JFK and the Death of Liberalism

 May 29th of this week marked John F. Kennedy's 95thbirthday.

 

Had he never gone to Dallas, had he the blessings of long yearslike his 105 year old mother Rose, the man immutably fixed in theAmerican memory as a vigorous 40-something surely would be seen inan entirely different light.

If JFK were alive today?

Presuming his 1964 re-election, we would know for afact what he did in Vietnam. We would know for a fact what asecond-term Kennedy domestic program produced. And yes, yes, allthose torrent of womanizing tales that finally gushed intoheadlines in the post-Watergate era (and still keep coming, thetale of White House intern Mimi Alford recently added to the long list) would surely havehad a more scathing effect on his historical reputation had he beenalive to answer them.

But he wasn't.

As the world knows, those fateful few seconds in Dallas onNovember 22, 1963 not only transformed American and world history.They transformed JFK himself into an iconic American martyr,forever young, handsome and idealistic. Next year will mark the50th anniversary of his assassination--and in spite of all thewomanizing tales, in spite of the passage of now almost half acentury--John F. Kennedy is still repeatedly ranked by Americans as among the country's greatest presidents.In the American imagination, JFK is historicaectlly invincible