I turned 18 during the beginning of President John Kennedy’s first term in office. I did not get to vote for him because, although I was in the military, I was not old enough.
Two years later the President came to Wiesbaden, Germany as the international part of his campaign for reelection activities. It was a time of great excitement.
I remember going downtown with friends to see him speak. His helicopter landed across the street from the lawn of the Amelia Earhart Hotel where we were and in front of the Von Steuben Hotel.
As the President was getting off the helicopter, one of my roommates,“Fish” (we called him Fish because he always smelled even when using a lot of deodorant), held up a sign that read “AU H20” that meant Goldwater when spelled out. Barry Goldwater was a retired Air Force Major General, a United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican candidate for President.
Kennedy took it all in as he pointed to the sign and laughed. We thought he was looking at us until we looked back to the poster.
A day later, on June 26, 1963 President John F. Kennedy gave that epic presentation in Berlin heard around the world and known as “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. It was the Cold War period and the President, a military hero in World War II, was facing threats by the Soviet Union.
I looked forward to voting for the first time as well as to vote for the reelection of the President. However, less than 5 months later he was assassinated on a Dallas street.
The vacuum created by the desire to cast my first vote for my adolescent hero has never disappeared. There was a uniqueness of that man that is hard to explain other than to say that it forms part of his greatness.
Given the social and political times we live in today, I do not know that a Kennedy type could even rise to the top of our national leadership. I do know however, that the door of opportunity for that to come about must be maintained open.
This is where our concept of constitutional democracy becomes paramount for our political system to work and the vote of every eligible individual to be cast and protected. It is about the first words of the Constitution, “We the people…”
It is the power of the people that makes our democracy work. At the root of that power is the simple action of filling out a form that expresses our political choices. If we do not do that, we are basically leaving it to others to make critical decisions about our lives, our community, our culture and our future.
President Abraham Lincoln said it best in the Gettysburg Address when he ends the speech with, “and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
At the time of that speech, the United States was still in real danger of losing the Civil War to the Confederacy. In our time, we are not dealing yet with an armed conflict, but with a contest between democracy where voting is essential and autocracy where freedom is lost.
Rather than grumble or cheer, we must look to settle issues at the ballot box. If we like what is going on, we can vote for it to continue. If we do not like something, we can vote for change. As former President Obama likes to say, “don’t boo, vote.”
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of LaVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to News@lavozcolorado.com.
