The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, sent shockwaves across the United States and the world. For those who lived through the 1960s, the announcement of Kennedy’s death remains an indelible and sorrowful memory, compounded by the televised solemnity of his state funeral. The unfolding tragedy was broadcast directly into American homes, beginning with the grim news from Parkland Hospital at 1 p.m. CST (2 p.m. EST) where the President was pronounced dead. Later that afternoon, aboard Air Force One, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the new President of the United States, with a grief-stricken First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy standing beside him, still wearing her blood-stained pink suit – a poignant symbol of the day’s horrific events. President Kennedy’s body was also aboard Air Force One as it returned to Andrews Air Force Base, carrying both a nation’s profound loss and its uncertain future.
Drawing strength and guidance from historical precedent, particularly the state funeral of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Jacqueline Kennedy instructed chief usher J.B. West to ensure a dignified and traditional farewell for her husband. President Kennedy’s casket was placed in the center of the East Room of the White House, resting on the same catafalque that had borne Lincoln’s remains nearly a century before. On November 23rd, dignitaries and heads of state were received to pay their respects, viewing the flag-draped coffin in a private ceremony. The following day, the casket was moved to the Capitol Rotunda, where over 250,000 members of the public filed past to honor the fallen leader, a testament to his widespread popularity and the nation’s collective grief.
The day of the funeral, November 25th, was a day of national mourning. A horse-drawn caisson solemnly carried President Kennedy’s casket down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the White House. There, Mrs. Kennedy, along with official and personal mourners, joined the procession. They walked with the military escort, the somber rhythm of the marching band, and the symbolically riderless horse, its boots reversed in the stirrups, the eight blocks to St. Matthew’s Cathedral. Within the cathedral, a funeral service was held, a moment of spiritual reflection and national unity in grief. Following the service, the caisson once again bore the President’s remains, this time to their final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery. Here, with full military honors, John F. Kennedy was laid to rest, marking the end of a presidency cut tragically short and the beginning of a long period of national healing and remembrance.
