"MR. PRESIDENT, WHAT DO YOU CALL YOURSELF POLITICALLY?"
"JFK, Conservative," by Ira Stoll, Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, Boston, New York (2013)
"JFK, Democratic icon, was far too conservative for today's liberals," by John Graber, November 30, 2017, The Badger Herald, www.badgerherald.com
"The President's News Conference of February 1, 1961," Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy, January 20 to December 31, 1961, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1962.
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On February 1, 1961, John F. Kennedy held his second news conference as President of the United States in the State Department Auditorium here in the Nation's Capital. The conference, which was broadcast live on radio and television, began at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
The President was asked...
"Your predecessor in office (Dwight D. Eisenhower) called himself a political moderate--said he believed in a middle-of-the-road approach. What do you call yourself politically and how do you define your political philosophy?
The President answered...
"Well I don't call myself anything except a Democrat who's been elected President of the United States and I hope I am a responsible President. That's my intention."
John Graber, in his 2017 article in The Badger Herald, argues that JFK's record "looks more like that of a modern political conservative." He writes...
"Today's Democrats might find it surprising that JFK was a supply-sider."
As President, Graber writes, John Kennedy considered the high tax burden "a heavy drag on private purchasing power." He also saw it as a threat to initiative and incentive. That is why he proposed a tax cut, although it was not passed until after his death.
Mr. Graber points out that JFK's economic policy brought unemployment down to below 4%, created 13 million jobs, and provided for economic growth of 48%. In his opinion the "...key policies (JFK) held dear have been extinguished by Democrats today."
Ira Stoll, who is the author of "JFK, Conservative," supports Graber's view. Stoll writes...
"Kennedy's tax cuts, his domestic spending restraint, his military build-up...pro-growth economic policy, his emphasis on free trade and a strong dollar...make him, by the standards of both his time and our own, a conservative."
Stoll quotes John F. Kennedy saying in 1953...
"I'd be very happy to tell them I'm not a liberal at all."
SOURCES
The President was asked...
"Your predecessor in office (Dwight D. Eisenhower) called himself a political moderate--said he believed in a middle-of-the-road approach. What do you call yourself politically and how do you define your political philosophy?
The President answered...
"Well I don't call myself anything except a Democrat who's been elected President of the United States and I hope I am a responsible President. That's my intention."
John Graber, in his 2017 article in The Badger Herald, argues that JFK's record "looks more like that of a modern political conservative." He writes...
"Today's Democrats might find it surprising that JFK was a supply-sider."
As President, Graber writes, John Kennedy considered the high tax burden "a heavy drag on private purchasing power." He also saw it as a threat to initiative and incentive. That is why he proposed a tax cut, although it was not passed until after his death.
Mr. Graber points out that JFK's economic policy brought unemployment down to below 4%, created 13 million jobs, and provided for economic growth of 48%. In his opinion the "...key policies (JFK) held dear have been extinguished by Democrats today."
Ira Stoll, who is the author of "JFK, Conservative," supports Graber's view. Stoll writes...
"Kennedy's tax cuts, his domestic spending restraint, his military build-up...pro-growth economic policy, his emphasis on free trade and a strong dollar...make him, by the standards of both his time and our own, a conservative."
Stoll quotes John F. Kennedy saying in 1953...
"I'd be very happy to tell them I'm not a liberal at all."
SOURCES
"JFK, Conservative," by Ira Stoll, Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, Boston, New York (2013)
"JFK, Democratic icon, was far too conservative for today's liberals," by John Graber, November 30, 2017, The Badger Herald, www.badgerherald.com
"The President's News Conference of February 1, 1961," Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy, January 20 to December 31, 1961, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1962.
