Posted on 03/22/2017 6:27:58 PM PDT by Olog-hai
John F. Kennedy referred to Adolf Hitler as having the stuff of which legends are made in a diary entry written shortly after visiting Germany in 1945.
Kennedy, then a fresh-faced 28-year-old, traveled to Hitlers bomb-ravaged Bavarian Berghof residence and Eagles Nest mountain retreat during a tour of Germany while serving as a war correspondent for Hearst newspapers. And now excerpts from the diary, which were revealed by People Magazine, have shed light on just how the man who would become president thought about the genocidal German leader.
You can easily understand how that within a few years Hitler will emerge from the hatred that surrounds him now as one of the most significant figures who ever lived, Kennedy wrote. He had boundless ambition for his country which rendered him a menace to the peace of the world, but he had a mystery about him in the way he lived and in the manner of his death that will live and grow after him. He had in him the stuff of which legends are made.
The controversial passages have now been revealed after the diarys owner, Deirdre Henderson, arranged to have it auctioned off through RR Auction in Boston.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
PPS. It would not have been a very good idea to let the NSDAP have nuclear bombs. It really wouldn’t have. At the very least.
Why, uh, just look, here, uh...here is, uh....well....
Eh...the nutty things people, uh....
(slinks away)
Stuff of legends? Big deal.
Do they not say the same about murdering outlaws of the old west, etc.
That's common sense. No disrespect to his war record, but he wasn't simply a common sailor. Have to think like an elitist. In August 45 my Dad was stationed in the states, my Mom was in the Phillipines, and JFK was touring Germany in the company of Secretary of the Navy Forrestal. Where would you rather be? My favorite quote from the diary, prewar, The Nordic races certainly seem to be superior to the Romans.
Wiki Post-naval service
In April 1945, Kennedy’s father, who was a friend of William Randolph Hearst, arranged a position for his son as a special correspondent for Hearst Newspapers; the assignment kept Kennedy’s name in the public eye and “expose[d] him to journalism as a possible career.”[54] He worked as a correspondent that May, covering the Potsdam Conference and other events.[55]
You are right. But the swastika was also an Indian symbol and she’s dressed as an Indian. My grandma (who was not an Indian) did a pencil sketch of an Indian in about 1910 and it has swastikas on it. I’m going to give the future Mrs K the benefit of the doubt on this one.
I think you're correct, particularly regarding his post sinking action.
No fan of Kennedy, but what he stated doesn’t look “controversial”. Just thoughtful contemplation on the reality of the man. “Stuff of legends” does NOT have to mean “he was a wonderful guy!”
JFK.’s father, Joseph Kennedy, was removed from his post as US ambassador to Britain by FDR because of Kennedy’s rabid public support for Hitler.
First time I went to Japan I was taken aback by all of the swastikas I saw in Buddhist temples (or were they Shinto shrines?). It is eye-opening to see that the symbol is not associated with evil everywhere in the world.
Agreed. No question he had feet of clay, but he had enough of the right stuff, and love of country, to be remembered as a great American.
You can fulfill your mom’s wish. Just remember to eat plenty of asparagus a half-hour beforehand. ;-D
I know you probably know this, but the swastika was widely used in the US as a good-luck symbol before Hitler appropriated it for the Nazis.
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Kind of like the queers appropriating the rain bow and the word “gay”.
The swastika, often in a reversed arms configuration, is an old Buddhist symbol. Saw them on graves in S. Vietnam.
I believe the Hindus might also have used them on their monuments.
If you slightly rearrange a swastika by realigning its arms, it become THE HAMMER AND SICKLE.
Surprise! Surprise! said Gomer Pyle.
Brings to mind that Kennedy ended up in the south Pacific because he couldn’t keep away from a German woman who was known to be a Nazi agent by J.Edgar - Kennedy had a plush job in DC, but after warnings to stop pursuing the woman went unheeded, he was sent far away to save his reputation and that of his family - eventually of course he became the only PT commander in the war to have his speedy boat rammed out from under him by the Japanese and the hero we all know and love.....
From what I’ve read, the swastika is ancient and is found across many cultures. Hitler, who was a failed artist, realized the “power” of the swastika as a symbol and made it the symbol of his party. The hammer and sickle adopted by the communists may be a pale imitation of it, but lacks the symmetry and “motion” of the swastika. For whatever reason, the swastika grabs people in a way the hammer and sickle doesn’t.
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