Charismatic Leadership of John F. Kennedy's Presidency

Introduction: Kennedy and the Conditions for Charismatic Leadership

The United States was in a state of controlled turmoil. Unknown dangers were threatened by enemies abroad, while moral concerns further eroded confidence at home. The nation was emerging from a decade of paranoia and fear stirred up by certain high-ranking members of the federal government. In this election year, a Democratic Senator would become one of the youngest men ever elected to the office of President of the United States — in a historically barrier-breaking election. The year is not 2008, and the President is not Barack Obama. Instead, turning the calendar back to 1960 brings us to the year that John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected the thirty-fifth President of the United States, the youngest man ever elected to the office and the only Roman Catholic ever to hold that position.

Social scientists have largely agreed on four basic characteristics common to the situations of all charismatic leaders. First and foremost, there must be a crisis situation, which leads to the second requirement: a potential group of followers who are in distress, presumably due to the crisis at hand. Third, the leader who steps into this situation must be aspiring — on the ascent — and finally he must carry with him a doctrine that promises deliverance. Kennedy assumed the presidency during a time of great international stress and handled several crises related to the Cold War. This created a large population of people in distress, which allowed for Kennedy's charismatic rise through the levels of government. His doctrine of containment of communism abroad — and its active reversal in the Western Hemisphere — along with his general message of egalitarianism and government responsibility gave distressed citizens hope that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and that John Fitzgerald Kennedy might be holding the torch.

In short, though Kennedy's policies as President may not have been as successful or as open-handed as his public face implied, the view of his leadership and personality as charismatic above all else is a direct result of the crisis, distress, aspiration, and doctrine of deliverance that defined his presidency.

The Crisis Situation: Cold War Tensions and the Cuban Threat

The 1950s was one of the most — if not the most — paranoid decades of the Cold War. Backyard bomb shelters were for sale and actually purchased by many reasonable consumers who believed the advertising and the government warnings about imminent nuclear attacks from the Soviet Union. In addition, the often-touted economic boom of the 1950s had also produced a period of inflation and increased privation, leading to a growing gap between classes (White House, 2009). Kennedy had many problems to tackle as President, and this is a principal reason he was able to achieve such charismatic status with the voting population. He promised a hard line against communism and delivered even harder than promised on several occasions — going so far as to secretly wiretap hundreds of American citizens suspected of being communists, including Martin Luther King, Jr. (Parekh, 2005). But the major crisis that truly catapulted him into the status of a charismatic leader did not occur until after his election.

The issue of the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union had been prevalent for more than a decade by the time Kennedy announced his candidacy, but the issue of communist Cuba — seen as a threat of encroaching communism in the Western Hemisphere — was not a major component of the 1960 election. This was due in part to the fact that Nixon's and Kennedy's views on the subject appeared relatively similar (O'Brien, 2005). When he took office, however, Kennedy learned that the CIA had a plot to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro, which Kennedy backed. The plan ended in disaster, and Kennedy's approval ratings fell to the lowest point of his presidency by 1962 (Spartacus). He needed something that would allow him to re-ascend to his former levels of popularity — and as circumstance would have it, a crisis was already brewing.

The Cuban Missile Crisis and Kennedy's Charismatic Ascent

The Cuban Missile Crisis, more than any other single factor, contributed to Kennedy's success as President and to his charismatic leadership. His decisive handling of the situation — which led to a Soviet backdown — sent a powerful message to citizens of the United States and the world that he would stand firmly by his inaugural promise never to yield, cementing his charismatic standing (O'Brien, 2005). When Kennedy first learned that the Soviet Union was constructing missile silos in Cuba, he and his administration protested to the Soviet government, arguing that the arms race and such aggressive tactics did not serve the interests of either country or the rest of the world (Spartacus). Eventually, this line of reasoning and the negotiations that followed led to the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963 between the United States and the Soviet Union (Parekh, 2005). In the meantime, however, Kennedy was firm in his assertion that any attack launched from Cuba would be considered an act of Soviet aggression.

The crisis truly came to a head when Kennedy established a naval blockade, barring approaching Soviet ships from delivering goods — suspected to be missiles — to Cuba (Spartacus). War between the two nuclear superpowers seemed not only possible but inevitable to many anxious observers around the world. The Soviets backed down, and Kennedy immediately began pursuing diplomatic tactics to maintain a stable balance of power (O'Brien, 2005). In this way, he managed to avoid war while remaining a figure of considerable strength, which propelled his public image to new heights. It was his handling of this crisis that definitively cemented his charismatic leadership in the eyes of the American people.

Conclusion: The Making of a Charismatic President

It was Kennedy's response to a crisis situation and his aiding of a distressed populace, especially at a time when his approval ratings were low, that allowed him to mount a successful response and thereby achieve the status of a charismatic leader. Had the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion not occurred, Kennedy would not have appeared so dramatically ascendant afterward, and the positive reaction to his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis might not have been as great in magnitude. Ultimately, however, it was his social programs — such as the Peace Corps — and his focus on establishing peace with the Soviet Union that most clearly revealed him to be the charismatic leader for which he is remembered today.