<p>My D and a classmate are working on a presentation for her English class (which is a foreign language class here) – They have been assigned to do a report on J.F.K. She asked me if I had any opinions about what aspects of his life and/or presidency they should concentrate on. I gave her a few ideas, but basically sent her to Wikipedia to read his bio, and see if anything in particular jumped out at her. President. Bay of Pigs. Space Exploration. He was assassinated. He said, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” What else?</p>
<p>… If you had to talk to a group of foreigners (German students) for 15 minutes about JFK, what would you highlight?</p>
<p>[Editing to say I’m asking out of curiousity - not to help D with her homework! Since I don’t speak German, I very seldom get asked to help with homework these days.)</p>
<p>have her discuss the Promise he brought to the country- the hope, the vision of the future, bringing in a new generation of people into politics</p>
<p>He asked what you can do for your country- that was phrase that brought about a fresh look at community service on a national and global scale</p>
<p>Kennedy was all about the future- passion, possibilities, hope</p>
<p>He was young, he was a vet, he was Catholic (which freaked many people), he could speak really well, he was highly intelligent, he was groomed for the job</p>
<p>I would highlight his getting young people really involved, I would highlight his vision for the world, I would highlight his family</p>
<p>maybe the Kennedy’s as American political royalty? That comparison gets thrown around all the time: JFK, RFK, Jackie-O, Ted, John Jr., Maria Shriver, etc.</p>
<p>Got us deeply into Viet Nam. Attempted a failed invasion of Cuba. Majorly expanded the CIA. Put Civil Rights on hold. Backed human rights abuses and trained torturers in Guatemala, a pattern to be repeated in Iran.</p>
<p>It does mean a jelly donut. The key word being “ein.” He should have said “Ich bin Berliner.” His use of sense of humor such as when in France he said “I am the man who accompanied Jackie to France.” Issues as to whether or not he actually wrote “Profiles in Courage.” But he gave this country a new energy - a youthful zest and drive to accomplish new things and excel, such as the Space Program.</p>
<p># advocated immigration law reform. He proposed the end of the then existing immigration system, which was based on national quotas(which were based on the ethnicities of Americans as established in the census), arguing that needed skills and education should be the test for immigration eligibility, not the land of your birth. It’s true that Johnson is the one that got the law through in 1965, but he gave credit to Kennedy for the concept. Now, I fully recognize that there are conservatives who think this is what ruined America–an opinion I do not share. However, there is no doubt that the 1965 Act changed America forever. </p>
<p># signed the nuclear test ban treaty. Things are bad enough…imagine if the nuclear powers had all continued atmospheric testing. </p>
<p>#promised to put an American on the moon. Yes, it didn’t happen until 1969, but it was Kennedy who told the world that the US would do it at a time when a lot of people thought it would never happen . (You should point out that Sputnik spooked the US as few other events ever have.) </p>
<p>#changed American political campaigns. The Nixon-Kennedy presidential debates were the first televised presidential debates, for example. </p>
<p>#was the first (and only) person elected to the US presidency who was not Protestant. One of the turning points was when Kennedy won the West Virginia primary–at the time, for a Catholic to win the Democratic primary in a Southern state was absolutely amazing. </p>
<p># tried to do something about the US’s poor relationship with the rest of the Western hemisphere by introducing the “Alliance for Progress.” (One of the weird legacies of it is that “Sixth Avenue” in NYC is the “Avenue of the Americas.”) </p>
<p># began the Peace Corps</p>
<p># tried to convince Americans–especially young Americans–that service to their nation was a high callling. Inaugural words “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” may sound hokey, but they really inspired many young people.</p>
<p>re: “Ich bin ein Berliner.” The statement still gets made fun of by some non-Berliner Germans, but my H’s colleague from Berlin tends to get very serious and say, “We knew EXACTLY what he meant.” </p>
<p>Evitjar is correct about the “ein.” However, a jelly donut is called a Berliner only in some parts of Germany. Here in Bavaria they are called Krapfen. (I prefer Berliner!)</p>