Politics, and presidential politics in particular, is by and large a curious mixture of perception and reality. Never was this fact more in evidence (in retrospect) than in the presidency of John F. Kennedy.
President Kennedy may have been a knight in tarnished armor, but he was our knight, tarnished or not. The Camelot he created was a case of life imitating art; and America loved it (the notable exception being Dallas).
We all have our heroes. Some are worthy of that designation; some are not. Yet they all give us something that we desperately need in our lives: A vision of hope that this is how life can and should be lived.
President Kennedy gave us a glimpse of that hope. That we are all destined to lead our lives with the knowledge that we are put on this earth not to just be born, live and die — but with a purpose.
On the 50th anniversary of John Kennedy's assassination, let us pause to mourn the beguiling president who defined our hope for this country and the world; that was suddenly and violently taken from us on that terrible day in Dallas so long ago.
Bob Hendrick
Colonie