Here in the U.S., you’ll often hear people say “Where were you when… happened?” I can remember exactly where I was on 9/11/01 when the twin towers went down. I actually thought that there was a very realistic made-for-tv movie on until I realized I was tuned in to CNN. Likewise I can remember the Oklahoma City Bombing, the Bill Clinton Impeachment and day we killed Bin Laden.

For those who grew up in the 40’s and 50’s, they’ll never forget where they were when they heard the news that President John F. Kennedy was shot. Even today, 50 years later to the day that he died, no other event in American history has had quite this impact on the population. From outrageous conspiracies that the phone company had JFK killed to the Caroline Kennedy’s recent visit to Japan as the U.S.’s first female ambassador in the country.

Whether it was the senselessness of the death or the feeling that things were so unfinished, this event has marked us as a culture.

Killing Kennedy – The Book

Last year, Fox News personality and author Bill O’Reilly released the book called: Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot. In the book, O’Reilly chronicles the events over the four years leading up the assassination of President Kennedy, both in Kennedy’s life as he struggles to thwart communism and dodge people in his own house who may want to see his rule end, to that of Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine Corps sharpshooter and communist sympathizer.

Amazon writes of this book: “ Killing Kennedy chronicles both the heroism and deceit of Camelot, bringing history to life in ways that will profoundly move the reader. This may well be the most talked about book of the year.” [1]

Killing Kennedy – The Movie

Now, one year later, and on the 50^th anniversary of the event, the National Geographic Channel  (or NatGeo) released a two-hour made-for-tv dramatization based on O’Reilly’s book.

For those of you with cable, good news. You  may still be able to find the film in your On Demand area under National Geographic.

Something from Kennedy Himself…

For some of you, commemorating this day will mean reminiscing on what it was back in the early 60’s before the War in Vietnam and the Kennedy Assassination, when the idea of the American Dream was as tangible as this computer keyboard I’m using today.

If you’re wanting to read something from the man himself, consider taking on Profiles in Courage. Written in 1955 by then Senator John F. Kennedy and a Pulitzer Prize Winner, this books profiles eight unsung heroes from our nation’s history who decided not to lose their virtue and integrity, but to fight honestly for what they truly believed, even if it meant that they were not successful.

As reading material goes, I recommend both Killing Kennedy and Profiles in Courage to anyone who is curious to understand the man behind the name John F. Kennedy; behind the glorified persona that has undoubtedly been cleaned, polished and glamorized over the last 50 years by the press, conspiracy theorists and Hollywood alike.

Is there a favorite book you have about President Kennedy or mentioning Kennedy and the impact of his assassination?

[1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805096663/