First President Of The Media Age example essay topic

Why is John F Kennedy such a Famous and Controversial Figure in History? Famous- Celebrated in fame or public report; much talked about, renowned Controversial- subject of controversy; question al; disputed These are two of the best words to describe John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the USA. There are two sides to his story, one describing him as a famous american hero gunned down in his prime, the other is a corrupt world leader, an adulterer and a fraud. JFK was the first president of the media age, he was on television and constantly in the eyes of the public and would have to work hard to keep a good reputation. JFK began life in a family already hand in hand with controversy. His father had run for president before and would have been set to be the first catholic president but wasn't voted in because of his links to the Nazi party in Germany.

He had become rich due to bootlegging alcohol and had strong links to the mafia. This put JK in an awkward position if the public found out about that his family had dealings with the mafia. Kennedy himself had allegedly paid the mafia to rig the election which put him into presidency. There was also a rumour about his family that they were all cursed. The "Kennedy Curse" was an apparent curse on the Kennedys meaning that they all died in suspicious circumstances. This was especially true in JFK's case.

America had undergone a change in the early 1960's, the media age had begun. JFK had become the first president to be thrust into the media age and it suited him well. This helped him win the election over his republican, radio friendly opponent Richard Nixon. JFK was good with television interviews and this appealled to most of the american public. He became the first celebrity president through this and television cameras were always around the White House which was dubbed 'Camelot'. This was not the only radical thing about Kennedy's presidency, he was the first ever roman catholic president which was seen as revolutionary for some but was also frowned upon by alot of americans.

They saw having a catholic president as wrong because it had become a tradition to have a protestant president. He was also the youngest ever president which drew headlines. JFK had a wife named Jacqueline Bouvier who added glamour to the White House. This was not enought for Kennedy though as he had an insatiable sexual appetite.

He had many mistresses through the years, most famously the actress, Marilyn Monroe. JFK himself said that he had to have sex every day to keep himself satisfied. When Kennedy was voted into the White House it was seen as a new era for america. He showed incredible energy and had a large set of radical new policies which appealled to some but shocked and appalled others. Passing new laws was always going to be a huge problem for JFK. He may have won the election but he won it in the closest election race ever.

This may have given him a large amount of media attention but it also meant that he did not have the support of a substantial amount of the country to support him. In his domestic policies he raised huge controversy by trying to introduce civil rights laws. Giving more rights to coloured was seemingly unheard of at that time and it sparked up a huge uprising against him within his own party. Most Americans were outraged by this and african americans felt that he was not doing enough for them. This was part of a new social policy designed to offer protection to the oldest and most vulnerable members of american society. Another part of this policy was the welfare state.

This was highly opposed as the american race tends to be individualistic. They did not want to pay extra taxes in order to fund other peoples welfare as well as their own. Kennedy's foreign policy also went horribly wrong in the first year of his presidency. JFK sponsored several assassination attempts including the South Vietnamese leader Diem and Fidel Castro in Cuba.

America saw Cuba as a communist threat that had to be eradicated. Kennedy tried to solve this problem by assassinating Fidel Castro. The CIA sponsored an invasion of Cuba at the 'Bay of Pigs' which was a failure, an embarrassment and a bad start to JFK's presidency as his popularity was at an all time low. The attempted assassinations of Fidel Castro were not Cuba's only involvement in America's foreign policy. America was in the middle of the Cold War and JFK found himself caught up in the most dangerous and dramatic event of the war- the Cuban Missile Crisis.

This was a conflict which could have resulted in mutually assured destruction. The Russians had were shipping nuclear missiles to Cuba, within firing distance of every city in America. JFK had to stand strong and not back down to the Russians to gain popularity. The Russian leader, Khruschev turned his ships around and headed back to Russia after Kennedy had not backed down for 13 days in which the slightest sign of aggression could have caused nuclear holocaust. Kennedy's popularity shot up as Americans believed that the Russians had backed down to him. The truth was that Kennedy had withdrawn all American missiles from within firing distance of Russia in Greece and Turkey so Russia did not put missiles within firing distance of America.

On November 22nd 1963 John Fitzgerald Kennedy was made infinity famous on the streets of Dallas, Texas. While on a tour of Texas he was shot dead in his car. His assassin was never discovered although it was thought to be Lee Harvey Oswald who shot himself when he was being arrested. There are hundreds of conspiracy theories of who shot JFK and why. Many fingers point to the CIA who may have seen the president as a threat after he allegedly slept with a spy on one of his many flings and they generally saw him as a liability. Another story is the white Americans who found Kennedy giving coloured people rights as offensive.

The military may have feared him pulling out of Vietnam despite the fact he wanted to continue, fundamentalist protestants, cuban exiles, the mafia, the list goes on. Nothing JFK did paralleled how much fame he got after that fateful day in Dallas. John Fitzgerald Kennedy had done many good things in his short term as president but it was what made him controversial which got him assassinated in essentially made him infinatly famous.