JFK and Vaughn Meader
November 22nd 1963 was a sad day for the United States of America. Most us remember that as the day of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. I can remember some of what happened but I was just a little kid back then. But I do remember listening to a record called the “First Family” which was a really funny album poking fun of the Kennedy family in the hay days of Camelot. The album was made to have fun with the Presidential family and all their little idiosyncrasies. The record was produced by comedian Vaughn Meader. He originally started off as a musician but in the early sixty’s when John F. Kennedy was president and very popular Meader begin impersonating him. He was able to duplicate JFK’s Boston accent and his gestures making him a popular impersonator across the U.S. It was at this time he cut the “First Family” album which if you are from the sixty’s you would enjoy listing to on youtube. It is said that the Kennedy’s weren’t exactly pleased with the album but the work that Vaughn did was not as cutting as today’s comedy. However, Vaughn’s career came to a grinding halt on November 22nd 1963. When Kennedy died so died his impersonation. It was to hard for the American public to poke fun of their dead president. So Vaughn Meader’s career took a downward turn and eventually he went back to his music and moved back to his home state of Maine. He passed away in 2004. It is fascinating to realize how the Kennedy assassination affected so many people in so many ways.
