Truly one of the more charismatic and yet troubling presidents of the last 75 years. Kennedy’s administration formed itself into an Arthurian wonderland filled with gorgeous fashion and populated by virile knights of the round table.
JFK, who comes to the presidency in 1960, in a hotly contested election with Richard Nixon, upset the republican power base when he won the presidential election with one of the slimmest voting margins in American history.
Now, how did he win? Well that is a vexed question indeed. First there were the televised debates. My oh my, Nixon—the poor man just sweated so profusely underneath those debate lights!! I wonder if anyone really noticed what Nixon said versus what Kennedy said, particularly when Nixon looked like a poor man stuffed into an ill fitting suit. And did anyone except me see the sweat line on his upper lip? It’s really too bad that Richard didn’t use his pocket handkerchief!
Oddly enough Kennedy did not offer much in terms of substance beyond his million dollar smile during the debates. Indeed people listening to the debate, as opposed to watching it, believed that Nixon’s thoughtful answers carried the day. But this was, in fact, not the case, as the American people looked at a pallid Nixon as opposed to the tanned robust Kennedy, found that they rather liked the idea of an attractive playboy and his luminous wife occupying the pivotal aspect of American political power
There are few presidents who survived all of the various crises faced by Kennedy. Keeping him in good ocompany on that score were, of course, FDR and Truman. Indeed Kennedy’s finest hour was of course his handling of Nikita Kruschev and the Politburo during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963. His superb manipulation of an aggressive Joint Chiefs, and taking advice from both his brother Bobby, and his top aide Kenny O Donnell, was also a plus. Frankly, it’s a miracle that we all emerged safely from that near debacle.
One aspect of the Crisis is rarely discussed, and yet to my mind it was the most important moment of the entire affair: the back-door communications that occurred between Kruschev and Kennedy almost on the eve of US military intervention in Cuba.
Recounting the talks that occurred between a Soviet spy who lived next door to a Washington newspaper editor, may not be appropriate here. Yet, it turned out that the spy was most likely a quiet messenger from Kruschev (sp?), begging for Kennedy to behave like a sane individual, come to a quick agreement, and stop the terrible strength of events that had been set in motion.
The story of that 'telex' between the Soviet Premier and Kennedy comes under some debate, however, there us record of a 'letter' being telexed (gods, remember those machines?) to Kennedy on the fateful eve of the proposed US invasion. In that letter, there were enough informal statements to indicate to the Kennedy administration, that Nikita had written the letter himself in a state of extreme anxiety. It was due to this letter that inspired the Kennedy brothers to have a lightning round of secret (not so secret) diplomacy with the Russians. The upshot of that agreement was that the US would remove missiles from Turkey (that were of course trained on high value Russian targets), as long as the Russians got rid of their 'equipment' (?) in Cuba. The US action would take place within six months of the proposed agreement. To remove the missiles.
Frankly, the whole debacle could have been avoided, and yet the climate of the time was so tense, so delicate, that perhaps a Cuban Crisis was inevitable.
And one of course must not EVER forget the comedy/tragedy of the Bay of Pigs. If one could have prosecuted anyone, ANYone for that criminal invasion, then it should have been CIA director Alan Dulles.
Yes, folks, Alan Dulles.
And if anyone cares, the absolutely best best best book on Dulles is The Devils Chessboard: the CIA and the Rise of America's Secret Government by David Talbot. I read that book when I was teaching a seminar years ago on the assassination of JFK, and my mind was blown. BLOWN.
By the way: it should also be noted that the same Dulles was also to serve on the warren commission
Perhaps the one area where Kennedy could have been more aggressive or perhaps proactive was in the arena of civil rights. In an era where African Americans enjoyed few (if any) freedoms from the color line (read segregation) Kennedy and his brother Bobby at least opened up a dialogue with leaders of the movement, such as Martin Luther King jr, and the more secular Malcolm X.
And yet it was through the efforts of extraordinary, and yet ordinary men and women like Metgar Everts (my true all time hero by the way), and Rosa Parks (of course), to name only a few that the Kennedy's were finally pressed into necessary service. They began to send forces, such as the national guard, and the FBI (although I am sure that J Edgar crapped his pants over that one), to send African American children and young adults to the southern school institutions. Such events (can one ever forget Little Rock?) created something of a beacon for others to continue the struggle into the sixties. But this is not a civil rights discussion, is it?
And, yet, perhaps it is...
Yet, since this is something of an informal format, I absolutely must not forget one of the more tragic, and yet important episodes of this era: Emmet Till, who was murdered in 1954. And we absolutely MUST not forget his mother Mamie Till, whose actions following this senseless crime, were nothing less than heroic (and that is an understatement). Of course the murderers of Till (a 14 year old boy whose only crime was in being handsome and bright and also being in the wrong place at the right time) were subsequently tried in a Mississippi (oh dear) court, and promptly found not guilty. Ye Gods.
The jury only took 67 minutes to come to their verdict.
Wow. And there was enough evidence to connect both men to the crime, including witnesses, like Till's uncle, Mose Wright. Now, that man should go down in the American annals for acts of heroism. I mean, can you imagine the courage of a black man in the fifties, facing down his oppressors in such a setting? His righteous outrage must have sustained him. I am in awe of him.
Mose Wright, and the incomparable Mamie Till my friends:
And do you know what happened after this tragedy, and the highly visible funeral of this young boy? Two or three years after these awful events, the two murdering bozos, Roy Bryant, and J.W. Milam, told their story to a reporter for Look magazine for approximately $4000. What assholes.
In this infamous piece, the two morons, who were protected by the double jeopardy clause (this means that once found guilty of a crime, the accused cannot ever be prosecuted for it in another court of law), described in detail the events leading up to the murder of the young boy, and how they disposed of the child's body.
The body of Emmett Till was found in the Talahachee River, weighted down by a 70 pound cotton gin fan.
After the trial, Mamie Till held a widely publicized funeral, where she placed her son in an open coffin. She then allowed Jet Magazine (a leading African American publication), to place a photograph of her son's body on its cover.
That picture created one of the first 'realities' for complacent middle class whites in this country, who were finally 'exposed' to the horrors of segregation and Jim Crow.
While I am not, absolutely not, going to show you a picture of that magazine cover of the poor boy, I will recommend to you the best documentary I ever saw on this subject:
https://www.pbs.org/video/the-murder-of-emmett-till-j6dpye/
It's called "The Murder of Emmett Till," and is a wonderful recitation of these events. It is also part of the PBS series, "The American Experience." If you haven't ever watched that show, you really should.
And, while I am on this subject, I cannot forget another event that shook the entire world: the four little girls of Birmingham, Alabama, who were murdered in a church with a bomb by a white supremacist git. Like the case of Emmett Till, the criminal deaths of these kids became something of a cause celebre in the early 1960s. And, no, Dear Reader, I am not going to recount those tragic events.
But, if you are ever curious, there is a magnificent film made by Spike Lee on the subject, and it's by the mysterious and wonderful Spike Lee: "4 Little Girls." This film is available just about everywhere but I think it.s like 2.99 via YouTube
And, now Dear Reader, I am going to end this post. I know, I know. You are wondering if I am going to ever discuss the Assassination? Well, of course I am :). But, not in this post. That story is for another day. And, yet, I shall leave you with a face of one of the most gracious (and long suffering) first ladies I ever 'knew':
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