English 10 CAI
28 February 2003
Great Leaders Assassinated, Then and Now
All the great leaders that were and the ones that are to come were and are part of a void of the space and time continuum. Once in a great while the void allows a great leader to be born into this domain, so it will not perish, but struggle to survive in this wretched, ungodly universe. From birth, the leader begins his journey growing in knowledge and power. With great dexterity he rises above all else, to the utmost point on the pyramid of mankind. Then, at the right moment, he attains control and ruled with a divine iron fist. Julius Caesar was such a leader. Shakespeare portrayed him as a ruthless leader who only wanted the good of his country. Caesar was at the top of his game and ready to lead with an iron fist, with such wisdom and power everyone would have been bended to his will. He had many faults and his closest yet farthest advisor betrayed him and tried to size control. Now, leaders are born, not made. Either you have leading abilities, or you do not. These people that took the power out of Caesar’s hands did not have a clue on how to lead. That is why they lost. A similar leader was John F. Kennedy. He was president of the United States. He was a man with power and with a little more time, he would have made it possible to control even more power, but there are always people who hate and discriminate over power. They think it is not right to rule over people. But humans are like that. They always want to rise above and be greater than people before them. Caesar and Kennedy were great leaders with great potential. They both had good reasons to become great and they both knew the responsibilities and the risks of being a leader.
Julius Caesar was a great leader. He kept the government funds filled, wept with the poor, laughed with the rich and kept the system working during the time he ruled as a Roman leader. He was not ambitious; he was a good man at heart even though he was a pretty harsh leader. He did not rush into plans. He kept things calm and under control. "You all saw that on the Lupercal I offered him a kingly crown three times, which he refused three times." (J.C. III.2.91) Kennedy was a similar man. He had a good head on his shoulders and was going to become a powerful leader of his people. He made sure there would be no war and made a strong contribution of time to help secure that NATO would strengthen in power. "He was involved in a wide variety of historic policies from the Space Race to the Cuban Missile Crisis." (John Fitzgerald Kennedy and The Presidency 1.1.2) As you can tell these were great leaders in their time. They would have made a great impact on historical records.
The main reason behind Julius Caesar’s death is because his advisors were scared of the powers possessed. They were frightened of what he might accomplish with such greatness. There was no way they would let him become a supreme leader. They conspired and then when Caesar had his guard down, they stuck and murdered him. "Then his mighty heart burst; and hiding his face in his toga, Right at the bottom of Pompey's statue (Which ran blood the whole time) great Caesar fell." (J.C. III.2.82) A similar death lay in store for Kennedy. When he went on his presidential campaign he was not expecting so much resistance. When he had his guard at its lowest, Oswald shot and killed him. The reason behind his death is because JFK and other presidential leaders wanted to take Fidel Castro out of power. Oswald supported Castro. "To Oswald, Kennedy was probably seen as a privileged politician who refused to condemn McCarthyism during the 1960 election, had dragged his feet on civil rights, humiliated Castro in the Missile Crisis, permitted far-right and anti-Castro extremism (as personified by General Walker) to increase, ordered the largest buildup of US Armed Forces in peacetime history, called for a 1,000 ICBMs, etc. This was before the canonization of Kennedy that followed his death — by the fall of 1963, JFK was receiving a lot of criticism from both the right and left." (The Oswald Agenda 4.11.1)
After Caesar’s death his advisors try to take over, but there were many people who liked Caesar. Not everyone hated him because he was a good man. So one of his followers gave a speech that turned more than half of Rome against the murderers. They fought and the advisors were all killed by themselves. Even Caesar’s closest friend killed himself. "If only because of that old friendship, I ask you to hold my sword hilts, while I run on it." (J.C. V.5.30) After John F. Kennedy died, the entire nation mourned his death. To no ones surprise, his death was avenged. Oswald was shot in front of everyone on national TV. "In the garage of the police building, he was shot by Jack Ruby in front of hundreds of journalists and millions of TV watchers." (The Assassination: An Overview 1.7.4)
Caesar and Kennedy knew that great power comes with responsibilities and most times with risks. Julius Caesar was a good leader he was killed because of power struggle and afterwards, his murders were in turn killed by their own hands. Kennedy was a great leader who was shot by a Castro-supporter who also in turn was killed, but by a man who could not bear Kennedy’s death. Both of these leaders did not deserve to die. They were born leaders. It is not their fault they became so powerful. Other people should have respect for people who would like to have power. Like what is happening in the world today. America, the bully, is not allowing any thing to pass by them, no bombs, nothing. If we were to go to war with Iraq after they disarmed, it would be like taking the crutches a way from a man with crippled legs and then making him compete in the 500-meter race. It is not that I think Iraq should have weapons of mass destruction, I just think America should not be like Caesars advisors, and take away any chance of making a nation into something useful, or even an ally.
Works Cited
‘The Assassination: An Overview” JFK Assassination Overview 1998
<gttp://www.jfk-assasination.de/overview.html> 3/11/2003
“John Fitzgerald and Te Presidency” JFK ????
<http:www.plhs.esu3.org/hs/student/apspr00/jfk_Site/jfk.htm> 3/11/2003
“The Oswald Agenda” Lee Harvey Oswald’s Motive in the Kennedy Assassination 2000
<http://www.mcadams.posc.mu.edu/organ1.htm> 3/11/2003
