Post Scripts: President John F. Kennedy

It was Jan. 20, 1961, 50 years ago this week, that John F. Kennedy, 43, the youngest man ever elected president, delivered his inaugural address. He stirred the heart of America when he said: "The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor, will light our country and all who serve it – and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans – ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessings and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own."

Not only was he the youngest, but also the wittiest president. To a friend he once gave a silver mug with the following inscription: "There are three things which are real: God, human folly and laughter. The first two are beyond our comprehension, so we must do what we can with the third."

Kennedy’s wit was not folksy like Lincoln’s. It was plainer, more direct, more urbane. But like Lincoln’s it sometimes had ironic overtones and was wryly self-depressing. And like Lincoln, JFK was bored by self-righteousness, false humility, and garrulousness.

Kennedy looked younger than his years and enjoyed telling friends how he was mistaken once for an elevator boy and several times for a page boy when he first entered the House of Representatives. Even after he became a senator a guard intervened when he tried to use a special telephone to the Capitol.

Catholicism was still an issue when Kennedy tried for the Presidency, so was the fact that his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, was very wealthy. "I’m not against the Pope," said Harry Truman who first opposed Kennedy’s candidacy. "I’m against the Pop." When reporters at a Gridiron club dinner in Washington in 1958 teased Kennedy about his father by presenting a skit featuring the Massachusetts Senator singing "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" and "Just send the Bill to Daddy," he took it in good humor. In the speech he gave afterward, he said "I have just received the following wire from my generous Daddy: "Don’t buy a single vote that is not necessary. I’ll be dammed if I’m going to pay for a landslide."

Two years later in 1960, Kennedy narrowly won the election over Richard Nixon and became the first president born in the 20th century. As president he sought a "New Frontier" in American politics, involving "inventions, innovation, imagination and decisions." There were advances in civil rights under JFK, as well as the creation of the Peace Corps and the signing of the test ban treaty with Russia. There was intensification of the Cold War; the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the urban missile crisis, and increasing involvement in Vietnam. "The chickens are coming home to roost," General MacArthur told the new President late in 1961, "and you live in the chicken house." Kennedy replied that he didn’t mind living in the chicken house.

I could go on and on about President Kennedy but I’ll save that for another time. Some of you might remember that I was among other Missouri newspaper men who had lunch with him at the White House in October 1961.