The LuLac Edition #4,307, May 29th, 2020

 JFK @ 103

Photo of Kennedy from Philadelphia Inquirer on the weekend of his death, Congressman Matt Cartwright and your blog editor at Kennedy statue dedication in Pittston and JFK in Nanticoke during the 1960 campaign. That photo courtesy of edd Rainari.  

John Kennedy was born on this day in Brookine, Massachusetts. Both the Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys were wealthy and prominent Irish Catholic Boston families. Kennedy's paternal grandfather, P.J. Kennedy, was a wealthy banker and liquor trader, and his maternal grandfather, John E. Fitzgerald, nicknamed "Honey Fitz," was a skilled politician who served as a congressman and as the mayor of Boston. Kennedy's mother, Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald, was a Boston debutante, and his father, Joseph Kennedy Sr., was a successful banker who made a fortune on the stock market after World War I.

John F. Kennedy served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate before becoming the 35th president in 1961. As president, Kennedy faced a number of foreign crises, especially in Cuba and Berlin, but managed to secure such achievements as the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and the Alliance for Progress.
His Presidency had potential but all of his agenda was completed by his successor Lyndon Johnson.

WOULD KENNEDY LIKE HIS PARTY TODAY?

You have some Republicans today saying that John Kennedy would be ashamed of his Democratic party. They use as examples Representative Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders (not a Democrat by the way) as people Kennedy would not agree with. Two things here:
First, this is like comparing athletes in different eras. Could Babe Ruth be the greatest in this era? Kennedy was a cold warrior at the time when there was a cold war.On Foreign policy he was aggressive but how he would have dealt with 911 is only speculation. Would he have agreed with the more Progressive wing of today's party? HELL NO but he didn't agree with the left wing of his party in the 50s and 60s. He was pragmatic and had to be goaded into action on Civil Rights.
Second, Kennedy had compassion for the poor, the disenfranchised and the people who needed a hand up. But his failing was not enough time and focus on getting re-elected to give him more of an opportunity to build a legacy.
All that said, even if Kennedy turned into a Ronald Reagan conservative, there's no way he'd be able to reconcile what the GOP of today has become. Kennedy had standards, respect for government institutions and the rule of law.
JFK was a veteran of WWII and fought for those basics. To think he'd prefer the current Republican part over even the most fringe elements of his own party of today is sheer lunacy and wishful thinking on the party of those who tell you otherwise.