William Shakespeare is not only remembered for the plays he wrote during the Elizabethan era but also for the quotes of references that he had made in the conversation of the immortal characters that he created. Hamlet, probably the greatest of the tragedies that he wrote; chances were on my side that I taught it in B.A. and B.Sc. classes for three years consecutively, as it was a part of the syllabus. In act one, scene two; Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, compares his deceased father, the late King Hamlet to Hyperion and his uncle Claudius to Satyr. Hyperion was one of the Titans, one of the Greek gods known for their wisdom whereas Satyr is a mythological creature half human and half goat or horse; who attends on Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of wine and fun. 

History of humans who influenced the world is plenty. 

One such personality is John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty fifth president of the United States from 20 January 1961, until his assassination on 22 November 1963; indeed a Hyperion, strong in comparison with the present president Donald Trump, the Satyr. 

 The recent FIFA World Cup Match attracted lakhs of people from different countries to the United States. A large number of such visitors went to Texas not only to watch the game but also to visit the city of Dallas, especially a street in the city, Dealey Plaza, downtown Dallas. They go there to look at the ‘X’ mark painted on the middle of the road which is a sign where John F. Kennedy was assassinated at 12.30 p.m. on 22 November 1963 when he was in a motorcade in an open car with his wife, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier.

The visitors also looked at the Texas School Book Depot; it was from the sixth floor from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot at Kennedy three times with two of the bullets hitting the head of the then president. The only thing that Jacqueline could do immediately was to cover his broken head with her overcoat. Lee Harvey Oswald, a former soldier from the US military, himself was shot dead by Jack Ruby, the reason for which no commissions of enquiry could reasonably sort out. 

John Kennedy was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia where there is the well known J. K. Eternal Flame. There are also other memorials for him. In Washington DC, there is J.K. Centre for Performing Arts. There is a memorial at Dallas for John F. Kennedy. There is a similar one in Massachusetts. New York has a JFK Memorial Grand Army Plaza where Kennedy’s bronze bust sculpted by the famous Neil Estern is erected. Though presidents like Abraham Lincoln was shot dead on 14 April 1865; James A. Garfield was shot at on 02 July 1881 and died on 19 September 1881; and William McKinley shot at on 06 September and died on 14 September 1901; these instances are not as specially remembered as that of the assassinated John F. Kennedy. 

John Kennedy established his mark in the history of the political world because of the well known Bay of Pigs incident in April 1961. His decision making in the matter of the rift between US and the USSR at a crucial juncture of a possible third world war resulted in giving the United States not only a win over the opposite power but also established the idea of avoiding a third world war. His ways of dealing with the enemy of the US led by Nikita Krushchev, the premier of the USSR, gave him both the name as an astute politician and decision maker with an understanding of the need for world peace without giving up the stand of the United States in world politics. 

His attitude of being soft on the communists was very widely publicised because of his stance towards Cuba which was a young republic with Marxist leanings and led by a very strong revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro. The assistance that Cuba was receiving from the USSR for the new young republic of Cuba was an irritation for the entire American bloc. When the USSR decided to stockpile missiles in the tiny island formations in the Bay of Pigs, the US military considered it a threat from a small country like Cuba which was just about one hundred and forty five kilometers away from the US shores of the state of Florida. John F. Kennedy, the then president of the United States, gave an ultimatum to the USSR to remove the missiles from the Bay of Pigs or face an attack from the United States not only to the Bay but also to the Cuban country. The USSR decided to remove the missiles which avoided a possible world war. 

The world discussed and wondered who was a greater leader, John F. Kennedy or Nikita Khrushchev. A group of people considered the latter as the greater one because he opted for peace. Another group considered the former greater because he avoided a possible war sometime in the future. The political analysts of the world believed that both were winners and that it was the exceptional wisdom of John F. Kennedy which made it possible. They also saw the statesmanship of Nikita Khrushchev who bargained for the removal of some of the missiles from nearby Caribbean islands by the United States; thus, paving  way for both sides to win. All the same, John Kennedy became a much greater man than his counterpart in the USSR for the former’s courage and timely decision making which resulted in peace for the world. 

After the death of John Kennedy, the thirty fifth president, the United States saw only two presidents; Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama who commanded some respect of the world; others were tragedies for the world.  It, indeed, is disappointing that the people of the world should have a Donald Trump, a Satyr; and one can only remember John F. Kennedy, the Hyperion, a President of the past!

Prof. Sunney Tharappan, is Director of College for Leadership and HRD, Mangaluru. 

He trains and writes and lives in Mangaluru. 

Email: [email protected]