If Kennedy comes across weak... it's because you portray him as weak.
If Kennedy is the President you think he is... defend that. But don't try to lay his foreign policy mistakes at Eisenhower's door. Kennedy deserves better than that from you.
I don't think Kennedy was weak and I don't think I portrayed him as such. If you came away with that impression, I now correct it. That does leave Hitchens unflattering portayal of Kennedy as weak, which I disgree with.
If Kennedy is the President you think he is... defend that. But don't try to lay his foreign policy mistakes at Eisenhower's door
Summing up as best I can in a few words.
As a new President, Kennedy continued to execute some of the policies which had been put in place by his predessessors. He found some of those policies inadequate and I believe those inadequacies were inherent in the policies, not in his execution of them.
After some initial mistakes he stood up well to the Soviets.
He initiated policies, such as the Alliance for Progress and the Peace Corps, which served as an inspiration to millions. He and his advisors created a climate which much of the world loved.
His domestic policies were good.
He was not in office long enough to judge the unltimate effect of these policies or to see what he would have done in the face of failure in VietNam.