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John Kennedy: Philosophy
Throughout his early political career, John F. Kennedy made no secret about his political views. While a member of the House of Representative, Kennedy criticized what he considered to be President Truman’s soft line approach to Communist China. Indeed, Kennedy was an advocate for a strong US stand against Communism throughout his career. In the presidential campaign of 1960, Kennedy stated bluntly that “the enemy is communism itself.” He also referred to the impending struggle between his administration and various communist regimes as “freedom under God versus ruthless, godless tyranny.” If nothing else, Kennedy certainly practiced what he preached. With varying degrees of success, Kennedy clashed everywhere with the Soviets, from Cuba to Vietnam. Kennedy was also adamantly opposed to the traditional Cold War belief in the value of deterrence through nuclear weapons, or mutual assured destruction, as it was later called. Kennedy felt the policy was not only reckless and untried, but also largely ineffective. In his opinion, the true threat from the Soviets was “limited brushfire wars, indirect non-overt aggression, intimidation and subversion, internal revolution...a thrust more difficult to oppose...yet ending in our isolation, submission, or destruction.” While nuclear weapons would likely prevent a large scale war between the two great nations, they could do nothing to stop what Kennedy saw as covert Soviet operations against the US. The president was convinced that the only solution was to strengthen the nation’s ability to wage conventional war. This, along with nuclear weapons, would allow the US to adequately check Soviet expansion. In addition to an aggressive policy toward communism, Kennedy was in favor of a strong, active executive in general. While still a Senator, Kennedy wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning book about American political heroes that made clear his admiration of forceful leaders. As president, Kennedy, following this ideal, made himself almost the day-to-day manager of foreign policy. One insider even suggests that Kennedy was as informed on global happenings as his officials in the State Department. Kennedy, with his unusually varied experience in foreign policy for a president, was one of the most involved presidents in foreign policy the country has ever seen. |
Philosophy
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