Steve, how dare you criticize St. John of Hyannis Port :yikes:.

Like so many in the mid 60's, I was taught that only Oswald kept JFK from being one of the greats of all time, the logical addition to Mt. Rushmore. It wasn't until much later when one could see so many of his actions in retrospect and in perspective that one could accurately take a measure of the man, and for Kennedy that is still dangerous business. An interesting aspect of the JFK regime was the election of 1962. Kennedy and Co had decided that they'd go after Democrats they considered soft and build a Congress that would rubber stamp anything the administration wanted. They sent Bobby and other member of the Irish Mafia out during primary season to nail specific Senators and Congressman. Kennedy overestimated his reach, his "enemies" won, and basically he couldn't pass gas in the new Congress. It took LBJ's carrot and stick approach to get all the "Kennedy" bills passed in the early days of his administration. Yes, JFK brought in a new tone to government, and might have done some great things, though there's little evidence, but factually he didn't do Diddley (RIP, Bo.).

But, you still can't treat JFK or any of the Kennedys as even human. From Lloyd Bentsen to the myriad hosannas piled on Teddy during his recent illness, from the near canonization of JFK Jr. to the ultra forgiving and adulatory attitude toward other 2nd generation members of the clan, the Kennedys are above and beyond objective analysis.

Of the presidents of the 60's, only JFK is admired, even adored today. LBJ, who actually carried out so many of Kennedy's wishes and built his Great Society (for which he likely should be condemned but which was and is the dream of liberal Democrats) is blamed by the 60's liberals for Vietnam and belittled and condemned. Milhous opened relations with China and established detente with the USSR, attempted to create national health care, did created the EPA and OSHA, and initiated SALT yet will always be condemned to his own circle of hell because of Watergate. Sometimes objectivity and balance take a long time to reach.