On this 50th Anniversary of JFK’s assassination, I want to recognize some positive qualities in this fallen president.  With Dallas County as the place of my birth and rearing, the Kennedy assassination has always been a part of my life.

1. A true war hero. His service to our country and courageous acts in WWII should make him revered as a soldier.
2. His courage to not take the advice of his military advisers during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which adverted a likely nuclear war.
3. Instead of a “New Deal”-style spending plan to spur on the economy that his party base expected and encouraged, Kennedy chose tax cuts to spur on growth.
4. He was a true intellectual.  He cared about issues, and formed clearly thought out plans.
5. He demonstrated the balance of leading a majority Protestant nation as a practicing member of the Roman Catholic minority.  By recognizing the appropriate intent of the separation of church and state concept, Kennedy modeled how religious liberty can be respected by a president without imposing their personal faith.
6. He showed signs in his personal writings and conversations of the pending trouble in Vietnam.  If he would have lived, the war may not have been escalated to its costly level.