Monday marked the forty-third anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. He was shot in the head as his motorcade was driving through downtown Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the crime and was killed two days later by Jack Ruby as he was being led to jail. Following the assassination, many have questioned whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone or whether it was part of a larger conspiracy. Regardless, while many will remember the death of John Kennedy, most will remember the way he lived. Born into a wealthy and famous family, John Kennedy was a privileged youth. He was well educated at private schools and prestigious universities. He joined the Navy in 1941 as was sent to the South Pacific during World War II. He was given command of PT 109 (patrol-torpedo boat). In 1943 his boat was hit by a Japanese destroyer. Heroically, he helped many of the marooned crew to safety. As a result, he was award the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism. (There is a movie about this, PT-109)
After the war, Kennedy had aspirations of being a journalist. The cries of political life became too strong and in 1946, he ran and won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for Massachusetts. He began his term in Congress in 1947 at age 29. He ran twice more before he changed course and ran for U.S. Senate in 1952. Early in his term as a Senator he was forced to have back surgery. During his recovery, he wrote his Pulitzer Prize winning biography “Profiles in Courage”.
He chose to run for President in 1960. His opponent was a well known and former Vice President Richard Nixon. Kennedy’s youthful and vibrant charisma was a major issue is deciding the election. This was particularly evident in the first-ever televise debates. He was elected by a narrow margin of 120,000 votes and became the youngest man ever elected to the presidency.
In his inaugural address he called on all Americans to join together to end poverty, continue the progress of the United States and fight to win the Cold War against communism. It is here you hear one of his most famous quotes, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”.
He was energetic, decisive, and charismatic. Although he is one of the most loved presidents of all time, his leadership was at times controversial and he was not liked by groups of Americans and foreign citizens. Many of the changes he was encouraging were not well received. It is this controversy which led to many of the conspiracy theories surrounding his death.
Unfortunately, just over 1,000 days into his presidency, he was publicly assassinated.
What qualities are necessary to be a great and effective president? How do you think the age of television changed the role of the president and how elections are run? How do you think the use of television, Internet and instant access to news will continue to shape our world, our leaders, and our ideas?
Morgan- To be a great president you need to be responsible a liked if the you are not liked nobody will be interested in what you are doing for the country. One of the most important things is to be a role model to your country. If you have respect towards people you will be respected. Telivision has changed the view of the president because tv and Internet have a lot of news even if you were caught doing something when you were young it will be everywhere. Tv and Internet will shape our daily lives because you will see something and think of that person. It's not a good thing when you have to look back on the mistakes that one person has made. If the president has made a mistake it will be everywhere and people will always think of that mistake. When you see someones idea on the Internet you will think the same thing without knowing anything because you want to be like everybody else.
ReplyDeleteDanielle- To be a great president you need 2 know what you are doing, you need 2 be responsible and you really need to know what u wanna do 2 make a difference. TV has changed the view of the president because now u get 2 see everything that they c in the past. Now u know what they r doing. and everyone is watching 2 c if they do anythhing wrong. TV and interent will shape our world because we know that anyhting interesting or bad will be put on the internet and TV so people try 2 not make mistakes on TV and internet because they know it will be everywhere! They also don't wanna say anything that hurts others or that others disagree with.
ReplyDeletejosu- To be a good resident you have to be willing to listen to both sides. that doesnt mean you have do agree with both sides. you also have to be honest with people. If you promise one thing you better do it. now you have to be able to speak in front of a camera an write tons of speeches. iF someone wants to tell the people something he can just ay it in front of a camera and the whole world will know.
ReplyDeletep.s the broncos got WHOOPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SOFIA-A president needs to be support of the people and very kkind and generous, they also need a good background in politics and need to know what they are talking aboput, they need to be good at setting goals and completing these goals also. Television has changed the way voters think because they get to see the runner talk ans listen to the speek more clear than it used to. And when the president needs to make a speech it is broadcasted so people can see the speech and what is going on and what is going to happen. Internet and instant access to news will help us to be able to soo the new news when we want to,it doesn't take long either it is very easy to access things these days and it will keep on getting easier.
ReplyDeleteKaed- It takes courage to be the president of any region. You have to be responsible and like josu said you have to be able to talk to a HUGE crowd. And you also need to be able to now what your talking about and politics. You also need to pay attention to whats going on in the world. For example 9/11. The biggest most saddest day. President Bush was smart and he new what to do. you need to also know how to be able to handle big problems, like 9/11.
ReplyDeleteRyan M- To be agreat president you need to be responsible,trustworthy,loyal,and a great citizen.being a president takes alot of guts because you need to be able to speak to big crowds and you need to know what you are talking about. You need to know wether you and your family are safe at the white house or do you need to go to the bunker. being a president is a hard job and i would not like to become president because of all the choices and responsibilitis. being a president means you have to take car of a whole country and keep it from bieng attaked
ReplyDeleteHalle- A president needs to be dedicated and kind and willing to do whatever it takes to protect and do great things for our country. They also need to be a good role model for everyone. There are more television networks for the president to be seen on, there are more opportunities for him to be seen because there are 24 hour news networks. You can get everyone's point of view and everyone's opinion instantly that can shape your opinion. You can get more information easily from their ideas the can help shape your opinions.
ReplyDeleteGO DUCKS
ReplyDeleteTHE BRONCOS GOT ATE BY NEVADA
Angie- To be a good president, in my opinion, you need to be fair and reasonable. No one likes a president who is unreasonable. Presidents usually just gets everyone to like them through their speeches, but I think that they have to do a lot more then that. They have to try to make a difference and make the U.S. a better place. The media definitley affects the roles of presidents. Usually, the media tries to "scare off" the president by basically attacking them with rumors. For example, Barack Obama and him being Mulslim. Is he? Probably not, but the media practically tries to get everyone to think so. How do I think the use of television, Internet, and instant access to news will continue to shape our world, our leaders, and our ideas? Well I don't really know how to explain it. I do know that it will always shape everything though. Everyone usually listens and believes what the media says, which I think is honestly sad.
ReplyDeleteMarya- Josu.... be quiet. anyway in order to be a good president u have to know what the people want and know what ur doing. u cant lie in ur campaigning and not do anything u said u would do. u have to be able to deal with a lot of pressure... like kyle brotzman. and TV has changed the way i look at our presidents because i can see how they talk during speeches and see the crowds reaction.
ReplyDeletep.s.- VANDALS COULDNT DO ANY BETTER
Maddy- To be a good president you have need to know whats going on in the world and try to ask the poeple what they want and see if the president could do some of the things we would like to do.. I agree with marya with the t.v like when i see people who are running and they have note cards i think that they cant memorize a speech that there coming up with....
ReplyDeleteHannah- Presidents are looked at by everyone so any mistakes they make will be broadcast everywhere, and people will remember the mistakes much longer. I think also the presidents can use the media in a way to benefit them, everyone can see their speeches and it persuades voters, so I think that is how TV and internet have changed the elections. In order to be a good president I think one should know what is going on and what they are talking out, they should be honest and not lie in their campaign. They should address all aspects of a problem-even if they do not agree. I think they should be fair and respectful- I do not like it when in campaigning the president just talks about how bad their opponent is in the commercial or ad. I think the media will continue to shape the elections by more advances in the media, and it seems everyone just automatically believes everything the media says, which is saddening
ReplyDeletegabby- first of all bsu did NOT ate or whopped by nevada!.. they should have won...brotzman he just had a off day! anyway john f kennedy was a great president and it is sad the was killed. i think qualities that a president needs to have to be successful is determination and optimism. i think tv has positive and negative effects on how view the president. its bad that the media makes the most controversial story so that people will buy it. this can be bad for the president because might believe it and think badly about him which causes them not to vote for him again. i think its good and bad that things are shown so quickly. its good because we get to see what they think and actually chose whether we agree or disagree. its bad because if things are put out quickly the media will always try to twist it somehow. i also think that it pressures people to form a opinion quicker which could result in them siding in the media
ReplyDeleteCooper-The qualities a good president should possess are to be a great leader, well-spoken and motivational. He/she should love and fight for their country. TV changed the role by showing what the president looked like, sounded like and acted like. My parents say that Pres. Roosevelt wouldn't have been elected if TV's were around then. With all the instant information everyone will know what happens at every second which might make it hard to keep track of the good(Broncos)and the bad(Vandals)!
ReplyDeleteTravis- To be a great president, someone needs to be a leader, courageous, and willing to devote their whole life to their very important job. Ever since T.V.'s have gotten popular, Presidents have to appeal to the people physically too, Because before, if someone was fat, or in a wheelchair, people didn't know so they didn't care, but now, people would see them and think of those things as weaknesses. The advances in technology will continue to influence our thoughts and decisions. If we have all of these news resources so available to us, then that is what we will determine all of our thoughts and decisions on, we won't go and try to find the real stories if these cheesy ones are available even if they are completly fake.
ReplyDeleteto be the president of the usa, you have to be reliable, responblible,courageous and willing to sevre this country. Tv is very populare this days and you can see the president on tv a lot. is it negative and postive effect on it though. like if the president opens his mouth and says something wrong, then we could be in lots of trouble. Plus you have to deal with lots of preesure.
ReplyDeletesorry that was cristina
ReplyDeleteRyan Z.- I think that a good president needs to be honest. Not Jimmie Carter honest but actually honest and so far we haven't had a single president like that. Not one! Because in this world there's always one thing that everyone is obsessed about and that's money and the matinence of a life style. Every president that we've ever put in office has always promised to be a better on than the last but no one ever has been Bette than the last because they're always soley focused on being reelected. We need a president that will stand up and say "you know what, this is just a big burecrtic pile of crap" and then they need to act apon what they say and take action. But most importantly the president has to be able to show us how stupid and childish we're being because right now the president or any other person with political power can't even take a breath without someone in the media saying "Oh my god! Can you believe what he said!" and I think that if a president were to come along that didn't care what the news had to say about him and didn't care how popular he was and just got stuff done. Then you have a truly great president. Which is why you should vote Ryan Zoellner in 2036. That's right I'm running for president.
ReplyDeleteVO
Phillip-To be an effective President, you need to have: good moral values, the ability to focus, and you need to be someone that people will trust. When television was invented, President's would have to tell people their ideas on the TV. Now people would be able to see their President publicly and see if they can handle the pressures of being the President. Now Presidential canidates have to make speaches via television. Back Then not many people could here the speaches so they just with the opions of others. In the future presidents will have to be more nice caring and trustworthy people, so people will like them more.
ReplyDeleteAtticus- Some of the qualiteys that a president neads is that he neads to be able to keep his promises that he said he would keep. Also he neads to be able to focus on the task at hand. I think that tv has made it that not only the people at the confrence that the president is giving a speach at but the hole US can see it. Also it changes the elections because they can all be seen from your couch. I think it will make communicating a message and seeing that message alot easier.
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