Kennedy Presidency: An Aura of Hope

This was written by Dr. David Bennardo, superintendent of the South Huntington school district.

Regardless of one's political persuasion, there is no denying that the Kennedy presidency brought a unique energy to the national scene.  John F. Kennedy's January 20, 1961, inauguration saw the mantle of leadership passed from one of the oldest to the youngest man ever elected to the presidency.  The nation's new Commander in Chief was unique because he was born in the 20th Century and would be the first since Teddy Roosevelt to bring a young family into the White House. There was a special aura of hope and promise emerging in the country, as Americans responded to Kennedy's leadership and took note of the romantic call to service.

It is almost unthinkable to note that the unabashed enthusiasm of the time could be so quickly eliminated with the crash of a gunman's bullet. It is for this reason that the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, represents an anniversary that is forever engrained in our national consciousness. This sudden loss of the President, on that fateful autumn day, transcended politics and touched the lives of Americans throughout our country. The shots that fired from the sixth-floor of the Texas School Book Depository signaled both the death of a national leader and the end to an era of innocence. We were a nation changed forever, as a decade of turbulence commenced, and a generation of Americans discovered this memory frozen in time.

The ensuing half century has seen hundreds of theories and countless evaluations of the legislative and foreign policy success of the often mythical, slain president. While the experts may never agree on the quality of the record, there is simply no denying that there was something indescribably motivating about those 1,000 days of the Kennedy administration. Despite all it flaws, Camelot cast a certain spell over the nation and for a brief moment in time, made us believe that virtually anything was possible.