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John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States was victim of one of America’s most controversial situations. It was so controversial, that even today it causes intrigue and doubt. He was elected on 1961, being the youngest candidate to ever win the elections. J.F.K was very popular among U.S citizens, mostly because of his charisma and decisions taken during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In November 1963 he started a political trip to 5 cities in Texas to raise funds for his re-election campaign in 1964. Many conservatives in the state were against Kennedy’s programs and he was told that it wasn’t a good idea to go to Texas because of the extremists that didn’t agree with his ideologies, but he refused; he wanted to interact with the Texan crowds before his re-election campaign.
On November 22nd, 1963, the President and his wife, Jackie Kennedy, aboard Air Force One, landed at Love Field, Dallas around 11:38am. 10 minutes later, the Kennedys welcomed the crowd of more than 2,500 people by greeting them. The motorcade then departed the Love Field Airport, heading for lunch at the Dallas Trade Mart; the Kennedys, Texas governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie, rode in the presidential limousine. Vice president Lyndon B Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, were in another limousine behind them. By 12:21pm, the presidential limousine turned from Harwood to Main Street, as large crowds lined up near the Adolphus Hotel; more than 150 000 people were standing throughout the ten mile route.
At 12:30pm, President Kennedy was shot in the back while he waved and was struck by a second brutal shot in the back of his head, another shot wounded governor Connally, who was sitting in front of him. Just one minute after the incident, the limousine speeded up Stemmons Freeway to Parkland Memorial Hospital, in hopes of saving the president’s life. When they arrived, a crowd gathered outside the hospital waiting for news. At 1:00pm, Doctors announced that President Kennedy was dead. At 2:38pm, vice-president Lyndon took the oath of office by Federal Judge Sarah Hughes, aboard Air Force One, which was approaching Washington DC.
Lee Harvey Oswald is charged for the president’s assassination that same day at 11:28pm. Finally, on November 23, at 3.56am, Kennedy’s casket is placed in the East Room of the White House for 24 hours. More than 250,000 people from over 90 countries attended the funeral a few days later.
The Memory of a
Nation