I was 11 years old the last time someone took a shot at a President. Fortunately, that attempt on the life of Ronald Reagan was unsuccessful. Some of you reading this maybe weren’t even born yet. The announcement by Dan Rather of CBS was shocking. Back in those days you still huddled around the radio or TV and couldn’t find immediate pictures and video information from the internet like we can today. News like that was breathtaking, surreal and certainly very unusual.
Some of you reading this may have been around when on November 22, 1963, Walter Cronkite took to the airwaves in the middle of the day and grew exceptionally emotional when announcing the news of the assassination and death of our 35th President, John F. Kennedy. It’s hard to put into words just what sort of impact that had on the American people. The entire country was in mourning. People remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they got the news. Just like people will remember where they were when former President Trump was shot on Saturday, July 13, 2024, and we’ll never forget the iconic photograph of him surrounded by secret service agents with blood streaking across his face and his fist raised in defiance of the violence and attempt on his life.
Fortunately, these types of things are rare, thanks to security enhancements and increased protective services for our leaders. By the grace of God, former President Donald Trump was only slightly wounded. He was merely inches away from what would have clearly been a much different result.
So what happened? How, in today’s age, could a person get close enough to take a shot like this? I know there’s a lot of talk about finding answers and certainly everyone is asking some much deserved questions. I’m going to eagerly await the answers and I hope they come soon. President Biden and our current administration promises a speedy investigation and they need to make that happen. I also hope President Biden follows through on his comments about toning down the language and rhetoric in the campaign. It should start at the top. We’ll soon find out if he believes his own words.
Politics and vocal differences of opinion have always been an issue. Since the very founding of our nation we’ve had arguments and disagreements about the right course and direction for our country. And sometimes things got violent. Candidly, today’s rhetoric is probably not a lot different than political haymakers thrown in the past. One distinct difference is that because of our technology, every word that’s uttered today by any politician is up for immediate debate and analysis. People are listening. Always. To everything. And dissecting the meaning of every word. The availability and widespread access to “news” makes it possibly more important that we be cautious and judicious in what we say and how we say it. This should be especially critical for our national media, who seem to have lost the basic rules of fair and balanced journalism. So yeah, stop the rhetoric. But maybe try leading by example.
As the old saying goes: words matter.
They do. Significantly. The echo chamber found on websites, chat groups, and other online communities on the one hand can be very good for people needing a place and a group with whom they can express their feelings and opinions. Without knowing enough about the motives of the shooter, other than he was apparently willing to interfere in our 2024 election in such a fashion as to remove one of the candidates completely, it’s hard to say what exactly drove him to this. Since the assassin was shot and killed in response to his actions, we may never have a full appreciation of why he thought this was his best course of action. Violence is not the answer. This was immoral, wrong and repugnant. A cowardly and evil act.
We should talk to each other more and scream a lot less. We should work to choose our words wisely and appropriately, because now more than ever, people are listening and watching in ways never thought possible. Our words, our actions, our very lives are on display for the world to see around the clock.
I want to share with you these words, spoken after the death of President Kennedy and on the day of his funeral by one of the people who inspired me to become a journalist early in my career, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite. “It is said that the human mind has a greater capacity for remembering the pleasant than the unpleasant. But today was a day that will live in memory and in grief. Only history can write the importance of this day: Were these dark days the harbingers of even blacker ones to come, or like the black before the dawn shall they lead to some still as yet indiscernible sunrise of understanding among men, that violent words, no matter what their origin or motivation, can lead only to violent deeds?” He went on to encourage a new dedication to the American concepts of no political, sectional, religious or racial divisions. Certainly this is relevant today. Quite possibly more relevant than when Cronkite uttered these words in 1963.
Praise God former President Trump was not killed. But my heart breaks for the family of the man who died protecting his daughter and wife. My thoughts, prayers and sympathies are with them. This should never have happened. Let’s all seek to make sure this is the last time it ever does.
Kenyon Gleason
NASGW President