John F. Kennedy in Grolier Encyclopedia

On Principles & Values: First elected to U.S. House in 1946; to Senate in 1952

Kennedy was a relatively ineffectual senator. During parts of 1954 and 1955 he was seriously ill with back ailments (compounded by Addison disease, for which he was treated from as early as 1953). Critics observed that he made no effort to oppose the anti-civil libertarian excesses of Joseph McCarthy. His friends later argued, not entirely persuasively, that he would have voted to censure McCarthy if he had not been hospitalized at the time.

On War & Peace: Any Cuban missile launched anywhere is an attack on the US

I have directed that the following steps be taken immediately:
1. A strict [naval] quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba.
2. Increased close surveillance of Cuba and its military buildup.
3. It shall be the policy of this Nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response.
4. As a necessary military precaution, I have reinforced our base at Guantanamo
5. We are calling for an immediate meeting of the Organization of American States, to consider this threat to hemispheric security.
6. We are asking that an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council be convoked.
7. Finally: I call upon Chairman Khrushchev to halt and eliminate this clandestine, reckless, and provocative threat to world peace.

On War & Peace: 1963: Negotiated first, limited Nuclear Test Ban

Since the advent of nuclear weapons 18 years ago, all mankind has been struggling to escape from the darkening prospect of mass destruction on earth. Both sides have come to possess enough nuclear power to destroy the human race several times over.

Yesterday, negotiations were concluded in Moscow on a treaty to ban all nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water. For the first time, an agreement has been reached on bringing the forces of nuclear destruction under international control--a goal first sought in 1946.

The treaty is a limited treaty which permits continued underground testing and prohibits only those tests that we ourselves can police, [in the air or under water]. It requires no control posts, no onsite inspection, no international body. Nevertheless, this limited treaty will radically reduce the nuclear testing which would otherwise be conducted on both sides.

On Welfare & Poverty: As congressman, backed working-class social legislation

Kennedy was a relatively ineffectual senator. During parts of 1954 and 1955 he was seriously ill with back ailments (compounded by Addison disease, for which he was treated from as early as 1953). Critics observed that he made no effort to oppose the anti-civil libertarian excesses of Joseph McCarthy. His friends later argued, not entirely persuasively, that he would have voted to censure McCarthy if he had not been hospitalized at the time.