Born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate before becoming the 35th president in 1961. As president, Kennedy faced a number of foreign crises, especially in Cuba and Berlin, but managed to secure such achievements as the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and the Alliance for Progress. On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas.
President Kennedy was assassinated on 22 November 1963 in Dallas, Texas. According to the Warren Commission established to investigate the assassination, a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, killed the president, but there has been consistent speculation ever since that Kennedy’s death was the result of a conspiracy. He is regarded as one of the greatest leaders of the modern history. There are many lessons we can learn from JF Kennedy and below I compile some that I think might be useful in your leadership.
Lesson 1: Have a Bold Vision
To achieve great things one needs to be bold and take risks. As President of the United States, Kennedy was instrumental in getting America to be the first nation on earth to land men on the moon. His quest to land men on the moon had a huge social impact on America and inspired the nation to dream big and take risks.
Such an undertaking needed a national commitment and because of his leadership skills, Kennedy managed to get everyone, including the congress, to rally behind his bold vision. This was an expensive and ambitious undertaking which needed total commitment from everyone. The cost of this mission, Apollo, costed the US government around $25 billion (~$100 billion in 2016 terms). Below is a clip of JF Kennedy in 1962 at Rice University announcing the mission.
I think the lesson here is that as a leader one needs to take risks and be bold to achieve great things.
Lesson 2: Be firm and decisive
During the thirteen days, from October 16th – October 28th , 1962, the world came very close to nuclear war. The United States and The Soviet Union had an agreement that the USSR would not place or build any offensive weapons in Cuba. However, the American intelligent community presented the President with evidence that the Soviets are building missiles in Cuba with potential to target large US cities including Washington.
What made the tense situation worse was that an American major was gunned down by soviet missiles. The American military and civilian leaders called for an airstrike over Cuba but President Kennedy opted for a less aggressive action. He was worried that a military invasion would be catastrophic for the world. Millions of lives could have been lost if Kennedy took experts advice to attack Cuba. President Kennedy showed firmness and leadership in the mist of public pressure for US to go to war. A wise and effective leader is one who will make correct decisions even thought they might not be popular.
Lesson 3: Be a great story teller
A leader can get a lot done simply by using the power of the tongue. Many influential leaders in history were great orators. All exceptional leaders who have walked the face of the earth understood that the ability to tell stories get to the emotions of the listeners and inspire action. JF Kennedy was not an exception and was one of the best US presidents orators in history.
A leader should inspire those he is leading to action. Kennedy gave some of the best speeches and below is one historians consider as one of his greatest delivery. The “Ask Not” inaugural speech was voted the 2nd greatest speech of the 20th century. Some leaders have great intentions but cannot articulate themselves well enough to inspire action.
Lesson 4: Learn from your mistakes or failures
As a leader, you will be faced with tough decisions to make and some of those decisions might make or destroy you (or your organisation). Just before Kennedy became president, there was a new communist leader in Cuba by the name Fidel Castro. Then US President Dwight D. Eisenhower devised a plan to topple the Castro communist government. Castro was nationalizing American companies and the US had to remove him.
President Eisenhower asked the CIA to finance and train Cuban refugees in the US to fight & remove Castro. This was a secret mission with a hope that it will create social uprising and Cubans will then topple him from within. When Kennedy becomes president he inherited President Eisenhower’s plan even though he was skeptical about it becoming a success. This is known as the Bay of Pigs invasion in which more than 100 CIA trained fighters were killed and more than 1000 captured.
President Kennedy publicity accepted blame for the failed mission. He appeared weak, inexperienced, and indecisive. This would have destroyed many people’s presidency but Kennedy learned from this failure and redeemed himself. He then surrounded himself with some of the most intelligent people at the time, he also learned not to accept every advice given to him.
This failed Cuban invasion had more than 100 casualties but the lessons were enormous as he became a better leader with improved diplomatic skills. This was fundamental in him avoiding the Nuclear war with the Soviets which could have resulted in millions of casualties.
Lesson 5: Give Back
Being a leader is a great responsibility and it can be for good or for worse. Some leaders are remembered for the good work they did and others for their evil deeds. By the mention of the name Adolf Hitler, many associate him as a leader not worth of any praise. While others build, others destroy and while others heal, others hurt, and while others strive for war, others strive for peace in the world.
President Kennedy wanted peace & economic development of others. This is why he is considered one of the greatest presidents in history. One selfless act Kennedy did was giving the executive order for the establishment of Peace Corps. This is a volunteer program run by the United States government. to help with social and economic development of poorer countries. Volunteers are recent graduates from US universities. This is one of the great acts which President Kennedy is remembered for.