JFK
In the Presidential elections America aims to install the man most able to lead the country and represent the whole. In 1960 John F. Kennedy ran on the Democratic ticket and won over the country. In 2004 John F. Kerry ran on the Democratic ticket and decisively lost the election. Why? How did Kennedy win over America and Kerry did not? There are many similarities between the candidates, but there are also many differences. In the end, Kerry simply did not represent a majority. When comparing Kennedy and Kerry one is looking at two separate Democrats with two separates ideologies. In this paper I will examine Kennedy's strengths with Kerry's weaknesses. I will compare their backgrounds, platforms, and finally who they targeted for support. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was the second son of Joseph Kennedy, a successful politician, and Rose Fitzgerald. In 1935 he entered Princeton University, but left after he contracted jaundice. He then attended Harvard University. During his college years he traveled to Europe twice to visit his father who was ambassador to the United Kingdom. In 1938 he contracted osteoporosis of the lower lumbar spine, this caused him to be rejected from the
He became a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War and actually co-founded Vietnam Veterans of America (Kerry Edwards Biography 2004, no pg). Kerry was also up to more public scrutiny than Kennedy. He also appealed to the machine bosses in the Northeast as a "fellow Catholic" (White 1961, 55). In 1960 the public life and private life of a politician were still separated. He did 6not represent the ideals of the Nation as a whole. John Kerry had a similar life prior to the elections of 2004. The United States was ready for a change of parties. Kennedy won with 303 electoral votes out of 537. Kerry also only held 49 percent of the African American Christian conservative group, which was down from the 2000 election where Gore held 69 percent. This is a group which the Democrats counted on to win Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. After Kerry stopped volunteering in the Vietnam War, he began to protest. By the end of the campaign O'Brien had 43 "out-of-state emissaries" (White 1961, 248-249). Though he still held 69 percent of the African American population, according to Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, in 2000 Gore held as much as 74 percent of the population. Kerry used his past to shape himself into a liberal with distinctively Democratic ideals, especially pertaining to war. In 1946 he was voted mayor of Boston and was later reelected twice.
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Acceptance Essays
