The President Has Been Shot!: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

Nonfiction | Biography | YA | Published in 2013

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Part 1, Chapter 3

Part 1, Chapters 4-6

Part 1, Chapters 7-10

Part 2, Chapters 11-13

Part 2, Chapter 14-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Part 1, Chapters 7-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Introduction to John F. Kennedy”

Part 1, Chapter 7 Summary: “Berlin”

Since World War II, the old German capital of Berlin was divided into four sectors. Each sector was occupied by a different nation that fought against Germany in World War II. The Soviet Union had influence over not just the eastern part of Berlin, but also East Germany, which was ruled by its own Communist government. The heavily-guarded Berlin Wall split the Soviet-occupied part of Berlin from the sectors occupied by the United States and its allies. Hundreds were shot trying to leave East Germany for the west.

On June 26th, 1963, Kennedy gave a speech on the western side of the Berlin Wall praising freedom, which represented a high point for his global popularity.

Part 1, Chapter 8 Summary: “The Nuclear Test Ban Theory”

Since the United States used nuclear bombs against Japan in World War II, both the United States and the Soviet Union had tested new nuclear bombs. The tests caused radioactive fallout, which could contaminate food and cities.

By October 1963, Kennedy and the Soviet Union negotiated the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. This put an international ban on atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. Kennedy “considered it the most significant achievement of his presidency” (33).

Part 1, Chapter 9 Summary: “Civil Rights”

In his presidency, Kennedy originally focused more on foreign issues than domestic ones. He feared that putting pressure on civil rights issues would provoke opposition from Democrats in the South. After September 1962, Kennedy felt he had to intervene and send federal troops to the University of Missouri to deal with a violent protest that occurred when the first Black student was admitted. Then, on Maya 1963, civil rights protestors in Alabama were attacked with fire hoses and dogs. At the same time, Governor George Wallace blocked efforts to end segregation at the University of Alabama.

Since such civil rights struggles “played into Communist propaganda that the United States was the land of hypocrisy and oppression of blacks, not liberty” (35), Kennedy acted. He gave a television speech on June 11th, 1963, where he pointed out racism existed in both the northern and southern United States. Later, Kennedy received Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders at the White House. When he ran for election again, Kennedy made civil rights reform part of his political platform.

Part 1, Chapter 10 Summary: “The Kennedy Mystique”

Kennedy was the first president who had been born in the 20th century. He had young children and a young wife. This helped give him a youthful appeal and a “glamorous effervescence” (39). Kennedy’s wife Jackie was also seen as a celebrity and admired as a “world traveler and lover of culture” (40). Still, Kennedy struggled with pain issues, which he hid from the world.

To drum up support for his reelection campaign, Kennedy planned to tour Texas. He would visit five Texan cities: Austin, Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas, and San Antonio. However, Kennedy was unpopular in Texas because of his civil rights support and the belief he was “too soft on Communism” (43). In Texas, Kennedy’s ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, had faced protests. Swanson notes that when Kennedy left the White House for Texas, he left behind a photograph of himself he intended to sign and give to a supporter when he got back (45).

Part 1, Chapters 7-10 Analysis

Swanson continues to elaborate on The Importance of the Kennedy Presidency. One of the factors that made Kennedy’s presidency historic was his commitment to civil rights. Swanson admits that Kennedy focused more on foreign policy than domestic politics and he was originally less of an advocate for African-American rights than his vice president, Lyndon Johnson (34). When Kennedy’s attitude changed, he gave a televised speech in favor of civil rights, and then met with Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders in the White House. However, Swanson does not mention that Kennedy introduced the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This bill would outlaw racial, ethnic, religious, and gender discrimination. Still, it would not pass until 1964, during the Johnson administration.

Instead, Swanson focuses more on Kennedy’s symbolic gestures toward the civil rights movement, which admittedly were also significant. No president before Kennedy and since Reconstruction was as openly supportive of civil rights, even if highly-publicized outbreaks of racist violence and oppression and the rise of a strong and visible civil rights movement forced Kennedy’s hand. Kennedy had signaled that he would make civil rights a “priority” (38) during his second administration. This fits with the idea raised by Swanson that Kennedy’s presidency is widely seen as a turning point, whose full positive potential was lost with Kennedy’s assassination (209).

Even so, Swanson mainly views Kennedy’s newfound commitment to civil rights through The Impact of the Cold War. He emphasizes that Kennedy saw how racial discrimination in the United States “played into Communist propaganda” (35). At the same time, Swanson often stresses that Kennedy’s actions in the Cold War were not just aggressive (such as with the Bay of Pigs invasion), but also diplomatic, such as in Kennedy’s success with the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (33). Swanson suggests Kennedy’s attitude toward the Cold War was that it was not just a conflict between two rival governments or even capitalism and Communism, but that Kennedy saw himself and the United States as representing freedom against oppression.

In this part of The President Has Been Shot!, Swanson also introduces the idea of Mass Media, Fame, and Heroism. Kennedy was arguably the first president in the age of modern mass media who fully took advantage of technology like television to promote himself. Swanson touches on this by describing what he terms the “Kennedy mystique” (39). This mystique was felt in the popularity surrounding both Kennedy and his wife Jackie. In fact, it lasted after Kennedy’s own assassination. It is important to note that Swanson does not view this mystique as just manipulating public opinion or as something shallow. Instead, Swanson implies that it was Kennedy’s response to being a figure in the public eye who secretly suffered from constant physical pain. Furthermore, Swanson argues that the Kennedy mystique was also something inspirational. According to Swanson, the “core of his mystique” was “an ability inspire people, through words and personal example, to attempt great things” (42).