Sunday, November 10, 2013

Teachable Moment: John F. Kennedy

President John F. Kennedy looking at his children John John and Caroline dancing in the Oval Office. Washington, December 1962. Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images.

John F. Kennedy was a complex man. This month being the fiftieth anniversary of his assassination, information about him as a world figure, a politician and his personal life will ubiquitously fill the media. He was completely unique.

If someone would ask me, "Who do you think killed Kennedy?" I would probably answer it was his own profile in courage. He stood up for so many good-against-evil situations that he was most likely on a lot of hit lists around the world. But it was a terrible time for the world to lose him.

Here is a bullet list of qualities, resume style, that made Kennedy who he was to those of us growing up in the sixties.

He was truly an outrageously brave war hero. There was a film about it: PT 109 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057393/
He won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1957 for the book, Profiles in Courage, about

American politicians who bravely held to their beliefs despite opposition. Kennedy had a rare intellect.
He was a fun daddy. In the last couple of years, daughter Caroline Kennedy has edited and released personal material about her dad. I did not know he could make up bedtime stories. Flashback Friday: Caroline Kennedy Recalls JFK’s Favorite Bedtime Stories http://www.parade.com/227082/linzlowe/flashback-friday-caroline-kennedy-recalls-jfks-favorite-bedtime-stories/ But I'm not surprised. I prefer to think about those happy times than recall John-John saluting his daddy's casket as a three-year-old. But even that clearly demonstrated the qualities of the family that were so beyond the average expression. Jackie was our inspiration in that time of shock like Jack was during a time of enthusiasm.
Folks recall his inaugural address--Ask not, etc.--but I wish to include, thanks to American Rhetoric, more than one of his remarkably written and delivered addresses. Students are still asked to analyze these, particularly the one on why we are going into space. Those of us raised in the sixties were inspired to greater heights of commitment and endeavor than we would have been without his inspiration. It is remarkable to hear his voice, his delivery is superior to any other politician, even Reagan. At this site, you can also see the text, observe the writer's craftsmanship.