Kennedy years guided later political choices

My college years were “bookended” by JFK’s presidency. I stayed up all night in my dorm’s TV room on the November evening of his election my freshman year. I listened intently with fellow students to radio broadcast accounts of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis and struggled on 50-mile hikes prescribed by JFK’s fitness regimen during those college years.

Then, in my senior year, on Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, I walked from my philosophy classroom to my dormitory. As I entered, I knew immediately something was terribly wrong as the halls were filled with students, some crying, some shouting angry insults at Texas and others merely proclaiming the president’s death. Much to my father’s disappointment, I emerged from college a Democrat!

Bob Runtz

Arlington Heights