Dwain Northey (Gen X)

On Nov. 22, 1963, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite battled to hold his emotions in check as he read a wire service report and looked up at the clock in a New York studio and he announced that President Kennedy had “died at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time.”

I was not born yet but the reverberations and conspiracy theories of that bad day on Deely Plaza in Dallas are still in the lexicon of Americans. Americas Camelot was destroyed on that fateful day and a generation could tell you where they were when they heard the announcement. Presidents had been assassinated prior to Kennedy, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, but does anyone who is not a historian know the dates prior to Kennedy? I know Lincolns assassination was on April 20,1865 but I would have to look up Garfield and McKinley to even get close on the year they were assassinated.

The Kennedy assassination changed that way the Secret Service protects that President, you will never again see a President winding through a crowd in an open convertible. Now Presidents have a highly armored limo or SUV to transport them to and from events, secret service arrives day before the event to secure the area and those within spitting distance of the President to thoroughly vetted.

The big historical question is what would have been different in JFK lived and served a second term? JFK promised to stimulate the economy, pursue legislation to lower taxes, protect the unemployed, increase the minimum wage, and energize the business and housing sectors. Kennedy believed these measures would launch an economic boom that would last until the late 1960s. What did LBJ do in his stead, Johnson expanded upon the New Deal with the Great Society, a series of domestic legislative programs to help the poor and downtrodden. After taking office, he won passage of a major tax cut, the Clean Air Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After the 1964 election, Johnson passed even more sweeping reforms.

So LBJ did expand to JFKs vision, but would Kennedy have had the Great Society and Civil Right reforms brought about by Johnson? Those are all questions that can only be hypothesized but never answered in this timeline. Would there have been a Kennedy dynasty, first John then Robert and possibly Teddy and later on John Jr.? Still question that we can only theorize.

The JFK assassination storyline of moves and books for the past 60 years and John F Kennedys legacy will live on as long as the stories are told.

The Boomer generation will forever remember where they were on 11/22/63 just like Generation X will always know where they were on 9/11/2001.Watershed moments that will never be forgotten.