General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm getting so depressed over the Obama bashing. [View all]Savannahmann
(3,891 posts)In October 1962, Kennedy took the nation to the brink of war to oppose an intolerable action by the Soviets. At least that is how we view it from the safety of history. In that, Kennedy appeared strong and resolute, refusing to accept a situation that would have been a serious threat to the nation.
In the 1970's Ford looked weak after the fall of South Viet-Nam and his lackadaisical response to Angola. Again, this is not my feeling, just what the people tend to see.
Reagan looked tough when he invaded Grenada with tens of thousands of military people to remove 250 Cubans, 50 of which were actual soldiers. He looked like a real no nonsense leader when the Iranians released the hostages when he was elected.
GHW Bush looked almost tough and resolute when he launched Desert Shield and Storm. Clinton looked weak when he removed the military from Somalia after the Black Hawk down fiasco.
Clinton tried to look determined when he bombed a suspected chemical weapons factory that was really making aspirin. Then it was Kosovo and Bosnia and after that the image of muddling through was his forever. That's why at the end of his Presidency we were told that his legacy was the Welfare Reforms that the Republicans pushed through Congress five times before he would sign it.
I could go on, and on, and on. The best one to consider is Kennedy and Cuba. Kennedy looked resolute, determined, and very strong when that turned out in our favor for the public. We didn't know about the secret deal to remove Missiles from Turkey, and when we did learn, we were told that these missiles were obsolete anyway and had been scheduled for removal before Cuba was an issue.
People want that kind of strong leader, one who will through sheer force of will protect the people. The problem is that there is only one JFK, and only one Missile crisis. But people who do know next to nothing about the Cuban Missile crisis take away from it the idea that if the President is serious enough, determined enough, that the Russians/Soviets will back down because they aren't willing to risk nuclear war over the issue.
We hold people today up to an unrealistic image of what the past was. Kennedy could not stay in office if he had let the missiles stay in Cuba. He was terrified of the idea of the missiles flying and world war III starting. The Military and the Hawks wanted the bombs to start dropping in Cuba right away, they said that the Russians wouldn't be crazy enough to start a war. Kennedy knew better than to listen to the "experts" because they were making no sense what so ever.
The people want a Jack Kennedy to stare the Russians down, despite the fact that it didn't happen that way. It was a backroom deal that saved the world, compromise in other words. Kennedy gave up something we were going to give up anyway (supposedly) while getting what we really wanted, which was the missiles removed from Cuba.