By the fall of 1963, President John F. Kennedy was actively preparing for his re-election campaign in 1964. While not formally announced, his intentions were clear, and optimism surrounded his prospects. His political advisors were already strategizing for a successful run.
In late September 1963, President Kennedy embarked on a tour across nine states in the West within a week. Officially, the trip highlighted natural resources and conservation. However, it also served as a platform for JFK to test campaign themes for 1964, touching upon education, national security, and the pursuit of world peace.
Campaigning in Texas
The following month, President Kennedy engaged with Democratic supporters in Boston and Philadelphia. November 12 marked a crucial political planning session for the upcoming election year. During this meeting, President Kennedy emphasized the critical need to secure victories in Florida and Texas, outlining his plans to visit both states within the next two weeks.
Accompanying him on the Texas trip was First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. This marked her return to public engagements after the recent loss of their infant son, Patrick, in August. On November 21, President and Mrs. Kennedy boarded Air Force One, commencing a two-day, five-city tour of Texas.
President Kennedy was acutely aware of internal Democratic party divisions in Texas that could jeopardize his chances in the state in 1964. A key objective of his trip was to unify these factions. He also recognized the presence of a small yet vocal extremist element contributing to political tensions in Texas, anticipating their potential visibility, especially in Dallas. Just a month prior, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson had been physically attacked in Dallas after a speech. Despite these undercurrents, JFK appeared to welcome the opportunity to leave Washington, connect directly with the public, and engage in the political arena.
San Antonio was the first stop on the Texas tour. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Governor John B. Connally, and Senator Ralph W. Yarborough headed the welcoming committee. They accompanied the President to Brooks Air Force Base for the dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center. The itinerary continued to Houston, where he addressed the League of United Latin American Citizens and spoke at a dinner honoring Congressman Albert Thomas, before concluding the day in Fort Worth.
Morning in Fort Worth
Friday, November 22nd, dawned with a light rain in Fort Worth. Despite the weather, several thousand people gathered in the parking lot of the Texas Hotel, where the Kennedys had stayed overnight. A stage was erected, and President Kennedy, without any rain protection, addressed the crowd. He began with an appreciative remark, “There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth, and I appreciate your being here this morning. Mrs. Kennedy is organizing herself. It takes longer, but, of course, she looks better than we do when she does it.” He then shifted to national priorities, emphasizing the need for the United States to be “second to none” in defense and space exploration, for sustained economic growth, and for “the willingness of citizens of the United States to assume the burdens of leadership.”
The crowd’s response was warm and enthusiastic as the President shook hands, surrounded by smiling faces.
Returning inside the hotel, President Kennedy delivered a speech to the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast, focusing on military readiness. “We are still the keystone in the arch of freedom,” he declared. “We will continue to do…our duty, and the people of Texas will be in the lead.”
On to Dallas
The presidential entourage departed the hotel and traveled by motorcade to Carswell Air Force Base for a brief thirteen-minute flight to Dallas. Upon arrival at Love Field, President and Mrs. Kennedy alighted from Air Force One and immediately approached a fence where a crowd of well-wishers had assembled. They spent several minutes greeting and shaking hands with the crowd.
The First Lady received a bouquet of red roses, which she carried with her to the waiting limousine. Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie, were already seated in the open-top convertible as the Kennedys joined them, taking the rear seats. The plastic bubble top was not in place as the rain had stopped. Vice President and Mrs. Johnson followed in another car within the motorcade.
The motorcade then proceeded from the airport along a ten-mile route through downtown Dallas, en route to the Trade Mart where the President was scheduled to deliver a luncheon address.
The Assassination
Large, excited crowds lined the streets of Dallas, waving to President and Mrs. Kennedy as the motorcade passed. At approximately 12:30 p.m., as the car turned off Main Street into Dealey Plaza, and was in front of the Texas School Book Depository, gunfire erupted, shattering the festive atmosphere. This was the moment John F. Kennedy was shot.
Bullets struck President Kennedy’s neck and head. He slumped towards Mrs. Kennedy. Governor Connally, seated in front, was also hit, struck in the back.
The limousine accelerated rapidly towards Parkland Memorial Hospital, just minutes away. Despite immediate medical attention, there was little that could be done for the President. A Catholic priest was called to administer last rites, and at 1:00 p.m., John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead. Governor Connally, though critically injured, would survive.
President Kennedy’s body was transported to Love Field and placed aboard Air Force One. Before taking off, a somber Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President in the confined space of the aircraft. U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Hughes administered the oath of office at 2:38 p.m.
Less than an hour prior, police had apprehended Lee Harvey Oswald, a recent employee of the Texas School Book Depository. He was detained in connection with the assassination of President Kennedy and the subsequent fatal shooting of Patrolman J. D. Tippit on a Dallas street shortly after the assassination.
On Sunday morning, November 24, as Oswald was being transferred from police headquarters to the county jail, live television cameras captured a shocking event. Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner, emerged from the crowd and shot Oswald at point-blank range. Oswald died two hours later at Parkland Hospital.
The President’s Funeral
On the same day Oswald was shot, President Kennedy’s flag-draped casket was moved from the White House to the Capitol. A caisson drawn by six grey horses, accompanied by a riderless black horse, carried the casket. Following Mrs. Kennedy’s wishes, the procession and funeral arrangements were modeled after Abraham Lincoln’s funeral. Crowds lined Pennsylvania Avenue, many openly weeping as the caisson passed. During the 21 hours President Kennedy lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda, approximately 250,000 people paid their respects.
On Monday, November 25, 1963, President Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Heads of state and representatives from over 100 countries attended the funeral, while countless millions watched on television around the world. After the service, at the gravesite, Mrs. Kennedy and her husband’s brothers, Robert and Edward, lit an eternal flame.
Perhaps the most enduring images from that day were John F. Kennedy Jr.’s salute to his father (on his third birthday), daughter Caroline kneeling beside her mother at the bier, and Jacqueline Kennedy’s extraordinary grace and dignity.
As the world grappled with the senseless tragedy and tried to articulate their feelings about President Kennedy’s life and legacy, many recalled his words from his inaugural address:
All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days, nor in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this administration. Nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
Arlington National Cemetery
For further information on President Kennedy’s funeral and gravesite, please visit the Arlington National Cemetery website.
Aftermath
The Warren Commission
On November 29, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known as the Warren Commission, named after its chairman, Chief Justice Earl Warren. President Johnson tasked the commission with investigating the assassination and Oswald’s subsequent death, and to report its findings and conclusions.
The House Select Committee on Assassinations
The U.S. House of Representatives formed the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1976 to re-examine the assassination. This was prompted by allegations that previous investigations had not received full cooperation from federal agencies.
Note to the reader: Point 1B of the 1979 House Select Committee on Assassinations findings, linked below, states the committee found “a high probability that two gunmen fired” at the president. This conclusion stemmed from the late “discovery” of a Dallas police radio transmission tape, supposedly indicating four or more shots in Dealey Plaza. However, acoustic experts later analyzed the tape and conclusively proved it unreliable, invalidating finding 1B.
The committee, which also investigated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, released its report on March 29, 1979.
Assassination Records Collection
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, mandated the consolidation of all assassination-related materials under the supervision of the National Archives and Records Administration.
