The unfinished business of John F. Kennedy’s vision for world peace

John and Jackie Kennedy in Paris in May 1961. Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images by Philip A. Goduti, Jr., Quinnipiac University Less than a week after her husband’s assassination in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, Jackie Kennedy granted an interview with esteemed political writer Theodore White for Life magazine, one of the leading national publications of its day. Determined to protect the legacy of the fallen president, Jackie likened the unfulfilled promise of his short-lived administration to the mythical days of King Arthur’s court as portrayed in “Camelot,” a popular Broadway musical at the time and one of Kennedy’s favorites. “Don’t let it be forgot,” Kennedy told White, “that for one brief, shining moment there was Camelot.” Though historians have since revealed many of Kennedy’s shortcomings, one fact is undeniable. From his 1960 campaign against Richard Nixon to his little more than 1,000 days as president, Kennedy’s boldness defined the times. In my view as a scholar of Kennedy’s life, he set the modern-day standard for public service that is all but absent in the 2024 presidential election dominated by the legal woes of Donald Trump and the age of 81-year-old President Joe Biden. Kennedy’s lofty rhetoric, coupled with his energetic...