Mid afternoon, 56 years ago, President Kennedy was assassinated. We were notified by our Principal that he had been shot. A few minutes he said JFK had died. One of the saddest days ever.
...doesn't feel like 56 years, it's still that vivid. For those of us who came of age under Kennedy, this day marked the end of "Camelot"...
Out of curiosity, what was so great about Kennedy's presidency? He always struck me as a rather mediocre president, with as many failures as accomplishments, one who was worshiped by the media and generations of historians. And of course, my boy Coolidge gets no love from anyone
He made America "Great again". He stood up to the USSR over Cuba - invoking the Monroe doctrine. He pushed civil rights, he returned the USA's image as a great and benevolent power around the world. I wish that there was a JFK in the wings now... BTW: Calvin Coolidge wasn't a bad president either.
He saved us from almost certain nuclear war with Russia that would have been on our turf.. thats pretty decent.
I think having some failures is what makes you great. At least you tried something. Not sure as I was pretty young back then.
On the Cuban missile crisis... My recollection is that JFK did what so many American presidents have done, he thought he could meet with the Soviet leader and through the sheer power of his personality, he could win him over (All American presidents of the last 20 years are guilty of this too). Khrushchev had been one of Stalin's henchmen and when he met with Kennedy in Vienna, he eviscerated Kennedy. Khrushchev returned home with the impression that Kennedy was a push-over and how the story ended is well known. I can only speculate, but I really doubt the Soviets would have attempted to put missiles in Cuba with Truman or Eisenhower as presidents. His civil rights record is no better than Truman's or Eisenhower's. Image? Yup, plenty of that. I'm not saying he was terrible, just that I don't understand the worship he's been the object of for the last fifty six years. On the other side of the coin, I disagree with Truman on many of his domestic policies, but I've always thought he's been greatly under rated as a president. And since civil rights were brought up, this was is an open letter from president Coolidge at the time when KKK membership was several million and they were parading in sheets through DC, a few short years after Wilson had premiered "Birth of a Nation" in the White House:
As I recall, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was old and "bland" might be the word. President Kennedy seemed younger and invigorating. Everyone was excited about the space program. The Astronauts were like rock stars. Auto makers were starting horsepower wars. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Music was changing. Seemed like great times and the Presidency was "Camelot." Then it came over the school speakers, the President has been shot in Dallas! Return to your home rooms. The buses will be taking you home early. I was in the seventh grade. It was a grey dearie day in N.E. Ohio. Yes, I watched Oswald get shot live on Sunday.
...unfortunately, explaining the evolution from pre-war depression, WW2 sacrifice, cold war, to boomer optimism via Kennedy administration is a job for likes of Jon Meacham. A few personal observations: Niki was a crude Stalin-era thug who used bullying in every situation, trying to make Soviet Union a world leader at a time when we were giving away retractable ball point pens at gas stations and USSR couldn't even make them. Politics is imagery, and after his #1 son was killed in war, old Joe bought presidency for his seriously ill, libertine #2 son, Jack. Jack's presidency was our unbridled optimism for the future. The Camelot connection came from popularity of musical, movie, and Jackie's post-assassination interview title song quote, "Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment, that was known as Camelot" which resonated with grieving nation...
If you look at Kennedy's civil rights record totally objectively, you are correct - his record is not significantly better then Truman or Eisenhower's. If you dig a little deeper however, much of Lyndon John's exemplary civil rights laws were initiated during the Kennedy administration before JFK's untimely death. Had Kennedy lived a bit longer, he would rank up there with Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln as one of the great civil rights leaders in American history.
You may be right, but I have mixed feelings about LBJ's record on civil rights. As senator - and later minority and majority leader- he spent twenty years opposing civil rights legislation, mostly introduced by republicans but some of them endorsed by Truman (such as anti-lynching legislation. Some anti-segregation bills too IIRC. He de-segregated the armed forces and the federal workforce (both segregated by Woodrow Wilson), but I think it was an executive order). LBJ blocked the civil rights acts of 1957 and 1960. Whether he had a change of heart after JFK's death, or if he did it out of political expediency, it's open for debate, but I'd like to think it was the former.
I was in 7th grade English class when the announcement came or the PA system. It was hard to believe back then.
...LBJ's legislative successes were due to his not so subtle coercive M. O. of keeping "dirt" on every other politician, with help from J Edgar. Having spent my life in DC area, I don't have a charitable view of politicians in general. IMO, their "values" are about getting or staying elected, period. It's a great gig, making millions on $174K a year...
I was just two years old when Pres Kennedy was killed. I remember Mama and my Sister was getting my brothers and me ready for a Doctor’s appt. The TV was on and my Brother yelled “ The President has been shot!” I remember the B&W TV showing pictures of police cars and motorbikes zooming by. My sister and mother began to cry. Then we went to the doctor. That’s what I remember about that day.
