JFK's Legacy?

OK. I didn't write this yesterday, because I simply didn't want to get caught up in all of the "JFK has been dead 50 years" hysteria. But it bears a mention anyway. Yes, we are all sad he died, but let's face facts, shall we?

I was 6 years old and in the first grade when Kennedy was assassinated. I heard about it walking home from school and didn't believe it until I got home. For the next three days, it was wall to wall coverage, which was rare back in the 60's. There was no Fox News or CNN back then. You only had Huntley/Brinkley and Walter Cronkite. I remember that I was upset at the incident, so much so, that my parents wouldn't let me watch TV during the ordeal.

Let's look at Kennedy's legacy, shall we? He was an OK president, but certainly, not one that should be put in the same category as Washington or Lincoln. Probably not even Reagan. He did lower taxes. He did possess great oratory skills. He did say we should go to the moon. But he also screwed up big time with Bay of Pigs. He also got us involved in Vietnam (thank you very much). And beyond that, he slept around on Jackie a lot, including a mobster's girlfriend (which a lot of people think may have got him killed).

I would classify JFK as a moderate conservative in today's climate. He certainly wasn't liberal when you look at people like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Not even close. But then again, not many people were back in 1960. Was he progressive for his time? Maybe. Was he great? No. Average president. No real legacy other than Bay of Pigs. So why all the fuss?

JFK was like Otis Redding or Jim Croce. People clamored to him in death more than they ever did in life. His dad got him elected president by stealing votes in Chicago. His dad was tied in with the mob, and it was his brother Bobby that kept him on the straight and narrow....so to speak. But Camelot it wasn't. More like the Playboy Mansion.

We all wanted a hero after the blandness of Dwight D. Eisenhower, and we got one in Kennedy. He became a martyred hero. And it was exactly what the country needed at that time. Had he lived, he'd probably have been a president on par with Lyndon Johnson, Eisenhower, or Clinton. OK, but nothing to write home about. Certainly not one of the worst, but far from one of the best. Instead, we get someone that lasted in office less than three years, and became a national inspiration to a generation (including Bill Clinton).

50 years later, we're no closer to learning if Oswald acted alone. We're no closer to knowing who really killed Kennedy and why. We can only speculate, and you know....we probably will never know! I'm ok with that.

His accomplishments in office weren't spectacular. His bedroom antics were. But they were hidden from the public until long after the body was cold. Hero? Sure, why not. We needed a hero. In reality though, he was just another in an every-growing line of guys that ran our country for a while. Idolize him if you must, but realize, he was just a guy.