Once Upon A Time
Funny how things develop. In the early '60s, American citizens had amazing access to the President of the United States. Of course, that access contributed to his murder on November 22nd, but it's still something that people born after 1963 can't even imagine.
When the President rode in a motorcade, you got to SEE him. Ever since Dallas, you might get a glimpse of a shadow inside a limousine (I saw Obama that way). There are pictures of JFK standing up in motorcades in Europe, and there are unscheduled encounters like this one at Santa Monica Beach:
Click to viewI saw a picture once of JFK talking to two elderly women that he met on a back road on Cape Cod. A Secret Service agent was driving, but JFK was in the passenger seat and casually talking to the thrilled women. What a story they had to tell! You don't get meetings like that anymore, and we're the poorer for it. Fear rules us now.
RIP, Mr. President.
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