“The problems are more difficult than I had imagined them to be. The responsibilities …are greater than I imagined them to be, and there are greater limitations upon our ability to bring about a favourable result than I had imagined them to be…there is such a difference between those who advise or speak or legislate, and between the man who must select from the various alternatives proposed…It is much easier to make the speeches than it is  to finally make the judgements, because unfortunately your advisers are frequently divided. If you take the wrong course, and on occasion I have, the President bears the burden of responsibility …”

JFK in 1962 interview with Bill Lawrence of ABC (cited by his former press secretary, Pierre Salinger,’With Kennedy’, p156)