Would John F. Kennedy have been reelected in '64, if he wasn't murdered?

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When he was assassinated, JFK's approval rating was higher than the highest level achieved by Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama and of course Trump.

His second term would have been a slam dunk.

Had it not been for that act of lunacy, I believe we would have been spared the horrors of Vietnam and the Cold War politics that gave us the ugly world we live in today.

This is not wishful thinking, it's based on how he handled the Cuban crisis. Had Nixon been President, WWIII would have started.

Peapod · 61-69, F

@Northwest I too always wondered how the world would have been different had he lived and gone on to have a second term. He really was a solid president who seem to learn from his mistakes as he went along.

Northwest · M

@Peapod He founded the Peace Corps to encourage our young people to connect with other cultures through kindness, not conquer them.

He challenged the nation to go to the moon, and inspired us as a nation to reach that lofty goal, even after he was gone.

Anyone who looks into the Cuban crisis objectively, understands that he prevented war, not by being weak, but by being the better person.

He had affairs, but that's not what defined him, and it was never public. A different time and not his best character trait, but for the world and the nation, he was one of our best Presidents.

Peapod · 61-69, F

@Northwest I could not agree with you more. His marital infidelities certainly were a personal flaw of his, but he was a very competent leader that most people respected around the globe. I wish he was never harmed.

SmartKat · 56-60, F

@Northwest Those were the days. This country has gotten so much uglier since then. We (USAian people) have really fallen far.

Northwest · M

@SmartKat I personally believe our decline began with the Moral Majority and the "me, me, me" mentality. Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.

Peapod · 61-69, F

@Northwest I totally agree! I did not dislike Reagan the person, but his policies and his affiliation with the "Moral Majority" really got the ball rolling in the division we have in this country.

SmartKat · 56-60, F

@Peapod I didn’t like him as a person. I’ve met guys like him all my life. Grinning, glad-handing phony salesman types who stab you in the back the minute you stop watching them.

Peapod · 61-69, F

@SmartKat I do admit I have a weakness for those that sound "warm", but you are very likely right about his true nature. Of course there was no missing what the last president we had was all about. He set a bar so low that I still can be shocked at those that defend him.