Who said: Mr. Roosevelt has contributed to the end of capitalism in our

[jobycom]

"Mr. Roosevelt has contributed to the end of capitalism in our own country, although he would probably argue the point at some length. He has done this not through the laws which he sponsored or were passed during his presidency, but rather through the emphasis he put on rights rather than responsibilites."

Same guy described Nixon as "an outstanding guy who has the opportunity to go all the way."

And, 1950, he privately rooted for Nixon to beat Democrat Rep. Helen Gahagan Douglas in the Senate race. Douglass was a leftist liberal.

And, was "pleased" that Nixon had won and that Douglas "was not the sort of person he'd like working with on committees."

Said "I'd be very happy to tell them I'm not a liberal. I never joined the Americans for Democratic Action or the American Veterans Committee. I'm not comfortable with those people."

Agreed with J Edgar Hoover that MLK should be wiretapped because of communist ties with one of MLK's advisors. He met with MLK and asked him to drop the advisor from his organization. He also tried to persuade MLK not to march on Washington, and felt that Civil Rights were moving too fat, and would turn the country off to the idea if they didn't slow down. He opposed the "Freedom Rides" for the same reasons.

Was a supporter of Joseph McCarthy, and refused to support his censure until the very end. Was chastised by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1956 at the Democratic Convention for not having taken a stand against McCarthy, who repeated her mistrust of him in an interview for Look magazine in 1958.

Increased troop presence in Viet Nam and told Walter Cronkite in 1963 that pulling out of Viet Nam would be a mistake.

Authorized a coup against South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, which led to Diem's removal and assassination.


I'm not trying to argue that JFK wasn't a liberal, or that any of these details fully represent his ideology. But he'd be shredded by many here on DU as a DINO or "pink tutu Democrat" if he were running today.

[lcordero2]

1. that's BS, FDR is the only reason why capitalism survived to

swindle more people.

[Hippo_Tron]

3. FDR is the only reason that the country survived

People often forget that both far right and far left ideologies became popular during the depression. There is a very real possibility that a man like Hitler could have come to power in this country during the 1930's. FDR was a strong enough unifying figure to prevent this from happening.

[jobycom]

9. LOL

I wasn't agreeing with JFK, I was pointing out his opinion.

[Hippo_Tron]

2. He also got MLK out of jail

And on the march on washington and civil rights he eventually came around to its support. He also sent in the army to force school integration. Kennedy wasn't great on civil rights, but he was light years better than any president that came before him.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

4. You're probably right. JFK was a cold-warrior, and a committed

hawk on foreign policy. He'd be called a neo-con warmonger by some on the Left today. So would FDR and LBJ, for that matter.

How many of you know that JFK ran against Nixon citing that Eisenhower was "soft on Communism?"

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. He Said There Was A Misslie Gap...

There are eternal rules of right and wrong but you have to judge people by the standards of the era they lived in....

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

13. The fact that he was a hawk bothers me none.

Just as with Lincoln, one has to look at the whole of person's career, at their personal evolution.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

15. I Like This Quote Better

"What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."


-John Kennedy

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

17. Exactly.

[Oeditpus Rex]

19. I looked for that quote

a few nights ago with no success. Thanks for posting it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. Can I Have Links Please

Some sound true.... Some sound apocryphal.... And some sound taken out of context...


As far as Nixon he said Nixon was "sick" after having his meltdown after losing the 62 California gubernatorial election to Pat Brown...


He abstained on the McCarthy vote... Rightly or wrongly there was Irish pride involved and McCarthy had dated his sister...


JFK was fully committed to civil rights but he was concerned the civil rights movement was getting ahead of public opinion...

He wasn't a cardboard saint but no poloitician is....

The politician who totally ignores public opinion doesn't tend to do ver well....

[jobycom]

8. That was my only point

That JFK was a smart politician, and that he'd be trashed on DU now by the same people who trash Gore, Hillary, Bill, etc.

As for Nixon, JFK was an admirer of Nixon's until 1960, when they ran against each other. The campaign ended their friendship (And in my opinion pushed Nixon more right, and JFK more left).

And yes, he supported Civil Rights. As Thurgood Marshall said, he came into office with a general support of the idea, but no real commitment, but after having to deal with the issue, he became genuinely committed. Marshall compared this to LBJ and RFK. LBJ, according to Marshall, was sincere going in, and fully understood the issue (as many of LBJs own statements seem to prove). Marshall disliked RFK, saying he was an asshole, and phony on the issue. I'm not sure that's true, but RFK tried to push Marshall out of a federal appointment while he was AG, and Marshall seems to have not liked him after that.

[jobycom]

11. Sorry, forgot the link

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/stjohn.htm

(I'm not endorsing the link, it's where I stole most of this from--some of it word for word.)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. Purists Don't Do Very Well In Electoral Politics...

eom

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. GiYF

Google is Your Friend.

Learn how to use it and you won't have to wait for DU to do your research for you.

Hint: put the quote inside quote marks.

[jobycom]

10. Umm, RtWPiYF

Reading the Whole Post is Your Friend... :-)

[Bernardo de La Paz]

16. Fair enough. I thnk I should've posted responding to the guy wanting link

[jobycom]

18. LOL! I get it, that makes sense now.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

14. Wikipedia is also your friend, although they're not perfect.