 Leaders of nations are not normally remembered for their sports careers. Whilst Mao Tse Dong led his nation on ‘The Long March’ which saw millions starve, it also allowed China to become a nation that fed its own people allowing the general population to develop personal wealth. Churchill rallied the British to overcome the might of the Nazi war machine, Mandela oversaw the transition from Apartheid and developed the world’s first ‘’Truth and Justice Commission”. Presidents of the United States are known for the legacy they create which are often identified by keynote or during the annual State of the Union address. Better known for the “Bay of Pigs Cuban Missile Crisis”, First Lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis, or his horrific assignation, John F. (Jack) Kennedy changed the course of movement education and the fitness levels of America. The Speech“We are under exercised as a nation,” Kennedy said. “We look, instead of play, ride instead of walk,” the president said. “The remedy, in my judgement, lies in one direction,” he went on. “That is in developing programs for broad participation in exercise by all of our young men and women, all of our boys and girls.” Kennedy lamented the “sad fact” that “our national sport is not playing at all, but watching. We have become more and more, not a nation of athletes but a nation of spectators.” He cited the “inordinately high number of draftees” being rejected for military service for physical reasons. To enlist two men, he noted, the Army must call up seven. Of the five who were being rejected, three were being turned down for physical reasons and two for “mental disabilities.” “There are more important goals than winning contests — and that is improve on a broad level the health and vitality of all our people,” Kennedy said. The President’s Council on Physical FitnessKennedy signed the Presidential Decree which established challenges and fitness tests which have used by physical education teachers around the world ever since. The rigour of the fitness training may be seen in the video footage during the programs initial stages. The Birth of the Special OlympicsWhile Kennedy was challenging high school students to earn awards from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, was working with disabled children at her Maryland home. This effort, which taught the children habits of physical fitness and how to play organized sports, became the genesis for what would become the Special Olympics. The Presidential Age
Younger, fitter leaders are emulated not only by their peers, but by parents who hold them up as role models for their children. A leader in sport, health and fitness serves their country silently. Their legacy outlives them in the nation’s wellbeing. Physical education teachers and coaches around the world owe a debt of gratitude to leaders who modelled fitness, sought to change the national diet and the wellbeing of their citizens. In spite of his failings and shortcomings, JFK changed the health of the world. Not even his untimely death could alter that fact.
References: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/05/jfk-calls-on-americans-become-physically-fit-dec-5-1961-274420 Comments are closed.
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