The Presidents: #5

#5 John F. Kennedy
Term: January 20, 1961 to November 22, 1963
Grade: B+

John F. Kennedy is one probably the hardest President to place in a ranked list. This isn't due to a lack of talent, or a lack of achievements relative to his length of term. It isn't because of an inconsistent record, or an immensely complex personality. The wildcard nature of his ranking is due to one question. What If?

What if Lee Harvey Oswald doesn't make it to that window at the book depository? What if he takes a completely different path on Vietnam What if civil rights legislation dies on the vine?

Had he lived to see January 20, 1969, it is very possible he would deserve to be much lower on this list. The scandals and failures of second terms have tarnished the legacy of many Presidents. It is possible he would have decided upon a similar path in Vietnam. You can almost hear the chants of "Hey, Hey JFK, how many kids did you kill today?"

However, he might also have charted a new course for US foreign policy. The disaster that was Vietnam might have been averted, and the real problems on the domestic front might have been tackled better than they were. Best of all, it might have prevented a Nixon presidency.

Obviously this kind of hypothetical history is not very productive. Kennedy did die, and his death makes it harder to realistically assess his presidency. If I were to rebuild this list from scratch five times over, I would not be surprised if Kennedy ended up anywhere between 20 and 5 on it, depending on my mood.

In that case, why is he at the top of his potential range on the list? I suppose I am in an idealistic mood. His presidency in a way stands for the American experiment, in that its work is never finished. His words and his spirit are the guiding light of our perpetual effort to perfect our union, even if his accomplishments (save for one) don't exactly measure up to that ideal.

But putting aside abstract ideas of progress and inspiration, he deserves credit for the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Had a president such as George W. Bush been in office during a time of such peril, I doubt I would be here writing this blog. It was a particularly precarious tightrope walk, even for a job that is nothing but tightrope walking. During those tense 13 days, he showed what it means to be a President, and why in a democracy the military must answer to the President, and not the other way around.

Up Next: Back to the bottom of the class with our last F-club member
Then: What do William Daniels, Paul Giamatti, and Billy Crystal have in common?

Note: Starting with this post, I will be filling out the list of Presidents in a non-linear fashion. I am doing this partially to shake things up, and partially because slogging through the Gilded Age Presidencies at once probably means I would not get this done. The one exception to this are the top 4, which will be released in order. I hope to be getting roughly 3 of these up a week, until February 12, 2010, when #1 will be unveiled. I bet you can't guess who that might be.

Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday will be the days to look for new posts, with the exception of Feb 7 - 12, which will be nightly. Expect no posts on Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve, but expect a bonus post on January 20, which will be a one year review of the Obama Presidency.