When Tolkien died, I felt as though I'd lost someone dear to me, ditto Patrick OBrien. But my grief remained private.   The Kennedy asassination tore the heart out of our country. My parents were good Republicans but they grieved too.
Ronald Reagan apparently left plans for his own funeral, and modeled it on Kennedy's, which I find seriously revolting.

The good news is this time next week everyone will be talking about someone else, and nobody but his family will remember that there was a Ronald Reagan.