tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post2355435765692066679..comments2024-02-05T21:23:49.249-08:00Comments on Lady Eve's Reel Life: Remembering JFKThe Lady Evehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-47789697713918011062013-12-07T14:19:14.852-08:002013-12-07T14:19:14.852-08:00This post wasn't intended to examine the Kenne...This post wasn't intended to examine the Kennedy presidency in detail nor to analyze him as a man, it is about what he symbolized and what his assassination meant on a personal level as well as a recollection of the impact his murder had on the country at the time.<br /><br />I do think he would have been re-elected had Goldwater been the opposing candidate (as he was to Johnson), Goldwater being considered extreme at the time. I think you will see, if you examine each president who has come and gone from the office since, that there are negatives and positives and character issues with each of them. Kennedy inspired, few have done that since.<br /><br /><br />The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-66498531845515572852013-12-07T12:51:40.380-08:002013-12-07T12:51:40.380-08:00As someone who did not live through the assassinat...As someone who did not live through the assassination it is interesting how the obvious and understandable trauma his death provoked seems to prevent very real examinations of who Kennedy was and what he accomplished. <br /><br />He has high points, to be sure, such as the creation of the Peace Corps, the success of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the economic restructuring (which included tax cuts on the wealthy) and his correct attention to civil rights. However, the man's reelection was no sure thing when he died. He was barely elected and remained deeply unpopular in many states. And then, of course, there are the women, the now well-established predilection for prescription drugs, the unwise foray into Vietnam ... and a host of other issues... SKWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07814314684339927580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-41152687043294917022013-11-22T21:48:42.709-08:002013-11-22T21:48:42.709-08:00Thanks, John. Looking back on the nine presidents ...Thanks, John. Looking back on the nine presidents who succeeded JFK, I don't think any of them - including Reagan, Clinton and Obama - were/are his match in terms of charisma, eloquence and extemporaneous wit. Clinton and Obama may be his equal in terms of vision and intelligence and having a sense of history...but the sense of American greatness and bright promise JFK projected died with him. I don't mean to imply that he was without blemish, but, my god, he was something else. We were lucky to be alive then and old enough to comprehend what he was trying to accomplish.<br /><br />John Lennon's death was most cataclysmic for our generation. It was, after all, The Beatles who had much to do with lifting the young out of the gloom that persisted after the assassination and he did, like JFK, represent ideals of a better, more peaceful world.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-8103319156244618372013-11-22T21:14:48.426-08:002013-11-22T21:14:48.426-08:00MCB - All that you say about that day, that traged...MCB - All that you say about that day, that tragedy, and about JFK is true. When I think back on that time, especially those four days, it's never easy or without emotion (though that may not be obvious since I seem able to write with some distance). What it felt like then was unending, excruciating pain. I'm sure I was, as was the entire country, in shock for days. I suspect that only the arrival of the Beatles and their joyous music in America just 2-1/2 mos. after JFK's assassination was responsible for beginning to lift me (and my generation) out of the depths of despair.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-56877079022943092902013-11-22T20:58:24.993-08:002013-11-22T20:58:24.993-08:00Melissa - We will never know what JFK might have a...Melissa - We will never know what JFK might have achieved had he lived but we do know what his vision was - world peace. A revolutionary goal then and now.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-22020708453648041782013-11-22T20:54:23.255-08:002013-11-22T20:54:23.255-08:00Jacqueline, This was the first time I've share...Jacqueline, This was the first time I've shared my experiences of that time - in writing - for nearly 50 years. It was no less difficult this time than it was the first time. The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-28359704911028192632013-11-22T20:39:36.834-08:002013-11-22T20:39:36.834-08:00Marsha, Jacqueline Kennedy's ability to sustai...Marsha, Jacqueline Kennedy's ability to sustain her innate grace and stage manage a funeral steeped in historic tradition while at the same time suffering what must have been the most horrific pain and grief imaginable is beyond admirable. What a woman she was and what a pair they were.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-35004754293181424282013-11-22T14:55:35.304-08:002013-11-22T14:55:35.304-08:00Beautifully done Eve. I have been watching a few o...Beautifully done Eve. I have been watching a few of the TV shows and documentaries and what struck me was wherever JFK went and crowds gathered the people in the audience all felt JFK was waving or looking directly at them. He had that kind of intimate charismatic personality where it became personal. Three dates that I'll never forget where I was at the time. JFK's assassination, the death of John Lennon and the 9/11 attack. In the scope of things Lennon's death may not seen as important but both JFK and Lennon were dreamers that life, our world,could be a better place.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing your personal memory of JFK.John/24Frameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14719659042858962026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-40368796589998709582013-11-22T10:55:25.532-08:002013-11-22T10:55:25.532-08:00November 22, 1963 has got to be the most traumatic...November 22, 1963 has got to be the most traumatic day in american history - traumatic to the american psyche, more so than 911 or Dec. 7 1941. It has to be worse than even Lincoln's assassination. In the new television age, the american public felt they knew JFK and his beautiful young family - there was a personal connection that couldn't have been made during an earlier time. JFK was a politician but this was before everything had to be dumbed-down so that the candidate wouldn't be considered an elitist. He knew history and he had the extended vision that comes from that, along with the ability to articulate his vision. He was a human with flaws, but to the young generation he was a heroic ideal.. The events of Nov 22 were truly Shakespearean in their dimensions - plus the unfolding of these events on television were like some surreal nightmare - too dark too seem real - but real it was. Your personal memory of JFK must have made it all the more poignant. For me it felt like having my guts torn out.Motorcycle Boynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-72778587695011741612013-11-22T06:15:10.975-08:002013-11-22T06:15:10.975-08:00Thanks for sharing your memories of President Kenn...Thanks for sharing your memories of President Kennedy and of the day he died. I was born 12 years after the assassination, but I've loved and admired JFK since I was a teenager.<br /><br />Watching the 50th anniversary coverage this week has been very emotional for me. He was so young, beautiful and brilliant, and I believe he would have become an even greater president if he'd been granted more time. It's heartbreaking to wonder what might have been.<br /><br />MelissaMelissa Clarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09867200392531626189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-88248228198404991512013-11-22T04:16:52.317-08:002013-11-22T04:16:52.317-08:00Thanks for sharing this.Thanks for sharing this.Jacqueline T. Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11047941886908178350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8509825018139758536.post-60463914691787414752013-11-22T03:09:50.857-08:002013-11-22T03:09:50.857-08:00Patty - well said. Anyone who lived through that d...Patty - well said. Anyone who lived through that day will never forget it. I was in the 5th grade and I still can see Mr. Umbria coming into the classroom and telling us that we were all being sent home because the President had been shot. I was a little young to understand the full importance of it, but the images of my girlfriend's mother uncontrollably weeping, Walter Cronkite's stricken face and Jackie's elegant stoicism are forever a part of me.FlickChickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17351624749230610755noreply@blogger.com