It is hard to believe how unpopular Kennedy was even tho I was there and saw it.
I remember standing on the arcade at lunch and a kid named Tim Sutton came up and told me the President had been shot. At that point there was almost unanimous cheers. I mean probably 90% of the student body was glad to hear it.
After maybe 10 minutes, the mood began to change. I recall more than one saying, “well we are glad he got shot but we don’t want him to die” At that time we didn’t know anything other than the first reports.
Later during class, the principal came on the AV system and announced that Kennedy was dead. That immediately threw a cloud over every one, even those who hated him.
I do remember one girl who was one of the few Catholics in school, quietly sobbing to herself.
The gist of it was that Kennedy was very unpopular with our kids but we fairly soon realized just what had happened and that it was not a good thing.
“It is hard to believe how unpopular Kennedy was even tho I was there and saw it.”
I’ve read that his re-election was anything but a lock with poll numbers sinking had he made it to ‘64.
He was made a martyr and that is what carries the myth to this day. Same with Bobbie but to a far lesser extent, who still would have gotten creamed in ‘68 in my opinion.
I went to Catholic schools 1-12. I had a grade school friend who chose to go to the public high school. In those days (sixties) most Catholic kids went to the Catholic hs and most Protestants went to the public high school. After Kennedy got shot, one Protestant kid, who I also knew, danced down the high school corridor shouting with glee about how happy he was Kennedy got shot. My grade school friend punched him out. Considering the level of anti-Catholic feeling still prevalent in the country in those days, I'm sure there were more than a few fist fights in the wake of the shooting between different religious parties.