Monday, November 21, 2005

Leaders Of A By Gone Era


CHE



JFK


I was just reading about two great leaders John Fitzgerald Kennedy & Che Guevera. It's truly facinating to read about the Cuban Missile Crisis & the roles played by these leaders. Che was responsible for starting the crisis by collaborating with the russians to protest against the americans while JFK was responsible for bringing the crisis to an end by restraint and tact. It's really scintillating to understand these characters & try to unravel the shades underneath. Their backgrounds, inspirations & aspirations are so discreet & distinct.

Che Guevara or el Che, was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary and Cuban guerrilla leader. Guevara was a member of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement that seized power in Cuba in 1959. After serving in various important posts in the new government, Guevara left Cuba in 1965 with the hope of fomenting revolutions in other countries, first in the Congo-Kinshasa (currently the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and later in Bolivia, where he was captured in a CIA-organized military operation. It is believed by some that the CIA wished to keep Guevara alive for interrogation but, after his capture in the Yuro ravine, he died at the hands of the Bolivian Army in La Higuera near Vallegrande on October 9, 1967. Testimony by various individuals who were participants in, or witnesses to, events during his final hours indicates that the Bolivian government summarily executed him in order to avoid a public trial and the complications that might arise if he were incarcerated on Bolivian soil. After his death, Guevara became a hero of Third World socialist revolutionary movements, as a theorist and tactician of asymmetric warfare.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), often referred to as Jack Kennedy or JFK, was the 35th President of the United States. He served from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Kennedy was a member of the prominent Kennedy political family. Considered the icon of American liberalism, Kennedy is the youngest person ever to be elected president, at the age of 43. Major events during his presidency included the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, early events of the Vietnam War, and the American Civil Rights Movement. In rankings of U.S. presidents historians usually grade Kennedy slightly above average, but among the general public he is often regarded as among the greatest presidents.

Kennedy died the youngest of any president, at 46 years and 177 days, when he was assassinated on November 22, 1963. The assassination is often considered a defining moment in American history both because of its traumatic impact on the entire nation, and because of Kennedy's elevation as an icon for a new generation of Americans and American aspirations. Kennedy was the last president to die in office.

Source - Wikipedia

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