Would it be sacrilegious to whisper that JFK for all his charm, his style, his intelligence, was not quite the "great president" almost everyone seems obliged to say he was? To enter this dissent in no way affects the grief every decent person feels at the President's death. After all, even not-so-great Presidents, like not-so-great human being in general, have a right to live out the natural course of their lives.
Mr Kennedy performed one deed for which he deserves high credit, and that is the signing of the atom test ban treaty, even though the treaty has more symbolic importance than final bearing, it is valuable insofar as it reflects the desire of almost everyone for an easing of the Cold War. But as for the rest of Mr Kennedy's record, especially in domestic affairs, he was not a firm or innovating liberal, and what is more, he did not particularly claim to be.
He confined himself far too much to legislative and bureaucratic manoeuvring, he did not try to understand the necessity or value of trying to arouse the masses of people to a strongly felt political involvement and participation. His proposals were at best intelligent, but almost entirely insufficient.
And on the critical issue of civil rights, he lagged at first, responded only after a great mass movement of Negroes exerted heavy pressure, and then failed to understadn that there are some issues on which it is better (both morally and politically) to go down fighting than to back away shrewdly.
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