Editorial: Tragedy once again hits Kennedy family

Tuesday, July 20, 1999 | 9:30 a.m.

It is an understatement to say that John F. Kennedy Jr. lived in a fishbowl. Born in 1960, just weeks after his father was elected president of the United States, he grew up under the nation's gaze. Adding to the public's connection was the feeling of anguish for him after his father was assassinated -- especially painful was the image of the 3-year-old saluting his father's coffin as it passed by. But this time the grieving is for JFK Jr., presumed to have died Saturday in a plane crash along with his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and his sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette.

As an adult he sometimes was hounded by the media, especially tabloid photographers, so it was with a certain amount of irony that he eventually opted for a career in journalism, starting the political magazine George. And even though he decided against entering politics like many of the other Kennedys, his death prompted the same question asked following the deaths of his father and uncle, Robert: "What if he hadn't died so soon?" His death creates not only a profound sense of loss for his family, it also will leave a void for the countless Americans who watched him maintain his dignity as he set his own course during an all-too-short life.