Why the hell do people say John F. Kennedy was one of the best presidents we ever had?

The Bay of Pigs was Eisenhower's plan, Kennedy approved it because his advisors recommended him to do so, and as a newly elected president he was in no position to say no, especially considering Eisenhower was the General of the United States Armed Forces in WW2 and liberated Europe.

So in my opinion, I think Kennedy was a great president - he was probably one of the greatest public speakers ever, the way he said the things he said, were astonishing. Kennedy changed the shape of modern politics, we no longer vote for the policies, but for the politician.

Following the Bay of Pigs, Kennedy said in a meeting with his Joint Chiefs of Staff, and i'm quoting, "I just got a hell of the alot of experience and I intend on using it" . We all make mistakes and stuff ups, but we need to learn from these mistakes and move on and Kennedy, like any human being did so. I think Kennedy is ALOT better than what we have got in the last 2 decades. I also think would have demolished guys like Bush, Clinton and even Obama in an election.

Kennedy also made monumental efforts in the realm of civil rights, Meredith attended Mississippi University - the first black to attend a white university, and Kennedy got the national guard down there to make sure he was enrolled. Kennedy's death was truly tragic, but he was a great spokesman, and represented America in a great and powerful way, he was the picture perfect public figure, young and handsome, whilst his wife was the fashion icon of the 1960s.

Not to mention, Kennedy's remarkable ambition to put man on the moon, we showed the Soviet's that were superior to them and let the whole world know that the free world, not the communists, are the forefront of technology. Also Kennedy was reluctant to go to war in Vietnam, what does this prove? It shows that he was critical and unwilling to repeat the Bay of Pigs facade - which his successors were sucked into.

JFK died too young,and thus we cannot fully judge his presidency, but we must remember, The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long. And JFK burned so very, very brightly

EDIT: (read your reply comments above) - The USSR was powerful then, it's regardless that is failed after his time, but the fact of the matter is - much like terrorism is a threat to us today, Communism was a much bigger threat (as governments were sponsoring it) in Kennedy's age. Kennedy had the balls to stand up the communists and made it known to them that America will not submit to their desires and we stand up. If America didn't, who knows? Perhaps Communism might have lasted longer, but once again, that is mere speculation. The communist threat was real - why else would we have gone to Vietnam and stayed there for so long? So are you telling me that charisma doesn't make a good president? When judging a president, what criteria are you using to judge? I believe a president must be an excellent public speaker, have confidence, have good policies, but most of all they must know how to market those policies to the public. Kennedy made his share of stuff ups, but he also did great things, and he continued doing these great things (like his indispensable role in civil rights and the role in the Cuban Missile Crisis and he was at the forefront in technological advancements), into the latter part of his reign as president. If he was to last longer, then he might have done greater things, or he might have made more stuff ups, we don't know. But based on what he did for our country and our world in those 1000 days in office, Kennedy must be regarded as a great president. On the issue of speeches - speeches and debate and rhetoric in general are what makes a politican and Kennedy, after the 1960 election redefined modern politics, see how you said we fell in love with Obama after that 2004 Convention speech? Well, that was because Kennedy served as an archetype in that field. I was doing a university essay on the birth of modern politics and my findings were that Kennedy reshaped modern politics through that 1960 election, as a result we no longer vote for the policies, rather we vote on how the politician has presented those policies. In that regard, Kennedy was a visionary and a great leader, who made America and the world a better place.

At the present time, in general now not. However, atheists are the quickest developing "devout" institution within the US. Eventually, if the fashion remains the identical, atheists would be the dominant "devout" institution. At that point, the devout aspect in elections might be removed, and an overtly atheist character might have a reasonable shot at being elected.

Actually the Bay of Pigs Invasion was initiated as part of Operation Pluto which was approved by Eisenhower.

its because he stood up to the people that are trying to dismantle this country,. jerks like mccain who by the way even stated in the 2008 debates that,, that day in nov of 63 was an intervention, quote unquote

Bay of Pigs was a good idea. Kennedy also did a lot for NASA. He was also president during a very good time of American history, so people have good memories.

I guess he cheated on his wife with a lot of women, but i was born in 95 so i wouldn't really know if he was a good president, only through history. In my opinion, he was probably a very smart guy but arrogant in a lot of ways.

It's mostly sentimentality fueling the JFK feelings.

Because he was assassinated. No other reason. He was reluctant to do anything about the civil rights movement and was assassinated before he was able to do anything about it, if he was going to at all.

It is only because he was assassinated.

He wasn't, he was rated #1 of the worst Presidents we've ever had...people think he was great because of sympathy because he was assassinated.

The fog of time, sympathy because of the assassination, revisionist history, and all-smile-no-substance Obama-like charisma.