U. S. Presidents Who Were Great... Not!

[septimus]

@RTFirefly

I’ve seen rankings of Presidents that historians voted on, and they tend to rank JFK in the top quartile. And I don’t get it. Historians should be smart enough to get past the mystique. What did he do that was so great, besides not blowing up the world in the Cuban missile crisis?

I’m as happy to bad-mouth JFK as the next guy, but you ignore his accomplishments. The Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act, War on Poverty, etc. may have been enacted under LBJ but it was JFK that provided the impetus. (It may not be clear how much of that was due to his charisma and inspiration while alive and how much was a reaction to — or apology for — his assassination.) Other JFK inspirations include the Peace Corps.

… And, most specially, his successful decision to send a man to the Moon within a decade and bring him safely back to Earth. I wrote about this before (although you’ll need to click to see the best parts in the quote box).

@septimus

Even today, there may be Americans who think the Apollo Program was a waste of money. (Perhaps that might be a good debate … if hindsight weren’t 20-20.) At the time it struck many people as absurd. The project to land a man on the Moon is considered one of the biggest and most expensive programs ever undertaken by the United States: among single efforts, only the Panama Canal and the Manhattan Project are comparable, and they had clear economic or military purpose.

The budget estimated for the effort was equivalent to about 800 Billion Dollars in present-day federal spending … and there was no guarantee of success.

Man would probably not have set foot on the Moon to this day without John F. Kennedy’s determination and charisma. Certainly such a thing is inconceivable in today’s political clime. The political hurdles were as difficult as the technical hurdles.

Kennedy was surprised he was able to develop support for the project, was himself overwhelmed by the expense and difficulties, and actually tried to backpedal out of the project. One could criticise him for the whole effort! But to suggest his contribution to the moon landing was “to make a few speeches” is … misinformed.

Also under-appreciated, apparently, is Harry Truman’s Marshall Plan — a combination of charity and self-interest that led to fast recovery from W.W. II and helped prevent W.W. III. Truman passed this program despite strong opposition.