President John F. Kennedy
Past presidents and their accomplishments, style and behaviour are, of course, the stuff of history. President Kennedy was a golden boy, young, promising great things, married to beautiful and cultured Jacqueline Bouvier, and went on to preside over space and missile programmes, the huge problem of Cuba and the Bay of Pigs Invasion, problems with the Soviet Union and the Cold War, communism in other countries such as Southeast Asia, Vietnam in particular increasing the military personnel (full-scale troop deployment there would be done by President Johnson), attempts to curb nuclear arms and promote world peace, support for the civil rights of all Americans, and he also helped to end discrimination against working women.
When he appeared on television or in other media, I recall always hearing someone speaking with dignity, in the manner and style associated with a leader, someone you could expect to know what to do in times of need. His inaugural address in January, 1961 produced the immortal lines: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” You had the feeling that this was substance as well as something elegant and memorable. It went with being president of the United States. All was well with the world.
However, there was another side, revealed after his tragic death. Jack Kennedy was a bit of a ladies’ man, with many extra-marital affairs. Possibly the most famous was Marilyn Monroe. We knew there was more going on when she sang the sex-charged “Happy Birthday, Mr President” at a celebration for his 45th birthday in May, 1962. A back door to the White House was for women to use to “serve” the president, all kept clandestine, unlike now where every outrageous move is covered, not that it does any harm to the present, misogynistic, narcissistic psycho in the White House. It is very different now with all the overt lies, contrasting with past times of being economical with the truth, when changing one’s views or promises overnight would have been seen as weakness and a betrayal of trust.
President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, the same date as Jack London committed suicide nearly 50 years before. I remember the news of Kennedy’s shooting coming through in a “newsflash” about 8.00 on the Friday night, and even as a mid-teen then, I realised that something momentous and terrible had happened. It caused me to interrupt a meeting of the WRI (Women’s Rural Institute) being held in my mother’s one-teacher country school a minute’s walk from our house. I can see the women now, at first wondering what on earth a young lad was doing knocking on the door and interrupting their important business, then my news and the appalled looks on their faces. Even in central rural Scotland Jack Kennedy held some place in heads and hearts.
President and “Jackie” Kennedy, possibly at Kennedy Airport!