The Liberal Savior as Conservative: John F. Kennedy’s Foreign Policy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 independent political campaign sought to invoke nostalgia for the presidency of his uncle John F. Kennedy. His efforts were assisted, whether intentionally or not, by scholars positioning themselves as being on the left, who praise John F. Kennedy profusely in their scholarship and depict him as having tried to put a stop to imperialistic U.S. foreign policies. The historical record is clear, however, that John F. Kennedy was neither a pacifist nor an anti-imperialist. JFK rather was an ardent cold warrior from a wealthy family who significantly escalated the U.S. involvement in Vietnam and carried out more than double the number of covert military operations compared to Dwight Eisenhower despite being in office for less than three years. This paper seeks to restore the historical record by pointing to the imperialistic nature of JFK's foreign policy and wide array of interventions that JFK championed as president. The lesson for today is that progressive activists should not place hope in a liberal messiah. Rather, they should recognize the structural-oligarchical forces that have irrevocably corrupted U.S. politics and organize independent grass-roots social movements for change not attached to any particular political candidate.