JFK, the greatest tragedy

Colleagues and scholars from coast to coast, across Bass Strait and all the ships at sea.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (November 22 1963), the media worldwide will be replete with stories and features about his presidency, his life and his death.

I thought perhaps the simplest point to make, and often overlooked, is that the greatest tragedy of all was that he was the father to two young children - Caroline and John Jr. - who would have been devastated to lose their father in any manner, let alone in such a violent and public one.

Here are a few snapshots of them, for the all too short period that they had together.

And then, on John F. Kennedy Jr's third birthday, November 25 1963, and two days before his sister Caroline's sixth birthday (November 27), the children, along with their mother and the rest of their family, farewelled their father's casket as it passed.