The Revenge of the Moderates?

This is an era in which calamity must be hyped but reality is quieter and more encouraging

On their way to Dallas in November 1963, President John F Kennedy turned to his wife, Jackie, and said: “We’re heading into nut country today”. Texas had voted for the Kennedy-Johnson ticket in 1960 but only by 45,000 votes. In Dallas county, the Democratic nominee won just 37 percent of the votes cast. Like Houston, only even more so, Dallas voted for Richard Nixon. 

Even by the standards of the time, Dallas was a haven for kook-minded conspiracy. At a lunch for Texas publishers held at the White House two years previously, Ted Dealey, proprietor of the Dallas Morning News (typical editorial line: ”Should we continue to spend tax money on illegitimate babies, when we need it for missiles?") had lambasted the still-new president. “We need a man on horseback to led this nation”, he growled, “and many people in Texas and the southwest think that you are riding Caroline’s [Kennedy’s daughter] tricycle”. 

”The American people are aroused, and rightly so” Dealey suggested. “We should lead fr…