Similarities Between Kennedy And Mao Zedong

“Kennedy remained wary and asked probing questions: How could he maintain control once the war began? Wasn’t there a danger of using more bombs than were necessary? How could he keep a limited war from turning into a holocaust? When none of Kennedy’s advisers could provide him with satisfactory answers, the president shelved the proposal. Leaders know when to say no.” (Sabato, 2013)
Compare the two leaders and their styles

While Mao Zedong was one of the worst leaders in the world, John F. Kennedy was one of the most influential and inspirational leaders in the short time he was in office. From 1960 to 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated, he helped promote the Civil Rights movement, had a few very inspirational speeches and had several
Mao forced large harvests which caused farmers to lie in avoidance with punishment. The falsified crop output toward the public was made to seem like his plan was working, but this falsification caused famine once more by leaving citizens without enough food to feed themselves. Mao ruled over several years resulting in many decisions that intentionally killed millions of his fellow Chinese. “The mass murder was more clearly intentional on Mao’s part, and included large numbers of victims who were executed or tortured, as opposed to “merely” starved to death” (Somin, 2016). Life was very difficult for rural peasants and farmers. Violence was used to get starving farmers to work while ten-kilogram stones were dropped on the backs of those who disobeyed, and children were being buried alive. Today, there are not many who talk about Zedong or any of his campaigns, though under his rule was one of the largest mass murders since the 20th
During this time, Mao was responsible for more deaths than both Hitler and Stalin and most of the victims were his own Chinese. He launched several campaigns to “alleviate” his country, but many failed or were designed for a different purpose. “In 1956, Mao launched the Hundred Flowers Campaign, encouraging citizens to freely express criticisms of national policy. But then he used the opportunity to target critics of his regime and send them to prison labor camps” (Facts, 2017). The Hundred Flowers campaign was created so that the citizens could voice their views on government policies and environmental issues without punishment. Little did the citizens know they would be targeted, tortured, and sent to labor camps. Mao had announced that the open criticism against the bureaucracy would ultimately lead to the betterment of the government. While targeting the critics may not have been the publicized purpose of this movement, there is reason to believe it was in his intentions to eventually take advantage of his citizens vulnerability. This aspect of Zedong proves that he was not a trustworthy man; to be a truly great leader one must obtain trust. If a leader cannot be trusted by his followers, the followers will start to drift away and lose motivation by feeling their leader is taking them down the wrong path, or not focusing on the well-being