When the news of John F. Kennedy’s assassination spread through the United States, hopelessness and uncertainty rocked through the country. The Kennedys were the closest thing to royalty for the American people. They were the representation of the perfect American family. Devastating things like this weren’t supposed to happen to families that seemed so perfect. How could this happen? Why? Was his assassination part of a much bigger attack? What was going to come next for the American people? This uncertainty and the loss of a man whose charisma made him seem larger than life made it one of the most dramatic events in American history.
On November 22nd, 1963, John F. Kennedy was killed while traveling in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. This was an end of an era, an era that most would agree, ended too soon. Americans openly mourned the loss of this great president alongside of the Kennedy family. To this day, one of the most iconic pictures from JFK’s assassination is young John Kennedy Jr. saluting his father’s coffin. Looking at this photo still breaks the hearts of many Americans. Some of which were not even …show more content…
alive during JFK’s presidency.
It is impossible to say what could have been accomplished if JFK was able to finish his term as President of the United States.
He was perceived as a figure that was larger than life and in the eyes of many Americans, the goals he could have accomplished had no limits, especially when it came to the Cold War. With his assassination and the inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson, all of his plans for Vietnam had gone out the window. It is said the LBJ did what he what he could in Vietnam, and had Kennedy still been president that not much would have been different. But, simply put, Johnson did not have the interest or vast knowledge of foreign affairs that JFK had had. Therefore, it only makes sense to assume that JFK had a plan for Vietnam that LBJ would never have the expertise to
continue.
Approaching the 50th anniversary of his assassination, though it is accepted by most that JFK was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, no one really knows. To this day, there are so many conspiracy theories and so much contradicting evidence that his death will never become just a part of the past. This was not just another day in America and it has made a permanent impact on our country.
References
History Since 1945. (2011, March 5). Retrieved from Blogspot: http://historysince1945.blogspot.com/2011/03/turning-points-in-american-history.html
McAdams, J. (1995-2013). Kennedy and the Cold War. Retrieved from The Kennedy Assination: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/