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I was born during Truman’s term – but I don’t remember him.
I remember Ike’s Nixon – I was going from 8th grade to high school and the Brooklyn Dodgers had moved to LA.
I remember thinking Nixon looked old, flustered, and worried during the TV debates.
I remember watching JFK’s inauguration and how young he looked; he was two years younger than my mother. I remember the “ask not” speech. I remember Jackie’s tour of the White House and then learning, when their son died, in the South you can wear white for mourning. I remember it was a Friday and school had been dismissed early so we could get home – we weren’t told why. I had just walked in the door to our Bronx apartment and the phone was ringing. We stayed glued to the television and Walter Cronkite cried and the phone was busy all night.
I remember Johnson taking the presidential oath and Jackie’s bloodied suit. I remember I was at my Aunt Mary’s for Sunday spaghetti dinner when we watched Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald live on TV. We thought we’d be seeing more of Jackie’s visits to the rotunda.
I remember watching LBJ growing older and older as his time in the White House went on. I remember the, “I will not run again speech.” He looked so defeated, so very sad. I remember signing the Hatfield-McGovern bill.
I remember hearing that Nixon had won, while I was on a bus in England, with far’rin’ner’s asking if I voted for Nixon. I remember saying I thought Nixon was an A-hole and I’d voted for Humphrey.
I remember Gerald Ford played golf and that Squeaky Fromme had tried to kill him. I remember Nelson Rockefeller died while with a woman who wasn’t his wife.
I remember I liked Jimmy, believing he was too noble for us/US and that the good he did as President would be greatly overlooked.
I remember thinking Reagan was an actor – always on from day one.
I remember thinking George Bush was an ambitious businessman.
I remember knowing Clinton was lying when he said “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” I remember being disappointed Hilary didn’t divorce Bill when she became a NY Senator.
GW – I’m trying to forget. While writing this I’ve had 3 glasses of a good French rosè and he’s fading fast from my memory.
As for Obama – I’m trying not to put him too high on the White House pedestal; he’ll be clawing out of a deep hole for most of his first 4 years. I want him to succeed, yet I don’t want to build up my own expectations.
What/who do you remember?
I too was born a while ago, even a bit before you. But most of all, I remember the past 10 years. I remember thinking that there might be too much of a good thing, “living on credit” was going to catch up with us sooner or later (and it did). I remember thinking that oil was not a good reason to go to war and kill a lot of people, including some of our own, and thinking that we needed to remember how to conserve our resources. (We did know that once upon a time in this country). I also remember thinking that continuation along the same path would mean that my children and grandchildren would have a big mess to clean up, sooner or later–and that will take time and patience, not just a few months. Now I know that I was right about a number of these things and I’m thinking: why do so many people have such a short memory? Most of us reading this lived through the past 15 years; what’s wrong with the memory? Why can’t we (as a human species) remember, and dedicate ourselves to a better future? Why do we need to have everything now, even when it won’t make it better in the future? I wonder what I’ll remember 5 years from now!