President John F. Kennedy was assassinated 50 years ago on November 22, 1963. Since then, his brother Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, a few of his nephews died in various accidents, and his only son died when the plane he piloted went down in a bad storm over Martha's Vineyard. The Kennedys have fascinated people as if they were royalty, and no other political family has come close to projecting the same public allure.
The other day I watched a documentary film on the Kennedys. While it did not provide any unique insights, it reminded me of two things that characterize the Kennedys. One is the emphasis they placed on the "family" with near Mafia-like fervor, a la "Godfather". And the other is their relentless drive for excellence and victory – "win or lose, the Kennedys don't cry, and of course, a Kennedy never loses."
Even today there are conspiracy theories around why there seems to be a "Kennedy curse", as the number of unnatural deaths seems astonishingly high in this family. When I think about it, I realize that the explanation may be rather simple. The Kennedys were taught to stop at nothing to achieve what they wanted, and to fear nothing even if their pursuits posed high risks. They were taught to live life to the fullest as if there were no tomorrow. Maybe in a way, they lived under the motto crystallized by the Jazz Age poet Edna St. Vincent Millay:
"My candle burns at both ends
It will not last the night
But ah, my foes and oh, my friends -
It gives a lovely light"
The lovely light of the lives of the Kennedys continues to shine even today, 50 years after the death of President Kennedy, and I am sure that it will continue to fascinate future generations.
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