Kennedy: 50 years later

Fifty years ago, during a trip to Dallas, Texas, John K. Kennedy, the 35^th president of the United States, was felled by an assassin’s bullet. Just a few years prior, Kennedy had defeated Richard M. Nixon in a bid for the White House.

There are very few points in history that you can point to, and remember exactly where you were. I being born 13 years after Kennedy was assassinated actually two of these moments. The first was the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. I was in music class, sitting in row one, fifth seat back. Many of our music classes prior weren’t really focused on the subject, they were focused on the upcoming NASA space launch, and the fact that Christina McAuliffe, a school teacher, was going to be the first citizen in space. When the announcement of the explosion came over the loud speaker, I just buried my hands in my face, in total shock. My other moment that I remember where I was is the events of 9/11.

I have always been fascinated with the Kennedy assassination. Even as a child, I had doubts that a lone gunman shooting form the sixth floor of a building could have pulled it off. Up until then, the previous assassination had always been at close range. Garfield, McKinley, Lincoln, all felled by disillusioned sorts all seeking to right what they felt was a wrong. Charles Guiteau (Garfield), Leon Czolgosz (McKinley), James Wilkes Booth (Lincoln) all gained their place in history by murdering the commander in chief.  Guiteau had sought a place in Garfield’s cabinet, and had been turned down for the position of consul general to Paris. Guiteau used a .442 Webley revolver. Guiteau had been waiting, getting his shoes polished, looking forward to Garfield’s arrival. Garfield’s assassination led to the Pendleton Act which would forever base appointments on talent and seniority. McKinley was felled by a 32 caliber Iver John Revolver by Czolgosz, which Czolgosz had just purchase 72 hours prior. Czolgosz got close enough to McKinley to shake his hand. So far, we’ve had two assassins, none of whom really had a plan of escape. They simply may have been looking to make some sort of statement by the assassin.

And that brings us the first assassination of the US President, Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Wilkes shot Lincoln with a Derringern as part of a three tier assassination plot that was to have destroyed the Union government if it had been fruitful. It failed, and Lincoln was the only one felled.

And therein lies why Kennedy’s assassination was so different. Booth, Czolgosz, and Guiteau were all public about their assassinations. Wilkes jumped onto the stage and declared “Sic Semprer Tryannis”, meaning “Thus always to the Tyrants.” And as you’ve read above, neither Czogosz nor Guiteau really made any attempt to hide who they were. Why all of a sudden, would someone shoot Kennedy in the most public manner possible, and try to hide who he was? That’s what makes Kennedy’s assassination so intriguing.

If Lee Harvey Oswald was really what he was painted to be, a man angry about what happened in Cuba, the Pay of Pigs fiasco, why would run? And ever wonder why he would assassinate the president from the 6^th floor of the building he worked at?

However, enough about the question regarding Kennedy’s assassination, time for a different topic. . John F. Kennedy was bringing new fresh ideas to the White House, because up until 1960, the previous presidents had been recycled products from the same machine. Outside of when Harry S. Truman desegregated the US troops, no one had done anything to change the same ol’ same of race relations. He even addressed this issue in January of 1961, citing that Americans should not be denied constitution rights based on their race.

Kennedy was doing a lot to change the American Landscape, and for some it may have been too fast, too soon. Kennedy was looking to eliminate the CIA. He managed to starve off nuclear destruction at the hands of the Soviet Union. Who knows what Kennedy might have done during a second term in office? And it is a given that he would have had a second term because of his high approval ratings, and the fact the Republicans really didn’t have a strong candidate to run against him.

At least with the three prior executions, we have some knowledge as to the why. Since Oswald was felled by Jack Ruby before anything really came to light, much of the truth died with him. Who knows if there was a CIA or Mafia connection to the assassination? Why kill the assassin? As of 2011, 67% of Americans feel that there was a conspiracy into the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I count myself among them.

However, here we sit, 50 years later, and the questions still remain. And we are still fascinated by the man himself, and what he represented. Would the race riots in Detroit have ever happened if Kennedy had never been assassinated? What about such events as the Vietnam war, Watergate? They never happen if not for those bullets on that fateful day 50 years ago. And I say bullet because even as a kid, I thought the idea of the magic bullet was utterly insane. To expect full grown adults to accept that notion of the assassination to me seems pretty insulting.

I plan to re-read the Warren Commission report. When I saw that the book was available through the History Book club several years ago, I pounced on the purchase. I put the book half way down because much of it was written to the point of confusion, and the plot holes glaring. Maybe a second reading (and not expecting much in the way of logic) will be better. And for those who don’t know what the Warren Commission was, they were appointed to find out the how’s and why’s of the assassination. It is rightfully maligned as a product of wishful thinking.

In 2017, all of the records regarding the assassination of Kennedy would have been released by the National Archives. Thus, this ensures that if there was an in house assassination of the commander and chief, the main principals would have been long dead by the time their involvement comes to light. Now, if the sealing of records and hiding aspects of the assassination of the president doesn’t make you question if or if not there was an conspiracy into the assassination of John F. Kennedy, then what will?