Kennedy's Presidency example essay topic

Many Americans fell in love with President John Kennedy throughout his presidency. He was handsome, charming, and intelligent, and the media glamorized his life. When he moved into the White House his life and family seemed ideal. Kennedy became an important symbol to America in a time of change and crisis.

As event after event occurred, Kennedy began to appear to be a great American leader with many charismatic qualities; he was able to appear strong and in control even during the some of the most difficult times in America, he appeared to have the ideal American family, he had a competitive ego, and would never let anyone see him weak. Kennedy was born in 1917 to Joseph and Rose Kennedy, a rich, well known family of Boston. His father was a Harvard graduate, athlete, and millionaire. He had high aspirations of his son, but played favorites to Kennedy's older brother Joe, whom he believed would be President someday. Kennedy, who was a fragile child that suffered from many serious illnesses, including Addison's disease, could never compete with his older brother. Wanting to gain his father's attention, he learned how to push back his weaknesses in order to feel masculine, a family trademark.

Kennedy followed in his father's footsteps; he attended Harvard, where he was heavily involved in activities and athletics (Giglio 2-4). Kennedy began his life with advantages of status and wealth, which Shils describe as catalysts to charismatic properties. He put a lot of pressure on himself to be masculine, competitive, and strong, which can be seen in his personality during his presidency. When Joe was killed in the War, Kennedy inherited the dream of becoming President (Hamilton 689-90). Joseph Kennedy once said, "I got Jack into politics. I was the one.

I told him Joe was dead and that it was therefore his responsibility to run for Congress. He didn't want to... But I told him he had to (Giglio 5)". In order to keep his strong image, the perception of Americans was manipulated into believing Kennedy always wanted to be President, but that wasn't true; he didn't want anyone to know he did it all for his father's approval (Giglio 5). Kennedy began his career in politics, serving first in the House of Representatives and second in the Senate. When Kennedy decided to run for President, he already had two major obstacles in his way - his youth and his religion.

There had never been a Catholic President, and many were bigoted against him. He was only forty-three, and was running against Richard Nixon, who had been a well-known Vice-President under popular President Eisenhower for two terms. He was an under dog until he challenged Nixon to a series of debates on television. This was the turning point in the campaign.

Nixon was recovering from a fever during these debates, and he looked pale and sick. Kennedy had a strong tan, youthful appearance, and confidence that attracted American people. His political success was based on selling his apparent strength and confidence (Giglio 6). At this point in his life, Kennedy can be seen as a "natural leader". Max Weber describes a "natural leader" of daily routine that comes forward and takes lead during times of distress, whether it be economic, religious, political, etc. This person can be average, but holds "specific gifts of the body and spirit... (that are) not accessible to everybody" during times of distress (Weber 245).

These gifts are known as charisma. Charismatic qualities include strength, domination, and tough convictions. Weber also claims that this leader gains his control over people by proving his strength in life (249). Kennedy's development from a "natural leader" at his time in his life into a charismatic leader by the time of his death is through the events in America and the world that will be expanded on throughout this paper. Kennedy gave Americans hope for the sixties, saying "The New Frontier is here whether we seek it or not-in uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus (Giglio 16). Kennedy made Americans feel that he was going to seek changes and improvements in America.

Kennedy used his competitive energy to convince the voters that Eisenhower was letting America's prestige in the world decline, especially to Communist countries. Kennedy charismatically challenged Americans, by making them believe in his youthful idealism, while Nixon wanted to keep the status quo (Giglio 17). The media made him out to be an ideal family man, with his wife, Jacqueline Bouvier (Onassis) Kennedy and young children. Jackie charmed the nation; she was fashionable, beautiful, and graceful. The couple entertained many famous writers, musicians, and artists in the White House, and everything seemed perfect. In actuality, Kennedy had many large faults that were hidden from the nation.

Kennedy was extremely concerned about his image throughout his entire life, and always worked hard to seem strong and masculine, as philosopher Max Weber describes as being an important characteristic of a charismatic leader. He had to keep secrets of his poor health throughout his political climb. He had to take steroids and other strong medicines to deal with the pain. His desire to be perceived as perfectly masculine can also be seen in his treatment of women.

Kennedy's friend, Jim Reed, observed that his treatment and view of women and marriage was not as perfect as everyone thought. Reed recalled, "I think Jack looked on women in a different way than I do. I think they were there for a purpose... a man should always conquer a woman. And she was there to be conquered" (Hamilton 731-32). Kennedy had affairs with many women, including Inga Marie Arv ad, Florence Pritchett, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Judith Campbell, Pamela Tenure (Jacque's Press Secretary), Priscilla Wear, Jill Cowan, Mary Pinchot Meyer, Blaze Starr, and Tempest Storm. He once told British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan, "If I don't have a women for three days, I get terrible headaches".

Philosopher Edward Shils comments that properties associated with charisma related to a role in society, such as President, include "wealth, income, occupation, the power to order by command, prohibition and control over resources, style of life, standard of living, education, primordial connections, including kinship, with persons possessing these qualities, and the power to protect or benefit the community or life itself (209)". Because of the media, American people saw Kennedy as having all of these qualities to an ideal extent. The 1960's were a time of dramatic national changes - soldiers were fighting in Vietnam, there were many war protesters in the states, the Civil Rights movement was at its peak, and the threat of Communism scared the whole nation. America fell into a time of many crisis and changes. Throughout all of the events, Americans perception of Kennedy developed him from a "natural leader" into both an eventful and event-making man that had many charismatic qualities.

Both Shils and Weber agree that charisma of an elected leader helps to maintain order. Shils comments "charisma not only disrupts social order, it also maintains or conserves it (200)". Both philosophers consider charisma to be a power over order. Charisma is also attributed to a person who represents a society as a whole.

He held Americans together in a respect, as a symbol of democracy and youth, even though conflicts in opinions divided the country. According to philosopher Sidney Hook, a distinction can be made between two different types of great men throughout history: eventful men and event-making men. Historical and present day figures possess characteristics of one type or the other, but eventful and event-making characteristics can be found in one person (Hook 158). Kennedy had characteristics of the kind of men Hook describes. The actions of an event-making man are the result of intelligence and character rather than coincidences of position and time (Hook 154).

The consequences of an event or situation would be completely different if this man had not acted the way he did. Decisions are based on talent more than luck. This type of person makes things happen, rather than waiting for situations to come to him (167). Hook concludes that a man cannot influence historical events without the presence of social and group interests that need to be served. In the case of the event-making man, he has more control over which interests to further and which to suppress (169).

Kennedy showed characteristics of an event-making man in his creation of the Peace Corps. Before Kennedy's presidency, many groups had attempted to create service groups, and Senator Hubert Humphrey had called for the creation of a Peace Corps during the 1950's. Ike Eisenhower called the idea a "juvenile experiment" (Giglio 154-55). But in the 1960's, the attitude of the youth had changed. Kennedy's patriotic and anti-communism / colonialism ideals encouraged him to become President in order to develop a "new relationship" with the world. Kennedy proposed the Peace Corps as a three-year alternative to the military for the skilled youth of America who wanted to offer them selves to the world.

One of Kennedy's personal goals for this idea was to hurt Communist expansion by helping to develop the resources of the Third World countries (Giglio 155). Kennedy furthered the interests of the socially concerned people of America, and changed the course of history in that way because the Peace Corps still exists almost half a century later. The fight against communism that continued from Eisenhower's presidency became a personal competition for Kennedy, it even seemed as if it was an extension of his obsession to prove his strength. Kennedy was desperate for Cold War success. The civil war in Vietnam out shined any other issue during Kennedy's presidency.

So much money was given for the war efforts that less money was available for the "War on Poverty" in the U.S. Millions of Americans, especially youths, could not understand what the government was doing in Vietnam, and felt that America was intruding in order to expand itself, in contradiction to the democratic way (Buzzanco 5). Americans were suspicious of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. He had a Marxist ideology and eventually made Cuba a Communist dictatorship. He seized American utilities such as oil.

Eisenhower gave permission for Cuban exiles in Guatemala to be trained to overthrow Castro, calling this plan the Bay of Pigs invasion. While campaigning, Kennedy focused a lot on anti-communism and anti-Cuba. Kennedy was informed of Eisenhower's plan, though advisors were starting to have doubts. After Kennedy had only been in office for 30 days, though inexperienced, he decided to ignore warnings and proceed with the plan. The success of the mission was estimated to have about a fifty percent chance, but Kennedy failed to examine the weak areas of the plan, ignoring skepticism from knowledgeable Congressmen. Castro's forces were much stronger than Kennedy and the CIA had expected, and the operation was an embarrassing failure (Giglio 48-58).

Kennedy's mistakes in this situation were for many reasons, and this disaster shows how over-confidence and competitiveness can lead to many problems, especially when mixed with event-making characteristics. First, his hatred for Castro led him to blind confidence against him. Kennedy also put way to much faith in the CIA, which had been over-confidant about this mission. Giglio writes that Kennedy was a fan of James Bond movies, and was charmed by the CIA (54). Kennedy's immaturity caused him to sometimes lack a sense of reality.

Kennedy also felt pressure from the Eisenhower era. Ike was considered "the greatest military man in America" and no one wanted to challenge him. In contradiction, Kennedy was an inexperienced youth. He had criticized Ike for not confronting Castro, and now had to back up his assertions (Giglio 55). Eisenhower, in his farewell address, had advised America against continuing the war in Vietnam, but Kennedy enlarged involvement in the war within three years of entering office (Buzzanco 64). Kennedy's hatred of communism was very competitive, and he used it to show Americans and the world that he was a strong President who was not going to back down.

Vietnam was his way of showing this, saying, "that son of a bitch (Khrushchev) won't pay any attention to words, he has to see you move - so why not Vietnam?" (Buzzanco 65). This shows Kennedy as an eventful man and charismatic, because once a situation fell into his lap, he pushed on in order to show strength. Hook describes an eventful man as any man whose actions help influence events and developments along a different path then what would have occurred if the actions had not been taken (Hook 154). He is usually just in the right place at the right time, and makes a decision or command that basically anyone could make, but it does make a difference to the outcome of the situation. The situation requires a relatively simple act and common sense decisions to overcome, and the eventful man rarely knows what he is doing when he does it (Hook 157). One of his advisors, Walt Rostov, encouraged Vietnam saying a clear victory would erase the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Eventful men usually depend a lot on the advise of others (Hook 166). Kennedy's next step was to increase the land troops by 200,000, and the Civil Guard from 32,000 to 68,000. The White House also sent Diem an extra $42 million. In 1962, things were looking good for Kennedy in regards to the war.

The Viet Cong was terrified, and America's side was on the offensive. This did not last long, though. On January 2, 1963, the Viet Cong attacked. The ARV N allowed the attack, for fear of losing soldiers, and just waited it out until the opportunity to escape arrived. Diem was killed shortly afterwards, and it appeared that the tables had turned. However, Kennedy continued to push, saying the withdrawal of American troops "only makes it easier for the Communists" (Buzzanco 67-68).

After Kennedy's assassination, America continued to follow his policy, and remained in the war. In the end, the war was lost, and America was defeated. Kennedy changed history by pushing for involvement in the Vietnam War, which shows how Kennedy was an eventful man. This war turned out to be a disaster for Americans, and left the nation disillusioned.

It also served as an example to the nation; America is not invincible. Over 58,000 American soldiers were killed, but more importantly Americans felt extremely disillusioned. Thousands of veterans suffered "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" or were strongly addicted to drugs and alcohol (Buzzanco 135). Were these loses really worth trying to prove that Kennedy was a macho man? He had the chance to get out, but continued to prove a point. Historian Thomas Patterson commented, "he had his chance, and he failed" (Buzzanco 68).

On October 22, 1962, Kennedy announced to Americans that the Soviet government was setting up missile sites on the island of Cuba, which would have the capability to hit any major city in the U.S. Kennedy calmed Americans by saying American naval vessels were stopping transports to Cuba from the Soviets, and military forces were prepared to raid Cuba at any time. This was the first case that two major powers of the world were confronting each other, and the result could be nuclear warfare (Eubank 1). This was another major opportunity for Kennedy to show that he would not back down from the Soviets, but he also had to be extremely careful to keep the world from a nuclear war. Many of Kennedy's actions and decisions helped to create this conflict. He failed to warn Khrushchev about placing missiles in Cuba, because he did not think he would actually go through with it.

Kennedy also initiated a plan called Operation Mongoose, which was basically a paranoid, frantic reaction to Castro. This operation intensified the Soviet feeling that the U.S. would invade Cuba, and even after the missiles were removed, Kennedy still did not publicly assure the Soviets and Cubans that the U.S. would stay out of Cuba. His stubbornness and obsession with his tough image created extreme tension (Eubank 101). The resolution of this crisis was a series of agreements between Kennedy and Khrushchev.

Khrushchev agreed to remove the bombs, and Kennedy stopped the naval quarantine of Cuba; however, the missiles remained in Cuba because the Soviets were still afraid of military attack. After the crisis was completely over, Americans believed that Kennedy had demonstrated the ability to handle crisis management. Democracy had overcome Communism (Eubank 96). In actuality, Kennedy refused to make an agreement that the U.S. would not invade Cuba, therefore bringing the world very close to world war. The fact that nuclear war did not occur was more a matter of luck than skill, but by making all the appearances on television throughout the crisis, Kennedy convinced the American people that he had negotiated peace.

According to Eubank, "Crisis management would perhaps have not been necessary had not Kennedy overreacted and risked the first nuclear war to save his reputation (99)". Kennedy gained a political advantage by forcing the Cubans to remove the missiles before the congressional elections instead of just waiting to see why the Soviets had the missiles. He also felt that Khrushchev wouldn't take his seriously if he had backed down. He appeared macho to American voters by forcing the removal of the missiles. Kennedy aggressively confronted Khrushchev instead of quietly negotiating with him because during his campaign he had criticized Republicans, claiming if he were elected he would settle the issue of Cuba (Eubank 99). In Kennedy's opinion, a weak reaction to Cuba would have cost him his presidency; in actuality, Kennedy's ego almost led to nuclear world war.

Kennedy's fight against the communist forces of the 1960's was the crisis needed for Kennedy to change from a "natural leader" into a charismatic president in the eyes of the American people. He appeared strong, youthful, energetic, and macho during each confrontation. Many of his decisions were based on luck, as that of an eventful man, but he definitely made some event-making decisions that changed the course of history, such as the Peace Corps. In a time where social order was being disturbed, Kennedy helped to maintain it by being a symbol of American democracy.

Though the Bay of Pigs invasion was a disaster, Kennedy kept Americans confident by appearing confident. He remained strong against the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, and never backed down from Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy is a prominent figurer in America's history. Though he isn't considered a charismatic in the sense of a cult leader or messenger from God, Kennedy definitely has charismatic qualities described by Hook, Weber and Shils - all three important philosophers. Kennedy did some incredibly good things for the country, had an amazing and ideal image, was very intelligent, and represented America during a time of crisis against Communism. Though Kennedy kept his secrets of weakness from the American people, it was probably for the best at the time.

By appearing strong and keeping an ideal family image, Kennedy made Americans feel safe and secure during times of near disaster for the world. Kennedy's charisma came from the fact that he was not perfect, and made many mistakes, but was still able calm Americans. Kennedy also had many negative aspects of a charismatic leader. He had a competitive ego, and kept many secrets from the American people in order to maintain his appearance of strength against Communist leaders such as Khrushchev, Castro, and Ho Chi Minh.

Many of his decisions were based on the desire to increase his image. The American perception of Kennedy's greatness can be seen with the reaction to his assassination. November 22, 1963 will forever be a day of mourning for the nation.