General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: When you see today's date on a calendar or printed or online [View all]wnylib
(21,433 posts)of your points.
Yes, he was definitely a womanizer, long before he had the power of the presidency. That does not equate with sexual harrassment. I have known married men who were womanizers but not harrassers.
Vietnam - Eisenhower sent the first "advisors" to Vietnam. Kennedy increased their number, with troops to back them up. But he strongly opposed fighting another country's civil war for them. There was too little support among the South Vietnamese army and people for propping up the SV dictatorship. Kennedy began looking for ways to pull back US troops. It was Johnson who was more willing to go along with the US military brass by greatly escalating US troop presence.
Bay of Pigs - This was an Eisenhower plan, in cooperation with the CIA and Joint Chiefs. They expected that Nixon would win in 1960 and follow through on it. The CIA and Joint Chiefs proposed it to Kennedy and he opposed it because he perceived that it would become a US war, not one that the Cuban people would back. They assurred him that there were Cuban rebels ready to fight, who had many recruits with them, and the solid support of the people. Kennedy gave conditional approval for the plan only IF the initial action demonstrated the existence of sufficient fighters AND the Cuban public's support. He warned that if the mission was not successful in arousing the general rebellion that they anticipated, he would halt the entire operation.
The CIA and Joints Chiefs knew that the number of fighters and Cuban public support did not exist. They wanted to get a foot in with the idea that Kennedy would have to back them once they got there for the US (not Cuban) overthrow that the brass wanted. The mission was a distrous failure and Kennedy lived up to his warning. He took responsibility for it because he had given them the go ahead, but he never trusted them
again. Kennedy was wrong to approve the mission in the first place, but he did the right thing in pulling out of it.
Those same military hawks later pushed Kennedy to invade Cuba as the first solution to the Missile Crisis. They were willing to gamble that the Soviets would do nothing in response. They tried to sabotage Kennedy's handling of the crisis to get the war they wanted. If you have not seen it, I recommend watching the film 13 Days. It is quite accurate. My brother was in the Navy then and was part of the blockade.
I will always believe that the power struggle between Kennedy and the CIA and military over Vietnam and Cuba cost Kennedy his life.