John F. Kennedy did not praise Hitler, but in a 1945 diary he wrote some striking lines about Hitler’s historical significance and “legend,” which are often quoted without context.

Key lines from JFK’s diary

In the summer of 1945, 28‑year‑old JFK visited Germany after World War II and kept a diary in which he reflected on Hitler’s place in history. The most quoted passages include:

  • He wrote that “within a few years Hitler will emerge from the hatred that surrounds him now as one of the most significant figures who ever lived.”
  • He added that Hitler “had in him the stuff of which legends are made.”
  • Kennedy also wrote that Hitler “had boundless ambition for his country which rendered him a menace to the peace of the world, but he had a mystery about him in the way he lived and in the manner of his death that will live and grow after him.”

These lines come from JFK’s only known diary, written when he was a young journalist‑observer, not yet a politician.

What he meant by “legend”

Historians and the diary’s longtime owner emphasize that Kennedy was describing Hitler’s historical impact and the aura of mystery around him, not endorsing Nazism.

  • The auction description notes that when Kennedy said Hitler had “the stuff of which legends are made,” he was referring to the way such a figure would be remembered and mythologized, despite his crimes.
  • The same description stresses that nowhere in the diary, or any of Kennedy’s writings, is there any sign of sympathy for Nazi crimes or their cause.

So, JFK’s comments about Hitler were a grim observation about how notorious figures can become historically “legendary,” not admiration for what Hitler did.