It doesn't end... it's almost maddening!

This article in the Guardian has many points that I think sum up the general opinion of today's media about Kennedy's speech and his administration as a whole.

Contrasting Kennedy and his inaugural promises to what was actually delivered and the efforts of his Vice President's administrations that followed, the author notes that Kennedy promised to bring civil rights to the front and to fight poverty everywhere, but it was Johnson who signed the Civil Rights Act and Johnson who waged the War on Poverty. This does NOT take into account that 1) Kennedy was killed before his first term was up (and his speech said the effort would take more than 100 days, even more than 1000 days), and 2) that Kennedy was NOT the progressive/liberal that Johnson was. He did NOT think it government's role to dictate how much a man can make before he makes too much, nor that the "excess" be turned over to the government so that it could be more fairly spread amongst those who needed it more.

While I am sure Kennedy would have agreed that every man, regardless of color or creed, has the same inherent rights given to him by God, I am convinced he balked only at making the Federal Government the sole arbitrator of that protection, rather than sharing that role with the individual States. Hindsight tells us that this was a bit naive in its trust and understanding of Southern politics... but it doesn't negate facts, and even Johnson saw much violence and bloodshed in the implementation of his civil rights legislation, didn't he?

This article voices a very common and very prevalent conception about Kennedy: that he was a failed progressive/liberal who promised the world and delivered nothing. What he delivered was a promise of hope and a renewed trust in American government and leadership that was sadly crushed by his assassination and the corresponding confusion and mistrust that followed, even to this day. The man made mistakes, yes... but we are not beating him up today for those, we are beating him up today for things that I really feel were utterly out of his ability to control or change in any sort of good conscience. He wanted to lead America down the path to universal civil rights... not force it down the path at gunpoint. That was a lesson learned during Reconstruction, and one I think Kennedy understood to be a problematic one, at best.

Of course, these are only my opinions... the man is dead less than three years after giving this speech, and no one can know for sure what would have happened, can they?