Welcome my friends to the most purrfect history blog ever! Follow in my paw prints as we explore all types of history from beginning to historical events of today. I will try to keep it as unbiased as possible but nothing will be swept under the rug. After all, if we forget history, we are only dooming ourselves to repeat it. So come along and I promise, curiosity will not kill the cat!
Friday, November 22, 2013
The Start of the Decade of Assassinations
Did JFK's assassination start a decade of infamous assassinations? John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. Following his assassination, there was a number of high profile assassinations relating involving the government including JFK's own brother and civil rights leaders. Let's list them:
John F. Kennedy: assassinated November 22, 1963
Malcolm X: assassinated February 21, 1965
Martin Luther King Jr.: assassinated April 4, 1968
Robert F. Kennedy: assassinated June 6, 1968
Okay so there aren't as many as I thought. But within the span of five years, four important political men were gunned down. But theirs were not the only violent deaths in the 1960s. The bombing of the church in Birmingham killed four innocent girls. There were countless others dead from fighting for civil rights. A riot at Ole Miss in 1962 left two dead. A riot at Kent State in 1970 left four dead. I wanted to point these deaths out because the sixties are known as the decade of freedom, peace, love, and drugs. It has a image of color and fun and freedom. But the decade is also drenched in the blood of those trying to change things for the better.
Credit for photo:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/10/27/bob-schieffer-jfk-assassination-nothing-had-ever-happened
The Weight of the World on JFK
The above picture is probably my favorite of John F. Kennedy. It was taken by Kennedy's official campaign photographer, Jacques Lowe. I first saw it in May at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library. It is described as a haunting moment of the weight the presidency with the president slumped over a desk while reading official documents. However, the card with the photo is a little less haunting. Apparently, Kennedy suffered from back problems and would stand to read to ease his back and read the papers. Not as captivating but it does show how a simple perception can change a photo from a simple moment to a iconic image with far more meaning.
Credit:
http://www.jacqueslowe.com/gallery_list.php?id=jfk
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/420159/John-F-Kennedy-photos-reveal-life-in-White-House-golden-era
50th Anniversary of the Assassination of John F. Kennedy
On this day in history (and I really couldn't let it go by without a post about it), John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a convertible during a visit to Dallas. Also in the car with him was his wife Jackie Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connelly and his wife. We've all heard the official story. Lee Harvey Oswald reportedly fired three shots from a sixth floor window of the Book Depository. Later that day, Oswald was arrested for the shooting death of Officer J.D. Tippit. Two days later, as he was being moved from the Dallas jail, night club owner Jack Ruby managed to get past other police officers and press in a tiny hallway and shoot Oswald dead. Ruby later died of cancer in prison.
That's the official version. However, there are several conspiracy theories regarding the death of JFK. They include:
- Vice President Lyndon Johnson arranged it
- The mafia arranged it (Ruby has been linked to the mafia)
- Cuban leader Fidel Castro ordered it
- The CIA arranged it
- The Soviet Union had a hand it
- There was a second shooter on the Grassy Knoll
Regardless of who ordered the death or who actually shot him, Kennedy has become a icon of America of the time, a legend whose death legacy probably far exceeds his accomplishments despite the fact that he had many. Kennedy handled the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Bay of Pigs, Communism, and the rising conflict of Vietnam. He also signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Kennedy also supported Civil Rights, intervening during the infamous blockade of the University of Alabama preventing two African American students from entering the school. Kennedy also launched an initiative for greater voting rights protection and equal schooling for all children. Kennedy also supported women's rights, signing the Equal Pay Act of 1963.
America was changing radically during the 1960s and young Kennedy provided the figurehead of the progressive America. His death, whether by a single man or two gunmen, signaled an end to the trust of the American government. Americans, now believing that the government had something to do with Kennedy's death lost faith in it and no longer trust it. That's obvious even today when nearly everything the government days or claims is disregarded as propaganda. Do not get me wrong, Kennedy's death was only the beginning of the downward spiral of the trust in our government. Scandals ranging from Watergate to Clinton's affair have largely contributed but the starting point seems to be Kennedy's death.
Did Oswald act alone? Was there a second shooter? We may never know. But 50 years ago today, America changed but a family also lost a husband, father, brother, uncle, and friend. Today, remember a man who was helping change America for the better. He wasn't a perfect man by any means. He had known affairs and possibly with mostly famously Marilyn Monroe, but there is no telling what he else he would have done had he lived, what our country would have been like. Remember that a single second can change the entire course of history and a country. R.I.P. John F. Kennedy.
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