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Nicholas Guymon

Mrs. Hynes

Honors United States History

27 Mar. 2017

John F. Kennedy

In order to be a successful leader, one must understand history in all of its complexity.

Simultaneously, one must also notice and observe the present state of affairs in his or her own

country as well as understand the implications of his or her actions in order to lead a society

towards progress. John F. Kennedy, the youngest President of the United States, could be

characterized by such sagacity: he understood the world history, its application and relevance to

the present-day, the gravity of his own position, and the implications of his own actions. He

carefully observed not only the present state of affairs in the United States as the civil rights

movement rapidly developed, but also the state of affairs throughout the world during the

heightened tensions of the Cold War as Russia contended with the United States for nuclear,

technological, and aeronautical superiority. As a man who had endured many struggles and

personal tragedies throughout the tumultuous decades of the early twentieth century, John F.

Kennedy clearly understood the public sentiment of the post Second World War and Cold War

Era generationhe understood their disillusionment and anxiety, their need for social

progression, and most of all, their need for stability. Although John F. Kennedy lived a very

sheltered and privileged life, his profound knowledge of history and his own experiences during

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the early nineteenth century and the Second World War heavily influenced his presidential

ideologies and goals.

Throughout John F. Kennedys career in the public office and as the President of the

United States, his knowledge of history deeply shaped his pessimistic views about the present

and the future, and it fostered his assiduous, and pensive, yet often tentative political decisions.

While Kennedy was the president of the United States, he had an uncanny ability to visualize the

gravity of all conflicts and problems and as they pertained to one another and the scheme of

worldly occurrences in the context of the known past and the possible future (Craig 3). Nearly

two decades after the end of the Second World War at a press conference regarding the

demobilization of reserves following the Berlin crisis, Kennedy said, there is always an

inequity in life. . . Life is unfair, (qtd. in Schlesinger 114). According to Arthur Schlesinger, a

Progressive Era intellectual and an educator at Harvard, [Kennedy] said this, not with bitterness,

but with the knowledge of one who had lived through a bitter agea knowledge which stamped

him as a son of that age (114-115). Having witnessed the Great Depression and having

experienced the brutality and realities of the Second World War firsthand during his service in

the United States Navy, Kennedy embraced a pessimistic outlook of the future by which he

carefully and strategically governed the nation. Indeed, these pessimistic views made him more

receptive to the implications of his actions and fostered his prudence as a leader; thus, they

heavily influenced how he averted nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis and addressed

the civil rights movement. By embracing a pessimistic view, John F. Kennedy hoped to mitigate

the possibility of exacerbating and engendering more tensions during the Cold War.

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 Lastly, President Kennedy deeply understood the publics need for a strong and central

governmentone that would inevitably pave the way towards progress and fulfill the publics

needs. Likewise, as the leader of the United States of America, Kennedy personally felt

compelled to lead the nation with an infallibility and selflessness, determined not to let any

Americans endure any more hardships than they had already endured throughout the early

nineteenth century. Therefore, it was not uncommon that President Kennedy worked long

hours. . . read six newspapers while he ate breakfast, had meetings with important people

throughout the day, and read reports from his advisers. [For he] wanted to make sure that he

made the best decisions for his country (Life). This ideology of Kennedys presidency is most

likely attributable to the fact that his relationship with his father and his experiences during the

Second World War also heavily influenced his own expectations of himself to selflessly and

infallibly serve the American people. During Kennedys youth, his father [had] very high

expectations and wanted [John F. Kennedy and his brothers] to win at sports and everything they

tried (Life). Likewise, during Kennedys service as a lieutenant in the Second World War, he

had to lead his battered and heavily wounded group to safety after his vessel was sunk by a

Japanese destroyer (Life).

Throughout John F. Kennedys presidency, the United States of America witnessed some

of the most dangerous events of the Cold War. During this time period, the United States and the

Soviet Union nearly came to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which

jeopardized the safety of the world. Were it not for the leadership skills of President John F.

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Kennedy, which his knowledge of history and his own experiences fostered, the world as society

knows it today might not even exist.

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Works Cited
Craig, G. M. John Fitzgerald Kennedy. International Journal, 19.1 (1964): 1-6. JSTOR.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40198688. Accessed 19 Mar. 2017.

Life of John F. Kennedy. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, JFK Library,

n. d., www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/Life-of-John-F-Kennedy.aspx. Accessed 21 Mar. 2017.

Schlesinger, Arthur M. John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical

Society, vol. 75 (1963): 113117. JSTOR. www.jstor.org/stable/25080576. Accessed

19 Mar. 2017.