John F. Kennedy

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• 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. 

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• 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.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/8/2020
  

  Groomed to Be President: David Kennedy Reviews Fredrik Logevall's JFK Bio

  Fredrik Logevall's new book, the first of two volumes on the life of JFK, pushes back against perceptions of the young Kennedy as an accidental politician or intellectual lightweight, and describes the way world events shaped his worldview.

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  8/23/2020
  

  The Cool-Media Approach to Conventions

  The Democrats were forced out of the old, and figured out the new. How will Republicans respond?

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  7/23/2020
  

  J.F.K.’s “Profiles in Courage” Has a Racism Problem. What Should We Do About It?

  by Nicholas Lemann

  The Senators chosen by John F. Kennedy as "Profiles in Courage" would not fare well if their actions were evaluated today. 

• 
• 6/21/2020
  

  Dear Vice President Biden: Bring Achievers Back to the White House

  by Joseph A. Esposito

  Joseph Biden is urged to remember John F. Kennedy's admiration and celebration of achievement and Franklin Roosevelt's spirit of pragmatic experimentation in his campaign. Should he be elected, he'll need inspiration to lead the nation out of dire circumstances.

• 
• 6/14/2020
  

  John F. Kennedy Did What Donald Trump Only Wishes He Could Do

  by Paul Matzko

  Rules to promote “fairness” or prevent “discrimination” can all too easily turn into tools for gaining partisan advantage at the expense of free speech, a free press, and a functioning democracy.

• 
• 5/10/2020
  

  60 Years Ago, West Virginia Helped Make JFK President

  by Robert Rupp

  JFK's diligent campaigning in West Virginian in 1960 overcame the state's suspicion of his Catholic faith and later put Appalachia on the nation's policy agenda.

• 
• SOURCE: Salon
  2-14-15
  

  We are not a Christian nation: Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy and the eternal lie of the “city upon a hill”

  by Peter Manseau

  John Winthrop's "city upon a hill" dominates presidential rhetoric and our self-understanding. Here's the problem

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Decoded
  9-10-14
  

  Sabato’s Folly: His new book about JFK gives credence to bogus theories about the assassination

  by David Reitzes

  Evaluating a president’s place in history, even with the benefit of hindsight, is seldom easy.