You've touched on a phenomenon that I call "political mythology".

Conservatives venerate (to put it mildly) Ronald Reagan....even though when you examine his record, he was anything but conservative. Massive deficit spending to stimulate the economy, expansion of government programs....Lou Cannon's book "Role of a Lifetime" is a great read on how a career actor approached politics, both as a Governor and President.

Liberals adore John Kennedy...even though most historians list his greatest accomplishments as being a tax cut to stimulate the economy, and launching a program to get us to the moon. Civil Rights got shelved until after the '64 election. Well, fuck--you've got to set priorities, damn it!

For me, the best definition of a leader is someone who will occasionally tell people something they don't want to hear, and attempt to lead them in a different direction, for the good of the country. Needless to say, it's a frustrating approach to politics these days.