JFK's 100 birthday: Historian discusses Kennedy's legacy As what would have been John F. Kennedy's 100th birthday approaches, political expert and historian Dr. James Thurber examines his legacy. Founder of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, Thurber says the American public memorialized JFK immediately after his tragic death, contributing to a myth around him that "changed permanently the attitudes of the American people about him". IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES