Analysis of Field Trip to JFK Memorial

Question #1- Discuss three things you learned about JFK that you didn't know prior to the trip.

Answer #1- a) JFK won the Pulitzer Prize.

b) His father was an ambassador for Great Britain.

c) He was the only Catholic to become president.



Question #2- What elements of the field trip did you find most interesting?

Answer #2- I enjoyed all of the gifts that they showed that Kennedy receieved throughout his political career. I though that the exhibits that they had with emphasis on the "space race" were very interesting (such as the astronaut suit and the rocks from the moon).



Question #3- Do you have any suggestions on how to improve the field trip in the future? Is there anything that you were hoping to learn but didn't?

Answer #3- The field trip would have been better if the guide had us tour the exhibits and explain each one (or at least some of the important ones); there were so many of them that it was hard to follow.



Question #4- Briefly discuss your opinion on JFK himself. Do you feel like he did enough to be considered one the best presidents of all time?

Answer #4- It is widely known that JFK was a very well educated man. He attended schools such as Princeton and Harvard, and he graduated cum lade. This makes him a good candidate for president but not automatically a good president. This is similar with his war background. He would be more favorable because he has experience in the battlefields and the worst of poverty. This however, does not automatically make him a good president. In my opinion, a good president is defined by the actions that they chose when a crisis or even a minor issue is placed in front of them. Obviously, the world is unpredictable and even with good intentions there is really no way to determine how something will play out exactly, but there is not (to my knowledge) a better way to judge a president. With this in mind, I do not think that JFK can be considered one of the greatest presidents of all time. Some of the greatest presidents of all time include: Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and FDR. Lincoln saved the United States from tearing itself apart in the Civil War. Washington led the colonies against British tyranny, and united them as a single power. Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, stabilized the government and the economy, and doubled the size of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase. FDR lead the United States through some of the hardest times of all: the Great Depression (stabilized the economy) and World War II. I suppose that JFK could be considered as the 5th greatest president of all time, but out of all of the other presidents, there is probably at least one who was better than him. What JFK actually did included: eventual support for civil rights in the form of speeches and attempted bills, tried to emphasize the space race, dragged us through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam war, and the Bay of Pigs invasion, and he got assassinated. His assassination lead to the continuation of his ideals through LBJ, but JFK did not actually do much good for the United States. His personality and youth was favorable for the people of the country, but someone who "got the job done" would probably have been better. I would probably consider LBJ in the 5th spot rather than JFK because he honored JFK's ideals and he finished what JFK had started. In conclusion, I do not feel that JFK should be considered as one of the top 5 greatest presidents of all time, but maybe a near spot within the top 10.