“Happy Birthday, Mr. President”. The sins and merits of John Kennedy
One hundred years have passed since the birth of probably the most famous US President of all time, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
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“About the dead either good or nothing.” It is widely known the statement does not apply to politicians. The activities of those in power almost always posthumously subjected to rigorous study, which very often turns out to be a ruthless condemnation.
But from any rule there are exceptions. Political activist, martyred from the hands of murderers, from the descendants gets a pardon for him, as a rule, there are only advantages, and disadvantages of the leaves in the shade.
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln among his contemporaries was not a popular figure. Many have laid on him the responsibility for the bloody civil war in the United States. But the shot of John booth ended Lincoln’s life, changed his attitude to his personality. Now Abraham Lincoln is revered as one of the best presidents in the history of America.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, largely followed the fate of Lincoln. Shots of Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas on 22 November 1963, and murdered Kennedy transformed him from a figure as the least controversial one of the 10 best presidents in American history.
But the real John F. Kennedy in his political career was not only bright, but also dark pages.
A war hero, “objector” in the Senate
Kennedy himself, the hero of the Second world war, politics was not torn. But the father, Joseph Kennedy, the head of one of the most influential clans of America, persuaded John to start a political career. It happened after the death of the elder brother of John, Joseph Kennedy Jr., whose father originally was intended for political heirs.
Through the efforts of father John F. Kennedy was released in the US House of representatives. The novice MP was not yet 30 years old.
In the early fifties, as a Senator, Kennedy put the first dark spot on his reputation. The Senate overwhelmingly passed a censure Joseph McCarthy for his leadership of the house UN-American activities. Perpetrated by maketitle “witch hunt”, which affected thousands of Americans, caused a growing dissatisfaction in the society.
When the question of the imposition of a censure McCarthy was put to the vote, Kennedy shied away from him. He later explained this action: “the Case of Joe McCarthy? I was in a losing situation. My brother worked for Joe. I was against it, I didn’t want to work for Joe, but he wanted to. And how the hell I could get up and denounce Joe McCarthy when my own brother was working for him? Thus, it was not so much a political issue debt, how much personal problem.”
Cuban missile crisis: Kennedy stopped the disaster that he provoked
In 1960, the 43-year-old John Kennedy with a narrow margin defeated Richard Nixon and became President of the United States.
In foreign policy, Kennedy positioned himself as a supporter of peace and improved relations between the USSR and the USA, but in practice the world in the period of the Board 35 President of the United States experienced the most serious crisis since the end of world war II.
Speaking about the Cuban missile crisis, often say that it began with an adventurous decision of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to deploy Soviet missiles in Cuba.
But hardly anyone remembers that this act Khrushchev was a response to a conducted in 1961, the accommodation in Turkey of medium-range missiles PGM-19 “Jupiter” with a range of 2400 km, directly threatened the European part of the Soviet Union, including Moscow.
Kennedy believed that the missiles in Turkey has a limited strategic importance, but nonetheless endorsed it.
The escalation of the conflict very quickly put the USA and USSR to the brink of nuclear war.
But at the peak of the crisis, in October 1962, Kennedy showed his best side. Contrary to the opinion of the majority of American military leaders, calling to immediately begin the invasion of Cuba, the President continued talks with Khrushchev and managed to reach an agreement. The Soviet Union removed the missiles from Cuba, and after a few months, the US withdrew missiles “Jupiter” from Turkey.
Cuban failure
“The Cuban problem” during the reign of John Kennedy was one of the most difficult for US. And not being able to establish relations with the revolutionary government of Fidel Castro, Washington began to prepare for the operation on its overthrow. The intention was made before the coming to power of John Kennedy, but the new President, after reviewing the plan of operation, at the beginning of 1961, approved it.
“Operation Zapata”, held in April 1961 the Bay of Pigs forces armed and trained by American instructors of Cuban immigrants, ended in their complete defeat. The failure of the Bay of Pigs became one of the biggest foreign policy failures of the reign of John F. Kennedy.
War and peace
Speaking about the Vietnam war, the Kennedy name to remember often, as a full-scale military intervention of the us army started later.
However, it was on the orders of John Kennedy to South Vietnam were sent to regular units of the armed forces of the United States.
At Kennedy, the number of American soldiers and officers in South Vietnam reached 16 thousand people, and the total cost of the war reached $ 3 billion.
However, we cannot say that the Kennedy commitment to sustainable peace was only declarative. When it began to lay the system of treaties designed to protect the world from the nuclear threat.
5 August 1963 the Treaty was signed the representatives of USSR, USA and Britain banning nuclear weapons tests in three spheres: in the air, on land and under water.
Landing on the moon America has provided Kennedy
The beginning of the presidency of John F. Kennedy marked a sensitive defeat for the US in the “space race”. America is losing the battle for the first satellite 12 April 1961, learned that the first man in space was the Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin.
In may 1961 John F. Kennedy in his speech set the goal: by the end of the decade Americans need to make a manned flight to the moon, beating the Soviet Union. To solve this problem was launched the program “Apollo”. The program was supposed to spend $ 5 billion during the first five years.
In reality, the total cost for the Apollo program was $ 25 billion in 1969 prices or inflation — 136 billion dollars in prices of the beginning of the XXI century.
Kennedy did not live to landing Americans on the moon, but the US victory in the “moon race” — much to his credit.
Civil rights for all
By the time of John Kennedy to the presidency of the racial problem in the United States was extremely acute. Any attempts to expand the rights of black conservatives met with hostility.
Kennedy was a supporter of the total destruction of racial separation.
June 19, 1963, he introduced a bill to Congress on civil rights, banning segregation in all public places.
The document was adopted after the death of the President. Kennedy’s successor Lyndon Johnson in 1964, has achieved the adoption of the civil rights Act, which put segregation outlawed throughout the United States.
The shadow of the mafia behind the President’s back
Throughout the political career of John F. Kennedy above him hung the shadow of suspicion of links with the mafia. In business contacts with the leaders of organized crime suspected of John’s father, Joseph Kennedy, who allegedly worked with them even during the “dry law”. While Joseph supposedly convinced the “godfathers” to invest in the presidential campaign of his son.
Kennedy had a reputation as a playboy, had many mistresses. One of them called Judith Campbell Exner. In addition to the President, in close relationship with Judith was the mafia bosses Sam giancana and John Roselli. According to this version, Judith was a kind of “agent of influence” of the mafia at the President.
The American mafia before the Cuban revolution controlled the gambling and prostitution and other illegal areas of the Island of Freedom. The regime of Fidel Castro put an end to it, and the “godfathers” were interested in the invasion of Cuba. Mafiosi believed that Kennedy owes them for helping in the election campaign.
Kennedy’s refusal from military operations in Cuba after the failure of the landing at the Bay of Pigs caused extreme dissatisfaction among the bosses of the criminal world. Besides, Kennedy campaigned for the fight against organized crime.
According to the popular version, the mob, frustrated by the actions of John F. Kennedy, whom he regarded as “his own man”, took part in a conspiracy against the President of the United States, culminating in his murder.
The last mystery of Marilyn Monroe
We have already talked about the reputation of the hero-lover, a foothold for John Kennedy. Such glory does not strengthen the position of politics in the US and now, and in the sixties it could lead to the destruction of the entire career. Of course, if suspicions would be supported by the facts.
May 19, 1962, at a gala concert in honor of the 45th anniversary of John F. Kennedy, the actress Marilyn Monroe sang the birthday song “Happy Birthday”. The greeting turned into a scandal: the song was sung in so provocative a manner that doubts about the existence of intimate relations between the President and the Hollywood diva is almost gone.
Less than three months after that, the actress was found dead in his own house. According to the official version, the cause was an overdose of sleeping pills.
According to another widely accepted version, Marilyn Monroe was the lover of not only JFK but his brother Robert, who served as attorney General of the United States. The actress unwittingly became privy to some secrets of the Kennedy clan, not subject to disclosure. At some point, tired of such a life, Monroe began to threaten the lovers that’ll tell you about the relationship publicly. The story with the scandalous congratulation showed that I could go far.
Evidence of the involvement of John and Robert Kennedy to the death of Marilyn Monroe is not, however, suspicions are not dispelled to this day.
“I never call myself perfect”
In 1960, John Kennedy said:
I never called myself perfect. I did the usual for the policy rule errors.
In the years of the Kennedy presidency added to his collection of errors, one of which might have become fatal for him. But in that moment, when in 1962 the world was on the brink, John Kennedy avoided the worst mistakes. And this “plus” really outweighs everything else.