How Costly Was The Loss Of Camelot?

While surfing the web in an attempt to find ways to waste my time that are not, technically, Facebook. I came across a website called speechnevergiven.org. This organization is seeking to create an artistic rendering of the 2,500 word speech that President Kennedy was on his way to deliver when he was assassinated. 11-22-2013 marks the 50 anniversary of Kennedy's death, and this project is devoted to and uses the citizens of the city of Dallas. This is a short demo of the style being followed that uses the famous "Words alone are not enough" part of the speech. 

It is very inspiring. 

I was born in the summer 1968... Nearly five full years after the fact. I cannot draw on personal recollections of that terrible day in Dallas.  But, as a historian and political theorist, I can draw on the resources available to me.  It is easy to see 2 very painful truths about the death of Camelot. 

But, first let me make a few things clear.

1. I am a conservative, but not necessarily a GOP Republican. I am more of a cross between a libertarian and a Hamiltonian Federalist. My political views necessarily arise from my belief, like Washington, Madison and Lincoln, that the nature of the Union is indivisible and relies on the powers granted through the 1787 Constitution BY THE PEOPLE. 
2. I place firm belief in the moral foundations of the nation-i.e. the principles embodied in the Declaration. 

Now, I admire greatness in great men, but do not necessarily see human failings as a negation if greatness. Men like Lincoln, Jefferson and Madison had personal failings, but it does't invalidate their accomplishments.  To that end, had Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton been able to make any claims to anything remotely admirable, their deplorable conduct in Watergate (for Nixon) and Everything-I-Ever-Did-gate (for Clinton) would have compromised their claim to greatness.  Any assertions about Kennedy's fidelity, drug use or political legerdemain do not negate his mystique or his
Although President Kennedy was technically a Democrat, he was a fiscal conservative and a Catholic. Moreover, he was the American Chief Executive for less than 3 years. His lasting legacy is not defined by his policies, but rather by 2 basic facts. 

One, he was perceived by the American people to be the mythical Arthur of Camelot. His gifts in political oratory and his vision of what he wanted America to be added to this mystique. Whether by accident or design, he was the embodiment of all that was good about the America after WWII. 

Two, the dream of Camelot died with him, not entirely because of his death, but rather because of the man who succeeded him. Camelot and the Great Society were two very different animals. What Camelot might have been is overshadowed by the reality of Lyndon Johnson, his vision for America and his pathological obsession with Vietnam. Many ill conceived ideas were executed with a frightening efficiency. The cycles of poverty and class envy in regards to African Americans came from Great Society social engineering and a failure to  be realistic in his policy towards Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement. After all, it was the GOP who sponsored the Civil Rights Act of 1965.  
But, enough about that.

The second part of this equation lies in the fact that we, as the writers of history, need to open ourselves to the possibility that the assassination of President Kennedy may have been responsible for more damage to our collective spirit than perhaps we have been willing to admit.  These seminal events, like the Civil War, Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and the assassination of President Lincoln, leave permanent  scars.  The Kennedy assassination, while mired in theories ranging from the CIA to the US military to the Italian/American Mafia, is of the same ilk as the aforementioned events.  The loss of Camelot, in the final analysis, caused attitudes to change...and not necessarily for the better.  Beyond this simple theory, I can offer nothing more.  I leave only the possibility...nothing more.  It's a possibility that I think needs to be considered or reconsidered.  Pain is a force to be dealt with with both vision and restraint.