Keegan 1

Tyler Keegan

Mrs. Erwin

English 1302

24 April 2014

The Meteoric Impact of the Kennedy Assassination

A chilly breeze sways across a Dallas street on a crisp November afternoon. People

eagerly huddle next to the road to get a view of the pageantry. One of those people, a

shopkeeper, beams as a limousine rolls by. Inside the limousine, a man smiles and waves. He

appears to make eye contact with the shopkeeper. Then, out of nowhere, the joy dissipates into

confusion. Gunshots ring out. For an eerie moment there is nothing but silence. Then, horrified

shrieks pierce the air. The shopkeeper looks up to the motorcade to see the mans face

transformed into a bloody pulp. It takes a second to sink in. Then, horrified realization beckons

over the shopkeeper. The president is dead. Only then does he realize that this singular moment

will transform the lives of all Americans. The despair and sadness that cloaked the Kennedy

assassination can be felt through the writing, film, and artwork of a grief-stricken nation.

President John F. Kennedy put influence over the media at the top of his agenda in the

speech The President and the Press, delivered only months before he was shot. In this speech,

Kennedy attempts to persuade journalists to stop at nothing in their quest for truth. During the

Cold War, Communism and Marxism are rampant throughout American society. Kennedy

identifies these ideals as toxic to the foundation of democracy. Kennedy uses a sense of

urgency to appeal to the listener. He needs prominent figures to lead, mold, educate and

sometimes even anger public opinion. The speech is a call to arms for America, a catalyst to

become better at being what we were born to be: free and independent. The use of strong tone
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words like danger and threat captures the severity of the situation and scares the listener into

changing his or her ways and following Kennedys suggestions.

The President and the Press creates a feeling of turmoil for Americans, which in turn

sparks many changes throughout society. The most prominent change is a new sense of anti-

communism propaganda. Kennedy beckons to journalists that an error does not become a

mistake until you refuse to correct it. This engenders a new standard in which journalism

becomes much more credible and well researched than ever before. Kennedy tells the listener

that there is a time to inform, a time to reflect, and a time to arouse. Kennedys radical

stances leave the listener either in agreement or in shock. The latter is a major factor causing his

assassination.

The best documentation of the assassination is a video shot by amateur filmmaker

Abraham Zapruder referred to as The Zapruder Film. It chronicles President Kennedy being

shot, offering a rare and powerful glimpse into the tragedy that occurred November 22, 1963.

The Zapruder Film is a powerful firsthand account of the shots that took the life of Kennedy as

well as the chaos that ensued. The viewer of Zapruders film feels both stunned as well as

grotesque. The video illuminates many aspects of the assassination. It also leaves many questions

unanswered. It is impossible to distinguish how many shots were fired or where the bullets came

from. Any conspiracy theories are only further enflamed by the video and Zapruder undoubtedly

helped provide access to anyone who was not present that day. This allowed all viewers to make

speculation about actually happened, whether it be through writing, film, or artwork.

Poetry from the Kennedy assassination gives the most impactful statement about the pain

felt by Americans. In the poem Kaleidoscope of an Assassination in Black And White, Floyd

Salas gives a chilling account of the turmoil felt after John F. Kennedy was killed. The poem
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skillfully contrasts how the tone of the day instantaneously went from joyful to sinister with the

cry of a gunshot (lines 11-15). The poem also creates many dualities such as the stain of blood

in comparison to a bouquet of roses (17, 43). The diction Salas uses is unique and vivid.

Reading the phrases lead coughs and his head explodes to describe a beloved man being

brutally shot adds another dimension, almost as though the reader is present to hear the sights

and sounds (5-6).

Salas somber reflection is a sincere example of how the assassination impacted

Americans as a whole. Colorful adjectives such as skidding tires and frocked priest go the

extra mile by creating real life parallels with the reader (33). The human emotional element of

tragedy is something that is explored by many works of literature, yet it is even more significant

in this poem. Salas directly relates to the reader with spittle on his lips and a half-eaten chicken

(line 27). This allows the reader to emotionally connect with elements in the poem that he or she

can relate sadness to.

When looking at an overview of the Kennedy assassination one can easily focus on the

negative aspects instead of delving deeper to find the positives. In the article Covering the JFK

Assassination Changed the Careers of Many News Journalists, author Andrea Gallo informs the

reader of positive journalistic careers that were sparked by Kennedys murder. She interviews

five accomplished journalists who all testify that their great accomplishments were inspired by

what happened that fateful day in Dealey Plaza (Gallo).

Gallo uses a sense of danger as well as nostalgia to reenact the event and describe it to

readers using many different vantage points. The story begins with they heard shots ring out,

saw President John F. Kennedys hair fly up from his head and ran through the streets looking

for answers. The reader can almost feel the sense of danger and uncertainty that the subjects
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must have experienced at the time. Gallo asserts that the journalists fearless actions were put to

the test during these crucial moments. The reader feels admiration towards the cool while

under pressure mentality of the five subjects. Regardless of what ventures they pursued,

covering the assassination changed their careers by opening many doors and pointing them

to where they should go.

Not only do the life changing effects of the Kennedy assassination appear in articles,

videos, and poems, but they also show up in artwork. The New Museum at the John F. Kennedy

Library by Andrew Rotter is a gripping report about the Kennedy Presidential Museum. The

architecture of the museum purposefully evokes small town Americ. (Rotter). This appeals to

the visitors emotion with a sense of familiarity that enhances his or her experience. The

traditionalist values of Kennedy withstand the tests of time, much like his death itself. The

museum also offers an ode to the life of Kennedy by contextualizing photos of Kennedy and

grouping them together with other people relevant to Kennedys life. The authors account of

the many sections of the museum devoted to parts of Kennedys life such as the Cuban Missile

Crisis, Space Program, and Cold War, gives the reader insight into the man whose death ignited

a firestorm.

President Kennedy was a beloved figure who sought what was best for the country over

what was best for him. He stated that the United States should reexamine the nature of our

countries peril (Kennedy). Memories of the day of Kennedys death remain unblemished

through the years. A sirens scream and a childs cry still remains stuck in the minds of people

who witnessed it (Salas 16). The magnificent impact of Kennedy can be seen throughout the

nation by the steady stream of love and praise that came pouring out of many news outlets. The

shattering stills of black and white that flashed across T.V. screens across America helped
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relay the messages that Kennedy had delivered during his life so that he would not be forgotten.

(Salas 32) The use of mass media like this ensured the words of Kennedy did not die with his

body.

Many studies performed during the Kennedy period proved to be vitally important, such

as that conducted by Judith Saravay in the article From Bright Ideas to Social Research: Studies

of the Kennedy Assassination. Saravay polls a critical group of scientists who actually

conducted social studies on Kennedy as well as a control group of scientists who did not

pursue any research on the topic. These two groups are then divided into high knowledge and

low knowledge. High knowledge researchers are those who would still do their research even

if it their data could not be published. In the low knowledge group, rather than performing

research principally for the sake of acquiring knowledge, they are concerned with the external

rewards they will receive (Saravay 255). This callousness evokes some anger in the reader. Had

Kennedy still been alive, the reader can assume that he would be disappointed by this lack of

ethics.

Traces of Kennedys death can be found in films and pop culture as well. Barbara

Zelizers article entitled Shooting Kennedy: JFK and the Culture of Images by David M. Lubin;

The Zapruder Film: Reframing JFKs Assassination by David R. Wrone focuses on how images

of Kennedy have come to shape both the life and death of the president. Much of what we

remember about the president contains both elements of fiction and nonfiction (Zelizer 1087).

Zelizer condenses the Zapruder Film into a video that stirred up controversy and created

conspiracy theories that still bear weight to this day (1088). Conspiracy theories of the Kennedy

assassination captivated numerous citizens across the country. At one point 72% of Americans

believed that the assailant Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone (Saravay 260).
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Shooting Kennedy relates to the reader by drawing logical, relatable connections between

Kennedy and popular figures and movies. The article groups Kennedy with the likes of Elizabeth

Taylor and Marilyn Monroe. The comparison of well-known celebrities appeals to a wider

demographic than just Kennedy the politician would. The author also creates a strand of several

movies such as Lawrence of Arabia and Minutemen in order to tie the president to various

outputs of media that seemingly have little in common. The article also poignantly reminds the

reader how much memories of Kennedy can still hold true to this day (Zelizer 1087).

The assassination of John F. Kennedy was a tragedy that momentarily put the nation in

shambles. People across the nation could not believe that the president had been killed by a

dum-dum shot! (Salas 5). Dealey Plaza, The Book Depository, and even Dallas as a whole

become veiled by hate and criminality. People living in Dallas during that time remember how

every time they talked with someone from out of town about it, they would be asked about the

murder as if they were personally involved (Gallo). Memory is a like a motion picture for

many, and as the years pass they still can remember the exact time and place they were when

they found out (Salas 17). The horrifying truth about a country that was on the brink of war, is

that it took losing someone important to realize that certain standards needed to be changed.

A fateful November day transformed the lives of many people. A modest dressmaker by

the name of Abraham Zapruder became immortalized when he captured haunting images of

bullets riddling the body of the beloved president. Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner,

summoned the anger of millions of people when he shot Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who killed

Kennedy. However, the most important person whose life was changed by the event was the

shopkeeper: the typical American man or woman who had come to know and love the leader of

their country. Many people had never experienced this type of anguish before, so when Kennedy
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was killed, a new wave of realization swept over the country. The Kennedy assassination

provoked various emotions, and it is important to express these emotions in order to illuminate

this tragedy. Ultimately, the death of Kennedy showed the world that it was possible to stay

unified in the face of heartbreak. This unification is something that all Americans must

remember when a similar situation inevitably arises.

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Works Cited

Gallo, Andrea. Covering the JFK Assassination Changed the Careers of Many News

Journalists. Dallas Morning News. Dallas Morning News, 28 Sep. 2013. Web. 21 Feb.

2014.

Kennedy, John F. President and the Press. Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York, NY. 27 Apr.

1961. JFKlibrary.org. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.

Rotter, Andrew. New Museum at the John F. Kennedy Library. The Journal of American

History 86.1 (1996): 162-66. JSTOR. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.

Salas, Floyd. Kaleidoscope of an Assassination in Black And White. Floydsalas.com.

Floydsalas.com, 1963. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

Saravay, Judith. From Bright Ideas to Social Research: Studies of the Kennedy Assassination.

The Public Opinion Quarterly. 31.2 (Summer, 1967): 253-64. JSTOR. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.

Zapruder, Abraham. The Zapruder Film. YouTube. YouTube, 15 Apr. 2008. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.

Zelizer, Barbie. Shooting Kennedy: JFK and the Culture of Images by David M. Lubin; The

Zapruder Film: Reframing JFKs Assassination by David R. Wrone. The Journal of

American History 91.3 (2004): 1087-88. JSTOR. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.