The Huffington Post Publishes New Commentary – “The Kennedy Myth” by Richard Walter
Many have noted that when the new congress convenes it will be the first in sixty-four years without a Kennedy.
I preach to my screenwriting students that fantasy is for their movies. For their lives: reality. No political name in the last half century has been more romanticized and idealized than Kennedy.
In October of 1960, when I was a student at New York City’s Stuyvesant High School, I happened upon a Kennedy election rally at Union Square. The gray, dreary, overcast day found thousands upon thousands of people gathered to hear the candidate. From a block away, among the overcoats and hats I could see clearly and brightly the president-to-be, his neon carrot-top a fiery contrast to the weather and national gloom. I was hugely excited. Kennedy delivered a brilliant speech brilliantly. Here was a mainstream political leader I could support with vigor and fervor.
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