Royal scandal

The exception that proves the rule is President John F. Kennedy. At the time of his Presidency, he was regarded as the boy-king of American dreams--fresh, energetic, and good. He was not so much 'killed' as 'slain', like the knights of old. Strangely, the reveaations of his feverish fornification with Marilyn Monroe (shared with his brother), and others have not harmedhis reputation in the eyes of many people. On the contrary, these affairs seem to be celebrations of youth and vigor. He is the unique American leader who was both star and administrator, god and king. His appetites were those of special man, who lived by other rules. Just as Hegel in his day saw Napoleon riding on his horse as the World Historical Character, so today in turn we see JFK and Marilyn at a moment when all the super-potency of the greatest nation in the world was concentrated in the instinctive ritual of those twocelestial bodies. It was his due. It was Camelot.

The glory of JFK's sexual odyssey, the tradgedy of his martyrdom, and the Croesian wealth of his father have endowed the Kennedys with the mystique of a royal family, even if they have neither the history nor the class to maintain it. Thus we have come full circle: neither the Windsors nor the Kennedys have power now, but both have the mystique. Both are stars who provide the entertainment we all need. Both have lost some prestige: the Kennedys have done it to themselves through the appearance of degeneracy. The British Monarchy has a bank of mystique that will not be easily depleted, but mystique is all it has. The institution will last-we Britishare an island race of stalwart royalists