# How did Lorraines dad not know who John F. Kennedy was in Back To The Future? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473 "2020-05-26T02:49:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/1 "2020-05-26T02:49:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Marty McFly: > Do you know where Riverside Drive is? > > Sam Baines: > It’s on the other end of town, a block past Maple. East end of town. > > Marty McFly: > A block past Maple? That’s John F. Kennedy Drive. > > Sam Baines: > Who the hell is John F. Kennedy? I know he was just a state senator at this point but wasn’t his Medal Of Honor PT-109 incident fairly well known even before his Presidential campaign? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/2 "2020-05-26T03:03:51Z")
John F. Kennedy did not receive the Medal of Honor. In fact, he received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal (for non-combat heroism) and the Purple Heart. Unless Lorraine’s father happened to to follow the glamorous 1953 wedding of JFK and Jacqueline Bouvier, it’s unlikely the name would have rung a bell before Kennedy tried to get the Democratic VP nomination in 1956. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/3 "2020-05-26T03:10:21Z")
Kennedy was never a state senator (he was a U.S. Representative for Massachusetts), and he did not win the Medal of Honor. In 1955, the time setting for the movie, he was a U.S. Senator. I don’t think his exploits during WW2 were really all that nationally well known outside of military circles and possibly / probably among his constituency, the press reports right after the incident notwithstanding, at least not until he started campaigning for president. The movie took place in California, right? No reason people there should know who the junior senator from Massachusetts was. There was a lot of press right after the PT-109 incident. But that was many years before 1955. Unless the father lived in Massachusetts, he probably would have forgot about one particular war hero story from 1943. There were so many of them. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/4 "2020-05-26T03:52:16Z")
Okay my mistake, for some reason I always thought he won the Medal Of Honor and was a Senator by the 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/5 "2020-05-26T04:17:18Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Okay my mistake, for some reason I always thought he won the Medal Of Honor and was a Senator by the 1950s. Maybe in an alternate timeline? ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/6 "2020-05-26T04:38:07Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Maybe in an alternate timeline? Perhaps the same one where he was outed by Abe Simpson [as being a Nazi mole](https://frinkiac.com/gif/S09E19/536168/542207.gif?b64lines=IElDSCBCSU4gRUlOIEJFUkxJTkVSIQooIGdhc3BzKSBIRSdTIEEgTkFaSSEgR0VUICdJTSE=)! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/7 "2020-05-26T04:52:56Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Unless Lorraine’s father happened to to follow the glamorous 1953 wedding of JFK and Jacqueline Bouvier, it’s unlikely the name would have rung a bell before Kennedy tried to get the Democratic VP nomination in 1956. He received a lot of publicity after winning the Pulitzer Prize for [_Profiles in Courage_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profiles_in_Courage), but that was also in 1956, after BTTF. (Note that _The Straight Dope_ is cited as a source regarding how much of the book JFK actually wrote.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/8 "2020-05-26T06:12:03Z")
> [@missbunny](#): > > The movie took place in California, right? Hill Valley’s location is somewhat ambiguous, considering at one end of town there’s the rolling hills of San Bernadino, and at the other end is Monument Valley, Utah. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/9 "2020-05-26T07:15:35Z")
> [@missbunny](#): > > Kennedy was never a state senator (he was a U.S. Representative for Massachusetts), and he did not win the Medal of Honor. In 1955, the time setting for the movie, he was a U.S. Senator. > > I don’t think his exploits during WW2 were really all that nationally well known outside of military circles and possibly / probably among his constituency, the press reports right after the incident notwithstanding, at least not until he started campaigning for president. The movie took place in California, right? No reason people there should know who the junior senator from Massachusetts was. > > There was a lot of press right after the PT-109 incident. But that was many years before 1955. Unless the father lived in Massachusetts, he probably would have forgot about one particular war hero story from 1943. There were so many of them. People from California would know who John F. Kennedy was only if they closely followed current events and politics in 1955. Lorraine’s father didn’t fit that category so his lack of recognition of Kennedy made sense. JFK really didn’t have much of national profile until he put is name in as Adlai Stevenson’s running mate the following year. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/10 "2020-05-26T08:51:39Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Hill Valley’s location is somewhat ambiguous, considering at one end of town there’s the rolling hills of San Bernadino, and at the other end is Monument Valley, Utah. Hill Valley is located around [del]Shonash[/del] [del]Clayton[/del] Eastwood Ravine. Just follow the railroad tracks. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/11 "2020-05-26T10:50:34Z")
Naval officers seldom get the Medal of Honor for having their boats knocked out from under them, regardless of how many of their sailors they allegedly save. What the Kennedys excelled at was self-promotion. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/12 "2020-05-26T11:40:07Z")
Even if he had been awarded the Medal of Honor there is no guarantee it would have made him famous. There were 472 WWII recipients of the Medal of Honor. Although all had some press coverage most did not achieve widespread fame. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/13 "2020-05-26T12:57:12Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Naval officers seldom get the Medal of Honor for having their boats knocked out from under them, regardless of how many of their sailors they allegedly save. What the Kennedys excelled at was self-promotion. When a captain loses his ship, the Navy has 2 options - beach him or give him a medal. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/14 "2020-05-26T14:59:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Marty McFly: > A block past Maple? That’s John F. Kennedy Drive To ask a question, how likely is it that an American would say “John F Kennedy drive”, as opposed to shortening it to J.F.K Drive? ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/15 "2020-05-26T15:09:14Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > To ask a question, how likely is it that an American would say “John F Kennedy drive”, as opposed to shortening it to J.F.K Drive? If they’re the protagonist in a film featuring time travel and they want to convey as clearly as possible to the audience, through showing not telling, that “this is the past, before all that” then the odds are pretty good it’ll be “John F Kennedy drive” every time. 😉 Otherwise, yeah, maybe a bit of a reach. Though I personally would consider “Kennedy,” “Kennedy Drive,” or just “JFK” more natural than “JFK Drive.” But that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/16 "2020-05-26T15:10:30Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > To ask a question, how likely is it that an American would say “John F Kennedy drive”, as opposed to shortening it to J.F.K Drive? Not very likely. And using JFK would have been even more confusing for Lorraine’s dad, while being transparent to the 1985 viewers of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/17 "2020-05-26T15:13:25Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > … using JFK would have been even more confusing for Lorraine’s dad, while being transparent to the 1985 viewers of the movie. Ahh! But here you’re forgetting about the smaller children in the audience, many of whom may benefit from that extra boost to aid in recognition that comes with using the full name. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/18 "2020-05-26T15:32:00Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Ahh! But here you’re forgetting about the smaller children in the audience, many of whom may benefit from that extra boost to aid in recognition that comes with using the full name. Point taken. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/19 "2020-05-26T15:52:15Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > When a captain loses his ship, the Navy has 2 options - beach him or give him a medal. Especially if Dad is in tight with the powers that be. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473/20 "2020-05-26T16:05:03Z")
Anyone else annoyed by the thread title’s missing apostrophe? > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Ahh! But here you’re forgetting about the smaller children in the audience, many of whom may benefit from that extra boost to aid in recognition that comes with using the full name. “John F. Kennedy” is not a full name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-lorraines-dad-not-know-who-john-f-kennedy-was-in-back-to-the-future/854473.md?page=2)