James Monroe

Richmond, VA          Visited September 1998

James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States and the last of the Founding Fathers to ascend to the nation’s highest office.  Revolutionary War veteran, Founding Father, senator, governor, diplomat, Secretary of State – there may have been no president in history better qualified to occupy the nation’s highest office.  

James Monroe was born into a wealthy Virginia plantation family in 1758.  His parents died when he was in his teens and he wound up enrolling at the College of William and Mary in 1774.  Williamsburg was a hotbed for revolutionary sentiment and Monroe found himself caught up in it.  James and some friends raided the Governor’s Palace and stole a cache of muskets and swords to the fledgling Virginia Militia.

"Washington Crossing the Delaware" by Emanuel Leutze - James Monroe is holding the flag.

 With the outbreak of the war James Monroe enlisted in the Continental Army, soon joining George Washington’s army in New York.  He proved himself an able soldier and was severely wounded leading a charge on a cannon in the Battle of Trenton (December 26, 1776).  Following his recovery Monroe was promoted to major, and he later served as a colonel in the Virginia Militia through the end of the war. 
  

James Monroe had developed a relationship with Thomas Jefferson during the war and after Independence joined Jefferson’s law practice.  He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1783.  During the Congress, he met his future wife Elizabeth and, a year later the 27-year-old James and the 17-year-old Elizabeth were married.  The couple moved to Fredericksburg, VA where James set up a law practice.  The Monroe’s ultimately had three children.

Inauguration of James Monroe

In 1788, Monroe was named as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.  He voted against ratification because the document lacked a Bill of Rights, which was, of course, later added.  He was appointed to the US Senate from Virginia, but in 1794 was sent by President Washington as Minister to France, only to be recalled in 1797.  He served three years as Governor of Virginia and then, in 1803, was sent back to France by President Jefferson to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase.  He later served as minister to England, returning to the States to run for president in the 1808 election.  He was easily defeated by James Madison, but was later asked by Madison to serve as secretary of state.  Monroe held this office during the War of 1812 and organized the evacuation of Washington prior to the British attack on the city.  After two terms, Madison declined to run again for the presidency and Monroe easily won election in 1816.

 

Official White House portrait by Samuel Morse

James Monroe entered the presidency at the time of greatest national stability and prosperity of any president up that time.  He was universally popular and, because of significant travel, was remarkably well known throughout the country.  The major event in his first term was the complicated political and constitutional arrangement that became known as the Missouri Compromise.  The Compromise was an attempt to resolve the first sectional dispute over slavery since the Constitution was ratified.  It was in essence a trade-off of the admission of Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state with an agreement to keep free/slave state balances in the years to come.  In the long term, the compromise didn’t resolve the slavery issue.  It took the Civil War to do that.    

James apparently selling his Monroe Doctrine

James Monroe has the distinction of being the only president to run un-opposed for the office (due to the lack of an organized opposition party) and he won what amounts to a second term by acclamation in 1820.  The biggest event of Monroe’s second term became known as the Monroe Doctrine.  Concerned with the threat of European countries (including Russia) re-colonizing the Western Hemisphere, President Monroe used his 1823 Congressional Address to declare that the United States would consider any invasive action by a European Power in the Western Hemisphere to be an attack on American interests.  The US government had no real means to enforce the doctrine, but it happened to coincide with British interests and the British Navy served as the practical enforcement agents of the policy.

A history of Monroe's presidency.  Also check out a Disney version of Monroe's life  here

Portrait of the President in retirement

Like his predecessors, James Monroe declined the opportunity to run for a third term as president.  He left office in 1824 with significant personal debt and retired to his home of Oak Hill, VA.  His wife Elizabeth passed away in 1830 and James moved to New York City to live with his children.  His health did not sustain and, on July 4, 1831, he died in New York at the age of 73.  James Monroe is the third of the first five presidents to die on Independence Day.  He was initially buried in New York City, but was later moved to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA. 

 

Gilbert Stuart Portrait of Second Term Presidency

James Monroe is usually ranked in the top ten presidents by those who do those sorts of things.  His presidency in many ways signaled the end of the colonial era of American history.  He was by all accounts a bright and capable leader who built consensus and worked often with the opposition in the pursuit of what he felt would be the national interest.  His mentor Thomas Jefferson said of his protégé,

'Monroe was so honest that if you turned his soul inside out there would not be a spot on it.'

 

I visited Hollywood Cemetery with my family as part of a two-day trip to Richmond on our way to a beach holiday.  I didn’t even know Monroe was buried in the Cemetery when I went.  I just saw an unusual wrought-iron crypt as I was driving through the cemetery and checked it out.  Hollywood Cemetery is a must see for anyone interested in Civil War history in the Richmond area.     

Wilson Pickett

Louisville, Kentucky.  Visited October 2011

 



There are times when I step back and consider this odd hobby I have and think, ‘are you nuts?’  This post comes from one of those times.  I didn’t think a visit to the final resting place of my favorite soul singer would be very unnerving.  I was wrong. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wilson Pickett was born March 18, 1941 in Prattville, Alabama.  He was the fourth of eleven children.  In his later years, Pickett described a family home terrorized by an abusive mother.  Barely into his teenage years, he moved to Detroit to live with his father.  At age 14 in Detroit, Pickett began to sing in a Gospel choir.  Four years later, like many black singers of his era, he moved from traditional Gospel singing to a more commercial rhythm and blues style, which was the precursor of soul music.  In 1961, he signed on with a relatively successful R&B group, the Falconers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early performances

Pickett began to distinguish himself as a soloist and a songwriter and within couple of years was trying to make it as a solo act.  He connected with Atlantic Records and pitched a song he co-wrote called “If You Need Me”.  However, without Pickett’s knowledge the song was passed along to the already established Solomon Burke.  It became one of Burke’s greatest hits and a soul standard.  However, on the strength of this song and his singing talent, Wilson Pickett signed with Atlantic in 1964. 

 

It was a recording session at the legendary Stax Recording Studio in Memphis that really launched Wilson Pickett’s career.  Jamming with the studio band (the equally legendary “MG”s including Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper); the singer and musicians came up with the groove and structure of “In the Midnight Hour”.  It became Pickett’s first No. 1 R&B single and peaked at 21 on the pop charts.  Over time, the song has settled into the pantheon of all-time hits. 

Wilson Pickett backed up by Jimi Hendrix

 

Most of Wilson Pickett’s best-known hits come from his Stax period. It was also at Stax that he acquired his nickname “Wicked Pickett”.  While the record company most likely gave it to him for marketing purposes, the name unfortunately tended to describe the singer’s private life.  Throughout his career, Wilson Pickett battled alcohol and drug issues and was arrested at various times for violence-related offenses.  As a performer, however, he became one of the iconic soul/R&B artists of his era.  While most of his success came in the Sixties and early Seventies, Pickett create music and perform into the early 2000s, with several minor hits even in his later years.

 

Pickett and Duane Allman

 

While he has not attained the status of some of his contemporaries who worked with Motown, Wilson Pickett’s signature vocal style, dynamic live performances and ability to write many of his biggest hits have given him a prominent place in pop music history.  In 1999, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  He continued to perform through the 90’s, retiring due to health concerns in 2004.  Wilson Pickett died of a heart attack in Reston, Virginia on January 19, 2006.  He was laid to rest in a mausoleum at Evergreen Cemetery in Louisville, KY, where he had family in the later part of his life.



 

Seventies Pickett

Here are my five favorite Wilson Pickett songs

FIVE:   Hey Jude (1968)’.  It’s pretty gutsy to record an iconic Beatles song but Pickett pulls of a nice R&B groove.  And the song has great guitar work by Duane Allman. 

FOUR:  Land of 1000 Dances (1966).  This is just full tilt Sixties dance/party music.  The clip here is a great G concert version from a 1971 show in Africa. 

THREE:  Mustang Sally (1966).  Killer groove.  This live version shows you how good R&B can flat out rock. 

TWO:   Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You (1971).  Pickett recorded this at TSOP in Philly.  It was the first Wilson Pickett song I remember ever hearing.  Caught a sixth grader’s attention and stayed with him.

ONE:   In the Midnight Hour (1965).  Wicked Pickett’s signature song.  An all-time great.  He did a duet of this song at his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction with Bruce Springsteen.  The version here is done with the Blues Brothers Band in the 1980’s featuring Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper.  Also check out this revved up take from a live seventies vintage show . 

 

 

Wicked Pickett and the Boss at the 1999
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert

 

So where does the freak-out come in?  Here’s my story.  It was a bleak stormy afternoon.  I was driving in a rental car back to the Louisville airport but had about 20 minutes to kill.  I knew Wilson Pickett was buried at a cemetery near the airport so I thought I’d make a quick stop.  I asked a woman at the Evergreen Cemetery office where I could find Wilson Pickett and she said, ‘he’s in the mausoleum at the other end of the cemetery.  It’s open, just go in and look for his crypt at the back of the mausoleum’.  So, he’s at the back of a mausoleum at the back of a cemetery.  Not good.  I get in my car and drive – a long way.  I finally arrive at this big square building made entirely of marble and glass.  There is no one else anywhere around.

 

Mausoleum at Evergreen Cemetery.  My experience wasn't
quite so bucolic
 

 

 

 

 

I open the glass door and step inside a large atrium like area with stacks of wall crypts two stories high all around.  The wind and rain are howling outside.  I begin to walk to the back of the room.  Every noise, every step, echoes off the marble walls.  Glass windows and doors shudder against the wind.  I find Pickett’s vault and start to take a picture, but realize I don’t have any way to verify I was there.  I take off my Phillies cap to put it near (as my blog protocol requires) but there’s no place to lay it.  A few feet away there is an ornate podium.  I go over to get it and realize its solid bronze.  So, of course, I have to drag it across the room.  The ear-burning screech as I pull the podium across a marble floor reverberates around the room like a ghoulish shriek.  At this point, I am verifiably freaking out.  I take a picture, maybe three (to get good light).  I grab my hat and literally run back through the mausoleum and out the door.  I jump in my car and, punching the gas, careen out of the cemetery as fast as I can drive.  Once I made it back to the main road, I stopped and took a breath.  I think my first one since I started the mad dash from the mausoleum. 

Was it worth it?  Maybe. Maybe not. 

 

 

 

Lorenzo de Medici

Florence, Italy   Visited July 2011

 

For a change of pace this post goes back a-ways in time to consider one of the great figures of the fifteenth century – Lorenzo de Medici.  Also known in his time by the less than humble nickname ‘Lorenzo the Magnificent’, this banker, statesman and patron of the arts was the quintessential ‘Renaissance Man’.  In fact, Lorenzo the Magnificent straddles the intersection of the Italian Renaissance, the dawn of the Age of Exploration and the Protestant Reformation in a remarkably unique way. 

 

 

 

 

By the time Lorenzo de Medici was born in January 1449, the Medici’s were already the dominant family in the Tuscan region of central Italy.  Under the Medici clan, Florence became one of the great cultural and economic centers in Europe, rivaling Rome for power and influence.  The Medici family dynasty had begun under Lorenzo’s grandfather Cosimo, who parlayed a banking fortune into political influence and governing control.  The Italian peninsula of the Middle Ages was divided into regional feudal states vying for economic power.  Under Cosimo ‘The Great’, Florence gained ascendency through trade, amassing great wealth in the process.  The Medici were essentially the personal bankers for the Pope, which gave them outsized influence in and beyond their region. 

 

 
 
 
 

Lorenzo’s father, Piero ‘the Gouty’, parlayed the family fortunes into an investment in the arts at just about the same time that a great renewal of interest in classical arts and literature was taking place.  This investment established Florence as a creative center for the emerging Renaissance that would eventually sweep across Europe.  Lorenzo was the gifted son of five children and took over primary control of the family concerns at age 20 upon the death of his father. 

 

Me and my daughter Kelsey overlooking Florence

 

Lorenzo had a long and eventful ride as head of the Medici empire.  As effective Lord over Florence, he ruled the city in his early years with strong arm.  These early years were also characterized by international political intrigue and civil war as Lorenzo sought to consolidate his power over other clans and expand his influence beyond his region.  The darkest period of Lorenzo’s career occurred in the 1480’s when a falling out with the Vatican led to his excommunication from the church and a siege of Florence by Papal forces.  Lorenzo was able to extract his city from the crisis through negotiation, which led to his return to the church and relative security for Florence.  The latter years of Lorenzo’s political career were a marked contrast to his aggressive youth, where he used his influence relationships to maintain stability and rebuild the economic prominence of the Florentine regime. 

Basilica of San Lorenzo

 

As remarkable as his political career was, it was through his patronage of the arts that he made his true mark.  As naturally adept in politics as his career displays, Lorenzo also had an artistic side.  He dabbled in painting but became somewhat known for his poetry.  His devotion to the contemplative arts led to his nickname ‘Lorenzo the Thoughtful’.  Lorenzo took personal interest in promoting the careers of Botticelli, Da Vinci, Donatello and numerous other artists – even having Michelangelo living with him for five years.  Lorenzo was primarily responsible for getting Michelangelo the commission to paint the Sistine Chapel.  He also used is resources to collect books and manuscripts which in time were collected in the Laurentian Library of the Church of San Lorenzo (designed by Michelangelo) which is one of the world’s great libraries not only for its architecture but for its collection of classical and early Christian literature.     It can fairly be said there is no Italian Renaissance without the intentional vision, underwriting and encouragement of Lorenzo the Magnificent. 

Painting by Ghirlandaio depicting the Confirmation of the Rule of St Francis, (1485)
 at Santa Trinita Sassetti Chapel in  Florence. The Medici family
are prominent in the painting - Lorenzo to the far right.  



 

 

One of the more fascinating aspects of Lorenzo’s later years was his dealing with the Italian religious reformer Savonarola.  Even though the message of this self-proclaimed prophet attacked the types of autocratic rule that the Medici’s had developed into an art form, Lorenzo sought spiritual counsel from Savonarola throughout the latter part of his life.  Savonarola was with Lorenzo at the time of his death.  However, he fell out of favor with Lorenzo’s son and heir Piero (‘the Unfortunate’) and was eventually branded at heretic of the church and burned in the Florence Square. 

 

 

Savonarola preaching

 

Lorenzo died in Florence at the age of 43 on April 9, 1492, just four months prior to the date when Columbus set sail for his first voyage of exploration.  He was buried in a chapel in the Church of San Lorenzo (a different Lorenzo) designed by Michelangelo in Florence.  Both his tomb and that of his brother were carved by Michelangelo as well. 

Lorenzo's crypt in Basilica San Lorenzo.  Photos
are not allowed so this is a stock image.

 



 



Michelangelo's statue of Lorenzo 'the Thoughtful'
on his crypt

As we’ve seen, Lorenzo de Medici was at the center of the Renaissance.  His passing coincided with the beginning of the Age of Exploration that led to a radical redefinition of the political and economic landscape of Europe.  And his ties to the Reformation are also intriguing.  In addition to his association with the proto-reformer Savonarola, Lorenzo indirectly contributed to the emergence of Protestantism.  Through political intrigue, his son Giovanni was elevated to the papacy in 1513 and is generally considered to have been a disastrous and corrupt pope.  In his devotion to artistic splendor and extravagance, he pressed forward the grand design of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.  However, being short of funds for the work he decreed the sale of indulgences by which people could buy themselves and others out of purgatory for a price paid to Rome.  It was this practice of purchasing salvation that so troubled a devote monk in Germany that he began a campaign to reform it.  The 95 Theses nailed to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral by Martin Luther began as a protest and ended as the Reformation. 

 

View of the Medici Chapel from our hotel
in Florence

My encounter with Lorenzo’s tomb was somewhat unexpected.  On a trip to Florence with my daughter Kelsey, her friend, and my brother we stayed at a little hotel not too far from the Duomo.  Outside our window was a multi-story octagonal structure connected to a large but not particularly ornate Basilica.  It was somewhat underwhelming by Florentine standards.  On the second of two days of touring we decided to try to get in and see what was there.  We walked around the entire building until we finally found an entrance to what looked like a small museum.  Paying a small fee, we went in to check it out and were mildly impressed by some of the artifacts from the Medici family.   

Interior of the Medici Chapel

We were about to leave when I noticed a sign that pointed the direction to the ‘chapel’.  Out of curiosity, we followed the sign and found ourselves in the octagonal structure we’d seen outside our window.  Inside it was a breathtakingly magnificent chapel (the Chapel of the Princes) adorned with semi-precious stones inlaid in marble of various colors.  Full-scale statuary by Michelangelo and others fill every wall but the entrance and the altar area.  Reading about the chapel later it turns out that original plan was to buy or steal the Holy Sepulcher from Jerusalem and put it in the center of the floor, but that plan never worked.  Leaving this beautiful space, we discovered another small hallway that led unexpectedly to the ‘New Sacristy’.  It is here where Lorenzo and his brother Guiliano are buried in marble crypts designed and carved by Michelangelo.  It truly is a must see on any tour of Florence. 

 

In recent times there has been considerable talk about the ‘Medici Effect’ based on the popular business and leadership book, The Medici Effect by Frans Johanssen.  The book’s title derives from Lorenzo’s gift for creating an environment multi-disciplinary creativity for the flourishing of innovation in arts and sciences. 





Lorenzo (left) in virtual combat in the video game 'Assassin's Creed'. 
For a nice graphic depiction of Lorenzo's world check out this
short video from the game dealing with the Medici Cape

  

John F. Kennedy

Arlington, VA     Visited April 1972

This post commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  It also represents what I think is the first of my historic graveside visits I can remember.  I’ll weave that part of the story in below.  Trying to write about John Kennedy in a condensed way is a challenge given the volumes of material written and broadcast about the 35th president.  His story is mythic without the need of exaggeration, his death tragic in a way that has shaped the national psyche and his legacy one of the great debates of the modern era.  

You might find this short C-Span bio a helpful primer on our subject.  

 

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in the Boston suburb of Brookline, MA on May 29, 1917.  He was the second of what would eventually become a family of nine children born to Joseph and Rose Kennedy.  At the time of JFK’s birth the Kennedy family was already something of a dynasty in New England – he was named for his maternal grandfather John Francis “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald – the legendary mayor of Boston in the early 1900’s.  John’s father, Joseph Kennedy, was the son of the other great politician of the era and when he married Rose Fitzgerald the two great Boston Brahmin families were joined.  Joseph Kennedy went on to a long career in politics, most significantly serving as US Ambassador to England during World War II. 

The Kennedy Clan

 

Gridiron Jack

 

John (called ‘Jack’ by family and friends’)  was a somewhat sickly child who grew stronger through family competition – particularly with his older brother Joseph Jr., whom he both idolized and competed against.  Both Kennedy boys went to private prep schools and matriculated to their father’s alma mater at Harvard University.  Joe Jr. was always considered the brighter and more promising of the two.  Both played football for the Crimson, but Jack had to quit due to a back injury, a malady that would affect him for the rest of his life.  John Kennedy graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1940 with the intent of going to law school.  His senior thesis explored the question of how England was unprepared for the start of World War II and was later published as a book (which became a best-seller) under the title Why England Slept.

 

Both Joe and Jack enlisted in war effort.  Joe joined the army air corps and Jack, after being rejected by the army for his back issues, enlisted in the navy.  He was given command of a patrol boat in Pacific.  On August 2, 1943 Kennedy’s boat, PT 109 was on night maneuvers when it was rammed by a larger Japanese ship.  Kennedy’s response in the rescue of his men earned him the Navy and Marine Corps medals and a Purple Heart.  The commendation reads,

For extremely heroic conduct as Commanding Officer of Motor Torpedo Boat 109 following the collision and sinking of that vessel in the Pacific War Theater on August 1–2, 1943. Unmindful of personal danger, Lieutenant (then Lieutenant, Junior Grade) Kennedy unhesitatingly braved the difficulties and hazards of darkness to direct rescue operations, swimming many hours to secure aid and food after he had succeeded in getting his crew ashore. His outstanding courage, endurance and leadership contributed to the saving of several lives and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

 

 

 



 When asked later in life to explain his heroism Kennedy would just say, "It was easy. They cut my PT boat in half”.  Kennedy's heroism was portrayed in full Hollywood style in the 1963 film PT 109 starring Cliff Robertson as JFK.  The movie was released just five months before the assassination.  Here's the trailer for the film. 

Injuries resulting from this event forced JFK to leave the service.  What compelled him into politics was the death of his beloved brother Joe, who was shot down on a high risk bombing mission in 1944.  Joe had been the one groomed for political office and Jack felt the burden to take the family obligation on his behalf.  He was elected to Congress in his first run in 1946 and served three terms before taking a Senate seat for the state of Massachusetts in 1952.  A year later, he married Jacqueline Bouvier, a socialite and budding journalist who was twelve years his junior. 

 

JFK’s senate career was highlighted by the publication of Profiles in Courage (later acknowledged to be co-authored by Ted Sorenson) which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.  But Kennedy battled serious and debilitating illness throughout the Fifties, which limited his impact in Congress.  Nevertheless, in 1960 there were a number of political and cultural trends which thrust young and charismatic JFK to the forefront of the Democratic Party as a symbol of a new era of national political leadership.

 

Kennedy/Nixon debate - Old School Talking Heads

The 1960 election against Republican Richard Nixon was one of the closest in U.S. history.  In fact it may well have turned on the first televised debate where Kennedy’s youthful charisma was vividly cast against Nixon lack of telegenic presence. Interestingly, although polls among those who watched the debate clearly favored Kennedy, polls reflecting only those who heard the debate on radio favored Nixon.  In the end John F. Kennedy was elected the youngest president (and first Catholic) in American history. 



Jack and 'John John' and the
Resolute Desk

Jack and Bill

 

 

The Kennedy presidency was dominated by two significant realities – the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement.  Rather than chronicle the three years of the Kennedy presidency, I’m going to highlight two great achievements and two significant shortcomings of a brief but eventful presidency.  What I consider the two great achievements are: 

• The Launching of the American space program.  The Apollo project, designed to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, was bold, visionary, and politically advantageous in pushing the United States ahead in technological research and development during the Cold War years.

• The Cuban Missile Crisis.  In perhaps the closest point in history to armed US/Soviet conflict, Kennedy’s brinksmanship and use of intelligence and emerging technology to push the Russian missile launchers out of Cuba show the presidency in one of its great moments. 

What I consider to be Kennedy’s most significant shortcomings are:

• The Bay of Pigs fiasco.  The disastrous attempt to invade Cuba with an army of anti-Castro Cubans failed miserably, not only embarrassing the US government, but establishing Fidel Castro as a communist icon within 90 miles of the US coast. 

• JFK’s incessant womanizing.  In Kennedy’s day, rampant unfaithfulness to a marriage by a politician was rarely reported on by the press.  However, the recklessness with which we now know he engaged in this behavior would certainly be impeachable in our day. 

Great Speeches

John Kennedy was not just a telegenic leader, he was a capable of soaring oratory.  Here are key moments from three memorable speeches in JFK's brief presidency.



 The Inaugural 1/20/61 - "Ask not what your country..."

 

 

 

 

 

 Rice University 9/12/62 -
 "We choose to go to the moon...."

 

 

Berlin 6/23/63 -  "Ich bin ein Berliner...."

 

 November 22, 1963



With my friend Steve Gonzales at
Dealy Plaza with the Texas
School Book Depository in
the background

The Assassination of John F. Kennedy is a watershed in American culture.  Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, Dealy Plaza, the Texas School Book Depository, the Grassy Knoll, the Zapruder Film, the Warren Commission are part of an iconic lexicon of American tragedy.  The events of November 22, 1963 have been discussed, debated, dissected, documented and dramatized maybe more than any other single event in U.S. history. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will never know what a full Kennedy presidency would have produced; whether the youngest president ever elected would have guided the nation through the turbulent Sixties or allowed his own personal weaknesses to undermine the presidency a full decade before the Watergate scandal.  What we do know is that far more changed with the death of John F. Kennedy than would have ever been imagined prior to that dark day in November.

 

 

 

The JFK assassination and aftermath is the first significant historical event that received nearly round the clock video coverage.  The images and moments captured by news cameras and amateur photographers remain among the most iconic and emotionally moving in our history.  As I was doing research for this post two particular video clips resonated with me.  One is the CBS coverage by Walter Cronkite leading up the confirmation of Kennedy’s death in Dallas. 

 

 

The other is a grainy video clip of the bugler at Arlington Cemetery playing Taps during the graveyard service.  Early on he misses a note but recovers to complete his task.  At the time this missed note coming from the emotion of the moment resonated with both those at the cemetery and those watching on TV as an poignant expression of faltering confidence in the face of national tragedy.  And his recovery radiated the well of resolve that would carry the Kennedy family and the nation through its grief in the days ahead.  Here’s a clip of the bugler's call.

 

 

Funeral procession into Arlington Cemetery

The Kennedy family grave area at Arlington Cemetery is one of the most frequently visited historic sites in the nation’s capital.  I first visited it in the spring of 1972 as a seventh grader on a trip with other school safety patrol students on a train trip from Atlanta to New York City and back.  As part of our tour we visited Arlington and I saw JFK’s grave and the eternal flame for the first time.  The main thing I remember was that after we visited Arlington we were dropped off from our buses at the Smithsonian where we were allowed to roam around the museum area.  Imagine several hundred unsupervised seventh graders running around the Washington Mall with no watches on a time schedule to catch a train for New York.  Things were very different back then.  I’ve since been back to the Kennedy site several times, most meaningfully with son and my father about a year and a half before my Dad passed away.  

 

I don't remember where I was the day JFK was shot - I was four years old.  But I know the world I was growing up into changed that day.  And I'm a product of what it has become. 

A picture I took with my Instamatic camera on the
seventh grade patrol trip - April 1972.

Your blogger and son just about 40 years
later - November 2012.