Synopsis

Set against a smoky nighttime motorcade, Marilyn Manson portrays a doomed president riding beside Rose McGowan as his first lady. The video recreates the assassination of John F. Kennedy, including the fatal shooting, the grieving widow, and the chaos that follows. Manson also appears crucified, linking political martyrdom with religious imagery. The solemn, stylized treatment turns the song into a meditation on celebrity worship, public violence, and the way tragedy is transformed into spectacle.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was shot in Los Angeles on February 20 and 21, 1999.

• Manson conceived the video as an extension of his unfinished film script, "Holywood." The script treated Jesus and John F. Kennedy as earlier Christ-like figures and imagined a future savior called President White.

• Manson described the Kennedy imagery as a metaphor for America's fascination with violence and its tendency to worship figures who die publicly.

• The video's MTV premiere was delayed after the Columbine High School massacre in April 1999 and the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. in July 1999. It finally premiered on September 13, 1999, following a statement from Manson read by Carson Daly on "Total Request Live."

• Rose McGowan, who plays Jacqueline Kennedy, was Manson's real-life partner at the time.

• The video was included on the 1999 home-video compilation "God Is in the TV" and later on "Lest We Forget: The Videos."