General Discussion

I was around 10 when JFK was elected president. I grew up in a family of news addicts. When I heard JFK’s inaugural speach, the line “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” became engraved upon my soul. It was bolstered by the fact that much of my family was in public service, both civil and military. As a Catholic, I recognize this is somehow rooted in his upbringing as a Catholic.

I absolutely know that he was a man with faults, but there was at his core the desire and the courage to do the right thing. Standing up the USSR over the missiles in Cuba took both. Detractors can point to the Bay of Pigs fiasco and yes it was, but overall this man who was murdered when I was in 8th grade was and will always be an inspiration to me.