especially when he announced the death of President John F. Kennedy. And you got to see how hard of an announcement it was for him to make.

Cronkite, personally knew Jack Kennedy and personally liked him. So it must have been announcing the death of one of your friends on live on national TV. With millions of people watching you and he did it as well as it could’ve been done.

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CBS News: Walter Conkrite- Interviewing President John F. Kennedy (1963)

Source:CBS News– President John F. Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts) being interviewed by CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, in 1963.

Source:The Daily Press

“CBS-TV Interview With President John Fitzgerald Kennedy On Sept. 2, 1963”

From President John F. Kennedy

In September, 1963, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite sat down with President John F. Kennedy and interviewed him up in Massachusetts, to talk about the issues he was dealing with.

Jack Kennedy, knew the power of TV about as well, or better than anyone in the 1960s and even 1950s. So he probably wanted to do this type of interview and to layout for the country what he was working on and wanted to accomplish. This interview happened fourteen months before the 1964 presidential election. And just a little over two months before he was assassinated and in late 1963.

President Kennedy, had an economy that was weakening and was trying to get a jobs plan through Congress. That included a large tax cut that cut taxes across the board. Including bringing the top rate down from 90 to 70% and the bottom rate from 25 to 20%. And this economic plan contributed to creating the economic boom of the 1960s.

President Kennedy was also dealing with civil rights and making sure that Federal Court orders were being carried out. And that African-American students were able to go to once segregated schools and so-forth.

And this is the time that President Kennedy came out strongly in favor of civil rights and introduced a civil rights bill to Congress. And of course President Kennedy was also dealing with the United States early involvement in the Vietnam Civil War as well.

President Kennedy, had a lot on his plate to deal with in 1963 and it would’ve been nice to see him at least try accomplish all the things that he wanted to do to deal with these issues.

A lot of what President Lyndon Johnson got passed in Congress was finishing off the agenda that President Kennedy put forward and sent to Congress. But was unable to get through the House and Senate.

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Public Resource: President John F. Kennedy After Two Years (1963)

Source:Public Resource– President John F. Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts) talking to the network news White House correspondents, in 1963.

Source:The Daily Press

“ARC Identifier 52813 / Local Identifier 306.6613. U.S. Information Agency. (1982 – 10/01/1999) Made possible by a donation from John and Paige Curran.”

From Public Resource

Jack Kennedy came to the White House in 1961 with a broad agenda that included civil rights for African-Americans, Federal aid to public education, health insurance for seniors and an economic plan to deal with an economy that was slowly coming out of recession from the late 1950s, that included a deep tax cut. And yet most of his domestic agenda stalled in Congress despite having large Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate. And spent most of the first two years dealing with foreign policy. With Cuba twice both involving Russia, the Bay of Pigs fiasco and of course the Cuban Missile Crisis.

President Kennedy, did have a foreign policy agenda as well and was a tough Liberal Cold Warrior that wanted to open discussions with Russia. But wasn’t prepared to be soft with them, but take them on. And spoke out for liberal democracy not only in America, but in Europe as well, but wasn’t looking for a war with the Soviet Union either.

And in the middle of 1963, finally took a tough stand when it came to civil rights for African-Americans and liberal democracy for them. Who were being discriminated and beaten in the South with the violent beatings that were happening in Alabama and Mississippi.

We’ll never know how successful of a President that Jack Kennedy would’ve made, one of the tragedies of his assassination. But he had all the tools of becoming not just one of the best Liberal Democratic president’s we’ve ever had, but one of the best president’s we’ve ever had as well. Just by what he believed in, but also how he handled the issues that came his way. The Cuban Missile Crisis and finally taking on Civil Rights as well in 1963.

The question is how effective President Kennedy would’ve been how he been able to complete his first term. And he been reelected, he effective he would’ve been at getting his agenda through Congress. Something he wasn’t very successful at in his first two years.

President Kennedy, was very popular when he died I believed, because of his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis and because he was very likable personally. Which are the advantages that President Obama has today. But wasn’t very good at making Congress go along with his agenda based on his personal appeal.

Had President Kennedy completed his first term, he would’ve continued to work on the issues, that he ran on as President. Across the board tax cuts, the health insurance program that later became known as Medicare, Federal Aid to public education, and civil rights. And then the question would’ve been how successful he would’ve been at pushing that agenda through Congress.

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