JFK's Legacy

Television became the primary source by which people were kept informed of events surrounding John F. Kennedy's assassination. Newspapers were kept as souvenirs rather than sources of updated information. All three major U.S. television networks suspended their regular schedules and switched to all-news coverage from 22 November through 25 November 1963. Kennedy's state funeral procession and the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald were all broadcast live in America and in other places around the world. The assassination had an effect on many people, not only in the U.S., but also among the world population. Many vividly remember where they were when first learning of the news that Kennedy was assassinated. U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson said of the assassination, "all of us... will bear the grief of his death until the day of ours." Ultimately, the death of President Kennedy and the ensuing confusion surrounding the facts of his assassination are of political and historical importance insofar as they marked a decline in the faith of the American people in the political establishment — a point made by commentators from Gore Vidal to Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Coupled with the murder of his own brother, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, D-N.Y., and that of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the five tumultuous years from 1963 to 1968 signalled a growing disillusionment within the well of hope for political and social change which so defined the lives of those who lived through the 1960s. Kennedy's introduction of the U.S. to the Vietnam War preceded President Johnson's escalation of a conflict which contributed to a decade of national difficulties and disappointment on the political landscape. The Watergate scandal of President Richard Nixon's administration is widely recognized as being the final stroke in this process of diminishing trust in the government.
Many of Kennedy's speeches (especially his inaugural address) are considered iconic; and despite his relatively short term in office and lack of major legislative changes during his term, Americans regularly vote him as one of the best Presidents, in the same league as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Some excerpts of Kennedy's inaugural address are engraved on a plaque at his grave at Arlington. He was posthumously awarded the Pacem in Terris Award. It was named after a 1963 encyclical letter by Pope John XXIII that calls upon all people of good will to secure peace among all nations. Pacem in Terris is Latin for 'Peace on Earth.'

Memorials

New York International Airport (formerly known as Idlewild Airport) was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 24, 1963. Today, the airport is widely referred to as "JFK."
The John F. Kennedy Expressway, a major expressway in Chicago, was renamed for Kennedy by unanimous vote of Chicago City Council a few days after the president's assassination.
Kennedy Blvd (Florida State Road 60) in Tampa, Florida was renamed for Kennedy in 1964 by unanimous vote of Tampa City Council following his visit to Tampa on November 18, 1963, a year before his assassination. His motorcade drove five miles down Grand Central Avenue to the heart of the business district.
NASA's Launch Operations Center at Cape Canaveral was renamed the John F. Kennedy Space Center. Cape Canaveral itself was likewise renamed Cape Kennedy, but reverted to its original name in 1973.
A Kennedy memorial was established in Runnymede, England, where the Magna Carta was signed.
A stretch of Interstate 95 in Maryland, running from the Baltimore Beltway to the State Line, where it becomes the Delaware Turnpike, had been dedicated by President Kennedy on November 14, 1963, eight days before his assassination. It was soon renamed the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway.
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy was named on April 30, 1964, and served until March 23, 2007.
Kennedy has appeared on the U.S. half-dollar coin since 1964
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library opened in 1979 as Kennedy's official presidential library.
John F. Kennedy University opened in Pleasant Hill, California, in 1964 as a school for adult education.
The John F. Kennedy National Historic Site preserves his home in Brookline.
At Harvard University:
The Harvard Institute of Politics serves as a living memorial which promotes public service in his name.
The School of Government is known as the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opened in 1971 in Washington, D.C. as a living memorial to him.
A new, unnamed bridge spanning the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana, completed four days ahead of Kennedy's assassination, was named the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge soon after his assassination. Hundreds of schools across the U.S. were named in his honor.
Philadelphia Municipal Stadium was renamed John F. Kennedy Stadium in 1964.
Kennedy was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963.
Since 1964, Kennedy's portrait has appeared on the United States half dollar coin, replacing Benjamin Franklin.
Yad Kennedy, a memorial to the U.S. president, was established on a crest in the Jerusalem Forest, on the southwest outskirts of Jerusalem near Aminadav.
One of the Solomon Islands is named Kennedy Island.
The city of Evansville, Indiana observed John F. Kennedy Day on November 22, 2003 to mark the 40th anniversary of his death.
One of the five residential towers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is named Kennedy Tower in his honor.
In February 2007, Kennedy's name, along with his wife's, was included on a list taken aboard the Japanese SELENE spacecraft to the Moon, as part of The Planetary Society's Messages From Earth project.
The U.S. Army's John F. Kennedy School of Special Warfare is named after the late president because of his support for the Army Rangers and Green Berets.
The first school in the United States named after him was Kennedy Middle School, in Cupertino, California, in 1960
The park in Eyre Square, Galway City, Ireland is called John F. Kennedy Park, after his visit in 1963.

Back

Courage and related materials are used without permission, but without infringement for non-profit personal purposes, according to the Fair Use Clause.