Raymond,
One thing that liberals seem to be unable to understand is seeing what arch right-wingers the whole Kennedy clan was, at least before JFK's assassination. Don't get me wrong, I think thats a very GOOD thing and much to their credit, despite the liberal state of denial and the liberal attempt to re-write the history of the period.
Many New Dealers, those of the Harry Hopkins wing, considered Joe Kennedy to be a fascist himself and were very uncomfortable with Kennedy as ambassador to England and were fearful that Kennedy was too close to those Tories who favored accomodation with Germany. Read FDR, THe New Deal Years by Kenneth Davis. Kennedy openly opposed American involvement in the war and testified in Senate hearings AGAINST Lend-Lease. In US domestic politics Kennedy courted Father Couglhin, the "Radio Priest" and opposed practically every element of the New Deal, especially anything that smacked of wealth re-distribution.
JFK and RFK as legislators were hardline cold-warriors of the toughest variety. RFK cut his teeth serving a legal aide to Joseph McCarthy. As president JFK stood down Khrushchev with nuclear weapons and Khrushchev withdrew, knowing full well that Kennedy was preparing to nuke the Soviet Union out of existance. JFK was elected president in the first place partly by proclaiming a phony "missle gap" existed. Of course this was a clever, though unfair, political move but I don't think it was all politics; Kennedy really did want to vastly expand the American military to oppose communism and socialism worldwide, which is exactly what he did once elected, especially the strategic forces. And Kennedy reduced the income tax on the upper brackets without apology.
While Richard Nixon wanted establish peaceful diplomatic relations with Red China, JFK wanted to begin the relationship with a US nuclear strike on the Chinese nuclear facility at Lop Nor, possibly with the help of the USSR. In the early 90's a Khrushchev memo to JFK was published with a much humbled Khrushchev now complaining to Kennedy that he would "not be Kennedy's postmaster" and would not deliver a military threat to the Red Chinese. The only thing that prevented this benificial program was JFK's assassination.
Kennedy really did start the Vietnam War and I think with the very best of motives, though poorly executed. And who knows, there may be untold millions alive today in SE Asia today who owe their very lives Kennedy's war, the blood we shed there preventing the outbreak of similar murderous Red Revolutions in the other countries of the reigon.
With his beloved brother and father gone RFK did indeed make a big personal move "to the left" and apparently become what we now call a "progressive" though this was surely a latter day conversion.
Slagle Reeves |
