JFK: "His Promise Still Grips Us," Says Historian Robert Dallek

For all of historian Robert Dallek's reporting on John F. Kennedy's wretched health, sexual shenanigans and political skulduggery, what shocks people more is this:

"When I mention that last May 29th Kennedy would have been 86 years old, they just can't believe it," noted the author of "An Unfinished Life, John F. Kennedy 1917-1963."

Dallek attributes that incredulous reaction to the fact that Kennedy, who was 46 years old when he died of an assassin's bullet in Dallas Nov. 22, 1963, has remained frozen in time for those who remember his brief presidency as a particularly vibrant and hopeful period in America.

"The television images of Kennedy as a young man have kept him alive, so to speak, and that is what has given his memory such an extraordinary hold on us," said Dallek, whose research found that JFK's athletic, youthful image was primarily a sham.

Forty years after his 1,000-day presidency was ended violently by assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, Kennedy remains one of the most charismatic political figures in American history for reasons that have more to do with what he represented than what he accomplished.

filled promise," Dallek said. "Kennedy spoke to our better angels at home and abroad. He spoke in a highly idealistic and principled way. He spoke of new frontiers and a better future." Dallek and most other historians regard Kennedy's performance as a leader only "above average" or slightly better. They say he proposed reforms for civil rights, taxes, education and Medicare but never enacted major legislation to bring them about. He also had mixed success in foreign affairs in most assessments. In a 1988 survey, historians ranked JFK as "the most overrated public figure in American history."

In public-opinion surveys, however, Kennedy often has been ranked as one of the top five presidents in U.S. history. Revelations in recent years of his many extramarital affairs and use of prostitutes in the White House have dampened his appeal for some.

But interest in Kennedy remains extraordinarily high for one who served as president only a short time, said the author of 15 books, including biographies of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.

In recent weeks leading up to the Nov. 22 anniversary date of Kennedy's assassination, the telephone in Dallek's Washington, home rang incessantly with callers seeking interviews and speeches, he said.

"I've heard from NBC, ABC, The History Channel, CNN, National Geographic and newspapers all over the country," he said. "There is tremendous interest abroad, as well. Other historical events and figures don't get this kind of attention."

Dallek's recent best-seller is one of more than 700 books and audiotapes about JFK list ed on Amazon.com. A search for his successor, Lyndon Johnson, turns up only about 200 titles. Richard Nixon has slightly more than 300 titles listed. (Abraham Lincoln and George Washington each had more than 900.)

But Kennedy's allure still draws more visitors to his "eternal flame" gravesite than any other, except the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which gets an equal number, an Arlington National Cemetery representative said.

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When JFK became the youngest man ever to be elected president in 1960, he was widely perceived as American royalty. His wealthy background, suave looks and style of dress, elite education, and beautiful wife were glamorous trappings. Also, he was a documented war hero, having received a Purple Heart and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for saving the lives of members of his PT-109 crew in the South Pacific.

For a politician, Kennedy's intellectual credentials were strong, too. He'd written a best-selling history book, "Why England Slept," and a Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Profiles In Courage," which impressed scholars here and abroad.

In the years that followed his assassination, many of JFK's personal and professional credentials would be disputed and tarnished. Yet Kennedy's allure continues to glow in the afterlife.

"Being martyred accounts for something, but it hasn't had the same impact for others who have been killed, like President McKinley," noted Dallek. "I think Kennedy has taken a place in the pantheon of American presidents as someone who gave the world hope and unfilled promise.

"The fact that his brothers were killed and now, his son, contributes to that aura of unfilled promise, which people find enormously appealing," he added. "It strikes resonant chords with the optimistic side of people."

Kennedy's image as a vigorous man and dynamic leader have endured even though his true physical condition and his actual White House accomplishments don't match up.

Dallek noted that Kennedy received last rites three times before the age of 40 and suffered repeated and serious illnesses as a child and young man, including scarlet fever and malaria.

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While scores of others have chronicled JFK's confirmed and suspected ailments, Dallek, a former Boston University history professor, was the first author given access to his sealed medical records at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston.

Dallek, who spent five years researching his Kennedy biography, applied in 1999 for permission to view those files, which are guarded by a committee of three trusted Kennedy friends. They had turned down similar requests for years.

Dallek, then, was surprised when his request to see the records was granted late last year, as his work on the book was winding down. He was allowed to make notes but not copy the files, which included 10 boxes of X-rays. The records were mostly those of White House physician Dr. Janet G. Travell, who had gathered JFK's medical histories from childhood.

"I was in the library, so I had to be decorous, but it was really startling," he said. "I especially knew I would be seeing something interesting when they rolled out the boxes.

"Normally, the containers are red and trimmed in blue, but these were old cardboard cartons, so I had the sense that it was something that had not been probed - raw material that would be interesting the minute we opened them up."

In the musty storage boxes, Dallek and a physician friend found private medical files that not only confirmed suspicions about Kennedy's health but also revealed more ailments and hospitalizations than seemed possible for such an active public figure.

Kennedy's chronic back problems were well-known, and there long had been rumors of other ailments, including Addison's disease, a rare endocrine disorder. The medical records confirmed that diagnosis and offered ample evidence that JFK dealt with serious pain and illness most of his life.

Among the things he was treated for were arthritis, colitis, spinal degeneration, prostatitis, osteoporosis, stomach, bowel and colon ailments, high fevers, dehydration, abscesses, insomnia, low blood pressure, and cholesterol that ranged from 300 to 410.

In one of nine back surgeries, Kennedy had a metal plate fused to damaged vertebrae, but it was removed when an abscess formed. He also wore a back brace, which, Dallek speculates, kept him upright after Oswald's first shot, allowing for the fatal one.

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Forty-year-old images of a fit, golden-haired JFK playing touch football, sailing and dancing with his beautiful wife will not be easily washed away despite the darker truths about his medical problems and reliance on drugs, said the historian.

In some ways, what he uncovered may add to Kennedy's stature, Dallek said. He could be viewed as a man who performed at an extraordinarily high level in incredibly stressful situations while ingesting large quantities of drugs for an array of painful medical problems.

The "Medicine Administration Record" kept by Travell provided a startling list of drugs taken by the young president. That list included corticosteroids, procaine shots, Lomotil, Metamucil, paregoric, Phenobarbital, Transentine, penicillin and other antibiotics, Ritalin, Tuinal (a barbiturate used to treat insomnia) and testosterone.

Dallek was so alarmed by the contents of Kennedy's medicine cabinet that he undertook a comparative analysis. He matched the medical records of the president's daily drug intake with White House tape recordings, newsreel footage and other records of events while he was in office, including the intense days of the Cuban missile crisis.

"I set his medical records next to the crises he passed through to see whether there was any significant impact on his conduct of policy, and I didn't find any," said Dallek.

"He was as lucid and cogent as you could ever want a president to be," he added. "There was something extraordinarily stoic and even heroic about the man. The guy had a kind of iron will. Of course, if it wasn't for all the medicines, I don't think he would have done as well as he did."

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Dallek is among those historians who think that Kennedy's promise was far greater than his accomplishments. But he believes also that JFK might have fulfilled more of his promise had he lived to serve a second term as president.

He conceded, however, that strong arguments can be made that scandal or poor health might have prevented or thwarted that. There was growing concern and knowledge about Kennedy's poor health and about his many sexual liaisons, which included a 19-year-old White House intern, according to Dallek.

Still, the historian said, if Kennedy had been re-elected, there is evidence that he might have formed better relations with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, cut back on the U.S. presence in Vietnam, and pushed ahead with civil-rights and anti-poverty legislation.

The biographer, whose next book is on Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, said that, even with the scores of books and articles about JFK, we still know him only in "broad outline."

"I don't think we are ever going to quite prick the balloon. There is so much mythology about the man, who has become an iconic figure," he said.

Those who are still fascinated by Kennedy can expect to hear more revealing details in the years to come, he noted. The next anniversary Kennedy buffs might look forward to is May 19, 2044. That is the 50th anniversary of the death of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

"Jackie left a 500-page oral history of JFK at the Kennedy library with orders that it cannot be opened until 50 years after her death," Dallek said. "I'm not banking on being around for that one, however

Yours is an understatement. I recently completed a book in which I have about two pages worth of literal WORSHIP for JFK by journalists and historians. They went so far as to transpose JFK's "promise" and "greatness" onto JFK, Jr., with one of the news anchors (Rather, I think) saying "He [Jr.] was the one we've had our eyes on these last 30 years." Another said something to the effect that "we were sure he'd restore Camelot."

The Clinton hero-worship paled beside the utter deification of JFK and JFK, Jr.

I've been a life long Republican. I was 12 years old when Kennedy was assassinated. I've grown to accept that fact that Kennedy has become a deity of the left, although am somewhat mystified by the nostalgic yearning of modern folk (idolizing bill and hillary) for that return to Camelot.

Kennedy did two things, one for which I will always remain grateful. He forced a tax cut that spared the nation of bankruptcy through the next decade of Vietnam debacle. Knowing Kennedy to be a tax cutter, I wonder what happened to that Party that worships him.

He also made the US a player in a race for the moon that ended in one of the most exciting days in my life. That said...

Dallek is among those historians who think that Kennedy's promise was far greater than his accomplishments.

No president that ever relied on advice from the likes of Robert McNamara could ever hope to survive historical analysis as belonging in the pantheon of Great Presidents.

I've never understood why the Kennedy Clan is so worshipped in this country. The wealthy background is built on a foundation of bootleg whiskey as much as anything else. Listening to historians talk of Joe Kennedy is about as sappy as watching Dan Rather interview either of the clintons or Matt Lauer interview Al Gore.

...of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been!"

-- John Greenleaf Whittier, Maud Muller

JFK had style and promise, but apart from giving a few inspiring speeches, what did he actually do that was of any benefit to the country?

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