THE KENNEDY SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT: YOUTH

As I sit and watch the second part of PBS' JFK: American Experience I sit and wonder if during those years youth was considered the best way for government. In just a few days it will be the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination and rather than focus on the negative I would like to pose this question:

• Did Kennedy's youth represent new hope for the US or was it simply the start of an aggressive and somewhat reckless period? 

It seems like Kennedy's fearless nature led him to make mistakes such as the Bay of Pigs invasion, which seemed to empower Fidel Castro and embarrass the US. Kennedy was a symbol of hope in the 1960's and somehow that hope diminished for Kennedy as he realized that his advisors were not always looking out for the interests of the US. Kennedy was also faced with problems such as civil rights unrest brought about by segregation and inequality. 

The Kennedy white house came at a time when change was begging to take place, in a revolutionary manner. Kennedy's youth was one part of the equation, a positive part, but his inexperience was the negative counter. Yes, Kennedy did want to put us in space and he wanted to stand down on talks of nuclear war but his desires seemed to clash with the status quo. 

We made it to space, we did not engage in a nuclear holocaust and yet we were still a target. Kennedy was not necessarily as authoritative as his predecessor Eisenhower, nor as devious as Nixon, the man that would eventually take the White House in 68.' The start of the revolutionary period of the US came from an uncertainty on how to deal with communism and having a weaker foreign policy. With youth and inexperience the military ended up with a deeper level of involvement than necessary in Vietnam. 

Perhaps if Kennedy had not been killed there would have been an early pull out of Vietnam and there wouldn't have been such a massive loss of human life. Kennedy never had the opportunity to realize his dreams for an open system of government that showcased great American resolve and courage. Camelot was only 34 months of a lifetime and yet that spectrum was unique because of youth, aggressiveness, and inexperience. There will never be another Camelot and perhaps that's not a bad thing, then again it would be nice to see that hope once more.