Remembering John Kennedy, 1917-1963

John F. Kennedy - 35th US President

"Two generations later, the assassination still stirs quiet sadness in the baby boomers who remember it as the beginning of a darker, more cynical time."  [ABC News; November 22, 2013]

Fifty years ago this Friday morning, not just a man, not just a president, but a dream shared by many Americans was shattered by an assassin's bullets in Texas. His leadership not only brought hope to Americans, but he brought hope and encouragement to others around the world as well. I thought perhaps this anniversary could pass unnoticed by me because I have been jaded by the sordidness of American politics, by the fallibility of men, and that after the passage of so many years the residual effects of these memories would not be significant, that I could ignore them.  They were, I thought, something from a distant past. 

In that, I was mistaken, as the memory of those events has today brought me much sadness. We cannot know with any certainty how history would have judged the Kennedy presidency absent his assassination. His plans were cut short before they could play out, so his possible successes and his failures will remain conjecture forever. But we do know that a large measure of our innocence was taken from us that day. Those of us who lived through the events of late-November, 1963 never saw the world in quite the same bright way again. At age ten, I was not "political," and I have never had an opinion about JFK's politics - the tragic cost of his loss only became clear to me in subsequent years, and those far-reaching effects lie totally outside the realm of his beliefs or his political platform.

I have been reading a lot about John Kennedy this week, and I have been looking for something meaningful to share with you.  The words of his inaugural address came to mind.

“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

Now the trumpet summons us again. Not as a call to bear arms, though embattled we are, but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle; a struggle against the common enemies of man – tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself. In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom.

In the hour of maximum danger, I do not shrink from this responsibility, I welcome it. The energy, the faith, the devotion, which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world - ask not what America can do for you - but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love - asking His blessing and His help - but knowing that here on earth
God's work must truly be our own.”

John Kennedy
Inaugural Address - January 20, 1961

JFK's Eternal Flame