April 02, 2007
Kennedy and Communism
When one thinks of the anti-communist zealots of the early Cold War years, Republicans like Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy usually come to mind. However, one of the most fervent advocates of America’s policy of Soviet “containment” was none other than John F. Kennedy---arguably America’s most revered Democrat.
Kennedy is often mistakenly labeled as a “liberal”. (During his first term in the Senate, he told a reporter, “I’m not a liberal at all. I’m a realist.”) Shortly after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1946, Kennedy began to beat the drums about the Soviet menace. He joined Republicans in charging that the Truman Administration had “lost” China to the communists in 1949. (This charge, by the way, was an exaggeration. China was never Truman’s to lose.)
While still a congressman, JFK supported policies that were intended to check the Soviet Union’s expansion: aid to Greece and Turkey, the Marshall Plan, and the U.S.-led war in Korea. He repeatedly voiced the concern that U.S. military expenditures were not keeping pace with the Soviet threat.
Kennedy never descended to the sort of politicized, personal smear attacks practiced by Joseph McCarthy. But he did vote for the controversial McCarren Act, which would have required the registration of American communists. The bill also provided for the internment of Communist Party members in the event of a national emergency. (The McCarren Act quickly faded into history after Truman vetoed it.)
Kennedy would be labeled a conservative today; though he bears little resemblance to Religious Right politicians of the current Republican Party. Kennedy clearly believed in the separation of Church and State. Moreover, JFK was no necon. He supported middle class initiatives like labor legislation and civil rights. But he took a hard line against America’s enemies abroad.