November 23, 2003

The Philippine STAR, Opinion Page

Remembering JFK: 

40 Years After   

By Babe Romualdez

The past week since I have been here in the United States, most television networks have been running documentaries on the life of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, interrupted only by the latest legal problem of pop star Michael Jackson who now has to “face the music” on allegations of child molestation. He posted a US$ 3 million bail a few days ago. 

Many Americans to this day are remembering the tragic event of November 22, 1963. In fact, 17 percent of Americans believe JFK was the greatest president they ever had, according to surveys. Obviously, the hopes and dreams of the Kennedy family linger on in the hearts and minds of most Americans. The Kennedy family was known as the “Royal Family” of the United States, and JFK as the legendary “Camelot.” At a time when the Cold War and the US economy were at their worst, it was JFK who gave new hope to many poor Americans. 

I was 16 years old, a high school student at the Ateneo when my mother woke me up that early morning of November 23 (Manila time) with the news that the President of the United States had been shot. I can’t recall what radio station aired what had happened, but I think it was the Voice of America. At such a young age it struck me so strongly. It must have been a nightmare for the people who witnessed it. I remember listening to the radio and asking myself: why would anyone want to kill the President of the United States? Now we know there were many attempts to kill other American presidents in the past. 

Obviously, this is the reason why George W. Bush’s security was tight when he visited the Philippines. He is now in London, the first state visit of a US President to England since Woodrow Wilson, and the security is even tighter than what we had in Manila. Despite the efforts of many Americans through the years to uncover the truth about JFK’s death, my question, I suppose will remain unanswered for the next forty years. I knew even then that many people all over the world felt the loss. JFK was the youngest among a list of elected US presidents; he was also the youngest to die. He was 46. By the way, the Lincoln Continental used by JFK and Jackie Kennedy in Dallas, Texas is now up for sale for one million US dollars. The fellow who’s selling it bought the presidential limousine for only eighteen thousand US dollars over 30 years ago.

I have always believed in the principle that to whom much is given, much is required, and the Kennedy family exemplifies this Biblical adage. To be born as a Kennedy is to be saddled onto history, and also into tragedy, and as many believe, a curse. After the assassination of JFK, his brother Robert, who was about eight years younger, was elected to the United States Senate. He was shot shortly after midnight of June 5, 1968, and died the next day. He just won the California primary. Robert’s son David died of cocaine and prescription drug overdose in 1984. His eldest Joe II was involved in a car accident that left a passenger paralyzed in 1973. His other son Michael was killed in a skiing accident in 1997. Joe Kennedy Jr. was killed while flying a dangerous mission during World War II. Kathleen Kennedy died in a plane crash in 1948. Ted Kennedy, in Chappaquiddick Island, drove off a bridge, killing aide Mary Jo Kopechne. William Kennedy Smith was reportedly accused of raping a girl at their Palm Beach Florida estate after a party. John Jr.’s brother Patrick Bouvier Kennedy died two days after birth in 1963. JFK’s son John Jr, that reluctant “Crown Prince” of America’s “Royal Family,” died along with his wife and sister-in-law in a plane crash off the coast of Massachusetts. He was the little boy who saluted his father’s casket 40 years ago in the now famous photo of JFK’s funeral procession.

For three years, the feisty JFK showed what being partly Irish was all about. For starters, he signed numerous Executive Orders increasing the quantity and quality of surplus food for jobless Americans, and extended benefits to unemployed workers and welfare to children. He was the first US president to propose long-term Military and Economic Foreign Aid programs to which many countries have benefited today. He extended Social Security to about five million Americans, people to retire at age 62. JFK was also the first to couple depreciation tax reform with tax credit to attract more investments in plant and industry. Instead of encouraging dependency, JFK signed the most far-reaching revision of public welfare legislation, which emphasizes family rehabilitation and training. 

America’s “King Arthur” was also a risk taker and he made some very controversial moves as president. Secretly, JFK had a lot of women on the side. In 1962, he signed an Executive Order preventing racial discrimination in Federal housing projects. There was also the Civil Rights legislation giving all Americans equal opportunity in education, employment, public accommodations, voting and access to Federal programs. He was the US President who signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the first disarmament agreement of the Nuclear Age. Shortly after his inauguration, Kennedy permitted a band of Cuban exiles, already armed and trained, to overthrow the regime of Fidel Castro, also known as the Bay of Pigs. The plan failed. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he was the American President who stared the Russians down and showed them the futility of nuclear blackmail. A day before JFK was shot, he asked his economic advisers to prepare his “War on Poverty” program for 1964. 

The tragedy of the JFK assassination is an event in history no American will ever forget, much less the world. It was Joseph Sr., one of the richest Americans during his time, who had that unrelenting ambition to get one of his sons into the White House. Shortly before JFK announced his candidacy as President of the United States, Joseph P. Kennedy said, “ A hundred million dollars is nothing if it would make Jack president.” He wasn’t able to do it with his son Joseph Jr. who was killed in action during World War II in Europe. When John finally became president, he was killed a little over his first one thousand days in office. After that, the father pushed Bobby to become president but he too was assassinated. Teddy gave up the idea of running for president because of Chappaquiddick. After this incident, his father went into depression and refused to take in any nourishment. Joseph Sr. died shortly after. He paid the ultimate price for his ambition – the death of his two sons. Forty years after JFK’s death, America and the world still remember.

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Email: babeseyeview@hotmail.com

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