Was JFK really a great president?

[steve manning]

There is nothing greater than hope. JFK gave us hope.Joe,Can you be more specific? Hope in what?

[Bob]

steve manning wrote:There is nothing greater than hope. JFK gave us hope.Joe,Can you be more specific? Hope in what?Joe can give his own response, but here is mine. JFK gave hope in not selling out to the big entities that surround the U.S. government. Entities like the CIA, the Military Industrial Complex, Wall Street, Big Oil, the Mafia, etc.JFK gave hope to all the people, especially the poor, elderly and the minorities. LBJ passed the Civil Rights legislation, as well as the Medicare enactment, but that was all based on the policies JFK was working on before his assassination.He also gave hope to the people who desperately wanted peace. People who lived through World War II and the Korean conflict. JFK was President at a time when Ike tried to warn us about the Military Industrial Complex and their agenda. They wanted war in Cuba and Southeast Asia. JFK said no to both, plus he was trying to broker peace behind the scenes with Cuba and the Soviet Union.Bottom line, JFK was the last TRUE President the United States had. He truly was for the people.

[kenmurray]

Donald Gibson On JFK Against Wall Street:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjBWciMcsok

[Tom Bigg]

In a word no. But we have had few great Presidents in US history. Personally I liked Eisenhower, as a man of good character and right reason. There is no doubt that Kennedy was brilliant, and competent in a number of areas but also exceedingly reckless in his personal life. And facts have come out about the Cuban Missile Crisis that showed how flawed he was and how there was a backroom deal with the Soviets, etc. http://www.cubanmissilecrisis.org/backg ... n-roulette http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wor ... fault/What would have happened had Nixon won the election in 1960, as we know that he actually got the votes necessary but was denied the presidency (until later)? IMO Kissinger was one of the worst advisers Nixon would have.

[Bob]

Tom Bigg wrote:In a word no. But we have had few great Presidents in US history. Personally I liked Eisenhower, as a man of good character and right reason. There is no doubt that Kennedy was brilliant, and competent in a number of areas but also exceedingly reckless in his personal life. And facts have come out about the Cuban Missile Crisis that showed how flawed he was and how there was a backroom deal with the Soviets, etc. http://www.cubanmissilecrisis.org/backg ... n-roulette http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wor ... fault/What would have happened had Nixon won the election in 1960, as we know that he actually got the votes necessary but was denied the presidency (until later)? IMO Kissinger was one of the worst advisers Nixon would have.Tom, I have to respectfully disagree with you. Yes, JFK had his faults, but he did indeed stop an event that surely would have led to World War III and a nuclear conflict had he listened to the advice of the Joints Chiefs who wanted to invade Cuba. The same Joint Chiefs who gave JFK the plan Operation Northwoods in March of 1962. A plan that is eerily similar to what occurred on 9/11/2001.http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICL ... ods.htmlIt has since come out that Cuba did indeed have nuclear weapons that would have been used against the United States had an attack taken place.Also, remember that JFK was battling the CIA and the Military Industrial Complex (the entity that Ike warned us about) from the very start of his administration. It all started with the Bay of Pigs invasion, a plan that was hatched in the Eisenhower administration by Allen Dulles and Richard Nixon.

[Dealey Joe]

I think my next question has to be, "What makes a great President"?Does it mean they are always right about everything or always do spectacular things?Is reducing the tax make a good one?Does winning a second election make him great?What does?

[Tom Bigg]

Washington refused power that was available to him, seeing the position of "President" as one who "presides" over the deliberations of real representatives. Humility, intellectual excellence, holding power in reserve only using it and taxpayer money in limited ways, an honorable personable life, hospitality and generosity, not using alcohol to excess, healthy physical condition and so forth--these are the marks of good presidents. The so-called greats are named for using power to the hilt, Roosevelt, Wilson, JFK, Lincoln, Jefferson, Madison, the Adams--some are good by classical standards and others are questionable. It seems the Democrats have better leadership in foreign policy in the current era as well as the libertarians. That the saber rattling, and belligerence of the Republicans is just wrong headed and I am pretty sure a Romney presidency would have meant more foreign wars instead of diplomacy and peace making.