HOW DIFFERENT WOULD AMERICA AND OUR NATION'S HISTORY BE IF JFK HADN'T BEEN ASSASSINATED?

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     As a child, the memories of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy ring fondly in my mind. I was all of eight-and-a-half years old in the summer of 1963 when America's 35th president had scheduled a campaign rally at the airport in Columbus, Ohio. We - that is my mom, dad, younger sister, younger brother and I - moved to "The Buckeye State" from New York four years earlier.  On this day, though, we were overjoyed with excitement as we had hoped to meet the president of the United States.

     Air Force One was taxiing along the tarmac.  Dad was driving us in Mom's big, orange Oldsmobile 98 convertible as his Ford Thunderbird was a spiffy sports car, but not the most comfortable vehicle for five people, even with three toddlers.

     Our family had been looking forward to this day for weeks, but "Mother Nature" wasn't cooperating with our enthusiasm.  I sometimes wonder if she's a Republican.

     The weather forecast had called for heavy thunderstorms, but not until late in the afternoon or early evening.  However, meteorologists - more than half a century ago - didn't have the luxury of Doppler radar and other state-of-the-art equipment to aid in the prediction of the day's atmospheric conditions.  As such, when my family and I began our adventure to greet the president, the beautiful terrain that had been glowing all morning from bright yellow sunshine smiling down upon it...had suddenly taken on a somber look...and the majestic blue skies had dramatically transformed to a gloomy and ugly shade of gray.

     In between "Top 10" music by The Beach Boys and The Four Seasons, the rock 'n roll disc jockey on the car radio became the voice of displeasure and doom as he warned listeners who were headed out to Port Columbus International Airport...(now John Glenn Columbus International Airport)...to see JFK...may be disappointed because the summertime inclement weather was moving in to the state's capital city faster than had been expected.

     But the aforementioned "Mother Nature" can be fickle...and we hoped she'd drag her feet for awhile before crying a deluge of showers upon us.  Nevertheless, Dad pulled over to the side of the road to raise the top of the convertible so that a downpour of rain wouldn't bombard us from above.  And it was lucky Dad stopped when he did because in only a matter of minutes after the top was locked down, the heavens opened up.

     As we circled around the airport, our eyes were witness to a mass exodus of people who - like us - had dreamed of this day...even if it was to only get a glimpse of our commander-in-chief.

     But Dad had connections with the local Democratic Party office, so actually meeting President Kennedy was to be Mom and Dad's surprise for my sister, brother and me.  Disturbingly, thunder was booming, lightning was crackling, and the rain was pounding our car like bullets at a rifle range.  Traffic was building as cars were exiting the airport parking lots.  President Kennedy's rally had been officially canceled because of the bad weather.  Thousands of men, women, and children, who had prayed for a peek at the president...with the heartfelt hope of perhaps shaking his hand...had the air sucked out of them.

     Mom and Dad tried to cheer us up - and themselves too - by assuring my sister, brother and me that President Kennedy would probably reschedule the event before the election the following year.  But 1964 never came for this president.  As we all know...tragically...John F. Kennedy was assassinated, a few months later, on November 22nd, 1963.

     Growing up, my parents were Democrats.  Their political persuasion remains the same today.  For that reason, as a child, my perspective was that of a Democrat. But as I got older - especially in to my teens and early twenties - supporting Democratic candidates was not merely because that's what Mom and Dad did.  It was my choice...what I myself crafted as a result of my own liberal views.

     If you're asking whatever became of my sister and brother...Deborah is a Democrat...while Wayne is a staunch Republican.  As I am a self-proclaimed ultra-liberal progressive, my brother is a far-right conservative.  To say the least, we politically agree on absolutely nothing.  You may have read some of his comments, over the years, in response to my editorials, as he has debated the issues with me via The Controversy.  However, it's a politics-free zone whenever we get together.

     You may be asking yourself if there's a particular reason why I shared the aforementioned story with you about President Kennedy.  Today, May 29th, 2018 would have been JFK's 101st birthday.  Perhaps if I had thought of writing this column last year, it would have been more celebratory on the centennial anniversary of President Kennedy's birth.  But it's still a good time to pay tribute to a president of the United States who - despite such a close election against Richard Nixon in 1960 - Jack Kennedy ended up beloved by practically every person in America.  That's a refreshing statement considering the political climate we live in today where hatred - or at least aggressive dislike - is prevalent among Democrats and Republicans. The polarization in our country, in 2018, is so strong that it causes me to think whether a nation that identifies itself as "United" will ever have all its citizens "united" about anything.  

     Those of us who lived through it...painfully remember the tragedy of November 22nd, 1963...and the days that followed.  They were four of the darkest days in America's history.  Altogether, Americans were numb with disbelief.  Collectively, most every man, woman, boy and girl suffered the agonizing misery of a United States president who had been murdered.  I was seventy days shy of my ninth birthday, yet I - along with presumably millions of other children and their parents - wept at the announcement by CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite that President Kennedy was dead.  "From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official...President Kennedy died at 1 P.M. Central Standard Time, 2 o'clock Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago."

     Did you ever wonder what America would be like today if President Kennedy had not been assassinated on that fateful, crisp autumn day nearly fifty-five years ago? How different would our country and our nation's history be if JFK wasn't killed?

     A number of years ago, I hosted a live political talk radio show.  On one edition of that program, I asked the aforementioned two questions to my panel of commentators and my listeners.  

     Of course I don't have a crystal ball...and I certainly would never claim to be a swami.  But if President Kennedy had not been shot to death by Lee Harvey Oswald...what would the future have been like for the United States of America? And yes...until proven otherwise, all the conspiracy theories in the world are not going to change the fact that Oswald was the lone assassin who took the life of our president.  Unfortunately, when Jack Ruby shoved a gun into Oswald's belly...and he triggered a deadly bullet...it put an end to the world knowing Oswald's true motive for killing JFK.

     But think about it.  A slain President Kennedy may have changed our country in ways that none of us could ever imagine.  However, here are some thoughts that have crossed my mind over the years.

     I think about the Vietnam War.  President Harry S. Truman, in 1950, sent the first U.S. military advisers to Vietnam.  President Dwight D. Eisenhower continued in the same manner in 1955 and throughout the remainder of his two terms in The White House.  And President Kennedy, in May 1961, ordered four-hundred Green Berets overseas as "special advisers" to properly train South Vietnamese soldiers the technique of "counter-insurgency" in their war against Viet Cong guerillas.  Within the next two years, President Kennedy had increased the amount of military advisers in to the thousands, but none of those troops were "boots on the ground" fighters. However, on August 26th, 1963, the president met with his senior aides - and continued to do so for three days - in what has been described as "heated" debate over whether the United States should become involved in actual combat efforts or to completely withdraw all American advisers from Vietnam.  But less than one week later - on September 2nd, 1963 - in an interview with Walter Cronkite...President Kennedy remained committed to helping the South Vietnamese.  "If we withdrew from Vietnam, the Communists would control Vietnam.  Pretty soon, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaya...would go."  Truth to tell, prior to his assassination, JFK had sent more than 16-thousand advisory troops to Vietnam.  But when the conversation shifted, in 1965, from training and support to patrolling rice paddies, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched a plan to fight.  The 36th president issued a command to the U.S. Army for 3,500 combat troops to be deployed to Vietnam...and our battlefield involvement began in that southeast Asian country.  Over the next several years, LBJ expanded that number so it eventually totaled nearly one-half-million.  Thus, the question to ask is...would President Kennedy have acted in a similar fashion?  Would JFK have sent combat troops to Vietnam?  If not...58,220 U.S. servicemen from the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard would have not died in that military action.  But if President Kennedy had sent troops to fight in Vietnam... perhaps America might not have stayed there as long as we did under LBJ.

     Nobody expected Senator Barry Goldwater - the Republican nominee for president in 1964 - to win the election over President Kennedy.  It was a foregone conclusion that America would have been blessed until January 20th, 1969 with Jack Kennedy as our president.

     If President Kennedy hadn't been assassinated, it's possible that Vice President Johnson would have run for president in 1968. But, as did happen, Bobby Kennedy would have sought the Democratic nomination too.  As attorney general in his brother's administration, Robert F. Kennedy might have never represented the U.S. Senate from the state of New York.  And with his older brother, Jack, campaigning for him in his bid for the presidency...it's likely that RFK would have beaten Vice President Johnson - and all others - to win the Democratic nomination.  But only if President Kennedy was still alive.  Most historians are in agreement that Bobby Kennedy would have swept the remaining primaries after California...if Sirhan Sirhan hadn't assassinated him.  But without his big brother in his corner...some historians believe that since this was 1968 and not post 1972 - which was when Democrats reformed their primary process - that if RFK had lived...Democratic Party leaders may have still supported, as they did, the sitting Vice President, Hubert H. Humphrey.  And with President Johnson being the boss at the time...well...he wanted Humphrey.  After all, despite winning the popular vote in the primaries, Eugene McCarthy lost to Humphrey at the convention in Chicago, which ignited protests by delegates.  So the rules of 1968 may have kept Robert Kennedy from securing the nomination.  Or maybe not.  It's a matter that has been argued for fifty years...and historians will likely debate fifty years from now.  In reality, though, since President Johnson decided not to run for re-election...and RFK was mortally wounded...the Democratic Party's nominee was indeed Vice President Humphrey...who narrowly lost the election to Richard Nixon.  But what about Bobby's victory in the California primary?  In my "what if" scenario...with a living President Kennedy in 1968...Robert Kennedy - as the attorney general...and as the brother of a sitting president - would have had more protection...whereby the U.S. Secret Service might have prevented him from being shot on June 5th, 1968.  He died on June 6th.  And even if Richard Nixon was the GOP nominee that year...as I prognosticate in this concept of pretend and make-believe, Robert Kennedy would have triumphed...to be elected the 36th president of the United States.  Therefore, Nixon would have been defeated by two Kennedy brothers. 

     Without Richard Nixon as president...there would have been no Watergate...no "long national nightmare" - as President Gerald Ford called the impeachment proceedings and subsequent resignation of Nixon - which was the result of the Watergate scandal.
   

     But let's take this hypothetical fantasy one step further.  By 1976...after two terms with President John F. Kennedy and eight more years with President Robert F. Kennedy...it would have been Teddy's turn.  Oh I know what some of you are thinking.  There still would have been Mary Jo Kopechne and the automobile accident on the bridge in Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. To that I say...no there wouldn't be.  We will never know what really happened that July 18th, 1969...because now... both Kopechne and Kennedy are dead. Be that as it may, the likelihood of Edward M. Kennedy being at a party that night, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, is rather slim if his brother, Bobby, was sitting behind The Oval Office desk.  The party was a reunion celebration in honor of some of RFK's campaign workers.  But if Bobby Kennedy wasn't killed...but instead was president...there would have been no need for such a reunion.  And as the brother of a sitting president, Teddy wouldn't have been driving his own car...and no matter where he was...the Secret Service would have been with him. The bottom line is that Teddy Kennedy would have been able to run for president in 1976...and a victory in that November general election would have awarded him the title of 37th president of the United States...giving America a Kennedy trifecta.

     So just imagine... twenty-four years of Kennedys in The White House.  A Kennedy dynasty.  Our American "royal family." 

     Despite leading our country for a short period of time - a mere two years and ten months - Americans valued President Kennedy's thoughts and his ideals.  We treasured him as the epitome of what a perfect president should be...even with his human imperfections.

     The Kennedy legend lives on because many politicians - although it's not apparent from the Republican's choice in 2016 - still seek a desire to give their constituents a virtuous and conscientious candidate who will provide them with a wholesome environment for which to live.  Therefore, given the opportunity - if he had not been assassinated - President Kennedy's achievements would have been endless.

     John F. Kennedy embodied the hope of many generations.  He appealed to a wide spectrum of Americans who were not only mesmerized by his charismatic demeanor, his good humor, and his wit...but by his powerful leadership skills, his honest voice, his magnificent stature, and his passion to serve America.  We trusted that President Kennedy deeply cared about the citizens of our country in ways we knew would be beneficial to us as individuals...and that would be productive for us as a nation. When JFK...in an address to a joint session of Congress on May 25th, 1961...wholeheartedly expressed - "I believe that this nation should commit itself...to achieving the goal...before this decade is out...of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth." - he not only gave us confidence about space exploration...but he molded our spirits...so that if we set our minds to do anything...we could achieve it.  Four months earlier...we were captivated by his inauguration speech on January 20th, 1961, when President Kennedy energetically encouraged each and every American to "Ask not what your country can do for you...ask what you can do for your country."

     The United States has had presidents - some whose names were on The White House letterhead for eight years - who aren't as revered by Americans more than half a century later, as much as Jack Kennedy.  Why then is President Kennedy still so special?  It's not simply the glamour and charm that comes with the Kennedy mystique...or the fatherly love he had for Caroline and John-John...nor was it the aura of "Camelot" that aroused an image of a romantic fairy tale around Jackie and him.  Perhaps Americans' devotion to JFK include all those sentiments.  But most importantly, it's remembering a genuine faith that our country had in a president's abilities...and his integrity to do what truly was best for the people of our nation.

     More than five decades after his death, Americans widely hold President Kennedy in high esteem and salute him as one of our greatest presidents.  And whether that pedestal is lowered by historians...who tend to rank our political leaders - especially presidents - by only their accomplishments while in office...really isn't relevant. Instead...it's the dignified recognition, admiration and affection that the people of America have given Jack Kennedy that distinguishes him from all others.  Those individuals - like me - who cherish a president such as John F. Kennedy...do so...because President Kennedy was everything that a little boy...(or little girl)...envisioned when we dreamed about what an American president should be.

     John Fitzgerald Kennedy was president of the United States for 1,036 days.  But it only took a matter of seconds for one fatal bullet to end his presidency...and his life.  Therefore, what could have been...was stolen from him...and from us.

     How different would America and our nation's history be if President Kennedy hadn't been assassinated?  I guess we'll never really know for sure. 

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.

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Photo credits:  The White House Archives and TotallyHistory.com (former President John F. Kennedy #1), AlphaHistory.com and Pinterest (former Senator Robert F. Kennedy), United Press International/UPI (former Senator Edward M. Kennedy), Pinterest (The Three Kennedy Brothers), CSMonitor.com (former President John F. Kennedy #2) and Facebook (former President John F. Kennedy #3)

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