John F. Kennedy was a moment in time, an image that could only last with his passing, a man who, sans any bullets fired in Dallas, would not have lived long regardless. Had he served out his term(s), he might have led us into better domestic and worse foreign policies; he most certainly would have become merely a fairly decent President.
What is remarkable about the man is what everyone in popdom and the media continues to project into his dead image, the constant striving of the media to concoct an American Royalty where none need exist. Indeed, what is remarkable about JFK is that the frozen image of him and the controversy of his death have far outlived anything remarkable about the man himself.
A pretty-boy President with mammoth health problems and some shady connections slain slightly before his time becomes a legend in the idle minds of those who know too much and think too much of themselves to tell what they know.
It's truly a shame he was assassinated. Had he lived, the Kennedy "mystique" would have withered long before now and Teddy would...well, we won't go there. But he wouldn't be what he is today.
Michael
I think you're wrong about this.
The man had the capacity to inspire - most importantly - the young. That's not to be dismissed. He was a leader.
As to which leaders deserve our admiration.
I'm sure you've noticed that many are completely forgotten soon after they leave power - William Henry Harrison, Tyler, Grover Cleveland, McKinley. The list is long. Only historians and partisans remember them.
Of those remembered, all are surrounded by highly partisan opinions which originated during their time and have persisted. Napoleon, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great. Were they peerless generals or murderous psycopaths or both?