Originally Posted By: thedoctor
I'm sorry, but how exactly was Kennedy one of our great presidents? Vietnam. Bay of Pigs. Much like James Dean and Marilyn Monroe, Kennedy's legend outweighs his actual deeds simply because he died 'young', so to speak.

Well Eisenhower actually started our involvement in Vietnam and Johnson was the one who escalated into what it became. The blame for the Bay of Pigs depends on whether you think we should've used military action in Cuba to overthrow the government, if not then the CIA is to blame. Ultimately it was their mess, Kennedy just refused to send in air support.
He did manage to pull us away from WWIII during the missile crisis, fighting the hardline rightwingers in the military who wanted a war.
He desegregated the Federal Government after Woodrow Wilson (a Democrat) re-segregated it.
He was the first to start the ball on the Civil Rights legislation, at least on the level of the President.
For those acts he deserves credit as a great president.
I do agree that dying young, especially being murdered, does add to the legend.

Which is why John Lennon is more of a legend on his own than the other Beatles, even though his solo career never was commercially successful.

Bow ties are coool.