Is it true that as a student former US President Kennedy wrote approvingly of Hitler and his anti-Soviet stance?

Answer

I don't know if he did or not, but if he did we shouldn't make too much of it. Hitler's Fascism and Stalinist Communism were both great evils which posed great danger to the free people of the world. In the 1930s it was not at all obvious which of them was the greater evil or the greater threat. As it turned out, Nazism was simply the more immediate threat. Michael Montagne

Fascism and Communism were both far left-wing socialist movements that became factional enemies of essentially the same movement. If JFK wrote 'approvingly' of Hitler's National Socialist Party (NAZI) versus Stalin's Communist party, he likely did so from a geopolitical point of view (i.e., assessing the Soviets as more of a global threat to freedom than Germany). The first answer (from Michael Montagne) is certainly correct. Nazism proved the most immediate threat, but that did not diminish the evil of Communism, nor did it diminish the threat Communism posed over the longer term. But did JFK, as a student, approve of Hitler's anti-Soviet stance? Possibly. His father Joseph Kennedy was US ambassador to Great Britain at the time and he publicly tilted toward Germany versus the USSR. It must be remembered that during this time most of the liberal establishment in the US tilted towards the Soviets versus Germany. Now here is a question to ponder: If the US (and/or Britain, France, et al) took Hitler's threat seriously enough in the 1930s to invade Germany and affect "regime change," we would not know today that such an invasion averted one of humanity's greatest disasters (WWII). Very possibly FDR and Churchill would have become as villified for their action as GW Bush and Tony Blair have been for their action in Iraq. By taking Hitler out, there would have been no war to prove FDR and Churchill were correct in their decision. We can't know what the outcome might have been today - or years from now - if Saddam had not been removed. People today are bitterly arguing the Iraqi invasion based on speculation, and neither side can ever factually make their case based on "what might have been." - Tim Whitsett ............................................

I beg to differ with Mr Whitsett. Fascism and communism are hardly left-wing movements. They are authoritarian, nationalist, political ideologies that hold traditionalist notions of reversing perceived cultural decline or decadence. The movements oppose classic political and economic liberalism. They are seen as reactionary forces against the rising power of liberalism, and have been allied with conservatives in regaining political power. - carrotjuse

It is beyond eccentric to assert that the National Socialist Party (Nazi) and the Communist party are "hardly left-wing movements." What, I wonder, is an example of a left-wing movement if socialism is excluded? To say Communists and Nazis were both 'allied with conservatives in regaining political power' is odder still. Both parties were radical and revolutionary. It is an Orwellian stretch to say that Communists and Nazis were allied with conservatives because both parties came to power by defeating the conservative establishment in their respective countries.

First answer by Michael Montagne. Last edit by Twhitsett. Contributor trust: 35 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 64 [recommend question]