JFK and Jackie Caused the Mess We are In (Part 1)

Camelot…Camelot– the lyrics still sing in my memory. Like everyone else I was enchanted by JFK’s charm and intelligence. “Ask not what your country can do for you…” “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done…” Certain phrases grab you. They become part of who you are, songs you sing in your mind, words that calm you with belief in the depth of your convictions.

In our imagination, King Arthur and his royal court were the fairest and finest kingdom of all. JFK brought that to the White House. Touch football on the front lawn at Hyannis port, the entire family handsome, noble, unimaginably perfect–the Kennedys were America’s aristocracy. They were rich, unlike Truman, unlike Eisenhower who came from modest backgrounds. Their wealth was a virtue. Like the Roosevelts, they mixed with, they were part of Society, the best people at the very top, whose comings and goings were captured for us to share. Who was marrying whom, the distinguished family backgrounds of bride and groom deserved special mention. The middle class copied the practice, paid for wedding announcements and obituaries to appear not far from the society pages in the newspaper. It gave them a chance to proudly announce who the family presumed to be, share for a moment the spotlight the illustrious assumed they deserved. When the 60’s began, our state of mind was completely different than it is today. Yes, to those below, being part of Society signified exclusivity, snobbishness, preferred treatment, but that was perfectly fine. No one cared that King Arthur was king and not them. He inspired loyalty. We preferred him to lead and inspire us, as if who he was, was part of who we were.

Indeed, JFK and the other members of Camelot were held in higher esteem than the royalty of Great Britain. Queen Elizabeth and her family were starchy, plain Janes except for the title. Handsome John and Jackie were how royalty was supposed to look- like in Hollywood movies, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, Olivia De Havelland. They had ruled. The Kennedys took it from there. It was no longer just at the movies that our imagination could be captured. The Kennedys were real. Flesh and blood not celluloid.

In a quest to find the right hat, countless women spent countless hours sorting through feathers, lace, ribbons and bows. Jackie’s simple pill box hat immediately defined elegance. All across America, women retired their bonnets to the closet. JFK went one better. He didn’t wear a hat at all. That ended the hat industry forever. Every attempt at revival has failed.

Jackie wore cloth coats, not fur, not even a fur stole. She redecorated the White House. She brought in world class chefs. Beauty, fine taste, elegance, always simplicity–what the Kennedys chose defined how things were supposed to be. It was remarkable. Charisma, that was the word that suddenly appeared on everyone’s lips. No braggadocio. Just JFK’s quiet smile.

The Kennedys slipped into a hallowed stature beside Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Bing Crosby– without a fuss. Our vision of them didn’t come from generosity on our part. We relished their legendary status for what it returned, for what our esteem for them did for our own self-esteem. With the exception of Taylor Swift that kind of adoration has disappeared in America to the point where it now seems strange. So, it may have to be explained.

Adoration of people and institutions was once common. My mother was a secretary at Pfizer for 30 years, an executive secretary she always emphasized. Every weekday she dressed to the nines. Heat wave or blizzard, rain or shine, she took the Jewel Avenue bus to the subway where, without air conditioning, she was packed like a sardine on her trek to the city. Early in the morning she left and returned to Queens at night. Looking back, what seems amazing is that, at the time, the difficulty of her day never seemed to bother her. The opposite–sacrifice ennobled her. She seemed refreshed by her toils. The more she gave the more uplifted she became.

When she spoke of Pfizer her chest swelled. She was proud that her boss once told her that she did the work of ten men. She knew it was true. She was proud to be part of a corporation that was world-renowned. In her mind the greatness of Pfizer was an important part of her identity. Her contributions to its success, small as they might be, were evident to her. They had nothing to do with who she wanted to be. She knew they were who she already was. That satisfaction every night, crowded as the subway was, lifted her above the fray. She smiled to herself as she relived the day. All the work she had done, done well, using her intelligence. She was no dummy. Everyone who spoke to her knew it. As a school girl, when she travelled everyday on the subway from Hunter High to her Hebrew high school it made her father so proud that she now spoke and understood Hebrew. Hard work started then and simply continued at Pfizer. She had been blessed by her father’s pride in her. She carried it everywhere. It bathed her with confidence. That is how it was with the Kennedys. The more fantastic they appeared to us, the greater Americans became. Cheering bystanders, as the Kennedys motored past them, hoped for an electric moment, where their eyes might meet JFK’s. That would be forever, like an autograph. We didn’t have to make America great again. We were already there.

(To be continued-when I get to expanding this article the main point I want to make is that before the Kennedy era, when the national news was 15 minutes long, the goings on in Washington was nothing like what it is now where people believe what our politicians are up to has enormous importance in their own life)

New Years Eve,

2013

Plaza Street

Park Slope, Brooklyn

The Paradise that Wasn’t

Addendum: Have gone elsewhere for now but will return with part 2 and 3 which explains the title. I’m trying to understand why our politics have become a circus, why celebrities and Hollywood idiocy has become so exaggerated in our culture. Certainly the Kennedy’s were not aiming for this, but Camelot and what followed might explain where we are.