John F. Kennedy has long enjoyed one of the most favored images in the public mind among recent American Presidents. Much of this can be attributed to personal qualities and the tragic nature of his abortive Presidency. For the better part of a decade, many historians reinforced this favorable evaluation, beginning with that substantial but flawed study by an 'insider' and highly esteemed historian, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., in A Thousand Days. Even though the promise was never able to be completely fulfilled, except for the 'Bay of Pigs' episode, Kennedy's Ieadership and performance in the White House has been generally lauded and held up as a model worthy of emulation.
