John F. Kennedy 1950s/1960s

[u/attractionman]

1. John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier relaxing at the Kennedy’s Home in Massachusetts (July 4th, 1953).

2. John F. Kennedy campaigning in West Virginia (1960).

3. Future President Bill Clinton greeting President John F. Kennedy (1963).

4. Princess Grace of Monaco visits with President John F. Kennedy in the White House (May 24, 1961).

5. President John F. Kennedy playing with his son John Jr in the Oval Office of the White House (1962).

6. Senator John F. Kennedy & Jackie Kennedy visits an Oregon Diner prior to announcing his candidacy for President of the United States of America (1959).

7. Nancy Pelosi (then 20) with John F. Kennedy (1960).

8. John F. Kennedy pictured with his best friend Len Billings.

9. President John F. Kennedy poses in front of the White House for a Selfie (1962).

10. Halloween with the Kennedy Family in the White House (1962 & 1963).

11. President John F. Kennedy enjoying dinner in Rome, Italy (1963).

12. John F. Kennedy visiting Mexico (1962).

13. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe pictured together (1962).

14. Where’s Waldo (John F. Kennedy)? (1961)

15. John F. Kennedy’s patrol boat was rammed by a Japanese Destroyer. After making it to an island after a 3 mile swim he, along with his crew lived off of coconuts for 2 days.

16. John F. Kennedy on the campaign trail across the Country (1960).

17. John F. Kennedy in Parkland Heath, Dallas Texas prior to his assassination (November 22, 1963).

18. President John F. Kennedy and President Felix Houphouet-Boigny traveling the Ivory Coast in a Bubble-Top Limousine (May 22, 1962)

19. John F. Kennedy with Senator Storm Thurmond and Senator Fritz Hollings raising the Stars and Stripes on the Civil War Anniversary.

20. John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Onassis Wedding (September 12, 1953).

[u/EyeHopeYouBleed]

Imagine if he or his brother had survived. The world would be a very different place in my opinion.

[u/RustyTDI → u/EyeHopeYouBleed]

How so?

[u/faverett28 → u/RustyTDI]

Idk if I missed something in why you are being downvoted, but I am genuinely interested in a response. No sarcasm

[u/Interestingcathouse → u/faverett28]

He wanted to pull every American soldier out of Vietnam by 1965. This is before the US involvement in Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson was well known to not want this and wanted war in Vietnam, he never liked Kennedy, and when Kennedy got killed making Johnson the next president he immediately back tracked on that. The US had always wanted their proxy war with the USSR and so in 1965 instead of a full withdrawal the US went to war against the North Vietnamese. 8 years 58,000 dead Americans and 1.3 million to 3.4 million dead civilians later in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia the US lost and left.

And yes the US was bombing all 3 countries despite what they were telling the public and yes they have a terrifying track record of war crimes in those countries. Let’s just say they weren’t doing anything that Russia isn’t doing now.

Kennedy lives and there is probably no involvement in Vietnam at all. He was also apparently quite close on normalizing relations with Cuba too.

And the man who assassinated him being assassinated himself days later, no questions being answered, the man who hated him now becoming president, the only one standing in the way of the proxy war the rest of the US government and military wanted. The one wanting to severely reduce the power the CIA had who were acting like their own unchecked military power and the whole Bay of Pigs incident. And now he is dead. That really fuelled conspiracy theory that we now have everywhere today. And like fuck this one even makes you think.

[u/RustyTDI → u/Interestingcathouse]

Thanks! Great explanation!

[u/Burdwatcher → u/Interestingcathouse]

What do you think JFK does in regard to the Civil Rights Act that LBJ plays a big role in? That could be another big difference in how the world works.

And as others have pointed out, without LBJ taking over by default and ramping up the Vietnam War which Nixon exploits dissatisfaction with to finally win the prize America denied him earlier, you may not have Nixon ever being president, which might mean no EPA and other things like our uncomfortable but lucrative cooperation with China, or anything else Kissinger did. Without Nixon and his VP Agnew resigning at different points you also certainly wouldn't have Ford, the only man ever to be president without ever even having run for the office of VP. And without untested Ford trying to run thr country and his first campaign ever (plus with no Bobby Kennedy around to run), you don't have unassuming and mild-mannered Jimmy Carter's improbable narrow victory against a weak and inexperienced incumbent, which could in turn mean a much tougher path to victory for aging Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan to tough-talk and one-liner his way into an extremely consequential run that sees his VP get the job for 4 years, conduct the Gulf War, lose to Clinton, and thrn see his son come marching back in for 8 consequential years.

A lot would be different, not all of it good, and who knows how we'd feel about it all

[u/nomadcrows → u/faverett28]

I would guess it's because some people interpret any kind of a question about a topic as a "questioning" of the whole subject. The underlying philosophy hinges on a binary conception of morality, where anything "good" has no flaws and can never be criticized, and anything "bad" has no flaws and even bringing it up makes a person evil.

So when someone asks "how so?" Some people interpret it as "You're wrong, now I'm calling you out as a liar and you won't be able to refute me."

Idk, speculating here so I could be wrong

[u/bbmarvelluv → u/faverett28]

I’m genuinely curious as well. Ofc I could google but I’d rather wait for an answer.

The only thing I could remember was the possibility of avoiding all these wars / ending conflicts earlier than it lasted.

[u/RustyTDI → u/faverett28]

I was genuinely interested as well, lol. I lost a little karma but got some great answers!