perfidy

Goodwife Two-Cents, who is better than me in every way, had some insights about Jack Kennedy I think I should share. She contends that in decrying JFK as an overrated President, I missed important points. Well, I think she's right so I will air them here. 

First, John and Jackie Kennedy did a great deal to make the Presidency a cultural post. That was an important issue to pursue as President, and they did it with aplomb and flair. Moreover, what President has continued this work since? Jackie Kennedy on her own did a great deal to secure funding and support for the arts and non-war-based sciences during the slide-rule and crewcut era, and that deserves some propers. I can get behind that.

Not since Washington's administration did a President capture the hearts and minds of the nation like JFK. Quick - name three other Presidents who were assassinated. Um, Lincoln, that's easy, and McKinley, and ohhh, ummmm.... Geez. Mumbley-Joe? (It's Garfield). 

It's hard, isn't it? JFK's assassination shook the nation like Lincoln's did, and like McKinley's and Garfield's did not. Always catastrophic, Kennedy's shooting remains a watershed moment precisely because he stood for so much in the eyes of the country. Regardless of his merits or shortcomings, he was better-loved than any other President I can name in the twentieth century. 

Final note: JFK's cult of personality, besides being a boon to the nation in a dark time, was an important factor in why he wasn't strung up for sucking so mightily at politics and international affairs. 

Other final note: 50% of those Presidents who have been assassinated in office are from Ohio. WTF? 

Last final note. I share a common ancestor with all eight Ohio Presidents, plus both Bushes and JFK. That's not that great a feat, really. Mary Chilton must have been some ho. 

Truly final note too good to pass up: Those crazy Pilgrims! Among the Mayflower passengers, there was a little girl named Humility Cooper. Buckethead, is it too late to change your mind? I think you need a son named Increase.