John Kennedy Assassination

On this date, November 22, in 1963, 35th President of the United States John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX by Lee Harvey Oswald. Kennedy had flown to Texas primarily to smooth over frictions between some members of the Democratic Party but also to raise money for the Party and to begin his campaign for reelection in 1964. The assassination occurred as his party traveled from the airport (Love Field) to the Dallas Trade Mart for a luncheon with civic and business leaders. Kennedy was riding in an open-top Lincoln Continental convertible and was shot by Oswald as the motorcade passed the Texas School Book Depository. The President was rushed to Dallas’ Parkland Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:00 PM after all heart activity had ceased. The President’s body was taken from the hospital to Dallas’ Love Field where it was loaded onto Air Force One for the return flight to Washington, D.C. Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who had accompanied Kennedy on his trip to Texas, took the oath of office on board Air Force One to become the 36th President of the United States shortly before the plane took off for Washington. Kennedy was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Monday, November 25, 1963.

On a personal note, I have a pretty clear recollection of the day. I was working for Esso Research and Engineering Company in Florham Park, NJ in a group of chemical and petroleum engineers and other technical disciplines at the time and living in Hanover, NJ. One of my co-workers happened to be a Cuban engineer who had been involved in the failed CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs military invasion of Cuba in April 1961. Kennedy was not looked on very favorably by this individual because of promised air cover assets to the Cuban invaders that were not forthcoming from the Kennedy administration. The first news we heard was just that Kennedy had been shot, so the emotional reaction to the news was somewhat mixed, to say the least. A short time later, we learned that the president was dead and the mood in the group became much more somber. Almost immediately, it was announced that the company would close for the remainder of the day (Friday) and remain closed through the weekend until after the President’s funeral on the following Monday. Our family spent the weekend pretty much glued to the TV set watching the events that followed the assassination and ending with the funeral and burial in Arlington.

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