The Kennedy Presidency

Event Details

Professor Arthur Schlesinger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard graduate who served as Special Assistant to President Kennedy, talks in depth about JFK, describing him as a highly intelligent and extremely curious man with great concentration. Kennedy described himself as an "idealist without illusions," wanting to help the less fortunate at home and abroad, much like FDR. This is why Schlesinger draws some comparisons between the two Presidents, as well as with Teddy Roosevelt. Schlesinger comments on Kennedy's underestimation of the moral passion behind the Civil Rights Movement, his openness to various ideas, and his foreign policy, including the effect of and relationship with Khrushchev, the erroneous belief of a missile gap with the Soviet Union, the Berlin Crisis, and the Bay of Pigs. However, he does acknowledge Kennedy's strong understanding of the limits of American power. In the question and answer section, Schlesinger talks about Kennedy's relation with the National Security Council, the Alliance for Progress with Latin America, Robert Kennedy, Kennedy's choice for Secretary of State, and U.S. support towards subversive movements abroad.