The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy :: JFK Assassination American Presidents Essays

The Assassination of John Fitzgerald KennedyTHE ASSASSINATION of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22, 1963, was a cruel and shocking conduct of violence directed against a man, a family, a nation, and against all mankind. A young and vigorous leader whose years of public and private life stretched earlier him was the Victim of the fourth chairmanial assassination in the history of a country dedicated to the concepts of reasoned argument and peaceful political change. This Commission was created on November 29, 1963, in recognition of the right of people everywhere to full and truthful knowledge concerning these events. This report endeavors to fulfill that right and to appraise this tragedy by the dead of reason and the standard of fairness. It has been prepared with a deep awareness of the Commissions responsibility to present to the American people an objective report of the facts relating to the assassination. ---------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------Narrative of EventsAt 1140 a.m., c.s.t., on Friday, November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy, and their party arrived at Love Field, Dallas, Tex. Behind them was the first day of a Texas trip planned 5 months earlier by the President, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and John B. Connally, Jr., Governor of Texas. After leaving the White House on Thursday morning, the President had flown initially to San Antonio where Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson joined the party and the President dedicated new research facilities at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. Following a testimonial dinner in Houston for U.S. Representative Albert Thomas, the President flew to Fort Worth where he spent the night and spoke at a large breakfast gathering on Friday. intend for later that day were a motorcade through downtown Dallas, a luncheon speech at the Trade Mart, and a flight to Austin where the President would see to it a reception and speak at a Demo cratic fundraising dinner. From Austin he would proceed to the Texas ranch of the Vice President. Evident on this trip were the varied roles which an American President performs--Head of State, Chief Executive, party leader, and, in this instance, prospective candidate for reelection.The Dallas motorcade, it was hoped, would evoke a demonstration of the Presidents personal popularity in a city which he had lost in the 1960 election. Once it had been decided that the trip to Texas would span 2 days, those responsible for planning, primarily Governor Connally and Kenneth ODonnell, a special assistant to the President, agreed that a motorcade through Dallas would be desirable.