He served less than a thousand days.. a lifetime ago..and yet

[SoCalDem]

Someone lamented the lack of more Kennedy posts.. so I'm reposting for the terrible "anniversary"..



SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts)Thu Nov-22-07 09:21 PM

Original message

He served less than a thousand days.. a lifetime ago..and yet



People who never met him, and only learned of him by seeing a picture in Grandma's house, or in a book at school, and people all over the world, knew what he stood for, and admired him then, and still do.

He was young, by the standards of the day, and yes he may have been a "player", but he never embarrassed his country. He served 4 years in wartime, and acquitted himself admirably.

He was rich and could have partied his way through life, but he did not. The life he might have lost in wartime, he still lost in service to his country.

He met with "bad people".. He stared down our enemies, and they blinked. He erred with The Bay of Pigs fiasco, and like a man, he admitted it. He had courage and grace.

He was not petulant and secretive. No doubt he kept secrets, but he was not one to embarrass or belittle people .

He focused our hopes and aspirations, and looked to the future with fearless ambition...ambition to help the world and foster Peace..not to dominate and change regimes.

Millions of young people were inspired to put their lives on hold and venture to the four corners of the world in the Peace Corps. He "invented" the space program and within the 10 year goal he set, we had men on the moon..sent with computers with less power than your Blackberry.

The world liked us then. We were the hope of the world. Foreign dignitaries came to the US and were treated with respect and decorum..not hotdogs on the grill at Mom & Dad's house.

Every president since him, has served longer, and yet his legacy is the strongest.

The sad thing is that when he died, hope died with him. His brother tried to regain it for us, but was killed for his efforts.

It's almost as if we are afraid to care too much again for a candidate..any candidate, lest we get our hearts broken again.

People of my age remember when hope was limitless.. we could do anything... and then we couldn't.


We've had presidents who were in office longer, but none of them have retained the interest or admiration of JFK. You can go to any country on earth and mention JFK, and they will nod, in silent understanding ..even if they do not speak english.

Presidents after him have come and gone, and most of the time, it's with a kick in the pants and a "Good Riddance". People can name every building in DC after Reagan, and JFK's administration will still shine brighter than any of those "Thousand points of Light" that Reagan/Bush loved to talk about..

Maybe those Thousand points of light were the days we had Kennedy..and the lights have long ago gone out.

Maybe someday we will get another president who can inspire us.. I had one in my lifetime, and I wish the same for my children.

It could be that we just have not yet been introduced to that president.


edited to add.. Maybe we have had our "introduction"..only time will tell

[SharonRB]

1. I just posted this in another thread, but I'll repeat my memories here

I was in the 9th grade and first heard rumblings in the hall between classes, then a teacher came into my social studies class to tell us before the announcement came over the loudspeaker. We were all asking him what happened and our teacher (who was a bit of a loon) made us all write 100 times "I will not ask Mr. Baskin what happened to President Kennedy," or some such thing.

We were dismissed early, went home and saw my mother (who just passed away this past April) sitting on a chair in the corner of her bedroom crying and watching the TV.

We had recently moved into a new house and didn't yet have furniture in the living room. I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home and wasn't allowed to go out on Friday nights. A bunch of my friends came over and we all sat around on the floor in the dark in the empty living room talking about what happened. I can remember it all as if it were yesterday.

Two days later, on Sunday, I was in Sunday school and Jack Ruby's niece and nephew who were in my Sunday school class were absent. That, of course, was the day their uncle shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald. It was all over the TV when I got home.

And I'll add here, maybe we've finally got our second chance at a Kennedeesque presidency. I just hope it doesn't end the same way. Please keep President Obama safe!

[SoCalDem]

4. I watched the Oswald killing live on tv, at my aunt's house..

Right there in her purple-carpeted living room..how my uncle ever let her buy p[urple carpet was a long-standing "joke" in our family :)

[hlthe2b]

8. I watched it "live" on tv with my Mom.... only 5 yo at the time...

and remember the assasination two days prior rather well even though I was only in kindergarten.

[hlthe2b]

2. What a beautiful picture...

I've always been amazed at how youthful, healthy and energetic he appeared--it is amazing to realize his many health problems, from Addisons to his horrible chronic back pain...

[SoCalDem]

6. that's always been my favorite picture of them

casual, and yet the "richness" & class shone through.. Jackie spent a lot on clothing, but classy people look great in anything they wear...even a cotton shift & flats:)

[Historic NY]

3. Whats even sadder, only one out the four in the photo survives.

[hlthe2b]

7. yes, very poignant...

I think that's why I feel somehow protective towards Caroline (and Bobby Kennedy Jr.) for that matter... I just can't stand to see them smeared as we often do the traditional politicians towards whom we've become justifiably jaded.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Makes my heart ache to see that family portrait.. I cannot even imagine what it must do

to Caroline...being the only one left.:cry:

[man4allcats]

9. Thank you for posting.

I always comment on posts of this date and cannot forget. It is my age, of course. I was fifteen at the time so I will never forget what happened. It bothers me some that younger people, to a degree at least, seem to miss it. I know they weren't born then, but I wasn't born when Lincoln was assassinated, and I still mourn his death. Oh well. Thank you again for posting. I am saving the great picture.

[SoCalDem]

12. I think I was in 9th grade..between classes and no one believed it

we all went to the next class, and saw the teachers huggin & crying... then they sent us all home...

[RavingMadwoman]

10. Less than a thousand days

Eloquently written. Beautiful imagery and emotion. Thank you
for your powerful words

[struggle4progress]

11. It is barely inconceivable how much we lost in 1963 and how much that loss cost us

JFK 1960 before the Houston Ministers
Inaugural Address
The Moon Speech
Missile Crisis
Civil Rights
Berlin
Nuclear Weapons

Camelot Reprise (One Brief Shining Moment)

[Captain Hilts]

13. He was unhealthy, reckless in his personal life, and really...

inexperienced in Foreign policy to a degree that it endangered us. The Cuban Missile Crisis happened because Khrushchev thought so little of him after their meeting.

Averill Harriman should have been prez instead.

[SoCalDem]

15. But Harriman was not elected..

That's what makes history so interesting.. Lots of people who shoulda, woulda, coulda, never quite make it..

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. That reference to Camelot...

I came across something curious on the internet. It said that the reference "Camelot" was applied after his death and that people thought of it because Jackie said that one of the songs was his favorite, so people applied it to mean a young leader taken in the prime of his life. I never got that impression. I thought Camelot was part of the JFK legacy because of the knights in the round table concept, where everyone was equal. Unlike what we have today.