Note: This is the first part in a multi-part series that delves into the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Recently, there have been several document dumps from the National Archives of previously unseen files relating to the murder. JFK assassination history has been a hobby of mine for years and I am looking forward to sharing what is known with all of you.
In this series, we will delve into known information and new information about the people and events around the assassination. We will do deep dives into Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, the mafia, and various elements of our government. I don’t know how many parts it will be… as I am trying to keep each part relatively short and digestible. I hope you enjoy my unique take on this mystery. —Virgil
11/22/63
The date is Friday November 22, 1963, 8:00 am. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is not in Dallas yet. He is 32 miles away, in Fort Worth talking to the Chamber of Commerce. This is a politically hostile trip for the young President. Texas is a conservative state and Kennedy is a Massachusetts liberal… but the 1964 election season is ramping up and given the fact that he barely beat a young Richard Nixon in 1960, Kennedy needs Texas. His Texan Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson is trying to help him win it.
The trip is actually going better than expected. The speech at the Chamber of Commerce in Ft. Worth is received quite well considering most in attendance were conservative small businessmen. There is some rain in the forecast, but the latest weather reports say that by the time the President arrives at Love Field in Dallas later that morning, the skies will have cleared and it should be a beautiful day. His staff advises the Secret Service that the bubble top on the President’s convertible limousine should be removed so the President is visible on the parade route through Dallas.
After breakfast the President, the First Lady, the Vice President and his wife, the Governor and First Lady of Texas, and their entourages go to Carswell Air Force Base to take the very quick flight to Love Field in Dallas. The plan is to take a winding parade route through the city of Dallas to a luncheon and another speech at the Dallas Trade Mart before heading off to Austin for another round of speeches in the afternoon, and then finally off to Vice President Johnson’s ranch for a needed weekend of relaxation.
It was a packed schedule and an important trip. Kennedy was gearing up for one hell of an election season. The Republican front runner for the GOP nomination was Senator Barry Goldwater. Kennedy and Goldwater had served together in the Senate and had actually become close friends. Back channel communications between the two camps had planned many joint campaign events between the friends and rivals, and several Lincon-Douglas style debates were in the works. Of the many things that were lost in Dallas that day, that JFK and Barry Goldwater never got to debate around the country as friends and rivals is a true loss for our country.
11:30 - 12:10
The sky had cleared over Love Field in Dallas as Air Force One touched down. Crowds and press had gathered to welcome the President and First Lady. The airplane taxied to the predetermined spot and the doors opened.
To the crowd’s delight, Jack (as he was affectionately known) and Jackie stepped into the Texas sunshine. Jackie was radiant in a pink Chanel suit with buttons on the front, a charcoal collar, white gloves, and a pink pillbox hat. Jack was in a perfectly tailored charcoal suit with a white pocket square, a fashionable tie, and a horizontally striped white and blue shirt. The pair were the very personification of elegance and grace. The crowd erupted into cheers and pushed forward to try and touch the First Lady or shake the President’s hand. Someone handed Jackie a bouquet of red roses that only seemed to compliment her overall appearance. After this day, no such melee would ever be allowed to greet a President on landing again.
The crowd was enthralled with the young first couple and for their part Jack and Jackie took their time wading through them. Shaking hands and giving out warm greetings, they then made their way to the waiting line of vehicles.
The presidential limousine was a 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible. The top had been removed and two jump seats had been added behind the driver and in front of the rear seats. The driver was Secret Service Agent William Greer. Riding shotgun was Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman, head of the Presidential detail. Behind Greer sat Nellie Connolly, First Lady of Texas, and behind Kellerman, Governor John Connolly. Behind Mrs. Connolly was Jackie. Behind Gov. Connolly was Jack.
The group was running behind schedule. The luncheon at Trade Mart was due to begin at 12:15 and it was now after 12:00 and they were just leaving Love Field. If the President was concerned about this, he never said anything. He knew that the key to winning Texas was to let everyone get a good long look at the first couple… and specifically Jackie who seemed to be beloved even by the President’s enemies.
12:10 - 1:00
The local papers, The Dallas Times Herald and the Dallas Morning News had printed the parade route, and to the delight of the President, Dallas had seemingly come to a stop for the Presidential visit. The streets and overpasses were lined with people trying to get a glimpse Jack and Jackie. Governor Connolly leaned back and said to the President, “You can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you, Mr. President.” Jack replied, “No John, you certainly can’t.”
The parade included over 15 cars and limousines, plus a few busses with press and other dignitaries. There were also a number of police vehicles and motorcycle escorts. It was slow moving by design and gave all of the onlookers plenty of chances to see the President and his wife. Many people shouted out to him and were delighted with a smile, some eye contact, and perhaps even a wave just for them.
It was a glorious day for a turbulent administration. From very early on in the President’s administration there was a deep fissure between the CIA, the military, and the administration. By November 1963 that fissure had grown into a chasm… and the President was winning. If Jack kept his compass true, and if the next 12 months could go like this trip to Texas, he would secure reelection and put his enemies on notice once and for all.
As 12:30 approached, so too did the convoy to a tight turn at Dealey Plaza. The motorcade came to a near stop as it navigated two turns, a right turn from Main Street onto Houston, then a left turn onto Elm. As the road straitened out there was a rail overpass just ahead, a field to the left, a grassy knoll to the right, and an eight story building directly behind them which in part was used to warehouse schoolbooks for the Dallas public school system.
At 12:30 a shot rang out. The President was hit at the top of his back, missing his spine by fractions of an inch. The bullet exited the President’s throat, just clipping the Windsor knot on his tie. It crashed into the back of Governor Connolly shattering ribs and collapsing his lung. It exited his thorax through shattered bone and imbedded itself in his right wrist. Some people seemed to have heard the shot, but nobody reacted. Jackie turned to face Jack, desperately trying to see what was the matter.
A second shot rang out. A miss. It ricocheted off the asphalt and fractured, part of it hitting a passer by causing a very minor injury. The rest of the bullet hit the overpass.
Then it happened. Just as Jackie was looking into her husband’s eyes trying desperately to understand what was happening, his head exploded. The final shot had ripped through the President’s skull, from back to front, sending blood and brain matter everywhere. Everyone knew exactly what was happening now.
Secret Service Agent Clint Hill heard the first shot, leapt off the running boards of a trailing vehicle, and was running to the Presidential limousine. Among the gore and confusion, a piece of the President’s head had blown onto the trunk of the Lincoln. Mrs. Kennedy was now, inexplicably climbing onto the trunk in an attempt to retrieve it. Agent Hill jumped onto the now accelerating car and shouted for Mrs. Kennedy to return to her seat while he stood as tall as possible to shield the occupants from any more fire. Jackie screamed: “I have his brains in my hands!”
The trip from Dealey Plaza to Parkland Hospital, even at high speeds with police escorts took between 6 and 8 minutes. During that time a terrified Mrs. Connolly, held her wounded husband and tried to comfort Jackie. For her part, Mrs. Kennedy, the First Lady of the United States, known all over the world for her dignity, poise, grace, and style, sat caked in her husbands brains and blood and wept. The red roses she received at Love Field had fallen to the floorboards at her feet and soaked in Jack’s red blood. Jack was dead. She knew it… and she was all alone in the back of a speeding car. Nobody could do anything to help her.
At approximately 12:38 the Lincoln sped into the emergency entrance of Parkland Hospital where staff was waiting. Governor Connolly removed himself from the vehicle and was immediately taken in to begin treatment. Jackie sat in the rear of the Lincoln with what was left of Jack’s head resting on her lap. A Secret Service agent, possibly Agent Hill, took off his jacket and draped it over the President. Jackie refused to move.
Hospital staff and Secret Service agents begged Mrs. Kennedy to please release the President so he could be treated. She simply said, “You know he’s dead. Please just leave us alone”. After a few moments, Agent Hill who had been by her side for the last three years, coaxed her to her senses and Mrs. Kennedy released the President.
About the time all this was happening, a phone rang in Hyannis Port where the Attorney General, Bobby Kennedy was spending the weekend. Bobby was called to the phone. It was J. Edgar Hoover who said 16 words: “Mr. Attorney General it’s Mr. Hoover. The President has been shot. I believe he is dead.” He then hung up.
At 12:40 pm (Central Time) Walter Cronkite interrupted the soap opera As the World Turns and made the following announcement:
Here is a bulletin from CBS News. In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas. The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting…
President Kennedy was taken into Parkland Hospital and all efforts were made. He was administered the last rights by a Catholic Priest, Father Huber, in accordance with the President’s faith. He was declared dead at 1:00 pm local time, although he was likely dead on arrival to Parkland.
The rest is history.
“What’s past is prologue” — William Shakespeare, The Tempest
Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as President on Air Force One at Love Field. Jackie moved out of the White House. They buried Jack. The debates between Barry Goldwater and JFK never happened, and Goldwater lost the General Election to LBJ in 1964. The CIA rose to new levels of power. We went to war in Vietnam. Nothing was ever the same again. In 1968, while campaigning for the Democratic Party nomination, the President’s brother and Democratic front runner Bobby Kennedy was shot in California. Two months earlier, Martin Luther King had been shot and killed on a hotel balcony in Memphis. Both were allegedly killed by crazy lone gunmen.
Among the people who never believed that Jack Kennedy was killed by a lone gunmen are: Barry Goldwater, Lyndon Johnson, Bobby Kennedy, J. Edgar Hoover, and Jackie Kennedy. They were all conspiracy theorists until they day they died.
That’s what happened on November 22, 1963. In the next part, we will learn about Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of shooting the President.
Who was he? Why did he decide to shoot the President? What was he involved in before that hellish day? What happened to him in the days after? Was he guilty? Did he act alone? Was he a patsy?
All this and more in the next part of the JFK series on Line of Fire! Happy Sunday all! —Virgil
Keep it coming! I've always wanted to know more about this subject, but have been too lazy to do the research.