ANALYSIS OF JFK’S LEADERSHIP QUALITIES
John F. Kennedy a Transformational Leader of America:
An Analysis of JFK’s Leadership Qualities
Heather R. Redman
Regent University
April 2013
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ANALYSIS OF JFK’S LEADERSHIP QUALITIES
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John F. Kennedy a Transformational Leader of America:
An Analysis of JFK’s Leadership Qualities
“Dallas, Nov. 22--President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot and killed by an
assassin today. He died of a wound in the brain caused by a rifle bullet that was fired at
him as he was riding through downtown Dallas in a motorcade(Wicker, 1963).”
John F. Kennedy died at 1:36 P.M. on November 22, 1963 but he left a lasting
impression on the country. But what makes JFK so popular? As a political leader JFK
had a talent for reaching people. A talent that is still taught, reflected on, and emulated in
today’s society. It is difficult to measure the qualities of what constitutes a great leader.
Often times the qualities that define a great leader are subjective; what one person may
see as honorable another may find detestable. Despite the varying opinions of the
populace as to what defines a great leader or the qualities one looks for in a politician,
JFK manages to rise above the average political leader. Although the personal qualities
an individual places value on may vary from person to person, being a leader is easy to
define. A great leader is defined on how he or she treats, influences, encourages, and
motivates their followers. To this day JFK remains one the most popular president in
history (CNN Research Corporation, 2011). In this paper I will discuss how JFK’s
charisma, motivation, stimulation, and his consideration of the American people lead him
to be one of the greatest leaders in American history.
A leader is the center of a group with commanding authority over that group of
people. He or she is responsible for ensuring a job is completed properly. According to
Bernard Bass’s full range model of leadership there are three different types of leaders
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(Bass, 1996, pp. 731-61). First is the laissez-faire type of leader that avoids intervening
or accepting responsibility for their followers and their actions. The second is the
transactional type of leader, which is more involved in the actions of their followers than
the laissez-faire type. A transactional type of leader has a hand in their follower’s
performance, which may be either passive or active; intervening only when standards are
not met, or by monitoring the follower closely to take corrective actions when deviations
occur. The final type of leader on Bass’s leadership model is the transformational leader.
The transformational leader takes each individual into consideration and elevates the
needs of the follower above their own. They are able to influence their followers, often
becoming roles models and enhancing the follower’s confidence in them. A
transformational leader also stimulates their followers intellectually by encouraging them
to view the world from different perspectives. Finally, a transformational leader
motivates their followers by providing them a sense of purpose as well as a vision to
follow (Trottier, Wart, & Wang, 2008)(Lievens, VanGeit, & Coetsier, 1997, pp. 417420).
It’s obvious that there is a very heavy distinction between the three leadership
types. The laissez-faire seems to take only the title of leader and avoids any type of
responsibility. The transactional type is more managerial than a leader. They can get the
job completed on time however they don’t take any real interest in the job or their
followers. The transformational leader takes an interest in not only the job but their
followers as well. It is this interest in people is what makes them a strong leader that
people willingly follow.
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JFK was as transformational leader. He did not sit passively in the White House
leaving the country to fend for itself. Nor did he simply give instructions on what the
country should do without any thought to the citizens of the United States. Instead JFK
observed the needs of his followers and took action to ensure those needs were met. This
was a quality that was utilized even after his death.
“The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights
and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want
to be treated. If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant
open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he
cannot vote for the public officials who will represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy
the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have
the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be
content with the counsels of patience and delay?” (Kennedy, Report to the American
People on Civil Rights Speech, 1963).
The non-violent civil rights activists in Birmingham, Alabama moved JFK. The
activists were sprayed with fire hoses, attacked by police dogs, and berated. It was this
over-reaction by the city’s Commissioner T. Eugene Connor that led to a public outcry
(Glenn T. Eskew, 2012). JFK acknowledged the need for equality and later went on to
urge Congress to enact civil rights legislation. Although JFK was assassinated prior to
the signing of the Civil Rights Act he did bring it to the nation’s attention. Kennedy’s
consideration for the American people was potent enough that even after his death his
name was still being used in connection with the Civil Rights Act. “President Johnson
ANALYSIS OF JFK’S LEADERSHIP QUALITIES
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publicly called on Congress to honor President Kennedy’s memory with the quick
passage of a civil rights bill” (Maldonado, 2011, pp. 708-709). President London B.
Johnson was able to use the momentum Kennedy built through his consideration of the
African-American people to pass the Civil Right Act of 1964.
JFK took into consideration the needs of the nation when he made his speech
about civil rights. He saw the turbulence segregation was causing among minority
groups and knew that for the country to be able to stand strong it had to be united in all
things. Along with his consideration of people JFK was a powerful speaker who was
able to influence not just American’s populace but also people on an international level.
A report released after JFK’s 10 June 1963 speech where he encouraged the
Soviet Union to work along with the United States to build a nuclear test ban treaty,
highlights the Soviets warm reaction to the President’s speech (Kennedy, American
University's Spring Commencement, 1963).
“The Soviets were favorably surprised by
the tenor of President Kennedy’s 10 June speech because it reflected a broad progressive
approach toward solving current problems” (Soviet Reaction to the 10 June speech of
President Kennedy, 1963). At a time when the world was at the brink of a nuclear war,
JFK’s tenacity and his progressive approach to solving the international tensions reflected
favorably upon himself. Kennedy was able to speak eloquently enough that he single
handedly and with one speech nearly ended the cold war. It was only the Soviet’s
distrust in sincerity the United States (not the president) that prevented them from signing
the nuclear test ban treaty.
Kennedy through his skills as an orator was able to influence not only his
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followers but also people in other countries. Not only was he able to keep in mind the
needs of the people he built up their confidence in him so that they would trust not only
him but the decisions he made. A confidence that he used to encourage his followers to
view the mental health issue from a different perspective.
Prior to 1963 mental health in the United States was making strides in the study of
psychology as well as mental hygiene. However, the mental healthcare system was often
brutal. Nellie Bly a journalist with the New York World went undercover for ten days in
an insane asylum in 1887. Her articles exposed not only corruption of the asylums but
also the brutal treatment of the patients (PBS, 2000). Insulin-coma therapy and metrazolshock treatment were invented in the 1930’s and although they failed to alleviate
symptoms of the mentally ill both continued to be used until the devolvement of
antipsychotic drugs in the 1950’s. Electroconvulsive therapy was introduced in 1938,
and between 1936 and 1963 approximately 50,000 prefrontal lobotomies were performed
in the U.S (Kofman, 2012, pp. 16-17). JFK in his message to Congress on 5 February
1963 addressed the concerns of current mental health system.
“There are now about 800,000 such patients in this Nation's institutions--600,000
for mental illness and over 200,000 for mental retardation. Every year nearly 1,500,000
people receive treatment in institutions for the mentally ill and mentally retarded. Most of
them are confined and compressed within an antiquated, vastly overcrowded, chain of
custodial State institutions. The average amount expended on their care is only $4 a day-too little to do much good for the individual, but too much if measured in terms of
efficient use of our mental healthcare dollars. In some States the average is less than $2 a
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day” (Kennedy, Special Message to the Congress on Mental Illness and Mental
Retardation, 1963).
As a result of Kennedy signing into law the Mental Retardation Facilities and
Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act, over 750 comprehensive mental
health centers were established. No longer are people secluded from society, they can
now be rehabilitated and entered back into society (National Council for Community
Behavioral Healthcare).
Kennedy was able to stimulate the country into recognizing a need for better
mental healthcare and he was able to encourage Congress to view the issue from a
different perspective. Rather than allowing mental health facilities to continue as a place
where people are permanently admitted and abused with no hope, patients are now
receiving proper treatment and medications for their illnesses.
JFK utilized the confidence the American people had in him to not only influence
them but to also encourage them to review programs that needed to be revised. It was
this stimulation of the American people that allowed them to be motivated by Kennedy
during his quest for space exploration. By giving the American people a vision to follow
Kennedy united the United States under a common goal. Kennedy was a motivating
president that gave the American people a dream of landing on the Moon.
The 1957 launch of Sputnik by the Soviets had undermined the United States as a
modern world power. Fears of the Soviets attacking from spaced seemed logical to the
American people (DeGroot, 2007). In order to calm their fears and once again establish
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ANALYSIS OF JFK’S LEADERSHIP QUALITIES
the United States as an equitable competitor to the Soviets, Kennedy called for an
immediate 89% increase in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration budget
(Logsdon, 2011).
“We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and
do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that
goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that
challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one
which we intend to win, and the others, too. It is for these reasons that I regard the
decision last year to shift our efforts in space from low to high gear as among the most
important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the
Presidency” (Kennedy, Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort, 1962).
The United States had entered the space race and following through with
Kennedy’s vision after his assassination won with the landing of Apollo 11 on the Moon
and it’s crew’s safe return on 24 July 1969 (NASA). Martin McLaughlin stated in an
article, “a generation later, the Moon landings remain an astonishing scientific, technical
and organizational achievement, an inspiring demonstration of mankind's ability to
harness nature to its own purposes, through socially coordinated common effort”
(McLaughlin, 1999).
President Kennedy had a large impact on the American people. JFK was a strong
charismatic leader who was able to influence and sway not only the American people but
also citizens of foreign nations. He took into consideration and elevated the needs of
American minority groups, a tasking that he never saw to completion but one that was
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propelled through his legacy. JFK challenged the nation to take a new look at mental
healthcare. He used his vision of landing on the Moon to unite the citizens of the United
States under a common goal that proved to the world the United States is a modern force.
It is these actions that led to the lasting popularity of the JFK legacy and it is what has
made him one of greatest leaders in American history.
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Works Cited
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DeGroot, G. (2007). The Dark Side of the Moon. History Today , 57 (3), 11-17.
Glenn T. Eskew. (2012, Aug 15). Birmingham Campaign of 1963. Retrieved from
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Kennedy, J. F. (1962, Sep 12). Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space
Effort.
Kennedy, J. F. (1963, Jun 10). American University's Spring Commencement.
Kennedy, J. F. (1963, June 11). Report to the American People on Civil Rights Speech.
Kennedy, J. F. (1963, Feb 5). Special Message to the Congress on Mental Illness and
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Kofman, O. L. (2012). Deinstitutionalization and Its Discontents: American Mental
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PBS. (2000). Nellie Bly. Retrieved from Americna Experience:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/world/peopleevents/pande01.html
(1963). Soviet Reaction to the 10 June speech of President Kennedy. CIA.
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Johnson Sworn in on Plane. New York Times . New York, NY, USA: New York Times.