The Impact of John F. Kennedy’s Assassination on the United States

Posted: March 27th, 2020

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The Impact of John F. Kennedy’s Assassination on the United States

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, was a tragic moment in American history. Even though the United States had experienced its fair share of political murders, Kennedy’s demise was appalling considering the tumultuous events that were concurrently occurring at the time, notably the Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War. As an outcome, many people have explored JFK’s death across all media with conjectures developed to illustrate the actual reason for his assassination. One particular anecdote is that the former president’s killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, committed the atrocity out of disdain for Kennedy’s liberal antics including his interaction with civil rights leaders. However, many people dispel such narratives due to lack of evidence. Nonetheless, historical analyses indicate that JFK’s death did not impose a considerable impact because he was unable to implement his core agenda: the tax cuts and the Civil Rights bill. John F. Kennedy’s assassination disillusioned the political atmosphere by causing a mistrust of the institution. His death, however, endorsed the establishment of landmark civil rights legislations that imposed a long-term impact on racial relations.  

The murder of John F. Kennedy in 1963 affected the political scene significantly. Before his death, Kennedy focused on addressing the issues that plagued the country. One of the problems in his agenda involved the relations between the white majority and the minorities, especially African Americans. At the time, the legal regime subjected African Americans to racial discrimination and separation as evidenced by the implications of the Jim Crow Rules and dejure segregation (George 104). In addition to this, southern states such as Mississippi and Virginia regularly partook in violent actions against blacks, primarily due to the implications of the Civil Rights Movement (George 51). In this respect, Kennedy’s attempt to address the situation by endorsing desegregation was met with disapproval. The president’s popularity had declined considerably from 70 percent – a factor attributed to the desertion of whites from the Southern region (Barone). Interestingly, Kennedy’s views and support for civil rights were received positively across other parts of the United States, establishing him as a potent political opponent for the next elections if he were still alive.  

The nature of his popularity contributed to the disillusionment that American politics suffered after his demise. Even though he had expressed the need to cut taxes via the Revenue Act of 1964, and to ratify privileges for all African Americans and minority groups through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Kennedy died without fulfilling these directives (Barone). As an outcome, Americans lost faith in their political institutions. In the years after 1963, civilians distrusted the government and endorsed strategies such as impeachment that were absent in the 1940s and 1950s (Barone). A good illustration of political mistrust was evidenced by the rejection of Presidents Lyndon Johnson due to his conduct regarding the Vietnam War and the removal of Richard Nixon (Schulman 152; Barone). Politics was also marred by criticism influenced by theories that affirmed Kennedy’s assassination as a move by communists to undermine America’s liberal values (George 62). However, the core factor for Americans’ disappointment with American politics was attributed to the failure characterizing the Civil Rights bill’s implementation (George 29). Even though the bill’s ratification was imminent, Kennedy’s death stalled such efforts further affecting the acknowledgment of civil rights.

Even though attempts at implementing the bill were affected, Kennedy’s assassination imposed significant pressure on the consequent government. After assuming office within the same year, President Lyndon B. Johnson focused on applying legislation that would enhance his public reputation (George 113). Using the proposed bill that Kennedy had forwarded to Congress, Johnson was able to ratify the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was a landmark proclamation based on the impact it imposed on race relations (Schulman 97). Unlike Kennedy, Johnson was aware of the role that Southern politicians played in rejecting the bill’s ratification, primarily because he employed the same strategy while in Congress (George 113). As such, he was able to bypass such limitations and ratify the Act allowing all races to engage in interstate commerce, access public facilities, gain employment, and receive housing. The impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was also illustrated by the passage of other landmark laws in the late 1960s such as the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (George 125). The rules permitted the incorporation of African Americans in the voting process and enabled the migration of other nationalities into the United States.

Critics have argued that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 did not have an impact on American politics. However, the argument is irrational considering the manner in which it created a sense of mistrust among Americans. Since Kennedy had elicited disapproval among Southern whites and received support from other regions, his assassination was viewed as a silencing endeavor aimed at restricting progress, especially in the implementation of civil rights. Nonetheless, Americans’ disillusionment with the country’s political institutions enhanced the exercise of constitutional privileges by sanctioning impeachment provisions against presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon. Consequently, Kennedy’s death laid the foundation for the ratification of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited the discrimination of all persons by race, color, sex, age, disability, and nationality. The event in question indirectly promoted the inculcation of the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 further altering the country’s politics and society in the long-term.

Works Cited

Barone, Michael. “How JFK’s Assassination Changed American Politics.” The Washington Examiner, 1 Nov. 2013. www.washingtonexaminer.com/how-jfks-assassination-changed-american-politics. Accessed 31 Jul. 2018.

George, Alice. The Assassination of John F. Kennedy: Political Trauma and American Memory. Routledge, 2017.

Schulman, Bruce. Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.