People: JFK Jr Would Have Become President If He Hadn't Died

As reported by PEOPLE, John F. Kennedy Jr. would have gone on to become the president of the United States if he had not died. He tragically lost his life to a plane accident.

On July 16, 1999, the son of President John F. Kennedy passed away when the airplane he was flying crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. His wife Carolyn Bessette and her sister Lauren Bessette also died in the tragic incident.

PEOPLE reported that historian Steven M. Gillon recently shared his beliefs about John's life in case he had lived. Gillon knew John because they were friends.

"A FORCE FOR HEALING"

"John would have been president of the United States and I think the tone of our politics would have been completely different," he said. "John would be a force for healing and bringing people together."

Gillon is a professor of American history at the University of Oklahoma. He recently published a biography of John, entitled "The Reluctant Prince."

According to him, John would have been a great president. He recalled that John believed he could motivate individuals.

FIGURING OUT WHO HE WAS

Gillon was once a teaching assistant of John at Brown University. The pair then initiated a friendship, which went on for over two decades.

Gillon said that John went through his entire life attempting to figure out what his identity was. He also figured out what his relationship would have been to his dad's legacy.

"The one thing John will always share with his father is this sense of what might have been."

HIS REALIZATION

For the vast majority of his life, John fled from it because he wanted to discover who he truly was. Unfortunately, when he finally figured out who he was, that was also the time the tragedy happened.

"And what he discovered is yes, he wants to go into politics. He wants to be his father's son," Gillon said. "The one thing John will always share with his father is this sense of what might have been."

Meanwhile, Jackie Kennedy's former personal assistant Kathy McKeon also believed that John would have run for president if he had not died, as reported by Town & Country.

McKeon said that in the wide-ranging profile of Caroline Kennedy in Avenue magazine. Caroline is the older sister of John.

John turned into a public figure the day his parents, President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy, welcomed him into the world. He was born into the White House, as reported by ABC News.