Today is November 22, a day forever marked by an American tragedy. On this day in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
As a young kid, I was inspired by Kennedy’s appearance in my world when the media focused on his candidacy for the vice-presidential nomination at the 1956 Democratic Convention. A vivid contrast to Presidents Truman and Eisenhower, he was a youthful and vigorous U.S. Senator who advocated positive changes in our country. Along with many others in my generation, the emergence of JFK on the political scene intensified my interest in American politics. Later that year, my sister gave me a copy of “Profiles in Courage,” Kennedy’s book about political heroes in American history. I treasured that book and eagerly read and re-read it. Over the years, I’ve continued to collect books about JFK. My collection includes my original copy of “Profiles in Courage.”
After his election as President in 1960, Kennedy continued to inspire me. And on June 11, 1963, he spoke out in favor of equal justice for all Americans. I had returned to my home in Chicago after my college graduation at WashU in time to watch the televised speech he gave that day.
JFK began by noting Alabama Governor George Wallace‘s refusal, despite a court order, to allow the admission of two Black students to the University of Alabama. He went on to say that “difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every city, in every State of the Union, producing in many cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety.” This statement, and others, were important. But I was mainly moved by these words: “The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated.” After noting the special problem of racial discrimination, he added: “[T]his Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.”
He said he planned to ask Congress to enact legislation giving all Americans “the right to be served in facilities…open to the public,” including hotels and restaurants, and to authorize the federal government “to participate more fully in lawsuits designed to end segregation in public education” and “greater protection for the right to vote.” (His efforts eventually led to the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.) He closed by asking for “the support of all our citizens.”
I sat transfixed in front of the TV, totally in awe of this speech, and I became an ardent supporter of the same ideals.
Thanks to JFK, as a young person I developed a consuming interest in politics, and I began to think about a future where I could be involved in politics in some way. One possible path occurred to me: Attending law school and becoming a lawyer. As I wrote in my handwritten journal in 1958, “I have developed a keen interest in law, and at the moment, I am busily planning to study law if possible. At one time I believed I would be a writer…. Now, law and politics beckon, and…I am trying to convince myself that nothing is impossible and that if I want it badly enough, I will get it!” Still a teenager, I wasn’t ready to make the leap to law school, but I did look forward to a future somehow focused on government and politics. So I majored in political science in college and went on to be a graduate student in that field before abandoning it in favor of law school.
JFK’s assassination on November 22, 1963, traumatized me and probably most other Americans at the time. It was truly shocking. Looking back, I realize just how much it affected me. As I wrote in my handwritten journal on the day after he was assassinated: “When the news of [his] death … was announced, I was too stunned to cry, too horrified to do much of anything but say the words echoed over and over by seemingly everyone…. I can’t believe it! It’s incredible! How could anyone do such a thing? And why?” I added: “I was mourning the personal loss of an individual who had brought such vigor, such excitement, such brilliance, such intelligence, such energy…to everything he ever did in his life. [He] was a personal icon to me, a hero, a leader to follow…who has always stood, in my eyes, for everything that was right in politics and government, and in the pursuit of power for noble aims, and who, I am certain, played a large part in motivating me…toward a life in politics and government for myself. The result is perhaps a ‘new’ resolve…my resolve to dedicate my own life, as [he] dedicated his, to what is not always the easiest but what will surely be the most rewarding for me…a life of devoted public service to my country. If I can, I will pursue legal studies for the next three years to prepare me [or else immediately devote] myself to the ideals of hard work and sacrifice in the public interest.”
I’d grown up in an era when political assassinations happened only in “banana republics.” Seeing a young, vital, and inspiring political leader like JFK cruelly shot down changed forever my view of America as a place where political transitions always occur peacefully. The later assassinations of other American leaders (like Martin Luther King, Jr., and RFK) further traumatized me and others in our country.
But although I lost him as our president, JFK had motivated me to pursue the study of American politics as well as the study of law. At a pivotal moment, I chose to leave academia with the goal of becoming an activist via the study of law.
After graduating from law school, I did become an activist. I was in the vanguard of lawyers who fought to secure women’s reproductive rights. My co-counsel and I won a hard-fought victory, invalidating the restrictive Illinois abortion statute in 1971 (Doe v. Scott, 321 F.Supp. 1385 (N.D.Ill. 1971). As part of that lawsuit, I represented a Black teenage rape victim, winning a TRO in the appellate court that enabled her to have a legal abortion in March 1970. This lawsuit is the focus of my forthcoming book, tentatively titled On the Barricades.
Throughout my life and my varied career, I’ve maintained my enormous interest in politics, government, and law. Although I now view myself primarily as a writer, I continue to enthusiastically follow all of that today, whether current trends align with my personal views or not.
I will forever be indebted to JFK for inspiring me to follow this path.
susanjustwrites
Susan Just Writes 