[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

1) A genuine war hero
2) Unfullfilled promise
3) Telegenic in a new media age
4) Leadership in the fight against Communism
5) Vision for American Excellence (NASA, etc)

I can clearly see how people would admire and respect him even with differing with some policies and his personal life.

[wardaddy]

Americans as a rule...mighty when stirred...are not real informed by a corrupt media and academia

sadly...this includes many GOP supporters today as well...especially on the hot topics

[RicocheT]

I still have a couple of Lee Harvey Oswald sharpshooting medals in my sock drawer. That's the 50 cent coin struck after JFK was beatified.

[Badabing Badablonde]

Kennedy reached mythological status when he entered the proverbial “blameless house of the dead” in his prime.

I am probably the only person on earth who feels this way, but when I see the film of Jackie prodding her son to step forward and salute his daddy’s coffin, I see a conniving wife and mother who knew where the cameras were, and knew how to make journalistic history. And maybe that is the job of the wife of a public figure, to embody the hearts and minds of the population. But I have always felt like the Kennedys were more manipulators than public servants, and that Jackie fit right in with them.

Ok, hit me with your best shot.......

[BluH2o]

Remember the Kennedy era well, I was in my mid-teens. The media loved Kennedy, he was far younger & much more charismatic than Eisenhower ... plus he was a democ’Rat. Ben Bradlee editor at the Washington Post (a fellow Bostonian) practically lived at the White House during the Kennedy years. Kennedy was a product of a constant positive spin barrage by the liberal media. Camelot? Give me a f’ing break ... JFK, in spite of all the media BS was a mediocre president at best.

[nutmeg]

.

[DaxtonBrown]

Kennedy is popular because of a sustained PR campaign by the leftist media.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Report: "A conservative friend of mine asked me why the public continues to rank John F. Kennedy first among Barack Obama’s nine predecessors in public opinion surveys, as they did again just this week..."

Response: Media hype and an electorate 50% of which have an IQ below 100.

[flowerplough]

He ranks first among past 9 Presidents because of his funeral, with the pretty wife and brave little son. Sentimentality, nothing more.

[TexasRepublic]

Here’s the legacy that I personally remember from the Kennedy years:

Hiding under school desks in futile bomb drill exercises. Good thing I didn’t comprehend the destructive power of Russian nukes back then.

[tflabo]

Rankings IMO since 1960—— Reagan, Bush Sr, JFK, Nixon, Bush Jr, Ford, Clinton, Carter, OBama

[SC_Pete]

JFK was the last Democrat to have a clue about how the economy works. He was a patriot and bleieved in a strong national defense. also, he would have protected our borders. TPoliticaly, Kennedy would be a Republican today—to the right of Romney and Huckabee but to the left of Sarah Palin.

[what's up]

Basically, the authro is saying that Kennedy’s only actual achievement was a tax cut.

[bilhosty]

Kennedy was a cultural icon who was liked. he gave us glamor and his family was something right out of Dallas. He and his wife were elegant with move star good looks and that is what people look at. Most people know full well that he was not that substantive.