John F. Kennedy

==Historical evaluations and legacy==
[[File:JFK library Stitch Crop.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]], in [[Boston]] ]]

===Presidency===
{{further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy#Historical reputation}}

Historians and political scientists tend to [[Historical rankings of presidents of the United States#Scholar survey summary|rank]] Kennedy as an above-average president, and he is usually the highest-ranking president who served less than one full term.{{sfn|Giglio|2006|pp=308–309}} A 2014 survey from ''[[The Washington Post]]'' of 162 members of the [[American Political Science Association]]'s Presidents and Executive Politics section ranked Kennedy 14th highest overall among the 43 persons who have been president, including then-president [[Barack Obama]]. The survey found Kennedy to be the most overrated U.S. president.<ref>{{cite news| title=New ranking of U.S. presidents puts Lincoln at No. 1, Obama at 18; Kennedy judged most overrated| last1=Rottinghaus| first1=Brandon| last2=Vaughn| first2=Justin| date=February 16, 2015| newspaper=The Washington Post| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/02/16/new-ranking-of-u-s-presidents-puts-lincoln-1-obama-18-kennedy-judged-most-over-rated/| access-date=April 28, 2017| archive-date=December 19, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219195823/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/02/16/new-ranking-of-u-s-presidents-puts-lincoln-1-obama-18-kennedy-judged-most-over-rated/| url-status=live}}</ref> A 2017 [[C-SPAN]] survey has Kennedy ranked among the top ten presidents.<ref>{{cite web| title=Presidential Historians Survey 2017| publisher=C-SPAN| url=https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2017/?personid=2419| date=2017| access-date=April 28, 2017| archive-date=April 27, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427194630/https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2017/?personid=2419| url-status=live}}</ref> A 2023 [[Gallup, Inc.]] survey showed Kennedy with a retrospective approval rating of 90 percent, the highest of all U.S. presidents in recent history.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Jeffrey M. |title=Retrospective Approval of JFK Rises to 90%; Trump at 46% |date=July 17, 2023 |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/508625/retrospective-approval-jfk-rises-trump.aspx#:~:text=Kennedy%20remains%20the%20most%20highly,second%2Dplace%20Ronald%20Reagan%27s%20rating. |publisher=Gallup, Inc. |access-date=January 7, 2024 |archive-date=January 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107191323/https://news.gallup.com/poll/508625/retrospective-approval-jfk-rises-trump.aspx#:~:text=Kennedy%20remains%20the%20most%20highly,second%2Dplace%20Ronald%20Reagan%27s%20rating. |url-status=live }}</ref> Assessments of his policies are mixed.<ref name="JFK-IL">{{cite web| url= https://millercenter.org/president/kennedy/impact-and-legacy| title= John F. Kennedy: Impact and Legacy| date= October 4, 2016| publisher= Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia| access-date= April 28, 2017| archive-date= March 18, 2017| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170318043025/https://millercenter.org/president/kennedy/impact-and-legacy| url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="abrinkley1">{{cite magazine|last=Brinkley|first=Alan|title=The Legacy of John F. Kennedy|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/08/the-legacy-of-john-f-kennedy/309499/|access-date=September 1, 2016|magazine=The Atlantic|archive-date=August 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829200547/http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/08/the-legacy-of-john-f-kennedy/309499/|url-status=live}}</ref> Many of Kennedy's legislative proposals were passed after his death, during the [[presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson administration]], and Kennedy's death gave those proposals a powerful moral component.<ref name="tgillman">{{cite news| last=Gillman| first=Todd J.| title=JFK's legacy: Kennedy fell short of greatness, yet inspired a generation| url=http://ece.dallasnews.com/news/jfk50/reflect/20131116-jfks-legacy-kennedy-fell-short-of-greatness-yet-inspired-a-generation.ece| date=November 16, 2013| publisher=Dallas Morning News| access-date=April 28, 2017}}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Kennedy came in third (behind Martin Luther King Jr. and [[Mother Teresa]]) in [[Gallup's List of Widely Admired People]] of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Gallup Poll 1999 | url = https://archive.org/details/galluppollcumula0000gall | url-access = registration | publisher = Scholarly Resources Inc. | year = 1999 | location = Wilmington, DE | pages = [https://archive.org/details/galluppollcumula0000gall/page/248 248–249] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Greatest of the Century | date = December 20–21, 1999 | publisher = Gallup/CNN/USA Today Poll | url = http://www.pollingreport.com/20th.htm | access-date = January 5, 2007 | archive-date = January 5, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070105022914/http://www.pollingreport.com/20th.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> In 1961, he was awarded the [[Laetare Medal]] by the [[University of Notre Dame]], considered the most prestigious award for [[American Catholics]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Recipients|url=https://laetare.nd.edu/recipients/#info1961|website=The Laetare Medal|publisher=University of Notre Dame|access-date=July 31, 2020|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204061838/https://laetare.nd.edu/recipients/#info1961|url-status=live}}</ref> He was posthumously awarded the [[Pacem in Terris Award|''Pacem in Terris'' Award]] ([[Latin]]: Peace on Earth) and the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wetterau |first1=Bruce |title=The Presidential Medal of Freedom : winners and their achievements |date=1996 |publisher=Congressional Quarterly Inc. |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=1-56802-128-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/presidentialmeda00wett_0/page/58 58] |url=https://archive.org/details/presidentialmeda00wett_0 |url-access=registration |access-date=September 9, 2019}}</ref>

====Camelot====
[[File:John F Kennedy Official Portrait.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Official White House portrait of Kennedy, by [[Aaron Shikler]]]]

The term "Camelot" is often used to describe his presidency, reflecting both the mythic grandeur accorded Kennedy in death and powerful nostalgia for that era of American history.<ref>Linda Czuba Brigance, "For One Brief Shining Moment: Choosing to Remember Camelot." ''Studies in Popular Culture'' 25.3 (2003): 1-12 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23414940 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906210242/https://www.jstor.org/stable/23414940 |date=September 6, 2023 }}</ref> According to Richard Dean Burns and Joseph M. Siracusa, the most popular theme surrounding Kennedy's legacy is its replay of the legend of [[King Arthur]] and [[Camelot]] from medieval England.<ref>Richard Dean Burns and Joseph M. Siracusa, ''Historical Dictionary of the Kennedy-Johnson Era'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) pp. 75–76.</ref> In an interview following Kennedy's death, his widow Jacqueline mentioned his affection for the Broadway musical ''[[Camelot (musical)|Camelot]]'' and quoted its closing lines: "Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief, shining moment that was known as Camelot."<ref name="JFKlibrary.org White. Series 11. Camelot Documents">[https://web.archive.org/web/20060906065903/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical%2BResources/Archives/Archives%2Band%2BManuscripts/fa_white_theodore.htm The Personal Papers of Theodore H. White (1915–1986): Series 11. Camelot Documents], ''John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum'' quotation:{{blockquote|The 1963 LIFE article represented the first use of the term "Camelot" in print and is attributed with having played a major role in establishing and fixing this image of the Kennedy Administration and period in the popular mind.}}</ref><ref>[{{GBurl|id=T1IEAAAAMBAJ|p=158}} ''An Epilogue''], in ''LIFE'', December 6, 1963, pp.158–9</ref> Critics, especially historians, have mocked the Camelot myth as a distortion of Kennedy's actions, beliefs, and policies. However, in the public memory, the years of Kennedy's presidency are still seen as a brief, brilliant, and shining moment.<ref>Richard Dean Burns and Joseph M. Siracusa, ''Historical Dictionary of the Kennedy-Johnson Era'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) pp. 75-76.</ref><ref>Jon Goodman, et al., ''The Kennedy Mystique: Creating Camelot'' (National Geographic Books, 2006).</ref>

===Memorials and eponyms===
{{main|List of things named after John F. Kennedy}}
Examples of the extensive list include:
* Idlewild Airport in [[Queens]], New York City, renamed [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]] on December 24, 1963
* NASA Launch Operations Center in [[Merritt Island, Florida]] named the [[John F. Kennedy Space Center]] on November 29, 1963.
* {{USS|John F. Kennedy|CV-67}}, U.S. Navy aircraft carrier ordered in April 1964, launched May 1967, decommissioned August 2007; nicknamed "Big John"
* [[Kennedy half dollar]], first minted in 1964
* [[John F. Kennedy School of Government]], part of [[Harvard University]], renamed in 1966
* [[John F. Kennedy Federal Building]] in the [[Government Center, Boston|Government Center]] section of [[Boston]], opened in 1966
* [[John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial]], opened in 1970 in [[Dallas]]
* National cultural center was named [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] in 1964, opened in 1971 in [[Washington, D.C.]]
* [[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]] on [[Columbia Point, Boston|Columbia Point]] in [[Boston]]; opened in 1979
* [[Statue of John F. Kennedy (Boston)|Statue of John F. Kennedy]] by Isabel McIlvain on the grounds of the [[Massachusetts State House]] in Boston; dedicated on May 29, 1990.