Observations
Several factors indicate that JFK experienced problems with attention, including inattention related to work-related activities (DSM-5 inattention criterion a), difficulty in sustaining attention to tasks (criterion b), being dreamy or preoccupied (criterion c), not following through on instructions in the workplace (criterion d), having difficulty keeping belongings in order and poor time management (criterion e), avoiding tasks requiring sustained mental effort (criterion f), often losing things (criterion g), and frequent forgetfulness (criterion i). Several examples can be quoted as follows: JFK’s thesis had “many typographical errors and was English diction defective” (a).3 “His lack of diligence in his studies; or, let us say, lack of ‘fight’ in trying to do well in those subjects that didn’t happen to interest him….”(b).3 “He has the intellectual’s type of absent-mindedness.” He “breaks off a conversation with a staff aide, perhaps in the middle of his own sentence, to reflect for long moments on a different subject” (c).15 “He did not feel that he had to live by the ordinary rules governing everyone else. He was always arriving late for meals and classes, setting his own pace, taking the less-traveled path” (d).3 “Jack’s sloppiness was seen as symbolic of his disorderliness in almost all of his organization projects.” Jack keeps appointments late. “He was not much for planning ahead” (e).3 “Jack studies at the last minute” (f).3 “He showed early a trait that baffles his office staff today—an almost photographic memory for correspondence, conversations, and historical fact, but an almost total absent-mindedness about where he has mislaid speeches, books, and clothing” (g).15 “He has even overflowed the bathtub, as was his boyhood custom”.3 “He forgets the little things around him because he is preoccupied with what appear to him bigger ones” (i).15
Other descriptions indicate that he also had characteristics of hyperactivity and impulsivity, including often fidgeting with his hands (a), often leaving his place or seeking fast-paced activity (b), often running about or feeling restless (c), always “on the go” acting as if “driven by a motor” (e), and difficulty in waiting patiently (h). Specifically, as he talked with visitors in his office, Kennedy would fidget with a pencil.15 “Kennedy sat tapping his front teeth with his thumb and running his hand through his hair.” “Averell Harriman thought Kennedy was ‘less tense than when I saw him last, but his hands are still constantly in motion”’(a).3 He liked madcap drives to get to an airplane or dinner on time (b).15 “He hated to waste time; in the morning he would read a magazine while taking a bath and at the same time shave there, guiding his razor by glancing occasionally at a mirror set up on a bathtub tray” (c).15 “He was too much in a hurry, that he was going too far too fast, that he should pace himself better, that he should learn to take a breather. But the dynamo would not or could not slow down. He was always in the process of going or coming” (e).15 The Congressman hated to be late. “A stop for a train, an unnecessary delay, a buttonholing admirer would tauten Kennedy’s face and send him into short tirades back in the car” (h).15
Considering the above descriptions of JFK (some of which indicate his mannerisms even before 12 years of age), we believe that JFK met several diagnostic criteria for ADHD outlined in the DSM-5; these included 8/9 items (a, b, c, d, e, f, g, and i) from the subcategory “Inattention” and 5/9 items (a, b, c, e, and h) from the subcategory “Hyperactivity/impulsivity” in item A of the ADHD section in DSM-5. This could be considered ADHD of the combined type.