The Kennedy Assassination: 50 Years Later
Some historical events leave a lasting impact on American culture and politics. The assassination of our 35th president, John F. Kennedy was one of those events that remain a strong memory for people who experienced it.
Fifty years ago this week, on November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was visiting Dallas, Texas. He was on his way to give at speech at a luncheon. He was traveling with the First Lady and important Texas politicians, riding through downtown Dallas as crowds of people watched and waved. Suddenly, the young, charismatic Kennedy was shot and killed. The years since have been filled with much analysis, commentary, debate and even doubt about what happened on that day in Dallas.
What Happened?
Even though the election of President Kennedy in November 1960 was an exciting turn of events in the country, Kennedy was not particularly popular among large parts of the southern voting population. With his reelection less than a year away, the president planned a trip to try and win over some new voters in the influential Electoral College state of Texas. His plan was to visit five Texas cities–San Antonio, Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas and Austin. His wife, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, joined him, a rarity for her, as she did not usually accompany him on his trips during this time.
Credit: McGraw-Hill Education: the Texas School Book Repository is where Lee Harvey Oswald hid during his assassination attack upon President Kennedy.
The series of appearances around Texas had gone well and Kennedy’s advisers were pleased. Around noon on November 22, a crowd of between 150,000 and 200,000 gathered along a parade route in downtown Dallas to see the president. Kennedy rode in a convertible limousine along with the First Lady and Texas Governor John Connally and his wife. After they passed a building known as the Texas School Book Depository in Dealey Plaza, shots rang out. Governor Connally was struck and he suffered wounds to his chest, wrist and thigh. Kennedy was hit in the upper back and throat, but the fatal blow struck his head.
Aftermath
Just over an hour after the assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald, a 24-year-old former Marine who had defected to the Soviet Union in the late 50s, was arrested and later charged with the murder. Two days later, Oswald was, himself, shot in front of television cameras while being transferred from police custody to jail. The shooter, nightclub owner Jack Ruby, said he did so to spare the First Lady the stress of going through a trial.
Kennedy’s Vice President Lyndon Johnson assumed the office of president. He established the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (known commonly as the Warren Commission, after its chairman, Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren). The group held hearings and compiled an 889-page report.
The Warren Commission concluded that the assassination of President Kennedy was the lone act of Oswald. The commission has since been widely criticized for the way it gathered material, for information it left out of the report and the confused logic of some of its conclusions.
In 1979, the United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassination (HSCA) revisited the evidence and concluded that Kennedy was probably killed as the result of a conspiracy, although they could not say by whom. This anniversary is likely to unearth even more questions.
Related Links:
- The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Web site has provided a Web site for the events of November 22.
- Learn more about President Kennedy’s time as president.
- CNN has provided some interesting details about the events of the Kennedy assassination. It also provides some photographs of the events that occurred in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963.
Special Events
Milestone anniversaries call for major events, and there will be plenty to mark this occasion. In Dallas, the official commemoration, “The 50th: Honoring the Memory of President John F. Kennedy” will be held on November 22 in Dealey Plaza. Church bells will toll throughout the city, followed by a moment of silence at 12:30 pm. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which draws more than 350,000 visitors each year, has enhanced its exhibits for the occasion.