Aleksandra Kosanic

WGW 12/1

GFS im Fach Englisch

Why is John F. Kennedy still so popular?

Picture 1: John F. Kennedy

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 Content

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………3
2. General………………………………………………………………………………3
2.1 Who was John F. Kennedy before his presidency?....................................3
2.2 Reasons for his popularity…………………………………………………..5
2.2.1 Important political accomplishments………………………..…..5
2.2.1.1 Cuban Missile Crisis………………………………………..5
2.2.1.2 Recession……………………………………………………5
2.2.1.3 Peace Corps…………………………………………………6
2.2.2 Media…………………………………………………………………..6
3. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..9
4. Literature and Sources……………………………………………………..11

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 1. Introduction

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States from January
1961 until his assassination in November 1963. He was appointed a president at the
height of the Cold War and even after nearly 60 years of his death, he is still ranked
as one of the most loved American leaders.

But why is he still so popular today, despite being a president for a little more than
1,000 days?

This question is the topic of my term paper. It will investigate John F. Kennedy´s life
before he won the election, his most important political accomplishments, how he used
the media to his advantage and made himself a brand that stands even 60 years after
his death and try to give the answer to the said question.

2. General

2.1 Who was John F. Kennedy before the presidency?

On 29th of May 1917 he was born into a wealthy family in Brookline, Massachusetts,
that had a long history of politics and business. His father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy,
was a businessman and a politician and his mother, Rose Kennedy, was a
humanitarian. He had 8 siblings and despite the Great Depression that was a big
problem in America when he was a child, he and his 8 siblings had a privileged
childhood full of elite private schools, sailboats and servants.

He went to Choate, a boarding school for boys in Connecticut, where he was very
popular and had lots of friends. After graduating from Choate, he attended Harvard
University in 1936, where his brother Joe was already a student. Late in 1937, Mr.
Kennedy was appointed United States Ambassador to England and moved there with
his family, without Joe and John, because they were at Harvard. Because of his
father´s job, John became interested in European politics and world affairs. On an
extended visit to his father in 1939, John decided to research and write a senior thesis
on why Britain was unprepared to fight Germany in World War II. In 1940 it was
published as a book called Why England Slept and it became a bestseller.

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After Kennedy graduated from Harvard, the United States entered World War II. He
and his brother Joe joined the Navy. Lt. Kennedy had a crew of twelve men whose
mission was to stop Japanese ships from delivering supplies to their soldiers. On the
night of August 2, 1943, his boat was rammed by a Japanese warship and split in two.
Two sailors died and Kennedy badly injured his back. Despite his own injuries, he
managed to drag another injured sailor by the strap of his life vest to the shore and he
also led the other survivors to a nearby island, where they were rescued six days later.
He earned Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his heroism and a Purple Heart for the
injuries he suffered.

Picture 2: John F. Kennedy being awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal

His brother Joe died in 1944 when his plane blew up on a mission in Europe. His father
believed that Joe would become the next president, but after Joe died, he wanted to
convince John to pursue a career in politics. He helped John to get elected to the U.S.
Congress in 1947. John served as a congressman for six years and then became a
U.S senator in 1953. Soon after being elected senator, JFK met Jacqueline Bouvier.
They married on September 12, 1953. John Kennedy announced his candidacy for

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the presidency on January 1, 1960. He selected Lyndon B. Johnson as his running
mate and faced vice president Richard Nixon in general election. He won in one of the
closest elections in history on November 8, 1960. He was the second youngest
American president, and he was also the first Catholic president.

2.2 Reasons for his popularity

2.2.1 Important political accomplishments

2.2.1.1 The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis is one of the greatest conflicts of the 20th century, but not in
the classical armed and conventional sense. It was a conflict through agreements,
negotiations, and weapon measurements in Cuba, close to the territory of the United
States. The two main conflicting parties during the crisis were the United States and
the other countries that supported them and the Soviet Union with its allies. The Cuban
Crisis began after complicated events in Cuba in the early 1960s, particularly after the
Cuban Revolution where Fidel Castro ousted Fulgencio Batista from power and took
matters into his own hands. After that, the Soviets decided to bring in their short- and
intermediate-range missiles stuffed with nuclear warheads to turn their nuclear arms
deficit to their advantage. After two tedious weeks in October 1962, and after
numerous attempts at a peaceful solution to the crisis, there was a military-naval
blockade that forced Khrushchev to abandon further development of the crisis and, at
Kennedy's request, withdraw his weapons from Cuba and suspend the crisis. The
crisis eventually ended at the end of October in a peaceful manner, in which both sides
agreed to concessions, although it could have turned into something much worse, with
horrific consequences for humanity.

JFK is remembered as a hero by Americans because of this peaceful resolution and

the aversion of the nuclear war.

2.2.1.2 Recession

America was taken out of recession under his leadership through many measurements
that boosted the economy. The most important anti-recession reforms were his tax-
cut policies. He expanded the economy by 5.5% from 1961 to 1963. He also kept
inflation steady at around 1%, so the dollar didn´t lose too much value during his time.

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During that same period, he helped to decrease the rise of unemployment that had
grown to 6.6% before his presidency and around 1963 was sitting at just below 6%.

2.2.1.3 Peace Corps

On 1st of March, 1961, Kennedy established the Peace Corps, a program known for
its philanthropy through which undeveloped nations would receive help in areas such
as education, health care, agriculture, etc. Since then, the Peace Corps has sent more
than 220,000 Americans to nearly 140 countries. It has been a great help in
responding to malaria issues in Africa and a genocide in Rwanda. As a result, the
world has learned more about the US and vice versa.

2.2.2 Media

John F. Kennedy did not complete his term, but his presidency was marked by grace,
charm and style, and the natural symbiosis he found with the advent of television era.
This made him a phenomenon of popular culture and reached such fame that the
initials of his name alone are today enough to identify who he is. With the help of his
wife Jackie, JFK made the White House and the idea of presidency glamorous. His
life and death were the subject of dozens of movies, documentaries, such as the
Thirteen Days docudrama about the Cuban Crisis and to this day popular conspiracy
theories. Songs have been written about him, such as Warmth of the Sun by The
Beach Boys. His character was immortalized by Andy Warhol, a pioneer of pop art.
He is often mentioned in television shows, including hit shows such as the series
Seinfeld and The Simpsons, and conspiracy theories about his death are a popular
theme of various crime series such as The Bones. In short, John F. Kennedy rightly
deserves the informal title attributed to him, that of the first president of popular culture.
During the campaign, Kennedy used the media and its attention to stand out on the
political front.

One instance of this is that JFK and his wife, Jackie, appeared on the cover of Time
magazine the summer before the 1960s election. On the wall behind them were
pictures of famous members of the Kennedy family. The implications of this were that
John F. Kennedy should be viewed in the context of his famous family members. In
doing so, John and Jackie Kennedy became the embodiment of family values.

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 Picture 3: The Kennedy Family on the cover of the Time magazine

At the same time, the attention that JFK paid to the physical appearance and style
won him the status of sex symbol. The attention that Kennedy attracted with the
combination of these values ensured him Hollywood level of fame. His marriage to
Jacqueline Bouvier, later known as Jackie Kennedy, gave him another level of
likability. She was known as a sophisticated and refined woman and appeared
alongside Kennedy on various covers, including Vogue and Time magazines. They
also appeared on a television show that served as an insight into their private life,
called At Home with the Kennedys in 1958. The importance that Jackie carried in
John's election campaign is illustrated by the fact that just before inauguration, Time
magazine published an article entirely dedicated to her.

Proof that Kennedy was a media president can be found in the first televised debates
that American people had the opportunity to see in the 1960s presidential election.
JFK and his opponent, Vice President Richard Nixon, clashed four times on television.
The first debate is the most important retrospectively. Kennedy arrived on the set early
to check the conditions in the studio, with his dark clothes he stood out from the

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background, achieving a black contrast to television whiteness, and with his
photogenic appearance and charisma, he stood out from Nixon. It is also interesting
that radio listeners declared the debate tied, giving a slight advantage to Nixon, while
television viewers declared the Kennedy to be the winner. It cannot be said with
certainty that this debate brought JFK victory in the election, however, it should be
noted that Nixon had the lead in the polls until that point, while after the first debate,
Kennedy gained the upper hand and eventually won the election with a marginal
majority. Also, although research in this area is flawed, there is evidence which shows
that the aesthetics of a political candidate helps in the success of political
communication. In any case, Kennedy and Nixon started the tradition with their
televised debates that still stands today, and which shaped modern American politics
and spectacularized it.

John F. Kennedy has been promoted to a myth and is considered a national hero by
the general American population. Despite not making a name for himself with his
political actions, Kennedy is in all polls on the president's popularity continuously
among the most loved. His public persona is careful constructed through print media
and television. He´s seen as a likeable, poised and above all heroic figure and through
all of this Kennedy became more of a celebrity than a politician. That's exactly the key
to understanding Kennedy as a phenomenon in popular culture. His political activity,
along with his political failures, has always been separated from his public persona.

The popularity of JFK is also based on his actions during the American civil rights
movement. He represented hope for African Americans. Because of his oratorical
skills and natural body language, Kennedy´s support of the movement won him the
favor of an entire group of the American population. Some have even compared him
to African American preachers. His photographs in the context of the movement
showed the support of the president, a charismatic white man, and carried weight
along with his speeches about the immorality of racial discrimination. Popular
magazines uploaded photos that showed the first president to physically stand with
African Americans to stop segregation and racism.

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 Picture 4: John F. Kennedy delivering his civil rights speech

In the end, the creation of the Kennedy myth was most contributed by his death. The
tragic murder of a loved president secured Kennedy martyr status and gave him a
legendary image. Again, television programs showed pictures, videos and articles
about Kennedy's assassination, and at that time, the whole world was grieving for
him. In the speeches after his death, Kennedy was portrayed as a young and
ambitious man who died for his beliefs. For a part of the world's population, his death
was like a death in the family, precisely because of his status as a media star. The
unexpectedness and shock of his death and the fact that the mystery behind the
murder has never been completely solved lit a fire of conspiracy theories about the
assassination that only served to turn JFK into one of the biggest political stars of
today.

3. Conclusion

JFK was young, handsome, charismatic, intelligent and a war hero. He became a
president at the beginning of the new decade and was a symbol of hope and peace
at the time where the world was still recovering from World War II that was not just a
distant memory that it is today. He helped to avoid a nuclear war, pulled America out
of recession and founded a philanthropic program that still makes its impact today.

His personal life and the way it was shown to the public plays a big part in his
popularity too. His wife, Jackie Kennedy, was very eye-catching, and a fashion icon.
Being married to Jackie boosted JFK’s status and helped him to immortalize himself
to the public. The were a very „Hollywood couple” as far as presidential couples go.

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A majority of American population feels like he was took away too soon and that he
did not reach his full presidential potential. He represents a kind of nostalgia for a
more optimistic era.

John F. Kennedy can be said to have completely reshaped the expectations and
standards of the presidency. His legacy is that of an exceptional rhetorician, great
media relations, but also an exceptional style and the attraction of the whole First
Family. The public loved the president and this role became a role of a man who
dictates the trends of the whole American culture and is the reason why he is still so
popular to this day.

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 4. Literature and Sources

https://youtu.be/iynPkBEE0wE

John F. Kennedy - Congressman and senator | Britannica

https://youtu.be/bwWW3sbk4EU

10 Major Accomplishments of John F. Kennedy | Learnodo Newtonic (learnodo-

newtonic.com)

8 Most Important Achievements of John F. Kennedy - World History Edu

Why Is John F. Kennedy Still So Popular? | Critics Rant

Why is John F. Kennedy still so popular today? - The Flag

https://youtu.be/cmLLHMY9-wc

https://youtu.be/6S0-tB-kcao

IFP:130 "At Home With the Kennedys" - YouTube

Top 10 most popular presidents of the United States of America (businessupturn.com)

You'll Never Believe How Jackie Kennedy Influenced John F. Kennedy's Legacy
(cheatsheet.com)

TIME Magazine Cover: Jacqueline Kennedy - Jan. 20, 1961 - Jacqueline Kennedy - Kennedys -
Most Popular - First Ladies

How JFK's Clever TV Strategies Helped Him Win the Election - YouTube

Picture 1:
https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.09db0ce922fa21d9643cff67df22a97b?rik=cIrVSnqVU92b
Pw&riu=http%3a%2f%2fstatic.glamurama.uol.com.br%2f2016%2f05%2ftamanho-
JFK-
copy.jpg&ehk=zRALABPWEHuqjMVCK%2boHaBboXI6AsExVQGNNK8QwN8A%3d
&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

Picture 2:
https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.X7QZDdqwLyN1oxo761vmYAHaJg?pid=ImgDet&rs=1

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Picture 3: TIME Magazine Cover: The Kennedy Family - July 11, 1960 - John F. Kennedy -
Jacqueline Kennedy - Kennedys - Presidential Elections - Democrats - Politics

Picture4:https://nails.newsela.com/s3/newsela-
media/article_media/2017/11/speeches-kennedy-jfk-civil-rights-
36500ead.jpg?crop=0%2C172%2C2942%2C1827&height=497&width=885

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