Every nation has its turn in history. It’s the event that changes a mass perception of history and may be considered as mind-changing circumstance. For Americans, the assassination of the President John Kennedy that took place on 22 November, 1963 may certainly be considered as one of the turning points of history.
There are several reasons why presidential assassination may be regarded as a turning point in the US. History. The event may be regarded from legal, diplomatic or historical perspective. One shall note that John Kennedy was not the first US President to be assassinated. Beforehand, the predecessor of John Kennedy Abraham Lincoln faced the same fate. Yet, how shall one interpret the case of assassination?
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"Turning Point in History".
On one hand, the assassination of John Kennedy may be construed as a generational shift: “For the baby boomer generation, the killing of John Kennedy seems to mark a period of social change that defines our life. There was the America before November 22 and the America after November 22.” Without a doubt, the act of assassination may be interpreted as the end of previously perceived secure life. When a high-ranking politician faces the death committed by an unknown person, the level of trust within citizens evidences to get lowered. Besides, one shall take into account that the assassination happened in the early 1960s, a time of a great social change not only in the US but many Western countries, too. So, in this context one may analyse the assassination from the perspective of change of a social landscape. Also, it may be regarded as a turning point in the perception of life as such changed dramatically. If a President of one of the most powerful countries of that times could be killed as simply as he was, what shall the citizens expect.
The assassination shall not simply be regarded as a single event. From the generational perspective, the decade of 1960s signified a number of social changes. Particularly, it was the time when birth control was actively discussed within the society. Also, some call that period as the time of the sexual revolution and the époque of free love. In other words, the act of assassination correlated with the loss of social barriers (God, 2015) .
In political terms, the turning point occurred in regards of previously prepared campaign for re-elections John Kennedy and his team were preparing. Before his death, his candidacy was not announced. However, it seemed obvious that he would run for reelection. Starting from September, 1963 the US President was travelling across America and held face-to-face conversations with his constituents.
Notably, it is believed that John Kennedy was the last US President who managed to find links between his administration and democratic tradition US is based on. However, his political foundations were destroyed due to evolution of American imperialism. After Kennedy’s assassination, US internal policies became impossible to conceive. Following the WWII and the positive image of the US as a state, the significant shift in the perception occurred after John Kennedy got assassinated (North, 2015) .
So overall, the turning point may be regarded from various perspectives. Even though, it was the paramount hit into the US policies, the act symbolized the raise of awareness of ongoing social changes in the US society. Without a doubt, the act of assassination was rather symbolic but it managed to demonstrate what issues the future government was to face. In addition, it became apparent that policies meet the époque of changes, too.
