John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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presidency lasted for two years and ten months, KENNEDY'S which made it unique in American history. Of other presidents who died in office, Lincoln and McKinley had completed one term and Roosevelt had started his fourth. There was more work for Lincoln and Roosevelt to do, yet each had already made a major contribution. McKinley merely assisted Queen Victoria in bringing the nineteenth century to a close. Another group, Harrison, Taylor and Garfield,/ barely held the office before going to their rewards. Only Warren Harding's tenure was roughly equivalent to Kennedy's in length, but the analogy is meaningless. Harding was deeply committed to doing nothing, while Kennedy wanted to do a vast range of things and was already well started on his tasks. We are left, then, with a substantial fragment, for which there is no historical parallel. This Administration is a fragment for reasons going beyond its duration. It got off to a slower start than most people, including the late president, expected, and before long it was pacing itself for a long race, a middle distance, at least, rather than a sprint. Thus, it came to its abrupt end with unfinished business on all sides and with all too little in the way of clear-cut accomplishment. As suggested, this need for a changed pace was at first a distinct shock to Kennedy. One of his main lines of criticism of Eisenhower's incumbency had been against the latter's lack of forceful and positive leadership from the White House. Thinking of Franklin Roosevelt's record, especially in the Hundred Days of 1933, and stimulated by intellectuals brought up in the New Deal tradition, Kennedy promised a presidency that would be the vital centre of action to generate movement in all branches of the government. It was not long before he discovered that he would need a thousand days, or twice that many, to accomplish