Tom Nichols interviews presidential historian Steve Knott, who discusses how the JFK legacy has shifted with political trends and how the JFK Library has sometimes put politics over history.
Although the decision to delay a Congressionally-mandated release should not be taken as proof of any assassination conspiracy theories, historians argue the documents are necessary to fully understand a tumultuous period in the nation's history.
Many people have invoked JFK's handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis as a reminder of the need for toughness in international confrontation. The equally vital but less popular lesson is that creative leadership is just as important.
The cultural divide between urban and rural America is real and politically significant. But the Kennedy administration's success in Oklahoma shows that a coalition can be built with a combination of transactional politics and committed outreach.
For HNN Contributing Editor Walter Moss, 1962 was a year when it seemed the US was capable of overcoming the gravest challenges with positive results (it was a good year for him personally, too).
"I urge you to think carefully before making the leap into such an unmourned past. Whatever your political advisers may imagine, displays of presidential toughness aren’t what our nation needs right now."
Irwin Gellman's latest volume in his political history of Nixon argues the 1960 election returns in Illinois and Texas were rigged for Kennedy. A reviewer finds the case is intriguing but falls short of solid proof, though it does resonate with charges of stolen elections and media favoritism that are all too familiar today.
Although the popular history genre is often maligned, historians should reflect on the role of Barbara Tuchman's 1962 "The Guns of August" in guiding JFK away from the brink of nuclear war and recognize the power of a story clearly told.
Alecia Long's book argues that Jim Garrison's prosecution of Clay Shaw as a conspirator in the Kennedy assassination was steeped in homophobia and leveraged the defendant's inability to properly defend himself because of the illegality of homosexuality to make up for lack of evidence.
"Part of the problem with the Afghanistan decision-making process was that the president didn’t appear to be hearing dissent from his political aides."
Frederick Logevall's biography, written by a scholar who didn't experience the Camelot myth firsthand, should point toward a clearer-headed consideration of JFK's legacy, argues Michael Kazin.
Though his election created great enthusiasm in Ireland, John F. Kennedy did not agree with the cultural nationalist project of reviving the Irish language that was dear to Irish leader Eamon De Valera.
The failed invasion of Cuba by CIA-trained operatives at the Bay of Pigs set the Kennedy administration on a path of increasingly abusive covert operations against the communist regime, with consequences for US-Cuban relations and American foreign policy that still reverberate.
Today's global problems require leadership from a "peace presidency" that prioritizes global public health, international cooperation, and human rights over militarism and arms.
Polling of religious voters might encourage Democrats to give up on reaching them. John F. Kennedy's experience shows that Joe Biden, as the second Catholic President, could succeed in narrowing the gap.
As the second Irish-American Catholic president, Joe Biden may be expected to sprinkle his speeches with lines from Seamus Heaney, but he's likely to tread a moderate path as issues like Brexit test the Irish-American relationship.
Fredrik Logevall's new JFK biography is one of the first by a historian who did not personally experience the Kennedy years. Longtime JFK Library historian says this is all to the good, as Logevall makes extensive use of available primary sources to place Kennedy's political and diplomatic views in the context of his formative experiences in wartime.
Joe Biden will not enjoy the solid support from Catholic Americans that JFK did. But his presidency may force the Church into necessary consideration of its public priorities.
Despite Jackie Robinson's intercession, Richard Nixon's moment of indecision in 1960 allowed Jack Kennedy to connect his campaign with the cause of Martin Luther King and civil rights.
