The second
son of a wealthy Boston entrepreneur this future President enjoyed all the
benefits of New England had to offer an Irish Catholic. At the time it is safe to assume money could
not overcome all the discrimination of ethnic and religious prejudice that
lingered in the Northeast. His father
made important contacts in government, banking, and business that would serve
his son well in the coming years.
Within the
family this second son was not burdened with the heady responsibility of
carrying on the family name. That job
was given to his older brother who was expected to rise through the ranks of
the local politics until he was ready to become President.
Unfortunately
for the father, his favored son, a naval aviator, died flying an extremely
dangerous mission flown from England in the second world war. This singular event shifted the hopes and
dreams of the father onto the second son.
A man also severely wounded as a naval officer in the war.
Using his family’s
connections, and the Boston political machine, Jack was elected first as a
Representative and then Senator from Massachusetts. Along the way he had a storybook marriage
with the daughter of a prominent Wall Street stockbroker and NY socialite.
When elected
to the office of the President he was the second youngest man ever to do
so. His inaugural speech remains one of
the shining examples of the potential the office holds to inspire the
nation. Perhaps the most famous line is “ask
not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” His call to national service inspired the
nation’s youth and his administration’s programs like the Peace Corps gave
opportunity to spread the message of freedom to distant lands. But as inspiring as his words, and as
glamorous as his wife and family the administration had a number of diplomatic
failures that took the nation and the world to the brink of nuclear war.
As President,
John Kennedy authorized a CIA led plan to invade Cuba and remove Fidel Castro
as President. The plan called for
airstrikes on the island, targeting the Cuban Air Force. They were to be flown by CIA trained Cuban
pilots in surplus B-26 aircraft painted to look like stolen Cuban aircraft. The plan also called for an invasion force
that would land in a remote part of the island and sweep across the island to
defeat the Cuban Army. This plan was undoubtedly supported by the US Companies
whose sugar fields and Cattle Ranches were being nationalized by the Castro
government. When the airstrikes were launched it became obvious that the Cuban
government was aware of the plan and had taken steps to protect its own Air
Force. The invasion force was landed at
a remote point called “The Bay of Pigs” and was immediately isolated and
captured after only a day of hostility. The
administration had abandoned their force when it became obvious it would not be
as clandestine and successful as promised.
This failure would set the stage for what would become the Cuban Missile
Crisis when the Cubans and Soviets introduced nuclear capable intermediate range
ballistic missiles to the island.
President
Kennedy’s great strength was to inspire the nation to service, to set high goals like landing on the
moon. In the three years of his
leadership the nation moved to confront communism, took the first steps towards
space, and began to address the racism in the south, but he also took the first
steps towards a war that would cost over 58,000 US lives, and divide the
nation.
I am not
sure how well President Kennedy would stand on his Party’s current platform
where government largess takes the place of individual service, and unlimited
immigration works to limit the salaries of the average American.
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