JFK assassination was a ‘coming of age’ for conservatives, claims Berkeley director

The assassination of Democratic President John F. Kennedy was a "national coming of age" for the political right, UC Berkeley Director and Lead Researcher of the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies claimed in an op-ed published Thursday.

“The assassination heralded not only an impending left counterculture but also a national coming of age of a political right whose most virulent feelings have often been subsumed under the smiling faces of a Ronald Reagan or a George W. Bush," he wrote, in the piece, published in the San Francisco Gate. 

The editorial, authored by Dr. Lawrence Rosenthal, compares Kennedy's 1963 disapproval among Texans with their current disdain for President Obama.

"Texas in 1963 was edgy, with right-wingers who despised Kennedy," writes Rosenthal. "Texas today seethes with vitriol aimed at President Obama."

Dr. Rosenthal continued to compare the political climate of the 1960's with the current concerns surrounding domestic issues.

"The foreign policy McCarthyism that met JFK in 1963 has morphed into a domestic-issues McCarthyism today," he continued.

Dr. Rosenthal did not respond to requests for comment from Campus Reform in time for publication.

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