JFK JR : THE GOOD MAN

The assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, dumped the American public into unprecedented depths of shock and sorrow. Their young president, who had swiftly grabbed the admiration of the American people, had been in the White House since January of 1961. His confident charm, beautiful wife, and youthful children took on a life of its own. Camelot dominated the American psyche during those early years of the 1960s. JFK was the first American president born in the twentieth century, and he represented the hopes and dreams of a nation mired in the thick of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. His failure at the Bay of Pigs, followed by his cool demeanor during the Cuban Missile Crisis, tempered a public still reeling from the hysteria of the 1950s McCarthyite era. But the Kennedys in the White House was about much more than politics. They symbolized a new, youthful wave in popular culture. To this day, Jackie Kennedy is considered a trailblazer in the fashion world and beyond. However, John and Jackie’s son would cement his own legacy.

John Jr., otherwise known as “John John”, grew from infancy into adolescence and manhood, marching to his own beat. When so many under similar circumstances would have crumbled under the pressure of the Kennedy legacy, John Jr. found peace and purpose in being a good Samaritan. Although he was strongly influenced by the attitudes of his mother, John Jr. was determined to write his own story. One of adventure and high-risk. He knew that it could have been seemingly effortless to be the great extension of his father’s ambitions. But instead, JFK Jr. gladly took on the challenge of becoming a good man.

JFK Jr. first caught national attention on his third birthday, which also unfortunately coincided with his father’s funeral ceremony. On that cold, November day in 1963, he made a now iconic salute towards his slain father’s flag-draped casket. The heartbreak and sorrow captured in that moment can’t be summed up into words of any kind. It was a moment that was timeless and representative of a society at a particularly vital point in its brief history. John F. Kennedy symbolized the best of a new generation of Americans. Those who had come of age during and after the Second World War. A youthful president, a determined supporter of domestic freedoms and the advancement of minorities, an Irish Catholic, and an extension of the “old money” filthy wealth of the Kennedy legacy, which was largely amassed by his father Joseph Kennedy Sr. His controversial assassination in Dallas, Texas significantly altered the course of American History.

In the years that followed her husband’s death, Jackie Kennedy moved John Jr. and his sister Caroline to the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. After graduating from high school, John attended Brown University, where he graduated with a major in American Studies. Kennedy co-founded a discussion group on social issues at Brown, including the ongoing South African apartheid. He visited South Africa while in college, and the appalling conditions motivated him to urge U.N. ambassador Andrew Young to speak on the issue at Brown University. After working for a year at the Office of Business Development, in 1989 Kennedy headed Reaching Up. Reaching Up was a nonprofit group that provided educational and other opportunities for employees working with disabled individuals.

That same year in 1989, Kennedy Jr. earned a J.D. degree from the New York University School of Law. What followed were two failed attempts at the New York bar exam, which gained much media attention. After passing the exam on a third attempt in 1990, he spent the next four years working as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

In 1995, John Jr. co-founded George, a politics-as-lifestyle and fashion monthly magazine. Each new issue consisted of interviews written by Kennedy, as well as his editor’s column. Two years later however, the magazine began to fail. The magazine ultimately went under in 2001.

Kennedy met Carolyn Bessette, who worked in the fashion industry, in the mid 1990s. They married in September of 1996 during a private ceremony in Georgia. Bessette was a private citizen, unlike John Jr. She struggled with the extreme spotlight cast upon her as a direct result of her marriage to Kennedy.

Shortly afterwards, Kennedy began taking flying lessons in Florida. He received his pilot’s license in the spring of 1998. Family members, including his late mother Jackie and his sister Caroline, had long feared John Jr.’s airborne aspirations. However, John Jr. was determined to conquer the skies, as it was a skill that he had long dreamed of mastering since childhood.

On July 16, 1999, JFK Jr. departed New Jersey in his aircraft with his wife and sister-in-law. The plan was to attend the wedding of one of his cousins. The plane went missing off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, and the bodies of the three were discovered on July 21, 1999 by Coastal Guard and Navy divers, still strapped into their seats at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Conclusively, the Kennedy Curse continued to take on a life of its own. One might ask, what did this young man truly accomplish during his time on Earth. It certainly wasn’t as storied or decorated, particularly within the political realm, as his father and his uncles. However, John Jr. was a social icon during his development into adulthood. He committed his life to using his prestige to travel the world and meet some of the planet’s most influential individuals, including Mother Teresa. He used his time at Brown University to explore controversial subjects, like the ongoing South African apartheid. He expressed his interest in politics and its intersection with fashion culture through George, which reflected John Jr.’s creative approach to understanding the relevance of political life to popular culture. In many ways, Kennedy was ahead of his time in terms of his ability to make these connections, and ultimately understand their significance. And within these settings, John Jr. displayed his natural gifts.

We’ll never know what a John Kennedy Jr. political career might have looked like. However, John Jr. was determined to walk down his own path. The life of an American Prince, bothered by extreme levels of sorrow in response to family losses, was not without its challenges. When he did find love, their union was short lived as a result of what many have identified as the Kennedy Curse. However, we can say that in life John Jr. used his prestige to try to make a positive impact on the world. He wanted to be known as a man who chose to be good, rather than accept notions of greatness related to his family legacy. We can say that although a flawed man, John F. Kennedy Jr. was an independent, and genuinely good man.