IN RETROSPECT: JFK

Newspapers and blogs have been filled with reminiscences of Where-I-Was-When-JFK-Died. It was a day etched in our psyches, never to be forgotten.. A plethora of articles on JFK abound these last few weeks, ranging form total adulation to poo-pooing him as a failure as President. I recommend in today's New York Times an analysis on the Op-Ed page by the noted historian Robert Dallek which offers a balanced perspective on his presidency.

One of the salient points made by Robert Dallek was the power of John F. Kennedy's charisma, which was more than charm and magnetism but a positive force to inspire. Who can ever forget his Inaugural speech and the famous "Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country"? Or "Ich bin ein Berliner."  Such were words that elevated us. He was the young President: as he pointed out in his Inaugural address, the first born in this century (the 20th) and thereby a fresh wind blowing in our stale air.

So, forget the womanizing, the lack of legislative action, the cautious politicking of not antagonizing the southern segregationists but remember the Camelot image of the young knight who had the potential to inspire our lives. If he had lived, I believe he would have accomplished many actions to inspire and direct us as a force in the world. I believe he would have emerged as a powerful force for attainment and good.

In these divisive times, I wish for a leader with that inspiring power.

DAYS OF OUR LIVES

Today, November 19, 2013 is an anniversary date in American history and my personal history.

In American history, 150 years ago Abraham Lincoln, on a cold foggy day in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania gave a two minute speech which has become the most famous speech ever delivered and is revered throughout the world.

In my personal history, today is the first anniversary of the death of a beloved nephew, suddenly and unexpectedly and shockingly taken from his and my family.  My wife and I, plus my wife’s sister and her husband, who were good friends of this nephew, are taking his widow to dinner tonight so that she will have companionship and comfort on such a dreadful anniversary.

All of which got me thinking about other signal days in our lives, many of which were shocking. Oh, we remember the good days, too, like the day of a marriage or the birth of children or grandchildren. But, frequently, we remember the horror days, such as, if you are old enough to remember---and I am---December 7, 1941 or November 22, 1963 or September 11, 2001.

These were days that altered our lives, changed our modes of thinking, rewired our emotional responses and modified our lives.

Pearl Harbor Day began a war for America that altered many lives. It cost me the life of a brother and almost a second brother.  It did the same to millions of Americans. It started a chain reaction, not only with the atom bomb, but in world politics that we are still feeling today.

John F. Kennedy’s assassination, in the immortal words of Don McLean, was “the day the music died”: the day the last remnant of our innocence was lost, never to be regained. The Great American Dream vanished in three shots on a Dallas street.

The Twin Towers tragedy tumbled down the last of our smug certitude that we were invulnerable and that our power and might could overcome all obstacles.

We are wandering in darkness, I feel sometimes, not knowing where we are or where we go. I pray we can find some better days of our lives.