Well put. For me, a bit of that innocence came back with Obama. Perhaps it was as much hope and charisma.
I was in a seminar run by a very well-known mathematician and no would dared interrupt him. So we emerged at 2PM EST to hear the news. By that time Kennedy was dead and LBJ was on the airplane flying east.
My then girlfriend–now wife of getting on to 57 years–spent the whole weekend hugging each other for support and really bonded during those three long days. We did see Ruby snuff Oswald on live TV. What a weekend. Much more traumatic than 9/11.