July 16 — Day Nine — Lay Day in Manchester — Well Boston Actually

With the weather threatening (I heard the words “hurricane” and “tornado” bandied about) and in any event lousy with all-day rain, and with the cheerful willingness of our friends and their Club to put up with us, we elected to stay on the mooring they gave us for another night, and travel into Boston to visit the JFK Presidential Library on the U. Mass campus in Dorchester, on the waterfront.  We had walked past it from the Savon Hill YC, during our last cruise in Boston. But then, due to Covid, it was closed. Our excursion was fun, involving 1)  the Club’s launch to the town dock, 2) a commuter rail line trip into Boston’s North Station, 3) two trains of the MBTA and 4) a free shuttle bus to the Museum.

JFK’s favorite boat, “Victura”, a fifteen foot gaffed rigged wooden sloop, is on the grounds.

The Museum celebrates everything Kennedy, with one exception. I saw it as a fair review of the inspirational leadership of our witty, charming, articulate, well educated, cultured, idealistic, young President. In the part describing the diplomatic v. military strategies for dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 (an embargo was selected as a middle course) it skipped around the disastrous failure of the private mercenary Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba which our CIA financed during JFK’s three years in office. But that invasion to overthrow Castro took place in April 1961, only three months after JFK’s inauguration, so I therefore believe it was planned by the Eisenhower administration. It was seen as a cause of Castro’s seeking military assistance from Russia, a cause of the missile crisis.

The only criticism of any Kennedy was contained in a special temporary exhibit devoted to WWII in the poster above. It described JFK’s father, Joseph Kennedy, who had served President Franklin Roosevelt in several important high level capacities, the last of them as a terrible ambassador to England in 1938 — he sought to appease Hitler and cost our nation the respect of the English people.  Elsewhere the museum described the two books that JFK wrote. One featured domestic policy — “Profiles in Courage”, celebrating several US senators who took courageous stands for the benefit of our Nation against popular but evil measures supported by their own party in Congress; we sure could use some of those now. The other involved foreign policy and defense issues —  “Why England Slept” which explored England’s failure to rearm after WWI when it was clear that Germany was doing so. I had never before thought of the latter book as perhaps JFK’s criticism of his Father. Or am I getting too psychological.

Lite lunch in the museum’s Cafe and salad and pizza  in Manchester before the launch retrieved us in the rain.