In a thread on a Swedish forum, a user claimed that the title of this post was true. Unfortunately, I'm not that well-versed in US history, and the claim made by the user is quite broad, to say the least. It is just as unfortunate that the user in question is now ignoring me.
If there is any truth to this claim, could someone point me in the direction of an original source?
Kennedy Cabinet -
- Secretary of State - J. William Fulbright (1961 - 1963)
- Secretary of Treasury - Robert McNamara (1961 - 1963) + C. Douglas Dillon (1963)
- Secretary of Defense - C. Douglas Dillon (1961 - 1963) + Robert McNamara (1963)
- Attorney General - Robert F. Kennedy (1961 - 1963)
- Ambassador to the United Nations - Chester Bowles (1961 - 1961) + Adlai Stevenson (1961 - 1963)
At State and Defense, Kennedy faced an immediate conundrum. Johnson and Rayburn, leaders of the Senate and House were trying to get Fulbright as VP. However, Civil Rights leaders (Fulbright signed the Southern Manifesto for political reasons) and the Pro-Israeli Democrats (Fulbright had made remarks calling for balance in US Foriegn Policy in that area) wanted someone else. But, LBJ and Sam were insistent on getting their old friend (and noted dove) Fulbright at State. At the same time, Vice President Jackson was trying to get a hawk placed at Defense. So Kennedy came with the compromise - Fulbright at State and noted conservative Republican hawk, C. Douglas Dillon, at Defense. At Treasury, he picked Bob McNamara, the leading Whiz Kid who helped rebuild Ford - a man Kennedy respected after a favorable interview and who became his only real friend in the Cabinet (other than Bobby of course). Speaking of which, after being prodded by his dad, JFK made RFK his AG which got heavy pushback (he was confirmed nonetheless). Chester Bowles the liberal pro-civil rights Governor of Connecticut was made UN Ambassador to balance out the Southern and more moderate Fulbright. Stevenson got nothing - which would have infuriated liberals, but Bowles was able to take care of that.
Bowles was forced to resign after offering tentative support for the Bay of Pigs (which he opposed) at the UN and for being humiliated after JFK withheld info on it from him. Stevenson was the obvious replacement for him and served dutifully including an exchange with the Soviets at the UN which would elevate his reputation from partisan quipper to American icon. At Defense, Dillon would lose his influence after JFK went with Mac's plan on the Cuba Crisis instead of Dillon. With Mac gaining influence in the Defense Department and Dillon wanting to go back into finance, they made a swap. McNamara would become SecDef and Dillon would lead Treasury. JFK was all too happy to consent to this.
Supreme Court Appointments -
Entering his Presidency, there was around 5 Liberal Justices v 3 Moderate Justices
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This is the thirty fifth part of my presidential polling series. Below is the list of the other thirty four previous presidents with their respective scores on the 1-5 scale, listed by presidency:
- George Washington (3.8)
- John Adams (2.6)
- Thomas Jefferson (3.1)
- James Madison (2.5)
- James Monroe (2.8)
- John Quincy Adams (2.6)
- Andrew Jackson (1.7)
- Martin Van Buren (2.1)
- William Henry Harrison (2.5)
- John Tyler (1.7)
- James K. Polk (2.8)
- Zachary Taylor (2.3)
- Millard Fillmore (2.0)
- Franklin Pierce (1.6)
- James Buchanan (1.3)
- Abraham Lincoln (4.5)
- Andrew Johnson (1.2)
- Ulysses S. Grant (3.0)
- Rutherford B. Hayes (2.0)
- James Garfield (2.8)
- Chester Arthur (2.8)
- Grover Cleveland (2.2) [aggregate of 2.3]
- Benjamin Harrison (2.2)
- Grover Cleveland (2.4) [aggregate of 2.3]
- William McKinley (2.6)
- Theodore Roosevelt (4.0)
- William Taft (2.8)
- Woodrow Wilson (2.3)
- Warren Harding (1.7)
- Calvin Coolidge (2.4)
- Herbert Hoover (1.8)
- 1933-1940 FDR (3.7)/1941-1945 FDR (3.6) [aggregate of 3.7]
- Harry Truman (3.7)
- Dwight Eisenhower (3.7)
Next up is John F Kennedy!
Robert Francis Kennedy took office as President of the United States on January 20th, 1965. As he entered office he saught two goals - end the Vietnam conundrum expand the welfare state and end poverty.
Cabinet -
- Vice President - Robert McNamara (1965 - 1969)
- Secretary of State - George Ball (1965 - 1967) + Clark Clifford (1967 - 1969)
- Secretary of Treasury - Russell Long (1965 - 1969)
- Secretary of Defense - Cyrus Vance (1965 - 1969)
- Attorney General - Nicholas Katzenbach (1965 - 1966) + Ramsey Clark (1966 - 1969)
- Ambassador to the UN - Ken Galbraith (1965 - 1966) + Nicholas Katzenbach (1966 - 1969)
When selecting his Cabinet, RFK had to balance out his Anti-Vietnam and Welfare idealism with the reality of the situation. For Secretary of State, he stunned many when he decided against naming J. William Fulbright as Secretary of State. Fulbright himself took this as a personal afront and his formally positive relations with Kennedy would deteriorate. The reason was due to Fulbright's Segregationist past. He considered Frank Church, but he determined that Church would be too controversial, thus he chose the experienced (if very liberal) diplomat George Ball. He would later resign as Secretary of State, after the attack on the USS Liberty + 6-Day War due to RFK's very Pro-Israeli views. He would later write a damning attack on RFK in Foreign Affairs, but his strong Anti-Israeli language would lead to accusations of Anti-Semitism. Either way, RFK passed up on other State Department officials to pick Clark Clifford as Secretary of State. Clifford was the man credited for getting Truman to recognize Isreal within the 1st hour. He was also a loyal Democrat, an expert in Foreign Affairs, a supporter of RFK's withdrawal from 'Nam, and a friend of Senate Majority Leader Johnson and former President Truman.
At Treasury, RFK's 1st instincts were his old friend Ken Galbraith. But, Senator LBJ warned him the Dixiecrats and Republicans would filibuster the nomination - thus he went with the Compromise option, Russell Long. Long was a Senator who was well-liked both for his competence (he was said to be the only man who knew the Federal Tax Code) and personality. On Civil Rights, although, he voted against the Voting Rights Act, he is perceived widely as a moderate, and MLK has promised to make statements supporting him for Treasury Secretary. With this assurance, RFK announced the nomination and it was an open and shut case. Long was one of the few me
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