JOHN F. KENNEDY
President of the United States
Tom Santos
Find out what's happening in Stonington-Mysticfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
November 20, 2013
Find out what's happening in Stonington-Mysticfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
John F. Kennedy was elected the 35TH President of the United States in November 1960. He was the youngest president ever, he was Catholic, he was not expected to be elected because he was Catholic. People thought he would impose his Catholic values on the country. He was young, handsome and had a beautiful wife. He was everything the people wanted in a person.
I was fresh out of high school, 18 years old, not old enough to vote for him or anyone else. I got involved in the local Democratic party as a helper, I picked up the voters who needed rides to the polls. I felt I at least helped him get elected. All of the previous Presidents that I knew were old, JFK was young comparatively speaking. He was a former Navy man, a leader, and he was from New England, all great traits for a President.
Where were you on November 22, 1963?
I was working at Electric Boat in the Quality Control Department. I was a technical assistant. My telephone rang, I answered it, it was my Mom. She said “President Kennedy has been shot! They didn’t say if he was alive or dead.”
I tried to get a line to find out more information, but, all of the telephone lines were busy. This is a large company and has a lot of lines, everyone was busy. Couldn’t get a line out and no one could phone in.
The office was totally involved in conversation of the shooting. There were tears and sadness throughout the office. Work stopped while we tried to find out about our beloved President. I don’t remember when we found out he was dead. I do remember going home and watching the television the rest of the night. Television was in black and white, color hadn’t been that popular yet, which is why all the TV clips today are in black & white.
Lee Harvey Oswald was suspected of killing the President. Saturday morning, we watched Oswald being transferred from the jail, live on TV. He was shot by Jack Ruby. I had never seen anyone being shot before. Oswald died. As a young man, it left a deep impression on me. I actually watched someone being shot to death.
This event put television ahead of all other media. TV graduated from something to watch to a must watch, to catch up on all the latest news. For the next two weeks, the JFK assassination commanded all of the news stories, and every detail of his demise and funeral were broadcast on television. The country stood still to honor and bury its President. Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson became the 36th President. His popularity was nowhere near the popular vigorous President JFK was.
We can only imagine what JFK would have accomplished in his presidency. President John F. Kennedy, I miss you.
On a personal note, I ordered my first brand new car, a 1964 Pontiac, in September 1963. I received a letter from General Motors that my car was to be built and shipped around the 22nd day of November. I was excited, I couldn’t wait for delivery of my brand new car. I received another notice stating my car was built and loaded on a truck. Well, my delivery took another two weeks to get here, due to the fact that everything was on hold while we buried our President.
