MovieChat Forums > The Kennedys (2011) Discussion > JFK- Greatest American President ever?

JFK- Greatest American President ever?

posted 14 years ago by rishi85
29 replies | jump to latest

I think so, and I have a few facts to back my opinion. Here are the five greatest President's in my opinion:

1.)Kennedy

2.)Clinton

3.)Lincoln

4.)FDR

5.)Obama

People underestimate JFK. He got elected under treacherous conditions and actually fought in a war and displayed bravery. Have you heard of the PT-109 ?
What makes it even braver is that he decided to go ahead and face death when he could have just as easily gotten sun-tanned with a bunch of hot women on the beaches of Florida for the rest of his life. He choose that path.

Also he was very liberal(His best friend was gay and he was cool with it and keep in mind we are talking 1940s here).

People talk about Obama being the first "different" president and yet JFK was just as much of an anomaly if not more- He was from a catholic church when catholics were denounced everywhere let alone elected governors.

JFK got the US troops out of the mess that was nam.

JFK got the world interested in space and the space race began. Not the actual landings or honors(due respect to the Russians) but the very idea of reaching for the skies with that famous speech. Apollo mission anyone ?

How would anyone handle the Cuba missile crisis ? Obama, Lincoln, Bush- We can only ponder, but he handled it wisely.

His private life was really fcked up due to the various ailments he had. Been given the last rites three times before he was twenty was just the tip of the iceberg. Instead of blabbering, I will simply post a link:
http://www.annals.org/content/151/5/350.full#xref-ref-9-1

Last but not the least......There are more schools,institutes and memorials named after John Fitzgerald Kennedy than ANY president in the history of the United States. Not Washington and not Lincoln but this Irish lad-The 35th President of the United States......Why ?

I honestly believe that JFK was the greatest president BY FAR who ever lived and looks like I am not alone.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/3214/jfk-ranked-greatest-us-president.aspx

http://www.hinduwisdom.info/quotes271_300.htm

[–] the_little_fellow 14 years ago

Completely agree.
an ghaoth a croitheann an eorna

[–] rak94 14 years ago

LOL, well we know what polical affiliation you belong to. I do agree with you though, I think JFK was the best president. (and also my peresonal favorite) I think Ronald Regan comes in a close second for me. With Licoln at third.

[–] Yorick_Brown 14 years ago

Before Clinton, Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Jefferson, Jackson (though he was an evil man), McKinley and Madison???

And Obama has been a terrible president so far. He's nothing more than an indecisive grandstander.

You and I were made for this
I was made to taste your kiss
We were made to never fall away

[–] doug65oh 14 years ago

Well, if we’re talking about the presidency en masse (regardless of century) I’d have to list the “greats” - with malice toward but a few & charity for most - as follows:

Washington
Jefferson
Lincoln
Teddy Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry Truman
John F. Kennedy
Bill Clinton

Forty-odd years ago as a youngster I’d have put Jack Kennedy at #2 behind F.D.R., and if we’re ranking inspirational presidencies might still put him there – because like F.D.R., John Kennedy gave us hope in some measure, challenged us to look deep within ourselves and step beyond so to speak, to the best of our abilities.

[–] sassback2391 14 years ago

Firstly, JFK was dead years before Vietnam ended and really exploded into the main part of the conflict we know so well from culture, so I don't know where you're getting this.

Meanwhile, I have to disagree, every president has had their failings and successes, and many are hard to judge until much later in history. I once had a professor whose doctoral thesis involved a section explaining why Grant was one of, if not THE, worst presidents, and it involved a great deal of substantiated research.

JFK was president for about 1000 days and other than his slightly sub-par work with civil rights, his term is marked by a failure (Bay of Pigs) that is manipulated by fictional representations much of the time, and a draw (Cuban Missile Crisis, which for many years was viewed as a victory because of how near the edge we were, until it became public that we had our own missiles in Eastern Europe that we withdrew in exchange; JFK supporters say that the missiles were a minor loss while others, including a few lecturers I've heard, say that the missiles were more important than we realized.) Even forgetting his rather embarrassing private life and that at times he was slightly more image than substance, he doesn't have a fantastic track record. To say he was better than some of our founding fathers is a joke.

And JFK's war story? Has a little more going on than you realize. JFK's boat sank *because* of the crew's, including JFK's, irresponsibility. You know that part of the series where Joe Jr. implies that JFK didn't deserve his honors? It wasn't just out of bitterness, as in the show. It is actually one of the parts of the series that involves the truth. And to involve his war history as part of your reasoning that JFK was a great president, is just like-and I'm guessing you are a liberal or a Democrat-when people said that McCain's Vietnam history made him a solid presidential candidate, except McCain had a history to be proud of. This is coming from someone who (regretfully) voted for Obama.

I'm not going to even get into Obama and Clinton. Or Lincoln. Everybody, no matter their political affiliation or leanings, includes Lincoln in their top el presidentes, whether or not the fact that Lincoln was a Republican (I mean, hello, he's *beep* *LINCOLN*.)

[–] sassback2391 14 years ago

Also, I assume when we talk of best presidents, I assume we're actually talking about people who did the job well, not just people who have the greatest presidential image. If we were just going by image and inspiration, we'd have to theoretically include *Reagan* in the top 10, which I think would piss a few of you off (like it or not, the guy had an amazing public approval rating. People loved that guy.)

[–] doug65oh 14 years ago

Oh good grief… That Gallup poll data was collected when I was 34 ½ years old… I’ll turn 46 in mid-August.

[–] bartcartman 14 years ago

What American history do you read, the ignorant version? If Obama is #5, then Jimmy Carter should be #4. At least Carter brokered a peace between Israel, and Egypt in 1978. So we just ignore Ronald Reagan for outspending the Soviets into backruptcy. That "little" thing known as "The Cold War". So just after Reagan leaves office, the Berlin Wall coming down had nothing to do with him. Selective memory! Selective memory that the Berlin Wall was built under JFK, which wouldn't have happened if Richard Nixon won in 1960.

JFK *DID NOT* get "advisers" out of Vietnam while he was alive. He didn't live long enough to make that decision, despite what Oliver Stone told you in a movie. I do know "With The Beatles" was released 11/22/63 in Britain.

Here's another clue, if Richard Nixon won the 1960 election, there would be no "Cuban Missle Crisis", and the "Bay of Pigs" would've had US Air Force support.

Despite that I think JFK was a decent president (NASA = Moon, unlike Obama who has defunded NASA), he did not end what Reagan did, and the fact you fail to mention that shows your true colors, or your age (born after 1985).

At least Ronald Reagan (unlike George W. Bush) was smart enough to "lie" to the ***right*** of his party without endorsing them. Ronald Reagan was a true Barry Goldwater/William F. Buckley Libertarian. Today's "Tea Party" would describe Reagan as a RINO.

[–] sassback2391 14 years ago

As someone who just made the cut off age to vote for the last election, I'll try to get over your '1985' comment.

Honestly, if everyone just *read* a little more and absorbed the tiniest bit more of cultural awareness, no one would have to deal with hipster statements like, "JFK was possibly the greatest president, totally underrated." Not even about JFK in general, just you know, *war dates*, or *current events*, or *for chrissakes, dude, there are *beep* government-funded libraries where they just let you go in and loiter as long you pick up a goddamn anything with words on the page, might as well use it*.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] sassback2391 14 years ago

What success? His monetary contribution to an event he wasn't alive to see develop and put into action? . And now we're on the moon, also in part thanks to the continuing contributions to the presidents after him as well. People act as if he figured out how to get to the moon himself. That's all he ever did really, increase the NASA budget.
He was killed at the height of his popularity, not his success, because he was hardly what one would call a successful president.

[–] ldavis-2 14 years ago

"He got elected under treacherous conditions"

Daddy bought him the White House. Real tough going, there!

"... and actually fought in a war and displayed bravery. Have you heard of the PT-109?"

He managed to get his boat SLICED IN HALF by a Japanese destroyer, killing 2 of his men! That was bravery, that was brainless! But Daddy pulled strings, and got his dumb boy the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to make him a "hero"! At least dumb boy knew that he didn't deserve it because he screwed up, and his screw up cost two men their lives.

[–] 14 years ago

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