RateItAll: The Opinion Network

He made some mistakes but he learned from them. He could have served a second term.

Kennedy was ultimately a reckless leader who didn't know how to handle the USSR, least of all by taking away the Communists' major recruitment tool, which was American racism and inequality. The empty flash should provide a lesson for Obama, who certainly has more substance but the tenor of whose leadership style can sometimes evoke JFK's. Garry Wills has shown that Obama's political style ultimately most resembles Lincoln's instead ... let's hope he's right ...

He helped save the world from a nuclear crisis, but I don't always agree with what he stands for.

I believe JFK was a good man, and truly wanted what was best for our country...and dealt w/ other countries "amicabley" - however, couldn't give a him a rating of "great" cuz of the rumors of the infidelity

Potential snuffed out. The country took a downward spiral in the aftermath that it still hasn't pulled out from.

Had he lived, might've proven to be a 5 Great! One extra point for civil rights oratory (shared w/RFK), and another for not backing down on Soviet missiles in Cuba, but loses a point for being such an unrepentant hound dog.

Ended the Cuban Missile Crisis through diplomatic means. Kind of a dog (but what pres wasn't?), a minus. A dog with Marilyn Monroe, a plus :P
Got the country united and involved...

Oh that we had his intellect and intelligence guiding us today!

I think what comes to mind when I think of JFK, are his failed inventions such as "Cool Ranch Doritos" and "Coke 2" before they really "hit it big."

Who killed John Fitzgerald Kennedy you know who ? The suit and tie guys of our Goverment ask the C.I.A. ? maybe.

The goverment did'nt want a Kenndy Danasty for the next 30 years. You see John Kenndy would've won a second term as President 1963 to 1968 than Robert Kenndy would've did his two terms 1968 to1972 than 1972 to 1976 sorry Nixon than Edward Kenndy would have did his two terms 1976 to 1980 and then 1980 to 1984 sorry Regan and Carter.So the powers that may be meaning the goverment did'nt want that to happen. So John Kenndy had to had to go.So they to stop this from happening.

Adept handling of the Cuban missile crisis, but in sum, died before his full potential could be realized. Primarily, his legacy appears to be that he was a source of hope for many, as well as a profit exhorting us towards an idealistic America that, sadly, we have yet to achieve.

Incompetent to the ninth degree, and a plagiarist to boot.

History is filled with myths and legends after the death of an individual who hits the world with a powerful impact. These legends are started by others and then built upon by yet others. JFK would have shrugged off the camelot image as foolishness if he had the chance. The fact that their are those who hate JFK means nothing. Lincoln was hated. Washington was hated. Churchill was hated. Even the founder of the Church was hated. JFK had his strong and weak points. His weak points have been exploited ad nauseum. His strong points are in his style and spirit of leadership. Those are very important qualities in a leader. Yes he committed sins, and the same grace available to him is also available to his detractors.

All style, no substance.

The style, and the bullets in Dealey Plaza, have gained him a place in history his deeds do not warrant.

The last great Democratic president, he inspired a generation with what I consider the greatest inaugural address in history. Somewhere along the way people turned Ask not what your country can do for you, as what you can do for your country into Ask not what I can do for my country, ask what my government can provide for me.

The most over-rated President. Owes his mythical stature to Lee Harvey Oswald. Short of that he would today be reviled in the same way LBJ is reviled for his involvement in the VietNam War, one of the greatest disasters in US history.

Style and martyrdom mask a do nothing administration. The Kennedy Administration was a total failure in all hemispheres of the globe. I remember, and so do the objective historians.

Easily the most overrated president in United States History. If it had not been for his good looks and assassination he would not be far up on this list. He started the biggest rip-off of American Tax dollars with the NASA Space Program and helped the U.S get further involved in Vietnam.

He does not deserve the seeming deification he has received over the years. On balance, I agree that he is overrated. However, I give him credit where credit is due: First, his tax cuts and the boom economy created by his policies. Secondly, his courage regarding the civil rights movement.

JFK was a daring, charismatic leader who had original thoughts and a clear vision of peace and progress for the future; his was an exciting, inspiring presidency. It still hurts to think what he might have accomplished before the forces of darkness cut him down, the same forces that rule the U.S.A. today.

JFK was a great president and a great man. Not all of the presidents complete their goals, especially when they are assassinated! Give the man credit. He fought for civil rights just like MLK...he made a difference in a lot of people. And as for him not being faithful to his wife...people make mistakes, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a person just like the next man.

Overrated - he didn't accomplish ANY of the things he gets credited for SOLO. The nation is a wee doubleminded here - he was at best an unfaithful spouse- consorted with questionable people, and he got away with it and is called a hero - yet now - its all about exposing ANY little thing someone MIGHT have done.

as two faced as they come hung out with mobsters, had them help him get elected. Then Let his brother go after them. father was a bootlegger whole family was a lil outside the law from time to time. Yeah he Got the the nukes out of cuba but could not get rid of Castro. And he tried many times he was a loser. He could not keep it in his pants either and people think Clinton was bad. People say his family is cursed no "bad things happen to bad people" thats all it is

A lot of hype by the media. His asassination was a terrible tragedy. His accomplishments were limited.

JFK and the American dream died 11/22/1963. Kennedy was highly successful in the short 1000 days he was in office IMO. The Bay of Pigs was an inherited disaster that was planned during the Eisenhower administration and lead by the CIA so, I don't blame Kennedy for that problem even though he personally took the blame for the fiasco. He stared down the Soviets in Cuba during a missle crisis in 1962. He only wanted advisors and equipment specialists for a short period in Vietnam. He knew that it was the S Vietnamese that had to win or lose the conflict, not America. The Peace Corps, civil rights legislation, the US space program and a contagious optimism that stimulated Americans to want to help the country succeed were all part of JFK's legacy. His death changed our country forever whether it was done by a lone nut or in some sort of conspiracy.

I am fascinated by the divergence of opinion concerning President Kennedy's life and legacy. As I'm presently producing a theatrical documentary on his life and legacy, "In Search of Kennedy," www.insearchofkennedy.com,it's interesting to observe the emotions, both good and bad, that surround his private and public life. For me, he remains the only president that I really adored, admired and respected. Being young when he died, just 19, his youth,charisma,courage and leadership qualities remain with me all these years despite the unflattering things that have come out about his since his untimely murder.

The glamor of JFK and his wife Jackie are the stuff of legend- 'Camelot' and the aspirations of 'The New Frontier' will be remembered by all boomers. Many of JFK'S goals (medicare, tax cuts for the middle class -not the super rich, and civil rights where blocked by the GOP) Sadly in his death, LBJ coaxed a guilty congress into passing much of his legislation. Perhaps had he lived we would not have expanded our mistaken intrusion into SE Asia.

He started America's involvement in the Vietnam war, Bay of Pigs fiasco and brainwashed citizens in red scare. We really showed Cuba how much we like them! It's a wonder they didn't appeal to the U.N. And calling yourself a jelly doughnut in Berlin, Germany doesn't do much to your credibility either. So eat your hat Bush critics!

Horrible president. Bay of Pigs was a disaster and hadn't he of not been shot then nobody would care about him

A good president.He cut taxes,was(truly) progressive on social issues,and stood upto the Reds.A yound dynamic leader who loved America and was not ashamed to say it.

Actually, civil rights was a weak point. He received the lowest percentage of the black vote of any Democratic nominee since Al Smith - about 68 percent if I remember. He did get a bit stronger once he was in office, but his platform during the campaign was very weak in an effort to keep the south. Updating - Actually geo, it didn't start with Kennedy. The first advisors were sent to Viet Nam in 1957, under Eisenhauer.

A great President. A man who wasn't afraid to stand up to racists in the 60's even though it would have damaged his votes in the south. But unfourtunately some idiot shot him and we will never truly know what he would have done in the years following his death.

In a truly "fair and balanced" world, this would be a 4 because of character flaws and the fact that he never had a chance to actually prove if he would be great but, given all the idiotic comments from the Bushies, I need to throw out the 5 to help make things right. I mean, seriously -- the Peace Corps portrayed as the reason that "everyone hates us"? I can't even begin to understand that comment.

A true hero, who died for his country, murdered by what has now metastasized into Neo-Con Bushism.

Just so everybody knows this rating is negative 1 because he is by far the worst president this country has ever had. First, he got us into Vietnam, which in no way can be compared to Iraq, almost got us into a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, and developed the Peace Corps, which is why, to all of you liberal scumbags out there, why everyone else hates us. Whether you'll admit it or not, we are still cleaning up the mess left by JFK. War hero my ass! Oh yeah, when the mob cheated him into the presidency, ahead of Nixon, a future great president, he turned on them and tried to crack down. People wonder why he got shot. I wonder why he didn't get shot earlier. Honestly, I would much rather have organized crime be our biggest crime problem rather than these poor white trash, black people and latinos who can't tell their elbow from their ass running around. How could a man who couldn't even fix his own problems (*cough Marylin Monroe cough*0 fix ours?

Most over-rated president ever. Never should have been elected, he got alot of the female vote because he was good looking (women should not be able to vote) jk. any way he was over rated and his morals and duties were mixed up.

What did he do? Get shot and have countless affairs?

What made him great was that he brought youth, energy and vigor to a country that was boring in the Eisenhower years. What made him even more special was that he convinced the Soviets to turn their boats when they were about to head to Cuba for a possible US-Soviet nuclear confrontation. He was a handsome guy too.

Though he made some unwise foreign policy decisions and didn't handle America's entry into Vietnam correctly, Kennedy understood that across-the-board tax cuts actually increased government revenue. I cannot call a tax-cutter of Kennedy's magnitude a bad president. If I were ranking all forty-two presidents from best to worst, Kennedy would likely come out around eighteen or nineteen.

This guy Pat Riot is a riot. Are you writing as a pseudonym for Oliver Stone or are you just a common imbecile??

He had many good ideas, but it makes me angry to see how vain and rude he was.

The last American President who truly had our best interests in mind...And that's why the early Neo-Cons (Yes, Bush &Co.) murdered him.

All he did was die. Horrible leader. Only won the election cause women voted on looks, not policies

Over-mythologized pig who has been given a free ride by the media.

The best prez ever

U.S. prestige was at an all-time high under his leadership. Would that we had that now. Sadly, under GWB, we are at all-time low.

All apperence, no substance.

Many historians have over-romantized the Kennedy years. The myth of Camelot seems to revolve around his youth, beautiful wife, nice kids. He represented a confident America marching confidently into the 1960's. However that facade was developed largely after his death. At the time he was seen as a largely mediocre leader who was good at giving speeches but otherwise lacked substance. I will give credit to Kennedy for having good advisors around him who got him out of tricky positions. His crisis management skills during the Cuban Missile Crisis were supurb. It is fair to say that this was the closest we ever came to all out nuclear war. Yet Kennedy managed to hammer out an agreement with the Soviets without losing too much face. In fact, the only advantage we really lost was that we had to pull out some outdated missiles from the Soviet Unions neighbor Turkey. Kennedy's assassination made him into a legend, maybe one that he doesn't exactly deserve. In many respects, one gets the sentiment that this was a man who had a lot more to do, and it would have been interesting to see how events would have turned out had he been able to serve two full terms. My opinion is that 1. He would have had a much more difficult time than LBJ did in passing the Civil Rights legislation, being that Congress was controlled by a conservative coalition of Southern Democrats and Republicans who wouldn't budge on this issue. The courts would have continued to slowly push for integration more than likely as they did in the 1950's. 2. Vietnam would have more than likely escalated into all out war, but JFK would have probably called it a day earlier and negotiated a settlement before 1968 and 3. it could be fairly argued that Medicare might not have been enacted either. Love him or hate him, JFK's successor Lyndon Johnson was a far more talented politician than Kennedy ever was. He experienced many legislative successes because of his years collecting favors on the Hill. Kennedy didn't come close to having as much political ammunition at his disposal. However Kennedy had a more flexible decision-making style. Whatever the circumstances, it can be agreed that he life was put out too early and he still had much to accomplish. I believe that he's been given more credit than he deserves. In fact, he loses a lot of points over his failures, namely the Bay of Pigs, which was an utter disaster. When everything is put on the table, I will say that Kennedy is squarely at the center of the pack when considering his rating against other US Presidents.

a bit overrated. Bay of Pigs a massive failure, but greatly offset by peacefully ending the Cuban Missile Crisis. i have him as a 3 because he was assassinated, and we dont know what more he would have done if he had lived; also, and the reason i say overrated is that the Space Center is named after him. While it was Kennedy who originally wanted to put men on the moon, he is given ALL the credit for creating the space progam, but it was created in 1950, under Truman.

Terribly overrated. Big rhetoric, little results.

Wonderful president!

he's better off dead with the rest of his family.

I think he was a very good President. He made very good decisions even though he was assinsated.

I have Nixon in front of him on my list. Kennedy could have been good, not great, but during his presidency he was bad. It pains me to give him a 2 instead of a 1, but he was not terrible. He incorrectly handled the Bay of Pigs and that was obvious. There was nothing courageous of his admitting the mistake but rather an attempt on his part to save his ass which worked. He had an approval rating just shy of 80, a remarkable number. He was a peoples' president, not a government president. Clearly overrated.

john f. kennedy was a racist who belonged to a restricted club up until the day he was assassinated. some president

Not bad for a democrat president. He cut taxes to help the economy and managed to stand up to the russians during the cuban missle crisis.

I think President Kennedy is a national hero for being assassinated, but sadly, a poor President. Many rate him highly brcause of their vision of what he could have done, but in his two years as president he accomplished little and there is no reason to see that he would have finished his presidency differentlty. The Cuban missile crisis, an event often billed as one of his greatest accomplishments did not escalate into war because of the actions of Khruschev. Repeatedly the USSR was given ample reason to be angered by the US and did not fire missiles on the US because of their premier, not Kennedy.

I think Kennedy gets overrated because of being assassinated. Perhaps I don't know enough finite details about his policies, but he strikes me as average.

a man to be rememberd for his commitment to his country and its people

Instituted NASA,the biggest waste of money in U.S. history. Saved U.S. from certain war with Russia, and helped with civil rights.

Well, he was great when living! If only he'd never been shot...

It was unfortunate John Fitzgerald Kennedy was not given the opportunity to finish what he set out to do as President. A man of great vision, Kennedy's Presidency was tragically unfulfilled as much as it remains an enigma onto itself. But among the more worthwhile accomplishments of President Kennedy was the establishment of the Peace Corp. Glimpses of greatness abound during this era of Camelot as Kennedy was able to show some of his mettle, one of which was his stand-off against Nikita Khruschev during the Cuban Missle Crisis of 1962. But we will never know how this President would have handled the rest of the turbulent 1960s. We can only wonder what could have been.

Did not accomplish much-and he lost the cuban missile crisis-he hid the facts as to what he gave away having an affair with an east german spy really rates him low

With all respect to his memory, he did a few good things, but not as great as being assasinated has elevated him to. History will unfortunatly never put his term in office in perpective, due to that fatal bullet.

He did steal the 1960 election. His foreign policy (Bay of Pigs) was a near disaster. He's the one who really escalated our role in Vietnam. He didn't really have time to do much of anything else. I don't understand how people can rate him so highly just because he was good looking and died so young. It's a shame, certainly, but let's be honest about it.

Didn't do that much.

Stole the election through shady election results in Illinois, was pushed up the political food chain by his zillionaire father and his politcal machine. He dealt meagerly with Soviet expansion at the peak of the cold war (Vietnam and Cuba). He was actually a weak politician in general. His attemped expansion of the welfare state through New Frontier legislation was mostly unsuccessful (unfortunately LBJ was a much better politician) save for a spike in the minimum wage. He lacked any sense of personal morality, was an ampethem