50 years ago today John F. Kennedy was gunned down in
Dallas, an event no Baby Boomer will ever forget.
My own connection to the event began twenty years later, in
1983. I was nine years old that year and had just started the fourth grade when
my Grandfather, a man I loved and idolized, passed away. To say that his death
put me in a tailspin is almost an understatement, but sometime in the weeks
that followed my Mom gave me a book on JFK. It was just a thin children’s book,
full of more myth than fact – I particularly remember one scene where Jack fell
in love with Jackie when he first saw her over a dinner table – but it hooked
me.
I began to read everything I could about JFK. In retrospect
it’s easy to see I was simply substituting one fallen hero (my Grandpa) for
another (JFK), but in those dark months it was just about the only joy I
remember. Somewhere around that time, and I don’t remember if it was with my
knowledge or not – my Mom mailed out two letters about my newfound passion.
Just before Christmas, two packages arrived in response.
The first, from Senator Edward Kennedy, included a short
mimeographed note of thanks and contained information about both JFK and RFK,
as well as two 8x10 black and white photographs, one of Jack, the other of
Jackie and his children.
The second package was incredible. It came from the Kennedy
Library, and included the following handwritten note from William Johnson, the Chief Archivist.
Inside was more information on JFK and his library, and some
items I’ve now forgotten. Here’s one I never have: an original copy of Life
Magazine dated November 29, 1963 that chronicled the horrific events of Dallas and its
aftermath.
So on the actual anniversary of his assassination (in 1983
it was a Tuesday, if I’m not mistaken) I took this little collection into my
school for show and tell, passing it among my classmates. I’d like to say
someone was inspired, or even that it was met with boos – either one makes a
great story – but I don’t remember, so odds are it was met with quiet
tolerance.
Over the years my adoration of JFK waned. The reality didn't
quite match up with the legend, and that’s a hard pill to swallow when it was
the legend you fell in love with. My politics changed too, and suddenly a New
Frontier that mocked Eisenhower’s admirable time in office held much less
appeal.
The pendulum has begun to swing full circle, tho’ it will never
reach the zeal I had as a child. JFK and I would disagree politically, but not
as much as I once thought; his reputation was pushed to the Left by nostalgia
and the far more liberal records of his brothers. He was a fiscal conservative
and a cautious Hawk, two qualities I find appealing in a candidate. And even if
he was as liberal as some people work hard to believe, it would carry a lesson
all its own: that you can disagree with someone’s politics while still admiring
them as a human being.
Even 50 years on, JFK’s memory continues to inspire this
nation. Rest in Peace sir; you earned
it.
