2017/09/07 by Michael Kazin · 3 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #American Political and Social Dynamics #Race, History, and American Society
paper · doi:10.1093/jahist/jax315
openalex publication_date 2017/09/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
What he was, he was: What he is fated to become Depends on us. Political historians who seek to evaluate John F. Kennedy's life, career, and legacy face a dilemma: for almost everyone else, his legendary persona overwhelms what he accomplished as a politician. That has been true since his death, over five decades ago, and it is still true now, a full century after his birth. Kennedy remains one of the more familiar, admired, and symbolically resonant figures in U.S. history. According to opinion polls, Americans consider him one of the “greatest” presidents since Abraham Lincoln. Panels of professional historians rank him lower but still in the top ten of past chief executives, roughly equal to Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan—both of whom served two full terms. Conversely, most Americans who grew up long after JFK died appear less smitten by a president they know only through recycled images. For them, he can never inspire the passion, or hatred, that the last three presidents—Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama—provoke. The mystery surrounding JFK's assassination seems to overshadow what he did or failed to accomplish as president.1