JOHN KENNEDY – A STAR OF MODERN HISTORY
President John
Fitzgerald Kennedy, a literary scholar with an
astonishingly astute and strategic
thought was remarkably bright in public service, had great
knowledge and interest in history, literature and world politics. A brilliant mind gifted with immense curiosity, gathered vast information on wide
array of topical subjects. JFK, an attentive listener, was a man in possession
of suave diplomatic skills, compounded with intellectual stimulation, he made
landmark policies. JFK knew it was his time to shine in the world, imprinted his glorious and glamourous presence
which marked the beginning of
a new era of freshness, vigour and vitality in 60’s.
JFK, a Pulitzer winner author, with modern vision and historical expertise, natural grandiosity and eloquent style had a penchant for emotive language, metaphors and quotable rhetoric. His expressive gestures and effective communication aroused euphoria among the audience and his powerful speeches have timeless significance.
JFK was skilfully efficient in conveying his perspective in a familiar, informal and forceful manner, raised ordinary intent with sharp wit, which motivated the morale of the masses.
Kennedy an influential
and transformational leader, had excellent perception, understanding and with analytical thoughts he
distinguished himself early as a remarkable and a charismatic politician, who
sought to remake the society safe, secure and conflict free. JFK’s
farsightedness and prudence raised awareness about geo political disputes and
future of mankind, which most of his predecessors and successors never
anticipated and ignored the dangerous ramifications, leading the world to
present cataclysm.
His instinctual
approach and receptivity intensified with the course of time, he planned a
long-time strategy to resolve the serious issues, advocated practical,
pragmatic, progressive and comprehensive reforms. The sharp inferential
reasoning demonstrated JFK’s incredible observation and accurate judgement
about world affairs.
To understand the
present crises in the world, one needs to go back to JFK, how brilliantly he
inspired all to make world a better place for a peaceful society. Kennedy
promoted peacebuilding initiatives with conflict preventive diplomacy and
resolutions. JFK, a voracious reader, had imbibed immense knowledge of humanity
and forcefully urged the nations to maintain peace, mutual
tolerance and build a global habitat for human beings.
‘’Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly
process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly
building new structures. Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end
to mankind’’.
JFK
Despite the growth of
human and technological ingenuity for modernizing the society, the darker side
of innovation and the digitally transformed world has created negative
consequences, as international peace in this century is more difficult with
easy proliferation of sophisticated armaments and dangerous techniques adopted
by certain countries to achieve their political and military objectives,
bringing humanity to adversity. The bitter traditional and deep-seated enmity
of nations has been prevalent for eons, but at the moment with more petty
disagreements, increased tensions, conflict provocations and violent terrorism,
the struggles for global peace and security agreements are complex and
tentative in this millennium.
JFK, a war hero,
with military honours, knew the ghastly long-term impact of war which continues
to plague our planet. On the brink of nuclear war, he witnessed critical and
grim situation in USA however with his evaluative mind and practical beliefs,
he convinced the hawks in his administration and achieved a peaceful diplomatic
win. The risk of unnecessary and unjust wars, generated by some rising powers
and their close political allies universally, drove JFK to take quick necessary
action against the unprovoked aggression and he actively prepared to resist any
military assault across the continents.
As he hoped for
good relations with USSR, Kennedy administration opened new hotline between
White House and Kremlin for direct communication and worked towards
comprehensive ‘Nuclear Test Ban Treaty’, a procedure established the resolution
with the nuclear ‘Non-Proliferation Treaty’. JFK avowed to persuade urgent
global nuclear disarmament and set the standard for future arms control.
Decades later President Clinton pursued JFK’s basic guidelines of a limited
test ban treaty forbidding nuclear tests globally.
Kennedy expanded
American space program to eclipse the Soviet Union in the arena of space and
space quest in the 20th century, and the space race was effectively
won by US, landing first man on the moon.
Later on, JFK affirmed the significance of joint scientific advancement
in space research for peaceful purposes. The space programs are now being
utilized increasingly to improve the daily life, with deployment of satellites,
the populace even in the remote places is getting benefited, whereas in between
the space research had been moved more for military technology, defence and
arms industries worldwide.
He was a relentless
opponent of any autocratic leadership, fascism and dictatorship, with
statesmanship he coped with his adversaries. When
faced with existential threats and insecurity in US and other International
geographical territories, JFK defied, challenged and criticized imperialism, communism, and its
blatant expansion targeting independent sovereign states. The Cuban revolution and
the Cuban missiles crises ascertained the severe communist threat targeted
unsteady developing countries.
Kennedy was an
outspoken critic of communist infiltration, massive military action and its
persistent threat to global democracies. His administration determined China
was more militant and dangerous and adopted the policy of containment to end
the propagation of communism in Asia, unfortunately some of his predecessors,
in fact opened warmly to China.
JFK bolstered defence efforts to stop spread of communism in Vietnam and South East Asia and was greatly worried about aggressive Chinese foreign policy. Kennedy had a strong interest in Asia and realized that Asian countries are critical to international equilibrium and he focused on bilateral partnerships, multilateral measures and mediation. When India was attacked by China, to avert another military attack on India by its other neighbour, JFK authoritatively dealt with Pakistan, sent carrier battle group to Bay of Bengal and he played a crucial role to end China-India war, planned massive military aid package to India.
‘’The Chinese use two brush strokes to write
the word ‘crises’, one brush stroke stands for danger, the other for
opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger, but recognize the
opportunity’’.
JFK
His inference of
China’s aggressive foreign policy was disregarded for a long period of time and
dragon’s fire has spread in Asia, Africa and Latin America, causing political
and economic instability. Recently former Ambassador Caroline Kennedy shared her father’s thoughts
and gave a noteworthy message to China for its military action in the
South-East China Sea.
‘’Unilateral actions like those taken by
China, with their announcement of an East China Sea Air Defence Identification
Zone undermine security and constitute an attempt to change the status quo in
the East China Sea. This only serves to increase tension in the region’’.
Caroline
Kennedy
JFK was also
opposed to rabid nationalism and authoritarian regimes and it is the most
serious challenge in the present political scenario. Recently, the same ideas about extreme nationalism in some of the countries was shared
by President Obama in COP26.
Surrounded by
world’s pressing problems, JFK with his dialectical and constructive
perspicacity was capable of handling difficult issues. He increased the
American defence spending, building ships, submarines and military planes as
deterrent to any armed conflict and in fact pledged that America will never
declare a war, demonstrated his vision for peace and balancing power in
conflicts. He endorsed direct negotiations for insolvable problems, elaborated
non-aggressive approach with diplomacy and adopted restrained influence to end
critical situations.
More important
and meaningful were the entreaties of JFK in his powerful words…
‘’We shall do our part to build a world peace
where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before
that task or hopeless of its success’’.
JFK
A brilliant judge
of human nature, Kennedy stood for genuine peace and strongly maintained that
humanity will attain universal peace. He was incessantly urging nations that
humankind must ditch wars, which is the most dreadful and terrifying part of
our society.
Since he was extremely concerned about changing political dynamics in Asia, Kennedy planned to visit Japan to enhance the bilateral ties between two countries and his government established harmonious cooperation with Japan for future alliance. In recent times, Caroline Kennedy stated…
‘’Capt. Hanami of Japanese destroyer that sank
my father’s PT boat, like my father, Capt. Hanami went home after the war to
enter public service, seeing the photos from the 1950s that my father
inscribed, ‘To Captain Hanami - late enemy, present friend’ was a powerful
reminder that even during times of conflict, we have more in common than
divides us’’.
Caroline Kennedy
He was empathetic
and inspired the generations to
fulfil their ambitions with hope, courage and unity. Kennedy pioneered
his political philosophy of smart growth, asserted that the evolution of man is through education, literature,
arts, science, innovation, engineering and technology. The scientific and technological development
intensely influenced JFK and he appealed for broader educational programs and community activities for
the entire moral and social progress of the society and nations. Kennedy approved lot of humanitarian relief and established peace corps in 141 underdeveloped countries to improve the quality of life, by providing assistance in education,
farming, health care and construction.
His political
analysis had warned about socio political factors and human-caused disasters
which to this day and age are worrisome in every respect. He asserted …
‘’Our problems are man-made; therefore, they
may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human
destiny is beyond human beings’’.
JFK
In his tenure, JFK
brought up environmental concerns and damage to mother nature by humankind, recommended policies for sustainable resources, clean and safe environment. In
contemporary times, the world is suffering from catastrophic effect of climate
change, regretfully, the world leaders had failed to realize the gravity,
eventually they are waking up to environmental emergency.
JFK’s President’s Council on physical fitness promoted active workout routine and encouraged people to participate in fitness challenges, with efforts focused on the importance of physical activity. Regardless of health problems, JFK was always agile, energetic and athletic, and sports were an essential part of his life. He supported different exercise programs which led to surge in popularity in United States and Western world.
‘’Physical fitness is not only one of the most
important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative
intellectual activity’’.
JFK
JFK’s lively
sense of humour and pleasant disposition, easily understood by global
population and his stirring speech in Berlin not only impressed the Germans but
also resonated and inspired people across the globe. His connectivity to the
world was very dynamic and he became very popular in Europe, South America,
Africa, and Asia. JFK’s indescribable
intellect, political idealism and realism reflect that his presidency popularized optimistic
ideology.
It is observable, JFK a man of action with political intelligence and
leadership qualities was much ahead of his time and wanted to prove that modern
world has nothing to fear from savage and rogue nations. Kennedy never imagined
that this world would ever become a utopia, as a student of history, he was pragmatic
and tried to achieve a contemporary ‘heaven’ which had its goods and fallacies.
If we had adhered to his wisdom, the prevailing turmoil would not exist, it’s
time for the world to act on his concerns and words, that still ring true today.
A trailblazer all
his life, JFK created an inspiring
vision and wanted to
revolutionize world politics and expressed an outstanding clairvoyance which is
relevant even in 21st century. Kennedy had a tremendous personal charm and people were in awe of him, hold him in high
esteem even after nearly six decades.
‘’A man may die, nations may rise and fall,
but an idea lives on’’.
JFK
John F Kennedy was deeply mourned and eulogized even in the remotest corners of the earth, no leader’s death has evoked so much personal and emotional reactions. JFK was becoming a global leader and statesman, who could have changed the history of the world, nevertheless, his assassination is an indelible blot on civilization.
Anuradha Singh
19th December, 2021
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