"Mr Johnson should remember that I am not just anyone and that he is only president of the United States by the grace of my son's action"
About this Quote
It is hard to beat the audacity of a mother reminding the most powerful elected official on earth that his authority is, in her mind, contingent on her child. Marguerite Oswald is not arguing policy or patriotism; she is staking a claim to narrative ownership. In one sharp sentence, she flips the power ladder: Lyndon B. Johnson may hold the office, but she holds the origin story.
The intent is double-edged. On the surface, its a demand for deference, a warning not to treat her like a disposable bystander in the Kennedy assassination aftermath. Underneath, its a bid to convert infamy into leverage. By saying Johnson is president "by the grace of my son's action", she reframes the assassination not as a national trauma but as a transactional pivot that elevated Johnson. That phrasing is chilling because it borrows the language of divine sanction and applies it to violence, turning a constitutional succession into something like a private benefaction.
Context does the rest. After November 22, 1963, the Oswald family became both tabloid prey and political liability. Marguerite spent years fighting for attention, dignity, and sometimes conspiracy-minded vindication. The line reads like a defensive counterattack against being patronized by the state: you cannot erase me, because you are literally standing where you stand because of my son.
Its also a subtle act of deflection. If her son is the engine of Johnson's rise, he becomes history's mover rather than history's pawn - and she, by extension, becomes more than "the assassin's mother."
The intent is double-edged. On the surface, its a demand for deference, a warning not to treat her like a disposable bystander in the Kennedy assassination aftermath. Underneath, its a bid to convert infamy into leverage. By saying Johnson is president "by the grace of my son's action", she reframes the assassination not as a national trauma but as a transactional pivot that elevated Johnson. That phrasing is chilling because it borrows the language of divine sanction and applies it to violence, turning a constitutional succession into something like a private benefaction.
Context does the rest. After November 22, 1963, the Oswald family became both tabloid prey and political liability. Marguerite spent years fighting for attention, dignity, and sometimes conspiracy-minded vindication. The line reads like a defensive counterattack against being patronized by the state: you cannot erase me, because you are literally standing where you stand because of my son.
Its also a subtle act of deflection. If her son is the engine of Johnson's rise, he becomes history's mover rather than history's pawn - and she, by extension, becomes more than "the assassin's mother."
Quote Details
| Topic | Mother |
|---|
More Quotes by Marguerite
Add to List
