Forty Years Later

We in this country, in this generation, are--by destiny rather than choice--the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of "peace on earth, good will toward men." That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: 'except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.'
Link to Blithering Idiot

No, these are not the words of any contemporary person. They are from the speech that John Kennedy was to deliver in Dallas, TX, 40 years ago today. They are posted by the JFK Library. Reading them reminded me of the excellent way Kennedy had with words. He could be both extremely challenging and highly motivating (thanks to some very high quality writers and his own ability at public speaking) . Today, after many years of political cynicism, we forget how powerful the words of the Inaugural Address were at the time: to "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Or the words at the United Nations on Nuclear Disarmament September 25, 1961:

But however close we sometimes seem to that dark and final abyss, let no man of peace and freedom despair. For he does not stand alone. If we all can persevere, if we can in every land and office look beyond our own shores and ambitions, then surely the age will dawn in which the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.

Ladies and gentlemen of this Assembly, the decision is ours. Never have the nations of the world had so much to lose, or so much to gain. Together we shall save our planet, or together we shall perish in its flames. Save it we can--and save it we must--and then shall we earn the eternal thanks of mankind and, as peacemakers, the eternal blessing of God.

Following his assassination we had 10 years of war in Vietnam and the streets of our cities, 10 years of deepening uncertainty and division, 10 years that ended in Watergate and a divided political cynicism that still flourishes today. For a few years we had hope. Yes, we know looking back with realism that such hope would never have been as idealistic as we wanted. We know that Kennedy was not the superman or super-president that we wanted him to be. We know that there were as many skeletons in his closet as anyone elses.

But we had hope and we were inspired.

Back then I was an aspiring politician-type. I was an avid political junkie for an early teenager. I even had the inaugural address memorized. (No, I didn't have a life.) The dark days of November, 1963, which came only 6 days after my grandfather died, were haunting and fearful and lonely.

Less than five years later, on an April evening, my second hero- Martin Luther King died. Two months after that, Robert Kennedy.

I became a pacifist as I saw violence and hatred killing all hopes of peace. For me that may be the greatest result of the assassinations of the 60s. My world changed- make no mistake about it. Not because I idolized JFK. By the time of his brother's death I had a more realistic view of JFK. But the promise of lasting change, of youthful optimism were replaced by the nagging sense that in the end nothing makes any difference in the political realm. The status quo always wins.

Would the world have gone through the same hell if JFK had lived? No. It would have been a different hell. We probably would have seen Kennedy's clay feet or hawkish tendencies or personal shortcomings get in the way. No- because the Civil Rights act would probably not have been passed- Johnson used the sympathy for JFK to get it into law. No- because the world was changing and changing rapidly, even as early as 1963. The Baby Boomers were just beginning to come into their own. In 1963 the oldest Boomers were just turning 20. We would have had our tantrums no matter who was president.

So today, 40 years later, I see this anniversary being as much a memorial to a way of life that was dying already but we didn't know how much it was about to change. I see it as a way of remembering one of the reasons for the cynicism that became the political ways of a generation. I see it as a reminder that there can be hope, but if we put all that hope into a simple mortal, we will always be disappointed. I am a recovering politician.

I also hope we look back at JFK's words and realize how far we have strayed from his liberal conservatism-
   a sense of giving to our nation and not just taking-
   a sense of pride in where we have been and what we can do if we put our mind to it-
   a sense that because we have been given much, much is also required of us nationally and globally-
   a sense that idealism, tempered with realism and infused with hope can be a rallying cry.

Above all else, today, as I remember JFK, I also remember to love and support my country, asking not what I can get out of it for me, but how I can work together with all in our nation to make it even more fully a nation of peace and freedom and opportunity and a witness to the world of what can happen when people work together.