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Originally Posted by atari 2600
I strongly feel that the "most socialist-minded President" was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And that's not to say that it's an across-the-board good thing either to be "more socialist," although during WWII it seems to have been necessary. What would be truly progressive is to institute new amendments to the U.S. Constitution to strengthen the document to allow it to adapt to current times; and this is what the Founding Fathers intended all along, yet the document has been relatively unchanged for the entire history of this country.
And sorry to impugn the Kennedys, because much of this is hearsay, but many believe they were in deep with the mob from their father's, Joe Kennedy's, connections. It is, however, well-known that JFK had elections in Illinois, particularly Chicago, rigged and there is debate about what other voting fraud took place. And this is, of course, not to suggest that Nixon would have been any better. JFK was most likely killed because of a memorandum delivered to the National Security Council declaring that he would no longer accept their authority on Presidential decisions. To what end JFK brought this measure forth, good or bad, is not precisely known for sure. What is particularly known is that Bobby Kennedy, as attorney general, specifically set out to strip away mob control in many areas of the country. The mafia felt particularly offended, since the Kennedys had always, up until that time, been members of the mafia. Many feel the mafia, in connection with elements of the government and military, was responsible for the assassinations of both.
During RFK's presidential bid, he talked a very good game, although we can never be certain how that would have played out if were to have become President, since he was shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan. One at least hopes that the death of his brother had made him a better man before his untimely death.
People love and remember JFK for Profiles in Courage, which was a mostly true account of his service in the Senate (most scholars agree it was written by a ghost writer), for his dedication to lunar exploration, for his Bay of Pigs diplomacy, and most of all, for being shot and killed, henced martyred, during his presidency.
But in short, and as a general rule of thumb, I would suggest that one never trust any family member from a political dynasty. History proves it's never all that wise to do so.
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