Many people believe America changed on the day Kennedy died; but America also changed on the day Kennedy was elected. The election brought us the glamorous era of Camelot, restoration of the White House, a First Lady who genuinely captivated the nation; and vitalization of the civil rights movement.
But the failed Bay of Pigs invasion created a nuclear show down with Nikita Khrushchev that directly precipitated our disastrous engagement in Vietnam. If JFK had been more decisive in engaging Fidel Castro during the Bay of Pigs—he would not have felt compelled to compensate for his defeat by escalating the war in Vietnam. For that matter, neither would this have proven to be a consequence of the succession of Lyndon Baines Johnson. As JFK stated in an interview with the New York Times following the Bay of Pigs, “We have a problem making our power credible and Vietnam looks like the place.”
Killing Kennedy offers a concise snapshot of the era including major players ranging from J. Edgar Hoover to Martin Luther King, Jr. The authors are candid and straightforward in their description of JFK’s romantic pursuits, including the sad case of Marilyn Monroe—and diligently present the president’s self-indulgent indiscretions in an objective fashion. This was something the media ignored completely during Camelot just as they ignored the instances of poor judgment exercised by Martin Luther King, Jr.
A theme that emerges throughout Killing Kennedy is the dignified behavior of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy who remains stoic in the face of a succession of humiliations. Her courage on the day the president died is unforgettable. She deservedly stands out above all other characters in the narrative.
What still remains a mystery is Lee Harvey Oswald—not in the context of whether or not he acted alone—most probably he did, but, rather, what were the components of his DNA which induced such a miserable, destructive, and selfish creature to seek gratification and recognition by murdering a convenient target? In the final analysis, that’s all Kennedy was—a target of opportunity—despite Oswald’s delusional fascination with communism and a mission of sheer vengeance that remains unfathomable. It is thus not surprising that the president, hit with the first shot—which was not lethal—clutched his wounded throat in dismay, stunned by the infliction? Our memorial to the fallen president is that we will eternally ponder why our nation could not have been spared this injury.
