John Fitzgerald Kennedy was extremely savvy with the press. According to Professor Lisa Burns, Kennedy was the first “television president;” that is, he was the first to use the television to communicate to people. His assassination was considered a critical incident, according to Barbie Zelizer, who researched Kennedy’s assassination. She said, “For American journalists, the day had an added significance.” Zelizer said journalists coined the term “cover the body” as a newsbeat for following the president everywhere; she added that this became the term for following Kennedy’s body during the day of the assassination. According to Professor Burns, people flocked to the newspapers after seeing the news of Kennedy being shot on television. She said this was because people couldn’t be sure the news was fact until it was in print. Zelizer said that, for journalists, covering the assassination helped make them “cultural authorities concerning events of the “real world.” However, because television provided accurate information during the assassination, she said “it legitimated televised journalism as a mediator of national public experience. The media’s attitude towards Kennedy ultimately shaped America’s attitude towards him because the media reaches out to Americans collectively. Therefore, the media shaped the collective memory of Kennedy.

Foremost, one should consider Kennedy’s relationship with television. According to Burns, Kennedy had advisors David Sarnoff and William Pailey from the television industry. It could be argued that they helped to get him elected. Burns said, during the period when Kennedy and Nixon ran for office, Kennedy always appeared cleaner during their debates. Burns said Kennedy dressed in clothing of specific colors, wore makeup, had a tanned and was clean-shaven; he also spoke directly into the camera, keeping handkerchief by his side to clean his face periodically. Burns said Nixon had shifty eyes, a dark suit, was sick, had a ‘5-O’clock shadow’ and sweated profusely. She said, according to a poll, the majority of those who listened to the debates on the radio thought Nixon won, but the majority of those who saw the debates televised thought Kennedy won. This is collective memory because those who saw Kennedy’s speeches could enjoy the same image of him.

Kennedy was interviewed on television with Walter Cronkite, according to “John F. Kennedy,” a CBS documentary about him. He did a lot of things that pleased the press, according to the video. It said he let the press videotape him when he relaxed with his wife and children. Also, he had the first televised press conferences in which he would gladly answer any questions the press had, according to the video. In both his speeches and in the documentaries of his home life, Kennedy appears as a young family man (despite his affairs). This was probably something that the Americans of the 1960’s could relate to. People will remember Kennedy as a young president.

So one should examine what the media had to say about Kennedy’s inauguration in order to understand the media’s favor for him. Many may remember Kennedy for his speeches. He was a writer, according to Brooks Atkinson. She said, “He awoke the nation and put the rest of the world on notice…” According to Atikinson, Eisenhower had poor speeches because he had poor speechwriters; Kennedy, however, wrote his own speeches and wrote good ones. She said, “Kennedy quickened the life of the nation.” Because of this good media, the collective memory of Kennedy will be remembered as inspiration for American.

Specifically, Kennedy could be remembered for his policies. According to “Kennedy’s Cuba Statement” from the New York Times, Kennedy believed Cuba to be one of the many threats the communism brings to America. His primary concern seems to be America, which he is collectively remembered for. Consider when he says, “The United States in conjunction with other Hemisphere countries will make sure that, while increased Cuban armaments will be a burden to the unhappy people of Cuba themselves, they will be nothing more.” One can see that Kennedy represented the protection of American people. “They will be nothing more” than a threat to Cuba. Kennedy implies America will be safe from them. Kennedy will be remembered as a trustworthy president who represented America. In his policies, this is evident because Kennedy was not concerned with the security of Cuban citizens but ultimately the security of the American people.

Kennedy will be greatly remembered for his assassination on November 23rd, 1963. The day of the assassination, according to CBS, Kennedy was in Dallas giving a speech to earn the white vote in the South (after Kennedy alleged himself to civil rights). Kennedy was shot in his car. CBS said that word the president might have been shot was in the media almost instantly; though most people were uncertain for most the day, they spend about 24 hours speculating. Walter Cronkite was the man, according to the video, to officially announce Kennedy’s death on television. The media shaped the day of the assassination as a day of confusion because the media was confused, and this, in turn confused the public. This is why people sought newspapers to substantiate what they heard/saw in broadcast media.

The manner at which the media supported Kennedy may have impacted the public reaction to his death. According to a New York Times article, “Timetable of the Kennedy Funeral and Procession,” the public line was cut off at 8:25 a.m. This implies that a multitude of people attended the wake.

It is evident that the collective memory of Kennedy is that he was a good, young man who was concerned with keeping American’s secure. And it is blatant that the collective memory of Kennedy’s assassination was a confusing tragedy because of his popularity. If the media portrayed Kennedy as a bad president, his assassination and the many future deaths in the Kennedy family would have been less significant in our collective memory