preview

John F Kennedy's Beliefs

Good Essays

John F. Kennedy’s Storied Presidency
“Fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” These very memorable words were uttered by John F. Kennedy during his inaugural address to the nation. He said this with his utmost presidential goal in mind, to get America moving again. JFK stuck to that goal until could not longer, when he was tragically assassinated by former marine, Lee Harvey Oswald. Despite this, Kennedy showed that he was truly a game changing figure of the 1960s because of his great appeal to the nation, his nearly perfect handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and all of his advances towards the Civil Rights Movement.
First of all, one of John F. Kennedy’s most prominent characteristics …show more content…

In the early days of the crisis, JFK made a formal declaration to both the nation and to the U.S.S.R that any nuclear weapons launched from Cuba onto any target in the Western Hemisphere would be considered an attack on the US and would warrant a full retaliatory response (“The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962”). He followed up that statement by blocking the transfer of all offensive weapons in route to Cuba (Freidel and Sidey). Kennedy showed the people that he wasn’t going to sit idly by while there was such a large threat to the nation’s safety, he was going to act boldly. After many more stressful days passed, JFK, in an attempt to ensure that the situation didn’t escalate any further, agreed to not attack Cuba if the Soviet Union withdrew all weapons from the island nation (Swift). After 13 grueling days of diplomatic actions, the Soviet Union’s ships left Cuba with their hatches open in order to show the Americans that they were carrying the missiles with them (Swift). Kennedy’s choice to pursue a peaceful end to the Cuban Missile Crisis, despite intense Soviet aggression, may have saved countless American lives. John F. Kennedy’s actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis boosted his reputation considerably and steered America away from a war with the …show more content…

At the time of JFK’s election, many African Americans living in the South were being denied the right to vote and being mistreated by both the public and the court system (“Civil Rights Movement”). Although he wanted to directly support the movement, he decided to simply appoint several African Americans to lofty positions in his administration in an attempt to bolster the Civil Rights Commission without losing Southern support on his legislation (“Civil Rights Movement”). This choice to not focus on the Civil Rights Movement caused there to be little legislation made on the issue for the first 2 years of Kennedy’s presidency. However, in the summer of 1963, violence on African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama reached its breaking point and Kennedy decided that now necessary to push for change (Siemaszko). Although he would never live to see it due to his assassination in November 1963, his civil right proposals led to the Civil Rights Act to be signed by Lyndon B. Johnson the next year (“Civil Rights Act(1964)”). Despite the fact he could never admire what he did, JFK designed the act that would end African American segregation in the United States. If it weren’t for Kennedy’s push for race equality, we might be living in a segregated society

Get Access