One of the few teachers I can remember from my elementary school was Mrs. Dalrymple (how quaint the “Mrs.” sounds these days!) in the fourth grade. This would have been the second year of John F. Kennedy's administration, I believe. She had us watch a documentary about Kennedy's WWII service on patrol boat. This was not the commercial movie PT-109, but a typical low-budget black-and-white docudrama of the day. Think Victory at Sea and you'll get the idea.
Anyway, this documentary portrayed Kennedy as an impossibly capable hero. By the time the film was over, I was ready to believe that Kennedy could have towed a disabled aircraft carrier by taking the anchor chain in his mouth and swimming with his feet only. While badly burned, and under simultaneous attack by submarines and dive bombers. And with a broken back. It was every bit as bad as this Obama film, but with lesser production values.
I wasn't disturbed at the time – that film was easily the most interesting and exciting thing that ever happened in Mrs. Dalrymple's class, other than her occasionally catching me reading a library book.
But it disturbs me today to think back upon it. My perception of Kennedy as a perfect hero didn't change until I started reading history in earnest, in the '70s. Then it changed very quickly :-) Most people don't ever read history, so I suspect such propaganda has a real and lasting impact...
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