The Assassination of John F. Kennedy ─ Political Trauma and American Memory

On November 22^nd, 1963 the assassination of President John F. Kennedy set into motion a series of events that irrevocably changed American politics and culture. The media frenzy spawned by the controversy surrounding the death of JFK has since given way to a powerful public memory that continues to shape the way we understand politics, the 1960s, and the nation.

In The Assassination of John F. Kennedy: Political Trauma and American Memory, Alice George traces the events of Kennedy’s assassination and Lyndon B. Johnson’s subsequent ascension to the presidency. Covering both the political shifts of the time and the cultural fallout of the national tragedy, this book introduces students of the twenty-first century to both an iconic event and to the context in which that event was heralded as iconic. Drawing on newspaper articles, political speeches, letters, and diaries, George critically re-examines the event of JFK’s death and its persistent political and cultural legacy.

Alice L. George is an independent historian. She is the author of Awaiting Armageddon: How Americans Faced the Cuban Missile Crisis.