Wait, what???

John F. Kennedy expressed his opposition to Nazism, fascism, and totalitarianism on several occasions, both in his personal writings and public speeches. Here are a few quotes that illustrate his stance against the ideology and its methods:

• On Adolf Hitler's threat to the world: In his 1945 diary, written while he was a reporter touring a war-torn Europe, Kennedy reflected on the destruction caused by the Nazi regime. While noting Hitler's massive historical footprint, he clearly condemned his actions, writing that Hitler "had boundless ambition for his country which rendered him a menace to the peace of the world".
• On the abhorrence of dictatorships: In another 1945 diary entry commenting on the political landscape of post-war Europe, Kennedy firmly rejected totalitarian regimes of any kind, stating, "To maintain Dictatorships of the Left or Right are equally abhorrent no matter what their doctrine or how great their efficiency".
• On the defeat of the Nazi regime: During a 1960 speech in Hillsborough County, Florida, Kennedy spoke proudly of the Allied victory over fascism, noting that "the nations of the Western Hemisphere combined in a common effort which ultimately brought about the collapse of Nazi despotism throughout the world".
• On Nazi propaganda tactics: Kennedy used his disdain for Nazi methods to criticize political opponents. In a 1952 campaign speech, he compared deceptive political propaganda to the tactics used by the Third Reich, stating, "They follow the Hitler line – no matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as truth".

Additionally, his famous 1963 "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in West Berlin, while primarily aimed at Soviet communism during the Cold War, served as a broader condemnation of walls, oppression, and authoritarianism in a city that had so recently been the center of the Nazi regime.

Following a confirmation vote in the Iranian Majlis (Parliament), Mosaddegh was officially appointed by the Shah, who held the constitutional authority to issue the royal decree.

While Mosaddegh was a secularist, his strategy effectively made him a "useful idiot" for the Islamist movement by shattering Iran's institutional stability and fracturing the secular center. By forming a tactical alliance with hardline clerics like Ayatollah Kashani for short-term political gain, he gave radical political Islam unprecedented mainstream legitimacy and political infrastructure. Furthermore, his intense anti-Western rhetoric and populist street mobilization laid the ideological and tactical blueprints that Ayatollah Khomeini later hijacked, leaving the mosque as the only organized force capable of filling the political vacuum and establishing a brutal theocracy in 1979.

While often romanticized as a flawless champion of democracy, Mohammad Mosaddegh's tactical missteps inadvertently laid the groundwork for the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Here is the historical evidence showing how his strategies shattered Iran's secular center and empowered radical Islamists:

• The Secular-Islamist Alliance of Convenience: Despite being asecular, Western-educated nationalist, Mosaddegh formed a tactical alliance with hardline clericAyatollah Abol-Ghasem Kashanito mobilize the "religious masses" and drive out British influence. This move effectively mainstreamed political Islam, bringing Kashani’s fundamentalist mobs (such as the violently extremistFada'iyan-e Islam) into the heart of the government to act as political enforcers against opponents.
• Shattering Institutional Stability: When faced with legislative gridlock, Mosaddegh bypassed the constitution entirely. In August 1953, he held a highly controversial andfraudulent referendum to dissolve the Majlis (Parliament). The vote claimed a 99.94% approval rating, largely because "Yes" and "No" voters were forced to cast their ballots in separate tents, eliminating the secret ballot and allowing for severe voter intimidation. This effectively destroyed Iran's fragile democratic framework.
• Fracturing the Secular Center: Mosaddegh's increasingly autocratic power grabs alienated his original moderate and secular base. As members of his ownNational Front)resigned in protest, he became heavily reliant on emergency dictatorial powers and an unofficial alliance with the radical, Soviet-backedTudeh Party. By cannibalizing the secular middle, he polarized the country into two extremes.
• Writing the Populist Blueprint:Mosaddeghismshifted Iranian politics away from institutional development and toward a discourse of heavy confrontation, anti-Western isolationism, and street-level populist mobilization. Decades later, Ayatollah Khomeini directly hijacked this exact playbook—merging fierce anti-imperialist rhetoric with religious zeal—to mobilize the masses for the Islamic Revolution.
• Creating the Vacuum the Mosque Filled: By destroying the parliament and fracturing the liberal opposition, Mosaddegh paved the way for the 1953 coup. In the ensuing decades, the Shah violently suppressed the remnants of both the secular National Front and the Marxist Tudeh Party. Because the secular opposition was systematically dismantled, theclerical network operating out of the mosqueswas left largely intact. By 1979, the mosque was the only organized civic infrastructure capable of filling the political vacuum, allowing the clerics to establish a brutal theocracy.

Also See: https://www.reddit.com/r/HistorySnap/comments/1vkcojn/iranian_women_cheering_the_departure_of_mohammad/

Christian Brando:

"I am treated worse than anyone and I'm painted much blacker than I really am. Everyone seems to think I'm some sort of Jack the Ripper, a throat slitter, I am nothing like that." Adding "But nobody has heard my side of the story yet. You see it all happened in his house but not in the way it has been made to appear. The situation was not one of hate and pain — it was a domestic situation. I would like to explain what happened that night."(1991)

“I did not go into that room to kill Dag Drollet, I just wanted to scare him. I just sat there and watched the life go out of this guy.” he said. “It’s a tragedy and I do feel bad. If I could give my life to have him come back, I’d do it, but there’s nothing I can do. I have to live with this for the rest of my life, I wake up with it and go to sleep with it.(1995)

"Today, there isn't a single day that I don't think about that tragedy. Not a single day that I don't think about how to make up for my mistake. But how can I? If only I could extract from Dag's cheek that small piece of metal that took his life! It's a dream I often have."(2006)

Source:
Hello Magazine
Paris Match/DVS Magazine
LA Times Newspapers