John Fitzgerald Kennedy
| Date | 01 March 1964 |
| Published date | 01 March 1964 |
| Author | G. M. Craig |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206401900101 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
John
Fitzgerald
Kennedy
G.
M.
Craig*
ENNEDY'S
presidency
lasted
for
two
years
and
ten
months,
which
made
it
unique
in
American
history.
Of
other
presidents
who
died
in
office,
Lincoln
and
McKinley
had
completed
one
term
and
Roosevelt
had
started
his
fourth.
There
was
more
work
for
Lincoln
and
Roosevelt
to
do,
yet
each
had
already
made
a
major
contribution.
McKinley
merely
assisted
Queen
Victoria
in
bringing
the
nineteenth century
to
a
close.
Another
group,
Harrison,
Taylor
and
Garfield,
barely
held
the
office
before
going
to
their
rewards.
Only
Warren Harding's
tenure
was
roughly
equivalent
to
Kennedy's
in length,
but
the
analogy
is
meaningless.
Harding
was deeply
committed
to
doing
nothing,
while
Kennedy
wanted
to
do
a
vast
range
of
things
and
was
already
well
started
on
his
tasks.
We
are
left,
then,
with
a
substantial fragment,
for
which
there
is
no
historical
parallel.
This
Administration
is
a
fragment
for
reasons
going
beyond
its
duration.
It
got
off
to
a
slower
start
than
most
people,
in-
cluding
the
late
president,
expected,
and before
long
it
was pac-
ing
itself
for
a
long
race,
a
middle
distance,
at
least,
rather
than
a
sprint.
Thus,
it
came
to
its
abrupt
end
with
unfinished business
on
all
sides
and
with
all
too
little
in
the
way
of
clear-cut
ac-
complishment.
As
suggested,
this
need
for
a
changed
pace was
at
first
a
distinct
shock
to
Kennedy.
One of
his
main
lines
of
criticism
of
Eisenhower's
incumbency
had
been
against
the
latter's
lack
of
forceful
and
positive
leadership from
the
White
House.
Thinking
of
Franklin
Roosevelt's
record,
especially
in
the
Hundred
Days
of
1933,
and
stimulated
by
intellectuals
brought
up
in
the
New
Deal
tradition,
Kennedy promised a presidency
that
would
be
the
vital
centre
of
action
to
generate
movement in
all
branches
of
the
government.
It
was
not
long
before
he
discovered
that
he
would
need
a
thousand
days,
or
twice
that
many,
to
accomplish
*Department
of
History,
University
of
Toronto.
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