Kennedy was assassinated 46 years ago this week - November 22, 1963. He too was only 46.
For the first time though, I was unable to find any mention of the anniversary in our local papers. And, probably the time has come to relegate this sad date to the past.
But before I do....
As many of you know, I plan to one day get back to my Blog on how things dramatically changed in the 1960's and that even today we are experiencing the fall-out from that time - most of it to our collective detriment. President Kennedy's death followed by Martin Luther King Jr. and his brother Bobby - all in the 60's - was the end of the Age of Innocence and therefore falls into the category of events that forever mark the 1960s as the major turning point - certainly in our time and probably in the last one hundred years and more.
Kennedy had two major accomplishments; one during his lifetime and the other post his death:
The Joint Chiefs of Staff to a man, strongly recommended that JFK launch air bombardments on the Cuban missile sites. At one point, their discussions amongst themselves was taped and several years ago I listened to this tape which was played on television. The Chiefs were highly critical of Kennedy and viewed him as being nothing more than a young naive pup who was poorly placed to make such a critical decision. Their language was quite 'salty' in nature.
Even his Cabinet was pro military solution, save for one - his brother Bobby the then Attourney General. Kennedy had taken great heat for appointing his brother to Cabinet which the then pundits condemned as blatant Nepotism. But it is doubtful that John Kennedy could have remained resolute against a military strike had it not been for Bobby's sage counsel.
History shows that the Russian Generals, posted to Cuba, had been given orders to launch an Atomic Response to any military action on the part of America. It also shows that their missiles were armed and ready for firing.
Kennedy opted instead for a sea embargo of Cuba which ultimately led to successful negotiations with Kruschev and the rest, as they say, is history.
Kennedy's other great accomplishment occurred as a result of his death.
- The Civil Rights Legislation of 1964/65
This monumental legislation, freed the Blacks from institutional discrimination and was spearheaded by Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson. However, Johnson would not have been able to achieve this success had it not been for Kennedy's death since it was passed into law in his memory.
There was also a negative that flowed from his assassination - the escalation of the Vietnam War.
During Kennedy's tenure, the war in Vietnam was limited in involvement to American Military Advisors. With Kennedy's death, LBJ was able to tap into the outpouring of sympathy to dramatically increase the US military presence in that tragic land.
Indeed, when Bobby was assassinated in June of 1968, he was running for the Democratic Presidential Nomination - against LBJ, on a platform to end that war.
As I said, it is probably time to let President Kennedy go.
This very November, 50 years ago, John Fitzgerarld Kennedy was elected the 35th President of the United States. His star shone brightly; but today it is but a glimmer.
For those of us who lived through his death though, it will continue to shine forever.
As I see it,
"Galagher"
