Today a man with the political views of JFK would be to the right of many republicans in congress and wouldn't even be allowed in the democrat party!
Anyone who "studied the Vietnam war over the last 14 months" would know there were only about 16,000 troops in Vietnam when JFK was assasinated. By 1968 LBJ had increased that number to 537,000 and that same year there were 16,592 war deaths
ONE YEAR = 16,592 DEAD!
What JFK might have done or not done is a moot point. The nightmare of Vietnam rests 99% on LBJ's shoulders.
Re: Worst Presidents. I was taught early on that U.S. Grant was one of our worst. I believed it until I read Jean Edward Smith’s Grant. Smith shows Grant warts and all, but he comes out an outstanding President. He has great words about Grant’s magnanimity, treatment of Indians and his handling of the financial crisis of ‘73. There is also a quote from David Herbert Donald who states that Grant is the most underrated American in history. What a book! It’s over 600 pages and is history at its best, one of the best books I’ve read in the last twenty years.