John F. Kennedy

• 
• 4/17/2022
  

  Even With the Challenge of a Nuclear Crisis, 1962 Was a Year of Hope

  by Walter G. Moss

  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). 

• 
• SOURCE: TomDispatch
  3/1/2022
  

  A Purgatorial Message from JFK to Joe Biden

  by Andrew Bacevich

  "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."

• 
• 2/27/2022
  

  Irwin Gellman Asks: Did JFK Steal Victory in the "Campaign of the Century"?

  by Justin P. Coffey

  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. 

• 
• 1/30/2022
  

  Popular Histories Have Influenced World Leaders, Sometimes For the Better

  by Robert Brent Toplin

  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.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Decoded
  10/11/2021
  

  The Homophobic Background to Jim Garrison's Persecution of Clay Shaw

  by Martin J. Kelly, Jr.

  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. 

• 
• SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
  8/22/2021
  

  History Suggests Biden Should Ditch His Yes-Men

  "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."

• 
• SOURCE: New York Review of Books
  5/11/2021
  

  Ending the Kennedy Romance (Frederick Logevall's JFK Bio Reviewed)

  by Michael Kazin

  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. 

• 
• SOURCE: Times (UK)
  4/26/2021
  

  JFK Saw Irish Language Revival as ‘A Waste of National Efforts’

  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. 

• 
• 4/11/2021
  

  60 Years Later: The Enduring Legacy of the Bay of Pigs Fiasco

  by Stephen F. Knott

  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. 

• 
• 3/28/2021
  

  Can Biden Fulfill JFK's Incomplete Promise of a Peace Presidency?

  by Martin Halpern

  Today's global problems require leadership from a "peace presidency" that prioritizes global public health, international cooperation, and human rights over militarism and arms. 

• 
• 2/14/2021
  

  Opportunities for a Catholic President, Then and Now

  by Patrick Lacroix

  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. 

• 
• 12/13/2020
  

  Will Biden Shake Up a Century of US-Ireland Relations?

  by Mark Holan

  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. 

• 
• 12/13/2020
  

  Reflections on Fredrik Logevall's "JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956"

  by Sheldon M. Stern

  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. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  12/9/2020
  

  Biden Could Redefine What It Means To Be ‘A Catholic In Good Standing.’

  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. 

• 
• SOURCE: WGBH
  10/26/2020
  

  To Understand The Spectacle Of Presidential Debates, Look Back To 1960, Says Harvard Historian

  Fred Logevall, author of a new JFK biography, discusses the 1960 presidential debates between Kennedy and Nixon. 

• 
• SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times
  10/26/2020
  

  If only Richard Nixon had Listened to Jackie Robinson — The GOP Might be Doing Better than Trump Today

  by Paul Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick

  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. 

• 
• 10/18/2020
  

  "The Silent Guns of Two Octobers" Reviewing a New History of the Cuban Missile Crisis

  by Sheldon M. Stern

  Longtime JFK Library historian Sheldon Stern offers a review of a new book on the diplomatic resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

• 
• 10/18/2020
  

  Does the "Divided Loyalty" Question Still Dog Catholic Politicians?

  by D.G. Hart

  Joe Biden will likely do what JFK and Al Smith did, namely, fit his faith into the norms of American politics.

• 
• SOURCE: Muckrock
  9/16/2020
  

  Dive Into John F. Kennedy’s Daily CIA Updates

  Muckrock invites interested historians and history enthusiasts to participate in a project to make declassified Presidential intelligence briefings more widely accessible. 

• 
• SOURCE: National History Center
  9/14/2020
  

  JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 (Video)

  Author Fredrik Logevall discusses his new political biography of JFK in a virtual seminar with the National History Center.