As the man who jump-started the American civil rights movement, King was also a dynamic speaker whose ideas stirred up deep devotion, as well as deeply rooted fear. was at the very least a controversial leader. just when many felt that things could get no worse, another death brought the shocked nation to its knees again.ĭr. The nightly news became a nightmare of disappointment and violence. Americans could not escape the bleakness of the times. The death of the young president was even cited as a factor in the heated debates over integration and civil rights, the rapidly growing division between those who argued over the reasons for American involvement in Vietnam, and the accelerated experimentation with illegal drugs.
Kennedy's loss left millions questioning every aspect of their lives, right down to the core of their beliefs.
Much as Lincoln's death had scarred the United States for more than two decades, when Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK, the wound festered in every facet of American society for years. Even as America laughed at his work and Holler deposited royalty checks from record sales, the man and the nation were still troubled by a host of problems plaguing the country - problems that a humorous song simply could not erase. If possible, it made Snoopy an even larger star than his bigheaded owner, Charlie Brown. This novelty number, inspired by Charles Schulz's classic comic-strip beagle, was equally enjoyed by old and young alike. In 1966, the rock group the Royal Guardsmen took Holler's "Snoopy vs. The man's claim to fame would come from writing about an American hero, though the star of his song was a hero of the fictional variety. Holler was not a historian, though he had a love of history. The parallels seemed uncanny, but in truth the deaths were most closely related by the fact that two men who seemed to have been the moral voices of the moment, men who were strongly loved and deeply hated for firing up incredible passions in their followers, had been struck down in what should have been the greatest moments of their lives.
Kennedy, Holler, like millions of other Americans, must have relived the details of the tragic deaths of both Lincoln and Kennedy. Yet in the wake of the assassination of another president, John F. It is doubtful that Dick Holler had ever heard any of the songs written about Lincoln's life and death.
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