KAHC: What if JFK born healthy?

As it says on the tin. No Addison's, no slightly shorter left leg, which was 1 of 2 root causes of his back problems, and better health generally. Effects on personality, career, etc?
 
He'd look skinnier. Not deathly skinny (like in some photos of him when he was young), but IIRC he had to take Cortizone shots for his health problems, which apparently puffed up his face.
 
I'm thinking more personality-wise. IOTL, because he was so bedridden and sickly as a child and teen, Jack was very detached and intellectual- to be blunt, he read books in bed because there was nothing better to do, at least initially. No Addison's means that he won't feel that there is no compulsion to live life in the fast lane. So less philandering, much less of a satyriasis- not entirely eliminated, since as anyone who has studied Joe and Rose's relationship knows, it's genetic. In fact, the same pattern was repeated to the letter when it came to that subject. Not as much risk-taking either. Jack, at the age of 23, was among the first scheduled to be drafted into the Army in fall 1940- he got a deferment because of his Stanford Business studies (for a semester, not that serious) but without the health problems he would be inducted. Maybe he joins another service branch, or stays in the Army, as an officer. Perhaps in intel? You are right about the cortizone, it did puff up his face. It isn't that much of a difference from OTL, as you can see here. Ted also had somewhat puffy features. Bobby, appearance-wise, was much more a Fitzgerald than a Kennedy. Hence the high cheekbones, bony features and thin face.

Here's JFK in '46, without cortizone.

IH055013.jpg
 
Jack will be able to be more tactile with his kids, which IOTL was impossible because of the back- which made bending down hell on earth. Not to the degree Bobby did, but more than OTL. Speaking of which, athletics don't get affected that much either. Bobby still kicks his ass if things get too wild in touch.
 
I'm wondering if without his bouts with mortality, JFK would find the drive for sex or politics, the latter sufficiently to reach the WH.

I think, assuming that the butterflies don't save Joseph Jr., the family will give him some of the drive, if not the same perspective.
 
A yes to both sex and politics, though less than OTL. Let's not forget that Jackie had difficulty bearing children, as evidenced by the losses of Arabella in '56 and Patrick in '63. Jackie wasn't crazy about child-rearing, BTW- anyone who knows the history between Jackie and Ethel will know what I'm hinting at. If Joe Jr. dies then yes, Jack will go into politics no matter what.
 
You are introducing a big butterfly into the whole Kennedy family from JFK's boyhood on. Since military casualties are a matter of chance, odds favor the survival of Joe Jr. The family influences would still be pretty much the same, so we might see four brothers in politics.

As for womanizing, it probably will not change much, but with the butterfly effect, Jackie might not be his wife. If JFK has multiple spouses and divorces (actresses?) his political potential can be damaged. He could emerge a more responsible person than in OTL or he can be the playboy of the family.

He was no "runt" in OTL, so we can assume his physical stature will be much improved; he might even be taller. We can not rule out athletics or even acting. There are more scenarios that move him farther from politics than ones that move him closer.
 
Aye. With both Joe Jr and a healthier body and mind in general, my first thought too was he'd have less drive to live in the fast lane as mentioned, make the most out of life, etc. Perhaps a...at best.... I'm purely grasping at straws here...kingmaker kinda guy for others rather than the star of the show?
 
Let's assume Joe dies as per OTL. The chances of getting out of PT-109 are far greater than getting out of a fully fuelled plane loaded with 12 tons of Torpex. IOTL JFK was 5"11, so let's assume he is 6"1, like Joe Jr. But now I think Mark is starting to confuse JFK with his son. ;) Womanizing will probably be the same. All his prewar flames were either not serious or were Brahmins, hence an automatic veto. Ted can go into sports easily- as I've told you, he was picked by the Green Bay Packers in the early '50s but ultimately turned them down. I don't know how Jack's career would turn out, but he was never interested in domestic politics until '46, and like GHWB, he infinitely preferred foreign affaris to the domestic scene. Bobby has the "XO" role of OTL to whoever goes on the WH track, and eventually enters that track himself.
 
Aye. With both Joe Jr and a healthier body and mind in general, my first thought too was he'd have less drive to live in the fast lane as mentioned, make the most out of life, etc. Perhaps a...at best.... I'm purely grasping at straws here...kingmaker kinda guy for others rather than the star of the show?

I'd say media might be best- as an owner given that his part-time journalism of OTL was somewhat less than Pulitzer-worthy. Or a professional author, given his admiration of Tweedsmuir, for example.
 
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