The Kennedy Half-Century (85 page)

Kennedy’s assassination created the big picture, the full Kennedy legacy, both in the statute books and in the hearts of his countrymen. November 22, 1963—its mysteries and tragedies—will continue to be the focal point that defines John F. Kennedy for the ages. Had this president not been assassinated, it is doubtful that the Kennedy years—however they played out—would have been able to sustain a dominating presence for half a century. The bullets in Dallas have made Kennedy’s image bulletproof. His Shakespearean end transformed Kennedy into a Lincolnesque martyr-saint whose casual observations have become profound additions to politicians’ speeches and students’ term papers. JFK is frozen not just in time, but at a moment of peace, prosperity, and surging American power. Given all that has happened since, that Americans look back to the early 1960s as idyllic and associate the loss of Kennedy with the country’s long “decline” is not surprising.

The likelihood that most people will remain unsatisfied with the official explanations of JFK’s murder extends the shelf life of an increasingly distant presidency. The continued efforts of the CIA and others to conceal or redact relevant documents about the Kennedy assassination a half century after the
event helps neither the agency’s credibility nor public trust in government. The Kennedy family, for its part, has often been less than cooperative with researchers and scholars, too. The people of the United States own their country’s history, and the public’s money has paid for most of the materials that remain under lock and key.
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Even without the assassination documentation, though, the perspective of time can resolve a second cold war—not the one waged between the United States and the Soviet Union, but the more enduring battle between the defenders of JFK’s legacy and the guardians of Lyndon Johnson’s. The two Democratic ticketmates and presidents could not have been more different in personal history, style, and symbolism. The transfer of power from Kennedy to Johnson is a line of demarcation in history, symbolizing the end of Frostbelt dominance in American politics. Since Kennedy, seven of eight elected presidents have been from the South or West—the Sunbelt—where an ever-increasing share of voters is living.
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Kennedy personified the old Frostbelt culture, while Johnson was the epitome of Sunbelt swagger. Still, their relationship in history is symbiotic, not parasitic. Most of the big achievements of Johnson’s first two years, from civil rights to Medicare, and even the war on poverty, became law because they could be sold as tributes to a slain president. Johnson did what Kennedy could not because Kennedy’s murder enabled it. JFK and LBJ should rightfully share credit, fairly equally, for the signal legislative accomplishments in 1964 and 1965. At the same time, while Johnson bears the lion’s share of responsibility for the massive escalation of the Vietnam War, and for its subsequent shattering failure, Kennedy must shoulder culpability, too. JFK’s acolytes have been too eager to absolve him of all blame. The thirty-fifth president may or may not have followed through on plans to scale down or end American involvement in Southeast Asia if he had lived, but his assertive anticommunism in that region set the stage for Johnson’s calamitous policy. LBJ could plausibly claim yet another faithful attempt to continue the Kennedy program as it existed on November 22, 1963.

This struggle for credit and stature is cyclically waged by historians, and also by the surrogates and descendants of presidents. Over time it becomes less relevant than other, more impressionistic aspects of a president’s image and his bequest to the nation. Ultimately, public opinion resolves any disputes—and public opinion can shift.

Younger Americans do not have rich recollections that give full life to the Kennedy legacy. As the nation adds decades and presidents, and the millions of baby boomers with firsthand memories pass on, Kennedy will not loom as large on the horizon as he has for the first fifty years since his death. The flame at JFK’s grave site has a flashing electric spark near the tip of a gas nozzle that reignites the fire whenever rain and wind extinguish it; no passing storm can
ever snuff it out. But the symbolic flame that has glowed so brightly since the one at Arlington Cemetery was lit will not prove as lasting. The Kennedy magic, which has entranced people for a half-century, will lose potency as his brief presidency ceases to have an outsized effect on personal memory and a nation’s history.

The American people’s idealization of John Kennedy, their determination to overlook his obvious flaws, and successive presidents’ use of the Kennedy record for their own ends have been the sparks that have repeatedly reignited JFK’s influence. Some of this effect will linger. Inspiring rhetoric and a charismatic leader captured forever on film will continue to fire the imagination of Americans yet unborn, and a young president’s torch of possibilities and public service will be passed again and again to new generations. Yet time and distance will at last enable a country to put Kennedy’s legacy in perspective. What endures will be what matters—not just the stark reminder that even the most charmed life can be defined by brutal tragedy, but genuine inspiration from John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s public words and deeds, the things that moved history and people’s minds and hearts.

Plate Section

1935. Young Jack Kennedy led an exceptionally privileged and worldly life, born of money and position. Here, JFK and his sisters Patricia (left) and Eunice (right) were photographed in the hills above Cannes, France, on vacation with their parents.

1944. John Kennedy’s service in World War II was a central part of his biography in running for political office. Here, he shakes hands with Captain Conklin, Commandant, Chelsea Naval Hospital in Boston, after being presented with a medal for heroism, June 12, 1944.

1948. Some of the Kennedy family at Thanksgiving in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. From left: John F. Kennedy, sister Jean Ann, mother Rose , father Joseph, Sr., sister Patricia, brother Robert, sister Eunice, and brother Edward Kennedy (squatting).

1951. Television quickly recognized the potential star power of young John F. Kennedy. Here, JFK appears on an early edition of NBC’s
Meet the Press
, December 2, 1951. Left to right are interviewers Ernest K. Lindley, May Craig, James Reston, Lawrence Spivak, moderator Martha Rountree, and Congressman Kennedy in his third House term.

1954. During the 1950s, Kennedy was operated on twice for spinal problems and came close to death once during the recovery. Here, Senator Kennedy is being lifted into an ambulance after surgery in a New York hospital, accompanied by Mrs. Kennedy and brother Robert, to begin convalescing at his family’s Palm Beach home for several months.

1957. Robert Kennedy was a close adviser to his brother throughout JFK’s political career. Here, RFK, counsel for the Senate Permanent Subcommittee investigating labor racketeering, huddles with Senator Kennedy, a member of the committee, on February 26, 1957.

1959. John Kennedy and Richard Nixon, young World War II veterans in Congress, had been genuine friends early in their political careers. In this photo from June 19, 1959, Vice President Nixon shakes hands with Senator and Mrs. Kennedy as they each change planes at Chicago’s Midway airport. By this time, both men realized they might be running against one another the following year.