Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. but it is also the 44th anniversary of a very dark day in our history...the day on which John F. Kennedy was assassinated. In tribute, then, to a man who offered such hope for our future:

THAT WAS THE PRESIDENT by Phil Ochs

The bullets of the false revenge have struck us once again
As the angry seas have struck upon the sand
And it seemed as though a friendless world had lost itself a friend
That was the President and that was the man.

I still can see him smiling there and waving at the crowd
As he drove through the music of the band
And never even knowing no more time would be allowed
Not for the President and not for the man.

Here's a memory to share, here's a memory to save
Of the sudden early ending of command
Yet a part of you and a part of me is buried in his grave
That was the President and that was the man.

It's not only for the leader that the sorrow hits so hard
There are greater things I'll never understand
How a man so filled with life, even death was caught off guard.
That was the President and that was the man.

Every thing he might have done and all he could have been
Was proven by the troubled traitors hand
For what other death could wound the hearts of so many men
That was the President and that was the man.

Yes, the glory that was Lincoln's never died when he was slain
It's been carried over time and time again
And to the list of honor you may add another name
That was the President and that was the man.
That was the President and that was the man.

...and my own meager tribute:

Fearfully, tearfully
Jacqueline Kennedy
Shielded his body and
Cradled his head.

Bullets of ignorance
Incomprehensibly
Shattered our dreams as her
Husband lay dead.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2007 08:02AM by hpesoj.

Actually, I like yours better than Phil's ,Joe - but I suspect his is a song, and would be better if heard with the music

Thank you Marian and, yes, Phil put his words to a somewhat haunting melody.