Virtual Jfk: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived

Of all the great historical "what ifs" of the 20th century, "What if President John F. Kennedy had lived to serve out his presidency?" is among the most provocative. Under Kennedy's stewardship, would the United States have sunk deeper into the war in Vietnam? Would he have said no to the massive escalation of U.S. troops and vetoed the devastating air campaign against North Vietnam? Would 58,000 U.S. soldiers and some 2 million Vietnamese gone on to live their lives? Or would JFK have made no difference whatsoever?

Such thinking isn't mere idle speculation or Monday morning quarterbacking on an epochal scale. It is rather a trend in historiography (albeit ...