I was in 8th grade math class in East Los Angeles, when a girl came in and whispered something to Mr. Thompson, our teacher. He then, visibly shaken, announced that the president had been assassinated. FOr the next several days, my family huddled around the black and white TV, watching the surreal events unfold in front of us, from LBJ taking the oath of office to Jack Ruby shooting Oswald to the body lying in state to the funeral. I will never forget those days.

Wonder what type of President he would have been had he lived? The media was very different back then and secrets were kept. My uncle worked for the NY Daily Post as a reporter during that time and he said there was a gentlemen's agreement between the White House and the press not to report Kennedy's penchant for women. We'll never know. I guess the day he was assassinated, troops started to fly home from Vietnam. Which, of course, immediately stopped. Raises a lot of questions. We'll just never know what could have been.

I was a little elementary school kid in 2nd grade. We were told when we got on the bus to go home, nothing announced to us during class. We didn't understand the magnitude. The bus was about to roll & one of my neighbors was, as usual, acting up loudly. Our driver, the gentlest man in the universe named Mickey, leaped up, whirled around, pointed at the obnoxious kid & shouted, "Evans, SHUT UP!" It was only then we realized the seriousness. Nobody spoke the rest of the ride home.
Thanks for asking, DaveG. I'll never forget that day.

A memorable and very sad weekend for this country and those who lived through it. These days many like to take shots at Kennedy and his legacy, but the man and family had star power in spades and could give a speech that inspired both in content and delivery. I recommend readings his speeches and pondering a better world. I did not recognize it then, but all the issues he addressed are with us in politics today. Here is a little gem from the inaugural address:

"...let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure..."

Hear that Koch brothers?

But when it is all said and done it was King's and Bobby's deaths that really hurt and sickened when you realized something was really wrong in this country. Altamont the end of the '60's (whatever that means)? No, I think it was Bobby's death and the election of Nixon (and later Reagan finished it for a generation).

I was in the 3rd grade in Virginia. We had just come off of the playground, and our teacher told us about the shooting, and that we had a radio on in the school's main office. Not one TV in the entire school in those days.

We took our bathroom break, and I was standing in the door of the classroom with my teacher, when a 1st grade teacher told us that JFK was dead.

Oddly enough, that 1st grade teacher was my wife's teacher. She was in a classroom down the hall. Imagine how many times over those years that we passed each other in the hallway, cafeteria, library, etc., and we were destined to get married and have two sons.

Missed Oswald's live shooting because my dad was a preacher. We were always the last to leave the church. Mom and I were upstairs changing out of our church clothes when my dad came tearing up the stairs like a bull elephant, shouting, "They shot him, they shot Osawld!" Then, we saw the replays about 50 times that afternoon. Everything about that entire weekend seemed upside down. I remember being in my bed at night and being so scared.

The Beatles, the Stones, and all of the British Invasion bands would have been big in the USA no matter what. However, JFK's assassination took what would have been a "big" event to outright hysteria. We were so hungry for something new, and fun, and young, and those first few notes of "All My Loving" on the Ed Sullivan Show was like a big exhale.

As John Fogerty wrote so well:

We gathered round to hear the sound coming on the little screen
The grief had passed, the old men laughed, and all the girls screamed
Cause four guys from England took us all by the hands
It was time to laugh, time to sing, time to join the band

Quote
pmk251
A memorable and very sad weekend for this country and those who lived through it. These days many like to take shots at Kennedy and his legacy, but the man and family had star power in spades and could give a speech that inspired both in content and delivery. I recommend readings his speeches and pondering a better world. I did not recognize it then, but all the issues he addressed are with us in politics today. Here is a little gem from the inaugural address:

"...let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure..."

Hear that Koch brothers?

But when it is all said and done it was King's and Bobby's deaths that really hurt and sickened when you realized something was really wrong in this country. Altamont the end of the '60's (whatever that means)? No, I think it was Bobby's death and the election of Nixon (and later Reagan finished it for a generation).

I can't help but think about Kennedy's 1961 Inaugural Address (ask not what your country can do for you....) and the show-stopper, if you will, was MLK's I Have a Dream Speech. The sixties were very volatile for sure, but I love listening to the music from back then and looking at the pictures...especially of the hippies and flower children. Well, back to Kennedy, he wasn't in power that long to really judge how effective he was or what he could have been and achieve. The Kennedy's sure had star power (not so much anymore). I guess they're the US's royal family of sorts. When John, John died in the plane crash on his way to his cousin's wedding (glad Jackie O. wasn't alive to witness that) and Teddy Kennedy died a few years ago; there's no one truly interesting left except for Caroline. Some of the cousins, the surviving ones that is, are kind of messed up and troubled.

As far as Altamont is concerned, too much is made of it really. It's a fallacy to think that concert marked the end of the sixties. It was nothing more than a grossly mismanaged rock concert and, if any lessons were to be learned, don't have the stage flush with the audience, and please don't invite the Hell's Angels to your party. Bad things will surely follow, and they certainly did. As you pointed out, there were many elements that spelled doom for the sixties.

Then the seventies came and so did Disco!!!

9 years old almost 10......just got home from roller skating.....find my mother crying at home ....Kennedy is just killed can't remember if I knew JFK but I was sad too, because my mother was...

__________________________

It was big news even for a 9 years old living in Sweden I remember..

Quote
Mongoose
I was in the 3rd grade in Virginia. We had just come off of the playground, and our teacher told us about the shooting, and that we had a radio on in the school's main office. Not one TV in the entire school in those days.

We took our bathroom break, and I was standing in the door of the classroom with my teacher, when a 1st grade teacher told us that JFK was dead.

Oddly enough, that 1st grade teacher was my wife's teacher. She was in a classroom down the hall. Imagine how many times over those years that we passed each other in the hallway, cafeteria, library, etc., and we were destined to get married and have two sons.

Missed Oswald's live shooting because my dad was a preacher. We were always the last to leave the church. Mom and I were upstairs changing out of our church clothes when my dad came tearing up the stairs like a bull elephant, shouting, "They shot him, they shot Osawld!" Then, we saw the replays about 50 times that afternoon. Everything about that entire weekend seemed upside down. I remember being in my bed at night and being so scared.

The Beatles, the Stones, and all of the British Invasion bands would have been big in the USA no matter what. However, JFK's assassination took what would have been a "big" event to outright hysteria. We were so hungry for something new, and fun, and young, and those first few notes of "All My Loving" on the Ed Sullivan Show was like a big exhale.

As John Fogerty wrote so well:

We gathered round to hear the sound coming on the little screen
The grief had passed, the old men laughed, and all the girls screamed
Cause four guys from England took us all by the hands
It was time to laugh, time to sing, time to join the band

saw Oswald's shooting live....

Quote
Bellajane

Quote
pmk251
A memorable and very sad weekend for this country and those who lived through it. These days many like to take shots at Kennedy and his legacy, but the man and family had star power in spades and could give a speech that inspired both in content and delivery. I recommend readings his speeches and pondering a better world. I did not recognize it then, but all the issues he addressed are with us in politics today. Here is a little gem from the inaugural address:

"...let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure..."

Hear that Koch brothers?

But when it is all said and done it was King's and Bobby's deaths that really hurt and sickened when you realized something was really wrong in this country. Altamont the end of the '60's (whatever that means)? No, I think it was Bobby's death and the election of Nixon (and later Reagan finished it for a generation).

I can't help but think about Kennedy's 1961 Inaugural Address (ask not what your country can do for you....) and the show-stopper, if you will, was MLK's I Have a Dream Speech. The sixties were very volatile for sure, but I love listening to the music from back then and looking at the pictures...especially of the hippies and flower children. Well, back to Kennedy, he wasn't in power that long to really judge how effective he was or what he could have been and achieve. The Kennedy's sure had star power (not so much anymore). I guess they're the US's royal family of sorts. When John, John died in the plane crash on his way to his cousin's wedding (glad Jackie O. wasn't alive to witness that) and Teddy Kennedy died a few years ago; there's no one truly interesting left except for Caroline. Some of the cousins, the surviving ones that is, are kind of messed up and troubled.

As far as Altamont is concerned, too much is made of it really. It's a fallacy to think that concert marked the end of the sixties. It was nothing more than a grossly mismanaged rock concert and, if any lessons were to be learned, don't have the stage flush with the audience, and please don't invite the Hell's Angels to your party. Bad things will surely follow, and they certainly did. As you pointed out, there were many elements that spelled doom for the sixties.

Then the seventies came and so did Disco!!!

we enjoyed dancing disco...

Quote
pmk251
A memorable and very sad weekend for this country and those who lived through it. These days many like to take shots at Kennedy and his legacy, but the man and family had star power in spades and could give a speech that inspired both in content and delivery. I recommend readings his speeches and pondering a better world. I did not recognize it then, but all the issues he addressed are with us in politics today. Here is a little gem from the inaugural address:

"...let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure..."

Hear that Koch brothers?

But when it is all said and done it was King's and Bobby's deaths that really hurt and sickened when you realized something was really wrong in this country. Altamont the end of the '60's (whatever that means)? No, I think it was Bobby's death and the election of Nixon (and later Reagan finished it for a generation).

Who exactly are "the strong" and who "the weak"? Maybe it's just the other way round.

I'm right there with you DaveG except I was only in the first grade but other than that pretty well the same scene. Heard about it in class and the teacher brought in a radio so we could listen in to all the latest news reports. I doubt I really understood what it meant to be the president of the United States at 6 yr's old but I'd seen him on tv and knew he was a very big deal. I remember feeling really sad about the whole thing and it was probably my first experiance with the finility of death. Never have forgotten the feelings of those days and wasn't it sad seeing that little boy salute his dead Dad on tv that one awful day?

Quote
Mongoose

The Beatles, the Stones, and all of the British Invasion bands would have been big in the USA no matter what. However, JFK's assassination took what would have been a "big" event to outright hysteria. We were so hungry for something new, and fun, and young, and those first few notes of "All My Loving" on the Ed Sullivan Show was like a big exhale.

I think they would have been big, but had Kennedy lived I don't think they would have had as big of a cultural impact. Like you said America was waiting for something new and fresh by February 1964. The Beatles were that, but if Kennedy had lived America wouldn't have been looking for the youth and vitality that the Beatles brought and I suspect they would have been viewed as something great musically, but little else.

<The Beatles, the Stones, and all of the British Invasion bands would have been big in the USA no matter what. However, JFK's assassination took what would have been a "big" event to outright hysteria. We were so hungry for something new, and fun, and young, and those first few notes of "All My Loving" on the Ed Sullivan Show was like a big exhale.>

Yes, I think The Beatles were a well timed and welcome breath of fresh air: positive, smart and talented (and as well stated...young and fun). Some things just happen at the right time. The ground swell of the '60's started with Kennedy and The Beatles put it into turbo charge.