Essay John F. Kennedy

Submitted By jordya96
Words: 952
Pages: 4

John F. Kennedy John grew up in a wealthy and powerful political family in Brookline, Massachusetts. It was also in a big family as he had three older brothers and five sisters. Johns father Joe had the dream that one of his sons would become president. He sent them to the best schools and expected that his older son, Joe Jr., would be president one day. Sadly Joe Jr. died in combat during war. Therefore John’s father turned to john to become president. Kennedy got involved in politics and became a U.S. Senator in 1953. When Kennedy was elected he gave one of the most stirring inaugural speeches in history. In this speech he said the famous words "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." His presidency was marked by major events in the Cold War. These events included the building of the Berlin Wall in Germany by the communists, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Just a few months after becoming president, Kennedy decided to try and help Cuban rebels overthrow the communist Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Unfortunately, the invasion failed. Despite all of the speculation over the assassination of President Kennedy and conspiracy theories, it is rather interesting and compelling to step aside from the conspiracy theories and instead speculate on how America, and for that matter the world, would have been different if President Kennedy had not been assassinated on November 22, 1963 and lived to finish out his term and run for office again in 1964. Although nobody has a crystal ball and can tell exactly how things would have been different, there are some things that are noteworthy and at least deserving of our attention. Herewith are some of the things that this commentator believes would have been different about our country had President Kennedy returned and the world unharmed to Washington, D.C. on November 22, 1963. It is quite possible that the moon landing would have been a little sooner. Had Kennedy lived and been re-elected President, his term would have ended on January 20, 1969. The moon landing took place on July 20, 1969. It is this commentator's belief that had Kennedy lived, that he would have had a "hands on" approach to running the Apollo Space mission and that the moon landing would have taken place at least a few months earlier, quite possibly before the end of his second term. The sciences would have been promoted. Kennedy was a very strong advocate of the sciences. Most likely Kennedy would have freed up a lot of money for scientific exploration and the education of future scientists. It is quite conceivable that cures for diseases, even the high profile ones such as cancer and diabetes, would have been found had JFK lived and been re-elected in 1964. The possibilities are endless when you stop to ponder what could have been accomplished in scientific exploration had Kennedy lived to promote the sciences. America's involvement in the war in Vietnam would have ended. President Kennedy's desire to end American involvement in the Vietnam War upon returning to Washington is well documented. It is very likely that if he had lived, he would have issued an Executive order for all American troops in Vietnam to return to the United States and over 58,000 American soldiers would not have been killed, Thousands of American children who grew up fatherless would have had a father, and there would have been thousands fewer American troops suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. These are theories of JKS’S death, he refused to allow the CIA and American troops to attack Cuba thereby creating the infamous Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961. Following that incident, General Charles P. Cabell, Deputy Director of the CIA, went around Washington calling President Kennedy a traitor.