It was 47 years ago today that the country came to a screeching halt. Almost like the Earth stopped spinning on its axis, Americans abruptly stopped whatever they were doing and glued themselves to the nearest television set, straining to hear Walter Cronkite deliver the news that would devastate a nation: President John F. Kennedy had been fatally shot in Dallas.
Yet as the storm clouds passed over this country, the inevitable silver lining appeared — united in mourning, the country grew closer. For a short time, the nation put aside partisan politics to collectively comfort each other. Whether it was strangers who huddled around a storefront television, offices that comforted co-workers in grief (as a Mad Men episode interestingly illustrated) or families who sat on the couch and held each other close, there was a bonding that took place that day, a day when people let down their guard and supported each other — whether they were Democrat, Republican or something else all together.
In other words, there’s a reason people never forget what they were doing that day — and I believe that memory lasted not only because of the shock of the news, but because of the reaction afterward.
In the days that followed, people continued to comfort one another, and be comforted by the images around them, including Jackie Kennedy stoically marching behind her husband’s casket and John F. Kennedy Jr.’s sweet and touching salute.
Yes, what happened in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963 was tragic, but the response to it was heartening. Today, as we experience such partisanship in politics, perhaps we can think back to that time, and try to capture some of that togetherness — tragedy not included.
Photo by Abbie Rowe via Wikimedia Commons.