Summary
Summary The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
- Module
- Us politics
- Institution
- AQA
Analysing the day John F Kennedy died
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The Assassination of John F. KennedyOn the 22nd of November 1963, President John F Kennedy was in Texas with the intention
of reducing internal tension within the Democratic Party. Traditionally, Texas has consistently
embodied a 'safe-state' for the Republican Party as a result of the state's southern
geographical location which traditionally is conservative. During this visit to Texas, Kennedy
as well as his Vice President, Lyndon B Johnson, was advised to campaign in the Southern
State in an attempt to promote his reelection for the presidential election due to be held in
1964. The previous day, both the president and his wife, Jackie Kennedy, departed on Air
Force One for a two-day trip to five cities in the state of Texas. This public appearance
signified the first time in which Jackie had been seen by the media since the death of her
newborn son Patrick Kennedy in August.
At 11;10 am on the day of his assassination, Air Force One was received at Carswell Air
Force Base in Fort Worth where he and his security proceeded to travel fifteenth minutes to
Love Field. Following the closure of his meeting at an estimated 11:40 am, Kennedy and his
company departed on a scheduled forty-five-minute parade through the streets of Dallas
where a speculated 200,000 members of the public lined the streets with enthusiasm to see
the 35th president of the United States. At 12:30 pm, Kennedy's vehicle, a 1961 open-top
Lincoln limousine convertible arrived at Dealey Plaza. Before departing, the First Lady of
Texas, Nellie Connally turned to the president and remarked:
"Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you" To which, in response, he spoke his
last recorded words by remarking: "no, you certainly can't."
Whilst waving towards the crowds of individuals watching the president with memorisation,
three gunshots were aired whilst travelling past Texas School Book Depository - one of the
bullets in which hit his neck whilst the following fatally reached his head. Many witnesses in
the crowd were reported as not responding to the gunshots until the realisation of the second
shot. Upon hearing the abrupt noise, Governor Connally, an ex-soldier and avid hunter,
turned his head in order to analyse the condition of JFK, to which then he himself was shot
in the arm. "Oh, no, no, no. My God. They're going to kill us all!" - Connally
Blood and fragments belonging to that of the President spread amongst the interior, his wife
as well as the vehicle following the Lincoln. Jackie Kennedy attempted to climb out of the
limousine and towards the truck of the car, an event in which she later claimed to have done
somewhat unconsciously fearing that she would also be targeted. Upon returning to her seat
upon the transportation to Parkland Memorial Hospital, Jackie cradled her husband's head
whilst simultaneously trying to hold its shape to the best of her ability. Both the Governor and
Governess recalled the First Lady repeating the phrase: "They have killed my husband. I
have his brains in my hand."
Jackie later stated that in those moments, all she felt compelled to do was tell her deceased
husband how much she loved him. At one pm, following the visit from a Catholic Priest, John
F Kennedy was declared dead at the age of 46. His body was travelled to Air Force One,
where before travelling to Washington D.C, Vice President Lyndon B Johnson performed the
presidential oath at 2:38 pm, with Jackie Kennedy grieving at his side.
Within the following hour, suspect Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the assassination.
For twenty-one hours, the former President laid in state where he was visited by an
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