October 28

"Forgive your enemies but never forget their names."

John F. Kennedy, 35th President, 1961-1963-attributed to Kennedy. Kennedy never wanted to make political friends so likewise he never really considered opponents to be enemies. One telling journal entry reads, "In politics you don't have friends-you have confederates." (Matthews, Chris; Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero, Simon & Schuster, New York, New York, 2011, p. 79) Rather, he held on to his old friends from school and his World War II years. After the war, he worked for a time as a reporter and columnist for The Chicago Herald-American. He soon came to realize he wanted to influence policy rather than report on it. He had high ambitions and rose from being elected to Congress in 1946, to the Senate in 1953, and to the Presidency in 1961. Because of his ambitions and desire to be independent, Kennedy did not consider himself indebted to any one individual nor group despite their rank or experience, nor to his party, despite whatever help they may have given him. On the other hand, they might have considered him beholden to them. Thus, his enemies may have thought that he needed to ask them for forgiveness, rather than the other way around. When Kennedy was assassinated, there was much conjecture and speculation as to who might have actually been responsible. Fifty years later, conspiracy theorists have placed blame on many groups. Within the government, the CIA and its leaders were suspect. They were angry that he did not support the invasion of Cuba at The Bay of Pigs in 1961, nor follow their recommendations to bomb Cuba during the Russian Missile Crisis in 1962. Also, the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover may have motivated to eliminate Kennedy, whose powers he and his brother, Bobby, as Attorney General, sought to curtail. There is speculation that "The Mob" or organized crime leaders had a hand in the conspiracy. Kennedy's father, Joseph, a "businessman" had gained much of his fortune in the 1920's and 1930's. Allegedly he had his "friends" influence and rig elections around the country to help John get elected. Despite their "help", many bosses were prosecuted and imprisoned for interstate racketeering as Kennedy again oversaw his brother, Bobby, in his bid to lessen the influence of organized crime. Even Kennedy's Vice-President, Lyndon Johnson, of Texas, has been implicated. Supposedly, his motivation would have been his own desire to be President. Johnson, a career politician with a reputation for heavy handed power plays, had also aspired to the Presidency in 1960, but was picked for Vice-President to get the Southern vote, and then was marginalized and left out of decision or policy making processes. On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. Charming and popular as Kennedy was, he was also a calculating politician who left many angry and "influential" people in his wake.