(11-22-2013, 04:25 PM)HellJacket Wrote: Cynicism is a good thing. However, considering he was the fourth U.S. president assassinated, I don't see the big deal about him dying. Did the United States lose its innocence when Lincoln or Garfield got shot?
Ah, but there are some reasons for why this matters more to people today.
No one around now remembers Lincoln or Garfield dying when they were younger. McKinley is also very distant to most people now (1901 was just barely out of the 1800s) and those born in the 19th century who are around today were probably too young to remember that. Kennedy's death happened within living memory. People who were there (and by "there", I mean alive) when he died are still around now. Baby Boomers and so on.
Also factor in television bringing the US presidency into the living room (so to speak) and around the world, the footage of the actual event existing, that the Cold War was in full swing, the fact that his brother was also assassinated not long after, and the myth of a "curse" surrounding the Kennedys, and you have your answer as to why this is a big deal. Since it was also the 1960s, people probably didn't exactly expect something like that to happen in the 20th century US because life wasn't the American Frontier but more "civilized".
Plus, you know, murder is pretty much always a big deal.
"I can feed the caterpillar, I can whisper through the chrysalis, but what hatches follows its own nature and is beyond me."
-- Hannibal (TV show)
-- Hannibal (TV show)