Something struck me while searching the U.S. half dollars, which may have been posed in the past to which I'm unaware of. Had John F. Kennedy not been assassinated would Franklin still remain on the half dollar? I'm inclined to believe he would much like Alexander Hamilton is the only non-president found on Federal notes. Or was Kennedy that revered to warrant the change at some point?
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"Over the whole of his presidency, Kennedy averaged a 70.1 percent approval rating, comfortably the highest of any post-World War II president. By comparison, the average for all presidents between 1938 and 2012 is 54 percent." Although... "Kennedy started the year still enjoying the post-Cuban missile crisis bounce, but the numbers had started to slip. By September, his approval rating had slid to the mid-50s, the lowest of his presidency. A small rebound of 2 points in the following months did not establish a strong pattern. Significantly, the disapproval rating climbed steadily throughout the year, which might have posted an intensifying problem had Kennedy lived to contest the 1964 presidential election." -- https://historyinpieces.com/researc...oval-ratings
Looks like he might have had some difficulty going into a second term so still, who knows? Considering the half dollar's decline in active use in commerce, it might be more (or less) likely to get a design change away from Franklin by now.
He certainly would not have been on the 1/2 dollar while alive. Had he lived an average lifespan he would have lived into the 1990s. The Franklin half would certainly have kept going for at least the required 25 years.
Quote: Something struck me while searching the U.S. half dollars, which may have been posed in the past to which I'm unaware of. Had John F. Kennedy not been assassinated would Franklin still remain on the half dollar? I'm inclined to believe he would much like Alexander Hamilton is the only non-president found on Federal notes. Or was Kennedy that revered to warrant the change at some point?
The "revering" of Kennedy is, frankly, primarily because of his assassination. While we cannot know what amazing-or-awful policies a full two-term Kennedy administration might have undertaken or the memorable speeches he might have made, I can't see him being coinage-worthy. if he'd just been a regular, boring president peacefully serving out his term and then either getting re-elected or not, he'd never have been put on the coinage. I don't think "he solved the Cuban Missile Crisis" would make the cut. Without the assassination, putting Kennedy on the coinage would have been as unthinkable as putting any other recent partisan politician on the coinage.
Since we're postulating alternative histories, how about a universe where Kennedy survives his assassination attempt, but a couple decades later, Reagan does not survive his own assassination attempt in 1981? Reagan would then have become the much-revered political martyr, and one would then most reasonably assume that the half dollar, which would probably have still been Franklin up to that point (and would have resulted in clad Franklins through the 1970s), would then have given way to a clad Reagan half in 1982.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
Quote: The "revering" of Kennedy is, frankly, primarily because of his assassination.
I don't know if that covers his entire appeal. John F. Kennedy is the only President I know who is ever mentioned by women who are otherwise uninterested in politics. He was handsome, rich, charismatic, and led a glamorous life with Jackie Kennedy. I think the only subsequent President to capture the public imagination—particularly that of the ladies—has been Barack Obama, and the infatuation was nowhere near as intense.
For me personally, as a space-interested child of the 1980s, his "from the Earth to the moon" speech might have been the single greatest piece of oratory from the 20th century. I would esteem it over even MLK's I Have a Dream speech and Churchill's We Will Never Surrender.
Edit: just wanted to add JFK's speech at Rice about the space program and the HQ in Houston. The man was simply a brilliant orator, and his vision for the future was truly magnificent, full of hope, purpose, and optimism.
Quote: Without the assassination, putting Kennedy on the coinage would have been as unthinkable as putting any other recent partisan politician on the coinage.
That's my perception also - Franklin could very well be still on the half.
The 25-year minimum from 1946 would have ran out in 1971; maybe there'd have been an Eisenhower half instead of a dollar, while the dollar would have featured someone or something else.
(Clad Peace dollar? I don't think I can rule that option out.)
Hey we still have Ben on the C note. Not sure if inflation has caught up to that yet, but it will. Heck, I was buying Hershey bars for five cents in the mid 1960's. I made 3 or 4 bucks a week on my paper route and was quite happy with that. Just keep Ben on the $100 bill. I think I was in my 20's when I first held a one hundred dollar bill and owned it.
I don't think it can be disputed that Ike would have been on a major coin. That generation revered his military leadership in World War II, and he was popular as a Cold War president as well.
If our present age politics had not become so bitterly partisan, I believe that Ronald Reagan would also have been almost guaranteed a major coin.
Quote: I don't think it can be disputed that Ike would have been on a major coin. That generation revered his military leadership in World War II, and he was popular as a Cold War president as well.
Truth.
Quote: If our present age politics had not become so bitterly partisan, I believe that Ronald Reagan would also have been almost guaranteed a major coin.
I have to disagree, for two reasons.
One issue is our hero worship prevents us from giving up one to allow another. "How can X be better than Y?" That is, who would he have replaced? Each current "dead head" has a strong lobby behind them. I will concede, though, that the strength of these lobbies are boosted by the partisan politics you mentioned.
The other reason is that every qualified president has had their dollar coin by now, with many of the more popular ones getting a Coin & Chronicles set. If I had to choose between having a Reagan dime (for example) or the Reagan C&C set, I would choose that C&C set every time.
For what it is worth, I believe the only way Eisenhower got replaced was by shrinking the coin. No one wanted to see Ike on a baby dollar.
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Posted 05/18/2025 5:00 pm
