“JFK blatantly stole the election from Nixon, and Nixon refused to do anything about it. That is a bad Republican habit. McCain refused to go on the attack against Obama, likewise. Medical problems were off limits, at least as far as the Republicans were concerned. Remember as well the press refusing to show FDR in a wheelchair...Perhaps it boils down to the old saying. ‘First you get disciples, and then they crucify you.’”
It seems strange to me that you are resonable enough to recognize the political decorum of the time, making medical secrets off-limits, and yet are so willing to believe that JFK insiders would be willing to violate all laws of decency by murdering their leader. I know Democrats are evil, but come on. They sat idly by while FDR was basically an invalid during his entire last term, and that was in wartime.
The big difference is nuclear weapons. The entire US had been terrified by the Cuban Missile Crisis. To make matters worse, for a brief time right then, the US had a huge advantage in missiles over the Soviet Union.
Had JFK launched, it would not be unreasonable to say that the US would have “won”. Mutually Assured Destruction did not exist yet as a concept. There were likely hawks who wanted to attack the Soviet Union before they could build enough of their own missiles to fight back. Certainly attack Cuba before missiles could be emplaced there.
This isn’t a case of “good” or “evil”, but what they, somebody, thought was a mentally ill person with a finger on the trigger. Somebody, whoever, who could not abide the idea of a single, insane person who could destroy the world.
After that time, and for the rest of the Cold War, an understanding was reached with the Soviet Union that no single person should have the ability to start a nuclear war. It had to be a committee, and they had to all agree, and provide a code unique to them that would have to be had to launch missiles.
Only with the fall of the Soviet Union did both sides take it down a notch, to a more relaxed nuclear posture.
Right or wrong, when the stakes are that high, even the POTUS is expendable. It’s been that way since Truman. Nothing personal.