John F. Kennedy

Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski: A Profile In Courage, Principle, And Decency!

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The Republican Party in the 1970s had members of Congress who spoke up against the abuses of power under President Richard Nixon, most notably the Watergate Scandal.

Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater (Mr. Conservative); Pennsylvania Senator Hugh Scott (Minority Leader); and Arizona House Minority Leader John Rhodes all showed true statesmanship, by going to the White House and telling Nixon that he would not survive an impeachment trial.

Sadly, fifty years later, Republicans in Congress, with a very few exceptions, refused to take action against the abuses of Donald Trump in his first term.

And now, in his second term, and being much more abusive and law breaking in just two months in office, almost all Republicans in Congress are overlooking what is going on, as they are terrified that Elon Musk will “primary” them for their next election, if they dare to speak up on principle against Trump.

At a difficult time like this, there is at least one major exception to this cowardice, and that is Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who has been in office since 2002, and won reelection as an Independent in 2010 against Republican and Democratic Senate opponents. She voted to impeach Trump in his second trial in 2021. She has managed to be truly courageous, principled, decent, and honorable, and speaks her mind, and has been criticized by Trump and Musk, but she carries on with no fear.

Mirkowski has great respect from Alaska voters, and at a difficult time such as now, she is a rare case of someone who will speak her mind, and criticize and oppose Trump, unafraid to condemn his abuses of power.

So Lisa Murkowski is a true “Profile in Courage”, and if another book, such as the one published by Senator John F. Kennedy in 1956 on courageous Senators is ever published in the future, Murkowski should head Chapter One!

As Donald Trump Is About To Give His State Of The Union Address, His Public Opinion Ratings Are Lowest Except For His First Term!

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As Donald Trump gets ready for his State of the Union Address on Tuesday evening, his public opinion ratings (Gallup Presidential Job Approval polls) are the lowest of any President since 1945, except for his first term first month!

From Harry Truman to Trump, below are the ratings, in order of high to low!

Harry Truman 87
Lyndon B. Johnson 78
John F. Kennedy 72
Gerald Ford 71
Dwight D. Eisenhower 68
Barack Obama 67
Jimmy Carter 66
Richard Nixon 59
Bill Clinton 58
George W Bush 57
Joe Biden 57
Ronald Reagan 51
George H W Bush 51
Donald Trump 45 (2025)
Donald Trump 44 (2017)

So Donald Trump is not gaining approval for his radical, anarchistic, and disruptive domestic and foreign policies, with a majority of Americans uneasy about the direction of the nation!

Comparing Republican And Democratic Vice Presidents Since 1961!

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America has had a total of 50 Vice Presidents in its history since 1789.

Fourteen of those Vice Presidents have served since 1961, with eight being Republicans, and six being Democrats.

Asssessing their significance, and perceptions of their performances, there is no comparison that would rate the Republicans as superior to the Democrats, and in fact, the differences are massive!

The eight Republican Vice Presidents include in order of service in the office:

Spiro Agnew
Gerald Ford
Nelson Rockefeller
George H W Bush
Dan Quayle
Dick Cheney
Mike Pence
JD Vance

The six Democratic Vice Presidents include in order of service in the office:

Lyndon B. Johnson
Hubert Humphrey
Walter Mondale
Al Gore
Joe Biden
Kamala Harris

Nobody in their right mind would claim that the Republicans come anywhere close in background, image, and significance to the Democrats.

Only Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, and George H W Bush are looked upon in a positive way, while all six Democrats “shine”, and particularly Walter Mondale, Al Gore, and Joe Biden.

LBJ and Humphrey do not look as “good” as Vice Presidents because their Presidents chose not to utilize their talents adequately, which is a criticism of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Harris had the extra disadvantage of being unique, as a woman and mixed race Vice President, in a country where there is still misogyny and racism, sad to say.

But the remaining five Republican Vice Presidents are really horrendous, with Spiro Agnew and Dan Quayle clearly so, and with Dick Cheney, while certainly competent, perceived as “Darth Vader”, overly autocratic and seen in a negative light.

And Donald Trump’s two Vice Presidents are perceived in a negative light, but already, JD Vance in just six weeks appears far worse than Mike Pence!

In any scholarly ranking of Vice Presidents, the top three Vice Presidents in history would be in order–Walter Mondale, Joe Biden, and Al Gore.

And in any scholarly ranking of Vice Presidents, the bottom three would include in order—Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle, and likely JD Vance!

The fact that Dick Cheney and Mike Pence would be rated above these three disastrous Vice Presidents, is quite a testimony to how horrendous Agnew, Quayle, and Vance have been to the office, with Vance “accomplishing” this failure in six weeks and by his statements and viewpoints expressed making the possibility of his succeeding Trump in the future as quite scary, to say the least!

Donald Trump And Elon Musk Attack On Federal Regulatory Agencies

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Donald Trump and Elon Musk have declared war on many federal regulatory agencies, creating a “clear and present danger” in so many areas of government policy.

These include the US Agency For International Development (USAID); the US Department of Education, which is a Cabinet post; the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

These agencies were created by John F. Kennedy in 1961; Jimmy Carter in 1979 for the second and third listed agencies; and the latter by Barack Obama in 2010, after vigorous advocacy by Elizabeth Warren, before she won election to the US Senate in 2012.

Additionally, there has been discussion of weakening or eliminating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), all created in the early 1970s under Richard Nixon.

This is pure madness, but at this point, Trump and Musk are like “Bulls in a China Shop”, abusing their power and no clearcut response from Democrats, state governments, and the courts, although cases are being brought to the courts, and Democrats are up in arms!

Donald Trump Trying To End All Progress Of Civil Rights Movement Of 1950s And 1960s, Wiping Out History Of Equality!

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It is shocking, but not surprising that Donald Trump is aiming at ending all civil rights laws and enforcement, going back to the time of Lyndon B. Johnson, and really even back to earlier efforts and support of Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy.

It is also an attack on the advancements that came under later Presidents and Congresses, to promote equal opportunity, and overcome generations of discrimination and bias by state and local governments.

It is reviving the hatred and prejudice enunciated by generations of the Ku Klux Klan, and such individuals as Orval Faubus of Arkansas, Ross Barnett of Mississippi, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, and most notably, George Wallace of Alabama.

It is a bold move to reinstall Jim Crow laws that dominated from the Gilded Age to the era of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

It is the final surrender of the Republican Party, which had promoted civil rights at a time when Southern Democrats were advocating segregation and defiance of the federal government.

Now, we have a wealthy New York real estate magnate proudly promoting what he has believed his entire life, to bring back the racism and nativism that he has advocated, with so many excusing him or saying that he is not such, when he most clearly is so!

And to top it off, Trump is attempting to remove Birthright Citizenship from Native Americans, the original and only “true” Americans, as well as discriminating against Latinos and Asian Americans as well, as he considers only “white” people from Europe as “true Americans”!

When and how will this crazy revival of hate and prejudice be stopped dead in its tracks?

When will the Republican Party remember the basis of their existence in the mid 19th century, when they were a party of racial equality?

Donald Trump’s Victory In 2024 Fifth Lowest Since 1924!

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Donald Trump and his loyalists continue to declare that he had a “massive” victory in the Presidential Election of 2024, when he most certainly did not, and including the fact that his Republican Party now has the barest margin in the House of Representatives that has occurred since the 72nd Congress in 1931-1932, losing the majority on October 22, 1931 to the Democrats and never regaining the majority again until the 80th Congress in 1947-1948.

Trump has the fifth lowest margin of victory by 1.7 percent, only higher than Richard Nixon in 1968 with 0.7 percent, John F. Kennedy in 1960 with O.2 percent, George W. Bush with MINUS 0.5 percent in 2000, and Trump with MINUS 2.1 percent in 2016, with the last two losing the popular vote, but winning the Electoral College.

And Trump did NOT gain the majority of the popular vote, ending up with 49.9 percent.

So Donald Trump does NOT have the mandate he thinks he has, and if Republicans lose one or two seats in replacement elections for members of the House that are joining the administration from Florida and New York, then the Democrats have the possibility of gaining control of the House of Representatives during the present 119th Congress.

Joe Biden, Despite Low Public Opinion Ratings At End Of Presidency, Will Rise In History!

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President Joe Biden leaves office in three days, with low public opinion ratings, despite his multitude of accomplishments in his one term of office.

This is a sad state of affairs, but clearly, the American people at large are not very knowledgeable or good at making judgments about Presidents as they leave office.

History records that Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter left office under the cloud of negativism.

But now, Truman is generally rated 5th or 6th among all Presidents in ratings of Presidential scholars and experts.

Eisenhower is generally rated 5th or 6th among all Presidents, either ahead or behind Truman.

Lyndon B. Johnson, despite Vietnam, is rated in the bottom of the top ten, and in one survey, ahead of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

Jimmy Carter is rated in the mid 20s, but it is clear his stature will rise, possibly to the bottom of the first third, or 15 Presidents.

Joe Biden has already been rated number 14 in one scholarly survey, and despite low public opinion ratings now, it seems assured he will remain in the top third or fifteen of the Presidents.

Sadly, American public opinion is ill informed and ignorant in many respects, and when it comes to being asked who are the greatest Presidents, invariably, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan are rated at the top, not Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Many experts would say that while Kennedy and Reagan consistently are in the lower part of the top ten Presidents, that both are somewhat overrated.

So it will probably, sadly, take until Joe Biden’s life has ended, before he will be completely appreciated for all the good he did!

61st Anniversary Of JFK Assassination: It Still Hurts!

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As I write this blog entry, the time of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy arrives, the most tragic event of my lifetime until September 11, 2001!

A young, vibrant, charismatic, good looking young President, murdered at a time when there was hope and optimism about the future of America.

This is very different than the present sense of pessimism and dread that millions of Americans feel after the nation has put into the White House a man who represents the worst elements of the American experience.

The fact that two women–Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris–who represented the sense of hope and change that Kennedy represented six decades ago, lost to Trump is very much a source of disappointment.

It is not as if John F. Kennedy was perfect or had a perfect rcord in office, but he inspired millions by being the youngest elected President in American history.

And the fact that his nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has so damaged the historical memory of both his father, Robert F. Kennedy, who was also taken from the nation by assassination, and his uncle, by his horrendous and lunatic conspiracy theories about health and medicine, is tragic.

And the fact that RFK Jr. is about to work with Donald Trump in undermining the health care system, makes the anniversary of the JFK Assassination more depressing than ever before.

Democrats Have Cleaned Up Republican Economic Messes Since 1953!

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It is amazing how Republicans have lied incessantly for the past 70 years about the economy under Democratic Presidents, when it is such Democratic Presidents who have revived the economy after Republican Presidents managed to preside over economic recessions.

John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson presided over economic prosperity in the 1960s, after three recessions under Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Jimmy Carter presided over an economic recovery from the Recession of 1974-1975 under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, but sadly had to deal with another short lived, six months, recession in 1980, which was one of the factors, but not the most important, in his defeat, as the only Democratic President who had an economic decline since 1953.

Bill Clinton presided over an economic recovery from the recession under George H. W. Bush in the early 1990s, having a long period of economic prosperity.

Barack Obama presided over a long economic recovery from the Great Recession of 2008-2009 under George W. Bush, over 75 months from 2010-2017.

Joe Biden presided over revival of the American economy, from a great economic recession in office in 2020 under Donald Trump, a time of dramatic economic loss due to the Covid 19 Pandemic.

While there were moments of high inflation under Joe Biden due to the aftermath of the Pandemic, as with all Democratic Presidents, there was job growth, with most jobs created under them, and the percentage under Republican Presidents being very few under Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and the Bushes, and a massive job loss under Donald Trump.

These are economic facts, no matter what Donald Trump and Republicans claim to be the truth!

Kamala Harris Being Judged Differently Due To Race And Gender

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This entry is being revised from the original entry, which accidentally was deleted by the author, for which I apologize. I will be brief in summarizing my ideas on this entry with the same title, and anyone who had commented on the original entry, I would ask to submit a similar comment, and again, my apologies for the blunder, which has never happened before today, and will not happen again!

John F. Kennedy (Catholic); Barack Obama (African American); and Hillary Clinton (female), all faced discrimination and bias due to their uniqueness as Presidential candidates in 1960, 2008, and 2016, respectively.

In the first two cases, the issue of Catholicism and of race were overcome, while Clinton, although winning the popular vote by 2.85 million, was unable to win the Electoral College.

Now, Kamala Harris who is the second woman to seek the Presidency and has Asian Indian and African-Jamaican heritage, is facing critics who are claiming she is unqualified on intelligence and on abilities and knowledge, to occupy the Oval Office.

Harris has had more government experience than most Presidents, more than all Presidents since 1900, except for Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, and Joe Biden.

Harris is also much more intelligent than some Presidents, including Warren G. Harding, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump since 1900; and also more qualified to be President than some Vice Presidents who succeeded to the Oval Office, including Andrew Johnson and Calvin Coolidge.

So the negativism around Harris in some circles should be seen as not worthy of being considered, and hopefully, she will break the barrier as the first woman President in American history!