Where Were You When JFK Was Killed?

Friday, November 22, 1963. A terrible, black day. If you were alive and old enough back then, you probably remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you first heard that President John Kennedy had been assassinated. 

I remember where I was and what I was doing when I first heard the news. I was 23 and in my first year of college teaching. On that black November day I was just dismissing a 1:00 class in World Literature when we were met at the door by students with the tragic news that shots had been fired at Kennedy and that he and Texas Governor John Connally were wounded. 

"How serious was his wound? Would he make it?" I wondered, as I climbed the stairs in the old Roark Building to go to my next class--Freshman Comp.

Even though I asked those questions in my mind, I clung to the hope that he would somehow survive. I didn't keep that Comp I class very long at all. We talked briefly about what we had heard and I let them go. From their comments, I gathered that they too were hoping against hope that he would pull through.

Later, as I drove home in my old Ford station wagon I heard on the radio that he had died. My wife and I and my little son spent the next three days in front of the TV, watching those images that became etched in our memories forever.

On Monday after watching the funeral on TV and other coverage of the assassination in the afternoon, I sat on the steps of the trailer we were living in, looking at the sunset. I had a legal pad and a pen with me, and I tried to write down what I felt. I soon gave up, overwhelmed by the enormity of what had happened and the inadequacy of my own naive scribblings. 

But as I sat there, I did realize that from the very beginning, Kennedy had inspired me. Maybe it was his youth (he was young for a politician). Maybe it was because of his political views. Maybe it was all those PT 109 heroics that became a part of his campaign.  Maybe it was that crisp Massachusetts brogue he had. Maybe it was because he seemed full of life and vigor.  

Thinking about his assassination still makes me feel like the American people were short changed, robbed. His administration ended just as he was growing to the job. We didn't get to see how he would've handled Vietnam, for example. Is it possible that he would have thrown his full support behind that war (he was very much anti communist) and won it, thus avoiding all the protests and the out of control youth movement? 

It might not have worked out that way, but certainly the whole dynamic would have changed with the youthful JFK in charge instead of lifetime "old school" politician Johnson.

Many say that Kennedy inspired a whole generation. Some say that he still inspires people today. He still inspires me.

I think it was Kennedy’s unquestioned love for the United States, his articulation of our role as citizens and what the future goals of the U. S. should be that still resonate down through the years.

Kennedy focused national attention on achieving the goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s. Americans were inspired by that vision and in 1969 U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped from his spacecraft out onto the surface of the moon.

We were also inspired by Kennedy’s efforts in the area of civil rights. From his call to Coretta King during the 1960 campaign to the use of federal marshals and troops to ensure the safety of James Meredith at Old Miss and to his famous TV address on civil rights to the American people, the role he played as president to bring about the end of segregation, though overshadowed by Martin Luther King’s highly visible leadership, was certainly inspirational.

In addition, JFK eloquently articulated the following:

·        A belief in “human dignity as the source of national purpose”
·        A belief in “human liberty as the source of national action”
·        A belief in “the human heart as the source of national compassion”
·        A belief in “the human mind as the source of our invention and ideas”
·        A faith in “our fellow citizens as individuals and people”
·        A belief in the promise embodied in the United States of America as capable of producing “a society so abundant and creative and so free that it cannot only fulfill the aspirations of its citizens but serve equally well as a beacon for all mankind”
·        A distrust of “superstates” and excessive government power.
·        An abhorrence of the “waste and incompetence of large scale bureaucracies.” *

I'm much older now and somewhat more conservative, but those ideas still sound pretty good to me.

The passing years have brought us much more information about JFK, his administration, his assassination, and even the “Camelot” myth, some of it not so flattering. 

But, I haven’t forgotten my younger self, and no matter what others think, I still regard JFK, with all of his flaws, as one of my political heroes.

NOTE: If you were alive and old enough back in '63, please share in the comments your memory of where you were and what you were doing when you first heard the news. Thank you.

*The bulleted items above are taken from JFK’s speech to the New York Liberal Party, accepting their nomination for the presidency in the 1960 election. A text of this complete speech is available on the American Experience website.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/jfk-nyliberal/-