November 21

Today is November 21. Tomorrow is yet another anniversary of the day John F. Kennedy died. A day anyone of age remembers.
Yesterday would have been Robert F. Kennedy's 82nd birthday. Another day we (those of us 45 or older) likely remembers. One thing I can imagine, however, is RFK being 82. He was gunned down when he was only 42. Had he lived and won the 1968 election, he would have broke his brother's record as the youngest-elected president (although Teddy Roosevelt would still have the overall mark). But in my mind, I can't imagine Bobby Kennedy being 82. It's the same with Elvis (who also died at 42), or Buddy Holly, or John Lennon... or John F. Kennedy.
And that prompts another thought, a question actually. How would America --- or the world for that matter --- be different had JFK lived? Would Vietnam have escalated to anywhere near the scale that it did? Defense Secretary Robert McNamara served Kennedy as well as Johnson. Still, though, would that in itself have kept us on the same course? Kennedy cut taxes in a huge way, leading in great part to an economic boom after his death. How would we stand economically if Kennedy had lived? What about Civil Rights? Kennedy is not generally known as a giant in that area. Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" evolved in the mid-1960s. However, had Kennedy lived, LBJ may never have been president and almost certainly not until 1969. How would Kennedy's plans have differed from Johnson's? And if Kennedy had lived, there's a decent chance the events that followed would not have given Nixon new political life. That would have meant no Watergate and, odds are, not gven rise to Jimmy Carter on a national scale.
Those shots in Dallas, in my opinion, changed the White House residency for at least the next 17-plus years.
Of course, other "situations" would have come up. Other characters in our historical life would have emerged. Here in 2007, we could be worse off. Or things could be a lot better. It's a lot like that shot in Ford's Theater in 1865. It changed the world.
I'd like to get your thoughts.
And think about this. If JFK were still alive, he'd be 90.
That is hard for me to imagine.

Log In | Register as a new member