JFK Revisited: Legacy in Perspective

The presidency of John F. Kennedy is remembered for more than it’s tragic end 50 years ago. The NET News special reporting project “JFK Revisited” talks with Nebraska historians and political scientists about the Kennedy legacy, especially how we see and perceive the presidency.

“When they got done somebody who was counseling John F. Kennedy said, ‘I think we’ve just elected a President and I’m not sure this is the way we should do it,’” said Sara Crook, professor of history and social science at Peru State College.

Crook calls Kennedy the first media president, something that’s influenced the presidency since.

“I do think in today’s society you have to be telegenic to be electable and I’m not sure that’s necessarily a great criteria,” Crook said.

Kennedy benefited from being the right president for the dawn of the television era, according to John Vermeer, retired Nebraska Wesleyan University political science professor. Vermeer said Kennedy understood how to use this to his advantage.

“Kennedy was the first, really, to hold live televised press conferences,” Vermeer said. “There were televised press conferences under Eisenhower, but, if not scripted, questions had to be submitted in advance and there wasn’t a give and take. Kennedy did it live and we still expect presidents to do that live.

“We all expect presidents now to have a television image, television sense, an ability to connect with people through that medium and it was new at the time,” Vermeer added. “We still have those expectations.”

Vermeer said Kennedy’s assassination, only captured on film by amateur photographer Abraham Zapruder, led to television cameras following future presidents at all times.

“When that happened, the intensity of personality of the person increased so much that it was harder to ignore the outside events,” Vermeer said.

As a result, in years that followed we’ve seen television coverage of everything from the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton stopping for a hamburger while jogging.

Crook said Kennedy’s image, in combination with some issues of the time, helped bring new demographic groups into politics.

“It’s chaotic enough to be president when you know what’s on the daily agenda and you have a chance to get out ahead of it and sort of start off with your take on things,” Davis said. “To be blindsided by events as happens from time to time is bad enough but to not know on a daily basis what’s coming I think would make the presidency very hard. It’s such a job of impression and momentum and priorities and limited power, even within the executive branch, to really force things quickly you have to dominate the agenda. I think Kennedy did that with a special skill. Today that is probably one of the things a president needs to be able to do.”

I don’t think there’s an achievement that’s uniquely his. I think he gave a momentum and a wonderful icon to nuclear disarmament and civil rights."

“Kennedy was not vigorous on civil rights,” Winchell said. “Kennedy was most interested in getting elected and in getting re-elected, and he did not want to offend anyone. He believed in civil rights, but I believe that the civil rights movement came to his door. It’s really Lyndon Johnson that got the Civil Rights Act and the Civil Rights Voting Act passed. Johnson capitalized on the horror of the Kennedy assassination. He used his tremendous political savvy to push those bills through Congress.”

In general, there’s a belief Kennedy’s political legacy was viewed more positively because it ended tragically. Vermeer called it the myth of Camelot.

“If I had to make a list of our greatest president, would I put Kennedy on that list? I don’t think that I would,” Winchell added. “I think that Kennedy was forward-thinking. He represented his time. He came up with some very creative proposals, but the assassination will forever affect the way Americans see his actions. I think also given the tragedies of the Johnson administration, when it comes to the Vietnam War, that it is much more comfortable for us to glorify Kennedy’s contributions to the civil rights movement than Johnson’s contributions.”

“Would he have been regarded as well if he had lived a full life? I would say, probably not,” Crook said. “Would he go down in history as a bad president? I still don’t think that. Of course, we don’t know what he would have done but I think when assassinated you’re automatically elevated and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You could make the same arguments with Lincoln, because he’s highly revered and yet there were a lot of people who were critical of him at the time, including his own party.”

Other JFK Revisited Stories

• JFK from the perspective of a speech writer and longtime Kennedy aide, Nebraskan Ted Sorensen. Aired Monday, Nov. 11.
• Kennedy’s death still resonates 50 years later for Nebraskans sharing their memories of that tragic day. Aired Wednesday, Nov. 13

PBS Programs

• American Experience, "JFK" - A fresh assessment of Kennedy and his legacy. Airs Nov. 11 and 12 at 9 p.m. CT on NET1
• NOVA, "Cold Case JFK" - Can modern forensic science uncover fresh clues about the assassination of JFK? Airs Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. CT on NET1.

Additional Links

• John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum - includes significant online collection of documents and photos.
• C-SPAN Video Library - watch videos of Kennedy speeches as well as new content about the Kennedy presidency.