If I'm still alive 40 years from now, yes.
You are confusing the newsworthiness or significance of an event with your personal feelings about JFK.
Wrong, both in your presumption of what is in my mind, and in the intent of what I have been saying to you. I did not say the murder of a sitting president of the United States was insignificant. Quite the opposite. Rather, my point is that the man, JFK, does not deserve the status he has been given by the mere fact of his assassination.
I also said that it is a cliche that "those old enough to remember the assassination remember where they were and what they were doing." This is not so remarkable, nor is it a phenomenon associated only with exceptional historical events.
All human beings whose brains are not damaged such that their memory is impaired, remember the details of the most significant events in their lives. For example, I was in the stands when Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown. Although it was June 1973, I still remember the details of that day as if I just lived it. I remember in great detail the morning I put my most beloved dog to sleep, April 3, 1990. Even though he died in January 1970, I remember with great detail what happened the day my father died. And so on.
Whenever the Kennedy assassination comes up someone is sure to drag out the old saw about how most people remember where they were and what they were doing. What would be remarkable is if most people didn't remember.
What is remarkable about the JFK assassination or a 9/11 or a Pearl Harbor is the fact that an entire nation shares the same experience and attaches the same significance to it, more or less. It becomes part of your life in terms of the imprint it has on your memory as much as the death of a loved one or pet, the birth of child, or a historic sporting event. In fact, it may be a more vivid memory because of the constant reinforcement by the media.
Any famous figure who dies young is idealized. There is no doubt that JFK's status and reputation benefitted by his dying so young. He was also a charismatic figure who was becoming more and more popular. It reminds me of the Houseman poem about an athlete dying young.
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:
Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man
I accept JFK for what he was,warts and all, i.e., an inspirational leader who had less than 3 years as President with personal problems. He served his country in war and died in its service as Commander in Chief. Everything is not black and white. Ask Rush Limbaugh...now.