The Global Reach of Great Power

Abstract

The sudden, shocking transition from John F. Kennedy to Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House inevitably created significant policy ripples reaching far beyond the abrupt change in leadership. American public opinion at all levels was profoundly affected by the assassination of the President. Following the series of shocks to the political nervous system of the United States in the 1960s and early 1970s, including the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, the extraordinary divisiveness and bitterness engendered by the Vietnam War, and the scandals of Watergate, Americans have become more cynical and less hopeful about their political environment. Consequently, only with difficulty can one recall the exceptional surprise which greeted the first Kennedy assassination both in the United States and in Europe and the rest of the world.