35. JOHN F. KENNEDY- PART 2
Assassination: The 1964 election season was already underway in November 1963 and Kennedy decided on a goodwill political trip to Texas, accompanied by First Lady Jackie and Vice President Johnson. It was already assumed that Barry Goldwater would get the 1964 Republican nomination and the President made speeches that were critical of the potential candidate in San Antonio and Houston. Dallas was next after a speech in Fort Worth on the 22nd.
Kennedy had been cautioned not to go to Dallas by various people, especially United Nations Ambassador Adlai Stevenson, who had been heckled and assaulted in Dallas. Dallas authorities were also concerned, but Kennedy insisted on going to Dallas anyway.
On the morning of November 22nd, President Kennedy and the First Lady attended a breakfast at Fort Worth before embarking on the short flight to Dallas. There, at Love Field, he was greeted with a warm reception before occupying the Lincoln Continental Convertible with the top down with Governor Connally and his wife in the middle seats and the Kennedys in the back. The motorcade drove into downtown Dallas and there seemed not to be a hostile being in sight, just cheering crowds as the motorcade went by.
The motorcade turned on Houston and Elm streets. As the car was turning, Mrs. Connally remarked to the President, “You can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you.”
Kennedy agreed. Then shots rang out. One bullet reportedly missed but another hit Kennedy in the neck (it is assumed it went through and also hit the Governor). As the President clutched at his throat, a third shot rang out. This one was a bullseye as Kennedy’s head exploded. The motorcade rushed to Parkland Hospital but there wasn’t really much anyone could do. The President was pronounced dead at one PM, Central Standard Time.
You would think that would be it after the funeral obviously, but the fun was just beginning. Vice President Johnson, at the protest of the Kennedy aides, had himself sworn in on Air Force One with a stunned (because of losing her husband, not because of Johnson) First Lady as a witness. It was a savvy move of course, but we’ll talk about that more in his profile.
As for the investigation, the assassin had actually gotten away for a couple hours. Maybe he would have gotten even farther had he not been stopped by a Dallas police officer, who he shot and killed. Next thing you know, the world knew all about Lee Harvey Oswald and the Dallas Police spent the next two days parading him around for the press to see.
And that proved to be the biggest bonehead thing to do ever because, on Sunday, November 24th, and in front of live cameras, Lee Harvey Oswald would be cut down himself, by girlie club owner Jack Ruby, starting endless conspiracy theories that ranged from the Russians and Cubans to the Mafia and even the Vice President. None of the theories have been proven and while the Warren Commission, arranged by President Johnson, had what you could call a sloppy investigation (which was at least less sloppy than the autopsy), no one could prove anything other than Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone with no support from any entity.
So, John F Kennedy lives on as the greatest martyred President since Lincoln. It would be well over a decade before tales of affairs that would make anyone but Bill Clinton blush and a conspiracy that he had an affair with Marilyn Monroe and had a hand in her suicide in some way. And, of course, there were the Mafia rumors too (we didn’t mention he was buddies with Frank Sinatra and Rat Pack member Peter Lawford was Kennedy’s Brother-In-Law).
But whatever the truth may be, he goes down as one of the most idealistic Presidents in American history.
Odd notes: Kennedy’s father, Joseph Kennedy, made much of his fortune running illegal liquor in the 1920s.
Then Senator Kennedy got into a car accident with a young Larry King (
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/...john-f-kennedy)
Final Summary: Jack Kennedy is not the first, nor the last President to have two different lives, one that was the President, and one that was, well, a scoundrel. No, Kennedy certainly wasn’t the worst human being ever to reside on this Earth, even among our Presidents, but he no doubt felt a bit entitled because of his upbringing and, if I were to judge him on his character alone, frankly, he wouldn’t rate very high.
But Kennedy the President is a different matter. He inspired us to be the best we could possibly be, and he always seemed to have a knack at doing the right thing such as when he finally found the courage to introduce the Civil Rights Act. When he did screw up, such as with the Bay of Pigs, he was the first one to take responsibility. He obviously took Harry Truman’s buck stops here to heart. He inspired the space program, and the Peace Corps remains one of his greatest legacies. And it should also be noted that it was Kennedy, along with Khrushchev (and it probably cost him his premiership) that said enough of the nuclear arms race after the near miss of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and they were in the process of the first arms reduction treaty.
But there will always be one lingering question concerning Kennedy. What about Vietnam? Would Kennedy have escalated the war the way Johnson would? Or would he have found a way out? Yes, Kennedy was a Cold Warrior, but he was also a realist when he had to be. Maybe he would have seen the writing on the wall long before Johnson did. I’d like to think that given how he handled the Cuban Missile Crisis.
But thanks to a whack job in Dallas, we’ll never know.
Overall rating: B+
https://millercenter.org/president/kennedy