Essay about John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln

After the Civil War between 1865 and 1877, the country went into Reconstruction. They had to rebuild the south because of Sherman’s plan of total war. In Sherman’s plan, his army took food and burned property, destroying everything that could be used by the Confederates during the war. President Lincoln helped by giving amnesty for Confederate soldiers and a plan for readmission to the Union of the Southern states. He also proposed the Ten Percent Plan. The plan allowed states to be readmitted to the Union if ten percent of its voters swore a loyalty oath to the Union and agreed to the end of slavery. President Johnson took office once Lincoln got assassinated, this changed the course of Reconstruction because he was a southerner and a democrat. He had more sympathy for southerners and many former Confederates assumed political office as soon as their state was readmitted to the Union.

Johnson under the Democratic Party against Republican nominee Richard Nixon and his running mate Henry Lodge Cabot Jr. Throughout the campaign, Kennedy wanted to take the country into a “New Frontier” where America could progress beyond what the two presidents before him accomplished and find better methods on how to deal with issues (Deahl). Despite Kennedy’s high calcifications and vast experience, he was Catholic and many voters feared he might be under the Pope’s influence. Nonetheless, he proved himself to the American people when both candidates debated live on television, one of the first debates live in American history. While Kennedy appeared immaculate and confident, Nixon showed fatigue and stress which helped Kennedy as voters saw him more fit for presidency (Hamilton). For the electoral vote, won with 303 votes compared to Nixon’s 219 electoral votes and Byrd only 15 electoral votes

The two most discussed assassinations out of the four within the position of the United States President are that of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. There are many similarities between the two and there are also some differences. There are many similarities associated with the assassination of Lincoln and Kennedy. They were both assassinated on the same day, and the men that were caught for the crime were born a century apart from each other and they were both killed before their trials. A difference between the two men is Lincoln was poor and worked his way to the top and Kennedy was born into a wealthy family in which his father was a large political figure. Both men had

Disagreements over Reconstruction lead to conflict in government and in the South. Andrew Johnson was the vice president of Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln was assassinated, Johnson became President and was in control of how Reconstruction would go. Johnson was originally from the South, he was pro-slavery, and he wanted a lenient plan for Reconstruction. While Congress was out of session, Johnson created and put into effect a Reconstruction plan. The opposite party to Johnson was the Radical Republicans. Radical Republicans were mostly from the North, they were anti-slavery, and they wanted a strict plan for Reconstruction. They had strong support from scalawags, carpetbaggers, and freedmen. Their main goal of Reconstruction was to be a total reconstruction of society to guarentee black people true equality. Another party in this battle was the Klu Klux Klan. The Klu Klux Klan used terror to stop African Americans from gaining any power. They would whip, torture, shoot, hang, and sometimes burn people alive. There were hundreds of lives lost during the 1868 election. This cause voting from African Americans to decline. After all of the disagreements about Reconstruction, the end of Reconstruction still failed to give African Americans rights.

John F. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He sadly died at the very young age of 46 on November 22, 1963. Growing up, his family was fairly wealthy as his father dealt with the stock market and economics. After John F. Kennedy grew up, he joined they navy and was a gunboat pilot in World War II. He received battle wounds during the war and after his deployment he was awarded with a purple heart.

John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917. He attended Harvard and graduated in 1940. After graduating, he joined the navy. When he left the navy, Kennedy was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for leadership and courage (Life of John F. Kennedy). He became the 35th president of the United States on January 20, 1961 and was the youngest man elected to the office. Lots of conflict was happening in the U.S. while JFK was president. There was possibility of a nuclear war and the biggest problem he had to face was ending racial discrimination. On November 22, 1963 when he was assassinated he also became the youngest president to die.

After the tragedy of Lincoln's death, Vice President Andrew Johnson stepped up into the presidential position and started his own plans for reconstruction; his too, would turn out to be a failure. He supported hardcore Democratic principles and restoring Southern power. He brought in the remaining states back into the constitution. He divided the power of planters and restricted there voting He created the idea of "blanket pardons" which allowed Southern states that had abolished slavery and repealed their articles of secession to re-assume their powers of government and elect representatives to the Congress. This all backfired because while the south was happy and the Blacks weren't voting under Johnson, the Radical Republicans were angered and more conflict was started. The whole idea of everyone being happy wasn't working at all with anyone. Johnson was the second to go, being the first impeached president ever.

Some of his strategies were that he wanted to slow down or stop poverty, and to help make everyone to be treated equally. John Kennedy beat Nixon with 303 points to 219 points. JFK also had a higher popularity than Nixon. The percentage was 49.72% to 49.55%. JFK’s style and tone was to do the best he could for his country. His plans had dealt with the Cold War and the Bay of Pigs.

Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president. It was his election that convinced South Carolina to secede from the Union. Though not an abolitionist, Lincoln was an opponent of slavery and determined to use all means at his disposal to stop its spread. Because the Republican Party was an anti-slavery party, South Carolina, along with several other states, saw the election of Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln came from a military background that helped him with his political background. He has started small but ended big. He was the president of the United States from 1861 through 1865. He has made many difficult decisions throughout his presidency and will go down in history as the really tall 16th president, but also as the one who put the Emancipation Proclamation into action.

In the election of 1960, many Democratic leaders entered the race for their party, because of increased majorities in the Senate (64 Democratic seats to 32 Republican seats) and House (283 Democratic seats to 153 Republican seats). However, "John F. Kennedy's impressive performance and reelection as Senator of Massachusetts in 1958, made him the Democratic front-runner." 5 Other Democratic candidates were Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, Senator Stewart Symington of Missouri, Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, and Senate majority leader, Lyndon Johnson. Kennedy had faced obstacles in challenging his opponents, all of who were more powerful than he, and had "longer, more distinguished political careers."6 Another factor against Kennedy was his Roman Catholic background, but his "primary victory in overwhelmingly Protestant West Virginia helped to rebut the claim that a Catholic could not win." 7 Only once had a Catholic ever been nominated, Governor Al Smith of New York, in 1928, but Smith was easily defeated.

John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917, the second of nine children. He was a US statesman and our 35th president. He came from a family with a history of good politics. As an infant he lived in a comfortable but modest frame house in that suburb of Boston. As the family got larger and the father's income and fortune increased, the Kennedys moved to larger, more impressive homes. Their first home was in Brookline, followed by the suburbs of New York City. John F. Kennedy had a happy childhood that was full of family games and sports. He attended many different private elementary schools, which were all non parochial. He later spent a year at Canterbury School in New Milford,

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States of America. He was elected into presidency on November 6, 1860. Many of the southern states were unsupportive of Lincoln becoming president because he had run on an anti-slavery platform. Lincoln being elected into presidency caused states such as South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas to split from the Union. In his inaugural address Lincoln proclaimed it was his duty to maintain the Union; a month later the Civil War began. Although Lincoln did many great things for our country, his vital role in the Civil War is what most likely lead to his assassination.

John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States (1961-1963). He was born

Abraham Lincoln is known as the sixteenth president of the United States. A self-taught lawyer by trade who was born in a one room cabin in Kentucky, he came from meek beginnings. Mr. Lincoln was only known to have a few years of formal schooling he had to work to help support his family. He moved to the capital of Illinois and practiced as a lawyer. This is where he earned his nick name of Honest Abe. He was known to help the common man. He met and married a woman named Mary Todd. They had four sons. One of which passed away with Typhoid fever. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s theater on April 14, 1865 and died the very from a gunshot to the head. He never lived to see the Union win the war with the plans he helped devise. He next day is known in history for his moving speeches. Two of the main speeches are the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation. Both of these are remembered today as turning points in history. Honest Abe was not only our president but a leader in that he felt like he needed to protect our constitution and the rights it afforded us but also protect the Union. He was a level headed man in a time of war and conflict. He was elected to office when the Union was in a state of unrest due to the issue of slavery. Several states succeeded when he was elected to office. This set up a series of events that lead to the beginning of the civil war. The steps that he took forever changed the history of the United States.