Changes

==Career==

==Career==

Educated at private schools and Harvard College, young Kennedy was an indifferent student until the war in Europe focused his attention. Extensive interviews with major British politicians and observers led to an unusually precocious senior thesis that became an influential book, "Why England Slept" (1940).  As second son in the powerful [[Kennedy Family]], he was marked for an intellectual career as a writer or journalist, while his older brother Joseph was slated for politics by their manipulative father, [[Joseph P. Kennedy]]. In September 1941, Kennedy attempted to join the U.S. Army but was medically disqualified due the his chronic lower back problems. He then joined the U.S. Navy and attended officer training school. His older brother’s death in combat during [[World War II]], combined with JFK’s heroic war record as skipper of the [[PT-109]] in 1943, set the stage for his political debut as a Congressional candidate in 1946.

Educated at private schools and Harvard College, young Kennedy was an indifferent student until the war in Europe focused his attention. Extensive interviews with major British politicians and observers led to an unusually precocious senior thesis that became an influential book, "Why England Slept" (1940).  As second son in the powerful [[Kennedy Family]], he was marked for an intellectual career as a writer or journalist, while his older brother Joseph was slated for politics by their manipulative father, [[Joseph P. Kennedy]]. In September 1941, Kennedy attempted to join the U.S. Army but was medically disqualified due the his chronic lower back problems. He then joined the U.S. Navy and attended officer training school. His older brother's death in combat during [[World War II]], combined with JFK's heroic war record as skipper of the [[PT-109]] in 1943, set the stage for his political debut as a Congressional candidate in 1946.

===Medical===

===Medical===

==Politics==

==Politics==

[[File:Kennedy on the campaign trail.jpg|right|300px|thumb|John Kennedy campaigning.]]

[[File:Kennedy on the campaign trail.jpg|right|300px|thumb|John Kennedy campaigning.]]

Although the father had abandoned Boston in frustration, JFK’s return to the city restored the family’s traditional power base among the large and powerful Irish-American community in Massachusetts.  Strong family connections with the Chicago Irish political community (led by Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]]) augmented his national Catholic base.  JFK always had two sets of advisors, an inner circle of Irish politicians who planned his campaigns, and a Protestant-Jewish coterie of intellectuals (mostly from Harvard) who promoted his stature as the intellectual in politics.  That image was solidified by the Pulitzer Prize awarded his ''Profiles in Courage'' (1956).  JFK possessed powerful assets: an excellent speaker and glib commentator on major issues, a middle-of-the-road political record that offended no one, strong expertise in foreign policy, articulate anti-Communism, unfailing charm and stage presence, a national network of Irish allies, a Catholic base that comprised a fourth of the electorate, and an immense purse that was ready to fund his ambitions, not to mention innumerable relatives who campaigned endlessly on his behalf.   

Although the father had abandoned Boston in frustration, JFK's return to the city restored the family's traditional power base among the large and powerful Irish-American community in Massachusetts.  Strong family connections with the Chicago Irish political community (led by Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]]) augmented his national Catholic base.  JFK always had two sets of advisors, an inner circle of Irish politicians who planned his campaigns, and a Protestant-Jewish coterie of intellectuals (mostly from Harvard) who promoted his stature as the intellectual in politics.  That image was solidified by the Pulitzer Prize awarded his ''Profiles in Courage'' (1956).  JFK possessed powerful assets: an excellent speaker and glib commentator on major issues, a middle-of-the-road political record that offended no one, strong expertise in foreign policy, articulate anti-Communism, unfailing charm and stage presence, a national network of Irish allies, a Catholic base that comprised a fourth of the electorate, and an immense purse that was ready to fund his ambitions, not to mention innumerable relatives who campaigned endlessly on his behalf.   

JFK fought his way into the Senate in 1952 by defeating incumbent Republican [[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]], the archetypal Yankee.  Kennedy largely ignored the old-boy Senate (controlled by his rival [[Lyndon Johnson]]) to display his talents through newspaper and television interviews, magazine articles, and highly publicized speeches around the country.  Aided by his closest advisor, his brother [[Robert Kennedy]], JFK appealed to conservatives by tolerating [[Joe McCarthy]]<ref>JFK's father Joe Kennedy was a major supporter and close personal friend of McCarthy, and Robert worked for a while for McCarthy. McCarthy dated one of JFK's sisters.</ref> and launching attacks on corrupt labor leaders, especially [[Jimmy Hoffa]] of the [[Teamsters Union]].   

JFK fought his way into the Senate in 1952 by defeating incumbent Republican [[Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.]], the archetypal Yankee.  Kennedy largely ignored the old-boy Senate (controlled by his rival [[Lyndon Johnson]]) to display his talents through newspaper and television interviews, magazine articles, and highly publicized speeches around the country.  Aided by his closest advisor, his brother [[Robert Kennedy]], JFK appealed to conservatives by tolerating [[Joe McCarthy]]<ref>JFK's father Joe Kennedy was a major supporter and close personal friend of McCarthy, and Robert worked for a while for McCarthy. McCarthy dated one of JFK's sisters.</ref> and launching attacks on corrupt labor leaders, especially [[Jimmy Hoffa]] of the [[Teamsters Union]].   

The Kennedy family represented the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, and was known for its anti-Communism and close ties with Republican Senator [[Joe McCarthy]]. Many liberal Democrats, led by [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], distrusted JFK primarily because they could never forget the father’s break with Franklin Roosevelt or the family’s support for McCarthy.  Yet with the fading away of [[Adlai Stevenson]] (the liberal Democratic candidate in 1952 and 1956), liberals lacked a viable candidate.

The Kennedy family represented the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, and was known for its anti-Communism and close ties with Republican Senator [[Joe McCarthy]]. Many liberal Democrats, led by [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], distrusted JFK primarily because they could never forget the father's break with Franklin Roosevelt or the family's support for McCarthy.  Yet with the fading away of [[Adlai Stevenson]] (the liberal Democratic candidate in 1952 and 1956), liberals lacked a viable candidate.

==Nomination==

==Nomination==

When Adlai Stevenson allowed the delegates to choose the vice-presidential nominee in 1956, Kennedy sought the position but was narrowly defeated by Stevenson's two-time primary rival, liberal Senator [[Estes Kefauver]] of [[Tennessee]].

When Adlai Stevenson allowed the delegates to choose the vice-presidential nominee in 1956, Kennedy sought the position but was narrowly defeated by Stevenson's two-time primary rival, liberal Senator [[Estes Kefauver]] of [[Tennessee]].

By 1960, Kennedy was the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination to face [[Richard M. Nixon]], with the biggest question mark whether his Catholic base of support would be outweighed by anti-Catholicism of the sort that hurt [[Al Smith]] in the 1928 race against [[Herbert Hoover]]. Prohibition was no longer an issue, and fear of Tammany-like bossism had faded away with the demise of most big city machines. The Kennedy juggernaut defeated rival [[Hubert Humphrey]], a fellow liberal, in the West Virginia primary, a state with so much poverty and so few Catholics that party leaders were convinced they had a winner.  Kennedy won over the party’s intellectuals by his effective academic connections, while shaming doubters by a brilliant performance before the Protestant ministers of Houston.  There he enunciated the position that he did not speak for the Catholic Church on matters of religion, and it did not speak for him on public affairs.  He was able to take that position because there were no high intensity moral issue such as abortion at that time.   

By 1960, Kennedy was the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination to face [[Richard M. Nixon]], with the biggest question mark whether his Catholic base of support would be outweighed by anti-Catholicism of the sort that hurt [[Al Smith]] in the 1928 race against [[Herbert Hoover]]. Prohibition was no longer an issue, and fear of Tammany-like bossism had faded away with the demise of most big city machines. The Kennedy juggernaut defeated rival [[Hubert Humphrey]], a fellow liberal, in the West Virginia primary, a state with so much poverty and so few Catholics that party leaders were convinced they had a winner.  Kennedy won over the party's intellectuals by his effective academic connections, while shaming doubters by a brilliant performance before the Protestant ministers of Houston.  There he enunciated the position that he did not speak for the Catholic Church on matters of religion, and it did not speak for him on public affairs.  He was able to take that position because there were no high intensity moral issue such as abortion at that time.   

Although Kennedy’s religiosity consisted of nominal attendance at Sunday Mass, he excited tens of millions of Catholics who saw his election as president as confirmation of their full recognition as true Americans.  With 8 of 10 Catholics voting for Kennedy, he ran up majorities in ethnic strongholds like Chicago that provided the narrow margin of victory against Richard Nixon.  Apart from a few pockets of anti-popery among some Midwestern Lutherans and Southern Baptists, fears of Catholicism largely disappeared from the voting booth after 1960, and Kennedy gets credit for bringing Catholics into the American political mainstream.

Although Kennedy's religiosity consisted of nominal attendance at Sunday Mass, he excited tens of millions of Catholics who saw his election as president as confirmation of their full recognition as true Americans.  With 8 of 10 Catholics voting for Kennedy, he ran up majorities in ethnic strongholds like Chicago that provided the narrow margin of victory against Richard Nixon.  Apart from a few pockets of anti-popery among some Midwestern Lutherans and Southern Baptists, fears of Catholicism largely disappeared from the voting booth after 1960, and Kennedy gets credit for bringing Catholics into the American political mainstream.

==Foreign policy==

==Foreign policy==

Kennedy was primarily interested in foreign policy.  Weeks after his [[John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address|memorable inaugural address]] sounded the tocsin for vigorous anti-communism, he encountered disaster when the invasion of Cuba failed at the [[Bay of Pigs]] in 1961, and he was forced to pay ransom of $53 million U.S. dollars in food and medicine in exchange for the 1,113 prisoners and 76 other exiles being held in Cuba.<ref>http://onwar.com/aced/chrono/c1900s/yr60/fcuba1961.htm</ref> Soviet leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]], sensing weakness, pushed hard on the Berlin issue, and was able to build the Berlin Wall in East Berlin, despite Kennedy’s later rhetoric, "Ich bin ein Berliner!" ("I am a Berliner!")

Kennedy was primarily interested in foreign policy.  Weeks after his [[John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address|memorable inaugural address]] sounded the tocsin for vigorous anti-communism, he encountered disaster when the invasion of Cuba failed at the [[Bay of Pigs]] in 1961, and he was forced to pay ransom of $53 million U.S. dollars in food and medicine in exchange for the 1,113 prisoners and 76 other exiles being held in Cuba.<ref>http://onwar.com/aced/chrono/c1900s/yr60/fcuba1961.htm</ref> Soviet leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]], sensing weakness, pushed hard on the Berlin issue, and was able to build the Berlin Wall in East Berlin, despite Kennedy's later rhetoric, "Ich bin ein Berliner!" ("I am a Berliner!")

===Peace Corps===

===Peace Corps===

see [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]

see [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]

Khrushchev and Castro went too far in 1962, secretly setting up medium range missiles in Cuba equipped with nuclear warheads that threatened the southeast United States.  In his greatest moment, Kennedy rejected invasion plans but imposed a blockade and demanded the missiles be removed immediately.  Khrushchev publicly backed down, but privately got Kennedy to agree to removing the older U.S. Jupiter missiles from Turkey; while Castro secured the promise that the United States would never invade his island. Realizing how close they had come to war, Kennedy and Khrushchev became much friendlier in public. In 1963, they signed a [[Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)|test ban treaty]] which eliminated nuclear testing above ground or in space; the treaty was further designed to hobble China and other countries trying to build their first bombs. The Cuban missile crisis reversed Kennedy’s image of ineptness in foreign policy, but his quiet, escalation of military involvement in Vietnam set the stage for the whirlwind reaped by his successor.

Khrushchev and Castro went too far in 1962, secretly setting up medium range missiles in Cuba equipped with nuclear warheads that threatened the southeast United States.  In his greatest moment, Kennedy rejected invasion plans but imposed a blockade and demanded the missiles be removed immediately.  Khrushchev publicly backed down, but privately got Kennedy to agree to removing the older U.S. Jupiter missiles from Turkey; while Castro secured the promise that the United States would never invade his island. Realizing how close they had come to war, Kennedy and Khrushchev became much friendlier in public. In 1963, they signed a [[Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)|test ban treaty]] which eliminated nuclear testing above ground or in space; the treaty was further designed to hobble China and other countries trying to build their first bombs. The Cuban missile crisis reversed Kennedy's image of ineptness in foreign policy, but his quiet, escalation of military involvement in Vietnam set the stage for the whirlwind reaped by his successor.

==Domestic policy==

==Domestic policy==

===Civil rights===

===Civil rights===

A new issue that Kennedy had not anticipated blazed into view as the [[civil rights movement]] in the South, led by [[Martin Luther King]], produced dramatic confrontations for JFK with segregationist Democrats, especially Governors George Wallace of Alabama, and Ross Barnett of Mississippi. In September 1962, Kennedy sent federal marshals and Army MP’s to enforce a federal court order that African American student James Meredith be admitted to the University of Mississippi. Violent resistance by certain townspeople left two civilians dead, hundreds injured, and 166 federals injured.  The June 1963 confrontation in Alabama was nonviolent, and although Wallace did back down, the event boosted his visibility as a leader of segregationist southern Democrats. JFK ignored the risks to his southern base and spoke out in favor of civil rights legislation, but as in so many instances, the bill was passed after his death.

A new issue that Kennedy had not anticipated blazed into view as the [[civil rights movement]] in the South, led by [[Martin Luther King]], produced dramatic confrontations for JFK with segregationist Democrats, especially Governors George Wallace of Alabama, and Ross Barnett of Mississippi. In September 1962, Kennedy sent federal marshals and Army MP's to enforce a federal court order that African American student James Meredith be admitted to the University of Mississippi. Violent resistance by certain townspeople left two civilians dead, hundreds injured, and 166 federals injured.  The June 1963 confrontation in Alabama was nonviolent, and although Wallace did back down, the event boosted his visibility as a leader of segregationist southern Democrats. JFK ignored the risks to his southern base and spoke out in favor of civil rights legislation, but as in so many instances, the bill was passed after his death.

==Legacy==

==Legacy==

[[Image:JFK bust.jpg|thumb|Bust of John F. Kennedy by Robert Berks.]]

[[Image:JFK bust.jpg|thumb|Bust of John F. Kennedy by Robert Berks.]]

Kennedy’s assassination by [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh25/html/WC_Vol25_0085b.htm self-proclaimed] "[[Marxist]]"<ref>FBI transcript: [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh25/html/WC_Vol25_0085b.htm Lee Oswald to the Socialist Party of America], Warren Commission Hearings, CE 2240, Vol. XXV, p. 140, October 3, 1956</ref> [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] in November, 1963, was a stunning shock to all Americans.  

Kennedy's assassination by [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh25/html/WC_Vol25_0085b.htm self-proclaimed] "[[Marxist]]"<ref>FBI transcript: [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh25/html/WC_Vol25_0085b.htm Lee Oswald to the Socialist Party of America], Warren Commission Hearings, CE 2240, Vol. XXV, p. 140, October 3, 1956</ref> [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] in November, 1963, was a stunning shock to all Americans.  

To deflect attention from its ties to Oswald (who had defected to the USSR for several years), the [[Soviet Union]] fabricated a disinformation campaign to blame the assassination on US conservatives. On November 23, 1963–the day after Kennedy was killed–a memo from KGB chairman Vladimir Semichastny asked the Kremlin immediately to publish an article in a “progressive paper in one of the Western countries …exposing the attempt by [http://pjmedia.com/mihaipacepa/2013/11/20/the-new-proof-of-the-kgbs-hand-in-jfks-assassination/?singlepage=true reactionary circles in the USA to remove the responsibility for the murder of Kennedy from the real criminals, &#91;i.e.,&#93; the racists and ultra-right elements] guilty of the spread and growth of violence and terror in the United States.” [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Struggle_for_Russia.html?id=GSyaAAAACAAJ According to Boris Yeltsin], the result was an article appearing two months later in the communist-controlled British journal ''Labour Monthly'', stating, “[M]ost commentators, have surmised a coup of the Ultra-Right or racialists of Dallas . . . [that], with the manifest complicity necessary of a very wide range of authorities, bears all the hallmarks of a CIA job.” Next, Joachim Joesten, a former member of the German Communist Party, wrote ''Oswald: Assassin or Fall Guy?'' claiming that Oswald was “an FBI agent provocateur with a CIA background.”

To deflect attention from its ties to Oswald (who had defected to the USSR for several years), the [[Soviet Union]] fabricated a disinformation campaign to blame the assassination on US conservatives. On November 23, 1963–the day after Kennedy was killed–a memo from KGB chairman Vladimir Semichastny asked the Kremlin immediately to publish an article in a “progressive paper in one of the Western countries …exposing the attempt by [http://pjmedia.com/mihaipacepa/2013/11/20/the-new-proof-of-the-kgbs-hand-in-jfks-assassination/?singlepage=true reactionary circles in the USA to remove the responsibility for the murder of Kennedy from the real criminals, &#91;i.e.,&#93; the racists and ultra-right elements] guilty of the spread and growth of violence and terror in the United States.” [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Struggle_for_Russia.html?id=GSyaAAAACAAJ According to Boris Yeltsin], the result was an article appearing two months later in the communist-controlled British journal ''Labour Monthly'', stating, “[M]ost commentators, have surmised a coup of the Ultra-Right or racialists of Dallas . . . [that], with the manifest complicity necessary of a very wide range of authorities, bears all the hallmarks of a CIA job.” Next, Joachim Joesten, a former member of the German Communist Party, wrote ''Oswald: Assassin or Fall Guy?'' claiming that Oswald was “an FBI agent provocateur with a CIA background.”

To further link the assassination to the CIA, the [[KGB]]'s Section A for Disinformation and Active Measures produce a clumsy forgery of a letter supposedly from Oswald to CIA officer E. Howard Hunt, asking for information "[https://books.google.com/books?id=wVndU5P4V-8C&pg=PT207#v=onepage&q&f=false before any steps are taken by me or anyone else]," according to secret documents smuggled out of [[Moscow]] by former KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin, and published by him and Cambridge University's Christopher Andrew, [http://pajamasmedia.com/ronradosh/2009/08/10/the-debate-over-soviet-espionage-what-nicholas-lemann-of-the-new-yorker-gets-wrong/ dean of British historians of Soviet espionage]. Agents passed the forged letter anonymously to unwitting US conspiracy theorists; it appeared in a self-published assassination book, and a Dallas newspaper even claimed that a handwriting expert [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/12/world/kgb-told-tall-tales-about-dallas-book-says.html declared it to be genuine].

To further link the assassination to the CIA, the [[KGB]]'s Section A for Disinformation and Active Measures produce a clumsy forgery of a letter supposedly from Oswald to CIA officer E. Howard Hunt, asking for information "[https://books.google.com/books?id=wVndU5P4V-8C&pg=PT207#v=onepage&q&f=false before any steps are taken by me or anyone else]," according to secret documents smuggled out of [[Moscow]] by former KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin, and published by him and Cambridge University's Christopher Andrew, [http://pajamasmedia.com/ronradosh/2009/08/10/the-debate-over-soviet-espionage-what-nicholas-lemann-of-the-new-yorker-gets-wrong/ dean of British historians of Soviet espionage]. Agents passed the forged letter anonymously to unwitting US conspiracy theorists; it appeared in a self-published assassination book, and a Dallas newspaper even claimed that a handwriting expert [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/12/world/kgb-told-tall-tales-about-dallas-book-says.html declared it to be genuine].

Joesten's book was published in the US in 1964 by KGB agent Carlo Aldo Marzani (code-named "Nord"), who was paid $672,000 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party in the early 1960s, according to Mitrokhin's documents. The book was positively reviewed by [[Victor Perlo]] (an American KGB agent code-named "Raid") in ''New Times'', which was a KGB front at one time printed in Romania, according to Lt. Gen. Ion Pacepa, the highest-ranking defector from the East bloc. [[I.F. Stone]], a Soviet "agent of influence" code-named "Blin," followed with an article suggesting that Oswald may have been "the tool of some rightist plot." In 1966 came Mark Lane's bestseller ''Rush to Judgment'', alleging that Kennedy was assassinated by a right-wing US group. Documents in the Mitrokhin Archive show that the KGB indirectly sent Mark Lane $2,000, and that KGB operative Genrikh Borovik was in regular contact with him. According to Pacepa, Semichastny’s memo thus "generated the Kennedy conspiracy that has never stopped."

Joesten's book was published in the US in 1964 by KGB agent Carlo Aldo Marzani (code-named "Nord"), who was paid $672,000 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party in the early 1960s, according to Mitrokhin's documents. The book was positively reviewed by [[Victor Perlo]] (an American KGB agent code-named "Raid") in ''New Times'', which was a KGB front at one time printed in Romania, according to Lt. Gen. Ion Pacepa, the highest-ranking defector from the East bloc. [[I.F. Stone]], a Soviet "agent of influence" code-named "Blin," followed with an article suggesting that Oswald may have been "the tool of some rightist plot." In 1966 came Mark Lane's bestseller ''Rush to Judgment'', alleging that Kennedy was assassinated by a right-wing US group. Documents in the Mitrokhin Archive show that the KGB indirectly sent Mark Lane $2,000, and that KGB operative Genrikh Borovik was in regular contact with him. According to Pacepa, Semichastny's memo thus "generated the Kennedy conspiracy that has never stopped."

Pierson (2007) argues that the liberal media turned Kennedy's death into a martyrdom against racism, ignoring Kennedy's weaker interest in race and his strong opposition to Communism. Oswald's strong Communist ties were downplayed, and instead, the conservative city of [[Dallas]] was made the guilty party. Incoming president Lyndon Johnson used the martyrdom theme to rally support for his liberal programs, painting them as memorials to Kennedy until Johnson won reelection in 1964 by a landslide over conservative leader [[Barry Goldwater]].

Pierson (2007) argues that the liberal media turned Kennedy's death into a martyrdom against racism, ignoring Kennedy's weaker interest in race and his strong opposition to Communism. Oswald's strong Communist ties were downplayed, and instead, the conservative city of [[Dallas]] was made the guilty party. Incoming president Lyndon Johnson used the martyrdom theme to rally support for his liberal programs, painting them as memorials to Kennedy until Johnson won reelection in 1964 by a landslide over conservative leader [[Barry Goldwater]].

The Catholic community took his assassination hard, and immediately elevated JFK to a sort of sainthood status, celebrating that he had liberated them from second class citizenship.  Johnson in 1964 successfully retained the Catholic base JFK had fostered, but that was the last hurrah.  By 1966 Catholics started showing their disillusionment with Johnson, who never recovered from the wave after wave of urban riots, nor from the disillusionment of his [[Vietnam War]] policy.  With the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968, and the failure of youngest brother [[Ted Kennedy]] to recover his brothers’ national base, the Kennedy legacy increasingly became the romantic memory.  Reports of JFK’s affairs, and detailed reports of his multiple grave medical problems fascinated the public but failed to break the myth that if JFK had lived, his second term would be a story of political triumphs restoring people’s faith in government. The assassination was so incomprehensible that hundreds of conspiracy theories have sprung up with over 350 people and organizations have been named as guilty of the event. Donald Trump has since reaffirmed that he will release the documents pertaining to the JFK assassination, despite earlier reports indicating he'll delay them.<ref>http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-will-allow-release-of-classified-jfk-assassination-files/article/2638250</ref>

The Catholic community took his assassination hard, and immediately elevated JFK to a sort of sainthood status, celebrating that he had liberated them from second class citizenship.  Johnson in 1964 successfully retained the Catholic base JFK had fostered, but that was the last hurrah.  By 1966 Catholics started showing their disillusionment with Johnson, who never recovered from the wave after wave of urban riots, nor from the disillusionment of his [[Vietnam War]] policy.  With the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968, and the failure of youngest brother [[Ted Kennedy]] to recover his brothers’ national base, the Kennedy legacy increasingly became the romantic memory.  Reports of JFK's affairs, and detailed reports of his multiple grave medical problems fascinated the public but failed to break the myth that if JFK had lived, his second term would be a story of political triumphs restoring people's faith in government. The assassination was so incomprehensible that hundreds of conspiracy theories have sprung up with over 350 people and organizations have been named as guilty of the event. Donald Trump has since reaffirmed that he will release the documents pertaining to the JFK assassination, despite earlier reports indicating he'll delay them.<ref>http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-will-allow-release-of-classified-jfk-assassination-files/article/2638250</ref>

Kennedy appointed liberal Arthur Goldberg to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]], as well as [[Byron White]] (who held both liberal and conservative positions). Kennedy's image appears on the American half-dollar coin.

Kennedy appointed liberal Arthur Goldberg to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]], as well as [[Byron White]] (who held both liberal and conservative positions). Kennedy's image appears on the American half-dollar coin.