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President Kennedy won office because the [[Kennedy Family]] had long been leaders of the Irish [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] wing of the [[Democratic Party]], and the family political power was so strong that it was not until 2021 -- more than 60 years later -- that there was not a member of that extended family in [[Congress]] or as president, all as [[Democrat]]s.  The Kennedy style called for youth, dynamism, vigor and an intellectual approach to aggressive new policies in foreign affairs.  The downside was his inexperience in foreign affairs, standing in contrast to the vast experience of the president he replaced, Republican [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]. This inexperience caused a national humiliation in 1961 as he sent CIA-trained Cuban exiles into an ill-prepared attack on Castro's Cuba. At the [[Bay of Pigs]], all the invaders were killed or captured, and he was forced to [[negotiate]] for the survivors release giving Cuba medical and food. Kennedy's supporters blamed the fiasco on Eisenhower and the CIA, for JFK inherited the plan; but Kennedy took the blame himself.  Russian leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]], seeing for himself Kennedy's inexperience at a summit conference, had built the [[Berlin Wall]] as the Soviets escalated the [[Cold War]] regarding the status of Berlin, predicting that Kennedy's response would be weak.  Khrushchev went too far in 1962 when he sent nuclear missiles into Cuba aimed at the U.S. mainland.  For the first time since [[Pearl Harbor]]—or indeed since Washington and New Orleans were attacked in the [[War of 1812]]—the U.S. was vulnerable to a major attack by an enemy power. Kennedy and Khrushchev reached a compromise whereby the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba publicly, while Kennedy secretly removed obsolete American missiles from Turkey aimed at the Soviets, and also promised that America would never invade Cuba. In Vietnam, Kennedy increased the number of military advisors from 900 to 16,000 to prop up the ineffective, corrupt regime in South Vietnam. Historians are uncertain whether Kennedy would have avoided the failures of [[Lyndon Johnson]] in Vietnam.

President Kennedy won office because the [[Kennedy Family]] had long been leaders of the Irish [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] wing of the [[Democratic Party]], and the family political power was so strong that it was not until 2021 -- more than 60 years later -- that there was not a member of that extended family in [[Congress]] or as president, all as [[Democrat]]s.  The Kennedy style called for youth, dynamism, vigor and an intellectual approach to aggressive new policies in foreign affairs.  The downside was his inexperience in foreign affairs, standing in contrast to the vast experience of the president he replaced, Republican [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]. This inexperience caused a national humiliation in 1961 as he sent CIA-trained Cuban exiles into an ill-prepared attack on Castro's Cuba. At the [[Bay of Pigs]], all the invaders were killed or captured, and he was forced to [[negotiate]] for the survivors release giving Cuba medical and food. Kennedy's supporters blamed the fiasco on Eisenhower and the CIA, for JFK inherited the plan; but Kennedy took the blame himself.  Russian leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]], seeing for himself Kennedy's inexperience at a summit conference, had built the [[Berlin Wall]] as the Soviets escalated the [[Cold War]] regarding the status of Berlin, predicting that Kennedy's response would be weak.  Khrushchev went too far in 1962 when he sent nuclear missiles into Cuba aimed at the U.S. mainland.  For the first time since [[Pearl Harbor]]—or indeed since Washington and New Orleans were attacked in the [[War of 1812]]—the U.S. was vulnerable to a major attack by an enemy power. Kennedy and Khrushchev reached a compromise whereby the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba publicly, while Kennedy secretly removed obsolete American missiles from Turkey aimed at the Soviets, and also promised that America would never invade Cuba. In Vietnam, Kennedy increased the number of military advisors from 900 to 16,000 to prop up the ineffective, corrupt regime in South Vietnam. Historians are uncertain whether Kennedy would have avoided the failures of [[Lyndon Johnson]] in Vietnam.

He was assassinated on November 22, 1963 while riding in his convertible limousine in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]]. A [[Communist]] sympathizer, [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], was allegedly the only assassin, and afterward Kennedy became a national icon and martyr. His reputation has since been dimmed by reports of his philandering. He is best known for his call to civic virtue:

He was assassinated on November 22, 1963, while riding in his convertible limousine in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]]. A [[Communist]] sympathizer, [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], was allegedly the only assassin, and afterward Kennedy became a national icon and martyr. His reputation has since been dimmed by reports of his philandering. He is best known for his call to civic virtue:

{{cquote|'''And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.'''|4=John Kennedy's [[John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address|Inaugural Address]]|5=<ref>http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/speeches/John_F_Kennedy/5.htm</ref>}}

{{cquote|'''And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.'''|4=John Kennedy's [[John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address|Inaugural Address]]|5=<ref>http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/speeches/John_F_Kennedy/5.htm</ref>}}

To be a liberal in the days when Kennedy was in politics, 1946–63, meant supporting the programs of the [[New Deal]], following in the footsteps of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], and upholding the [[New Deal Coalition]].  Support for labor unions was important; support for civil rights had been a minor issue (and one more associated with the Republican Party).  Hostility to the Catholic Church was common among liberals. In foreign policy liberals had turned away from Roosevelt's détente with the Soviets and had adopted the [[containment]] policy. Liberals rejected [[rollback]], that is efforts to remove Communists regimes from power.  Verbal support for the United Nations was standard rhetoric, although in practice it meant little. The symbolically most important issue of them all for liberals was opposition to [[Joe McCarthy]] and his style of aggressive anti-Communism.

To be a liberal in the days when Kennedy was in politics, 1946–63, meant supporting the programs of the [[New Deal]], following in the footsteps of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], and upholding the [[New Deal Coalition]].  Support for labor unions was important; support for civil rights had been a minor issue (and one more associated with the Republican Party).  Hostility to the Catholic Church was common among liberals. In foreign policy liberals had turned away from Roosevelt's détente with the Soviets and had adopted the [[containment]] policy. Liberals rejected [[rollback]], that is efforts to remove Communists regimes from power.  Verbal support for the United Nations was standard rhetoric, although in practice it meant little. The symbolically most important issue of them all for liberals was opposition to [[Joe McCarthy]] and his style of aggressive anti-Communism.

[[File:John F. Kennedy speaks at Rice University We choose to go to the moon speech.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|President [[John F. Kennedy]] giving his We choose to go to the moon speech at Rice University.]]

[[File:John F. Kennedy speaks at Rice University We choose to go to the moon speech.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|President John F. Kennedy giving his We choose to go to the moon speech at Rice University.]]

''See also:'' [[Visionary (Business, organizations, and politics)]]

''See also:'' [[Visionary (Business, organizations, and politics)]]

On most of these points Kennedy was largely on the conservative or moderate side. He had a base in Massachusetts with many strong liberals in academe and labor unions that had to be appeased, so he never attacked liberalism too loudly. He solved the state problem by a close alliance with the Democratic party organizations in the cities, controlled mostly by Irish politicians.  JFK's campaign manager and chief confidante was his brother Bobby, a devout Catholic who was in close touch with the Catholic establishment and the local machines.  JFK thus maintained very close ties to the Catholic establishment; he carefully followed the required public rituals of the Catholic church.  It was a major achievement by Kennedy in 1960 to resolve the religious issue and bring Catholics into the mainstream of American life and to the top ranks of national leadership.<ref>By contrast, the only Catholic in Eisenhower's cabinet was a plumber who was Secretary of Labor.</ref>

On most of these points Kennedy was largely on the conservative or moderate side. He had a base in Massachusetts with many strong liberals in academe and labor unions that had to be appeased, so he never attacked liberalism too loudly. He solved the state problem by a close alliance with the Democratic party organizations in the cities, controlled mostly by Irish politicians.  JFK's campaign manager and chief confidante was his brother Bobby, a devout Catholic who was in close touch with the Catholic establishment and the local machines.  JFK thus maintained very close ties to the Catholic establishment; he carefully followed the required public rituals of the Catholic church.  It was a major achievement by Kennedy in 1960 to resolve the religious issue and bring Catholics into the mainstream of American life and to the top ranks of national leadership.<ref>By contrast, the only Catholic in Eisenhower's cabinet was a plumber who was Secretary of Labor.</ref>