Today is Dallas Day. I was in Navy boot camp at the time. But that is not my JFK memory.
Mine was some years earlier. I was living in Omaha and going to High School (Omaha Central). It was election night 1960. I was staying up late (probably around midnight, if I recall correctly) listening to WGN on my radio (a tube type console job – transistor radios were not prevalent). Listening to the election returns.
There was a report of missing ballot boxes – that was the reason the count from Chicago was taking so long. And then the boxes showed up. The final count gave Kennedy a win. I was thrilled – even though I was pretty sure there was shenanigans. I liked Kennedy. I hated Nixon.
But for sure, Kennedy (his father actually) stole the election. I still like Kennedy. I still hate Nixon – wage and price controls? From a “Republican”? Puhleeze.
And Nixon’s War On the Leftist Hippies – AKA the War On Drugs? Well – it is 40 some years on and finally starting to end. About time.
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One response to “Celebrating Kennedy”
Yesterday I ran across the full text of JFK’s never-delivered speech from Dallas. It was like reading a Reagan speech, full of cold war saber rattling, with tax cuts thrown in to boot.