PRESIDENTS DURING MY LIFETIME
President Dwight
D. Eisenhower 1953-1961
I don’t remember him directly, but he was a well-respected
5-star general from WWII with good intentions for our society.
John Fitzgerald
Kennedy 1961 -1963
I do remember JFK. He was the youngest president ever
elected. He was from a wealthy, political family and was very much loved by
Americans, despite being a womanizer. I remember his assassination in Dallas,
Texas, and the debate that raged on for years about his assassin, Lee Harvey
Oswald. Oswald was shot down by Jack Ruby who owned strip clubs and dance halls
and had minor mafia ties.
Lyndon Baines
Johnson Nov 1963, elected 1964 – 1968
He was a senator from Texas which made me proud and he
was JFK’s vice president sworn in on Air Force One after Kennedy was
assassinated. He was elected again in 1964. He implemented the “Great Society”
and a war on poverty. He struggled with the Vietnam War, desperately wanting to
succeed at all costs and get us out of there, so that he could be re-elected.
Anti-war sentiment was too great and he ended his bid for nomination.
Richard Milhous
Nixon 1969 – Aug 1974
I always respected the office of the President and was
taught to do so. Nixon seemed full of hope and ambition. He ended our
involvement in Vietnam, but he desperately wanted to be re-elected, which he
was. But it later came to light that he was involved with the Watergate
break-ins in order to gain information from the Democratic headquarters. He was
caught lying and being a part of the cover-up of this break-in. He was a
disgrace to the American public and became the only president to resign from
the office. I remember clearly the day that he made his resignation speech on
national TV, August 8, 1974. I was preparing to leave home for college. I sat
on the couch and watched his speech in disbelief that this could be happening
in our nation. It was one of those defining moments where you can remember
specifically where you were and what you were doing. On our family road trip in
the summer of 1973 to see Paula in Michigan, we toured the eastern states on
the way home. Washington D.C. was one of our stops and I was able to see the
Watergate Hotel. I remember feeling a little afraid just to look at the
building.
