Exploring John F. Kennedy's Pivotal Role in Shaping World History

This essay delves into the significant contributions of John F. Kennedy, particularly during the Cold War era, highlighting his efforts to mitigate the nuclear arms race and champion civil rights. Kennedy's speeches in 1963, one addressing the dangers of nuclear weapons and the other emphasizing the importance of civil rights, are examined for their profound impact on global politics and social justice. The essay argues that Kennedy's actions not only influenced the course of the Cold War but also laid the groundwork for a more rights-conscious world, ultimately contributing to the decline of communist ideologies and the rise of a capitalist world order. The analysis underscores Kennedy's role in shaping contemporary society by promoting peace, human rights, and individual freedoms.

Running head: CONTRIBUTIONS OF A GREAT LEADER
Contributions of a Great Leader
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CONTRIBUTIONS OF A GREAT LEADER
There are certain people across the globe who manage to make a significant impact on
the people of the world through their work. They can belong to various fields of life, such as
politics, music, culture, making significant contribution to the field they belong to (Ponterotto,
2017). This essay seeks to understand the contributions made by the President of the United
States of America, namely, John F. Kennedy. His political activities changed the course of the
world and laid foundation to the new world order as we know of it today. The essay analyzes the
impact of such contributions of the great leader. The essay finally concludes with the importance
of the work of such great people and the impact of such on the human society.
John F. Kennedy came to the lime light during the cold war years that was experienced
between the United States of America on one hand and the Soviet Union on the other (Williams,
2016). During this time, the entire world order was undergoing a huge turmoil. The liberal
democratic and capitalist framework of the society which was propounded by the United States
of America and its allies were not acceptable to the socialist ideology followed by the Soviet
Union and her subordinate states (Dewey & Ryan, 2018). As such, the world was plunged in to a
standoff between the two countries where they controlled the other weaker nations of the world.
John F. Kennedy played an important role in deciding this course of America’s foreign policy.
The two significant events of his term which had significant impact on the people of the
world were the two important speeches given by him in the year 1963 (Carty, 2016). In the
month of June, he addressed a crowd about the impact of nuclear arms race. In the same month,
he addressed another crowd about the importance of civil rights.
The speech about nuclear arms race is important because Kennedy was the first President
of the United States of America who made concrete efforts to lessen the rivalry with the Soviet
Union. Both the countries possessed nuclear weapons and arms and as a result, had the power

2CONTRIBUTIONS OF A GREAT LEADER
and the ability to completely annihilate each other’s territories and citizens (Koenig, 2017). Due
to the efforts of Kennedy, several important changes were brought about in the functioning of the
Soviet Union whose leadership was hostile enough to start a full scale war. This had a
reverberating effect on the world community as the speech signified the want for peace in the
political order.
The speech on civil rights is also a world changing event as during the course of the Cold
War, there was wide scale violation of human rights. The United Nations organization was
established in the year 1945 in order to maintain peace and harmony among the state units of the
world (Cohen, 2016). However, the outbreak of the cold war posed a severe challenge to the
United Nations and prevented it from under taking any effective activity. As a result, the
objective of the two super powers to control as many territories of the world as possible, lead to
the gross violation of such civil rights of the people. The speech on the importance of civil rights
made the people aware about the different rights which are available to them and can be
exercised by them. As a consequence, it made the people desire for freedom and a right to
choose their own curse of life, which was not favorable to the ideology of communism (Cohen,
2016). This proved to be the downfall of the support for a communist Soviet union where the
role of the State in the lives of the individuals was predominant.
In conclusion, it can be said that the activities of John F. Kennedy not only set the course
of the future world order by the way of aspiring for a more controlled nuclear arms race, but he
also laid down the foundation for the civil rights of the people. This instigated the people to
protest against the socialist structure of the state, which then gave way to the spread of the
capitalist world order, as is experienced in the present contemporary world. Thus, it can be said
that Kennedy made significant contribution in changing the polity of the world.

3CONTRIBUTIONS OF A GREAT LEADER
Bibliography:
Carty, T. (2016). A Catholic in the White House?: Religion, Politics, and John F. Kennedy's
Presidential Campaign. Springer.
Cohen, A. (2016). Two Days in June: John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours That Changed History.
Signal.
Dewey, J. F., & Ryan, P. D. (2018). Reply to Kennedy: Historical evidence supports remarkable
breaking wave heights. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201722292.
Koenig, M. (Ed.). (2017). Democracy and human rights in multicultural societies. Routledge.
Ponterotto, J. G. (2017). John F. Kennedy, Jr. and the torn self: A psychological portrait. The
Journal of psychohistory, 44(3), 221-241.
Williams, G. M. (2016). Sound Recording-Address by John F. Kennedy at Michigan State
University-1960 October 14.