Remembering 62 Years Ago
A day that changed our country forever
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the youngest man to hold the office of President of the United States, was also the youngest to lie in state.
Our 35th Commander-in-Chief was shot and killed 62 years ago today while processing down the streets of Dallas with his motorcade. He had not served even 1000 days in office before his life was taken from him and from our country at the age of 46 years old.
I think about that event all the time. A few years ago, there was a social media trend in which wives asked their husbands how often they thought about the Roman Empire. It turns out that men think about it quite often. The assassination of JFK is my Roman Empire. It’s on my mind frequently, and I think the reason for that is that our country lost a sense of innocence that day. Our President was gunned down with his wife, First Lady Jackie Onassis, sitting next to him, Texas Governor John Connally and his wife also in the car, and thousands of onlookers witnessing what had only happened in our nation’s history three other times. It must have been horrifying for everyone involved.
The day was beautiful - just a week until the Thanksgiving holiday. Thousands of excited Americans lined the streets where President Kennedy was scheduled to drive, hoping for a glimpse of the dashing young leader and his beautiful bride. Their campaign was in full swing, the mood in the air was festive, and flag-waving was in abundance.
As the motorcade turned past the Texas School Book Depository at Dealey Plaza, it was hit by a barrage of rifle shots, two hitting the President - one in the head and one in the neck. The Texas Governor was also struck. In radio recordings, you can hear the chilling tone that the broadcasters instantaneously adopted - knowing that this was an absolutely crushing day in our history.
An hour later, the President was pronounced dead at a nearby Dallas hospital, and the country was thrown into collective mourning. This was, after all, the first shared tragedy of the new television age. For four days straight after the shooting, the three major television networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) all provided live coverage of the national crisis, and citizens from every city and state remained glued to their televisions. It’s reported that 300 million people worldwide watched our President’s funeral, including 95% of all Americans. Imagine that. It’s hard to think of something happening today that would garner the attention of nearly all of our countrymen. It was a different time.
Just hours after the assassination, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office as President of the United States aboard Air Force One (he had also been in Texas with JFK), standing next to a shocked and heartbroken Jackie Kennedy, still wearing the bloodied suit from the motorcade horror.
The very next day, President Johnson issued his first presidential proclamation, declaring that November 25th, 1963, would be a national day of mourning. This would also be the day of President Kennedy’s funeral. Across the country, almost every school and business was closed. The streets remained bare, and shop lights dimmed. Americans were shocked and scared.
In his address, President Johnson stated eloquently:
“I earnestly recommend the people to assemble on that day in their respective places of divine worship, there to bow down in submission to the will of Almighty God, and to pay their homage of love and reverence to the memory of a great and good man.”
Could those words be uttered today? I don’t believe so, no.
When the day of President Kennedy’s funeral and procession arrived, dignitaries from over 90 countries attended, and over a million people lined the streets. The stoic Jackie Kennedy had ordered the Chief Usher of the White House that the entire day be orchestrated and executed with the same protocol that had been used for Abraham Lincoln after his assassination in 1865.
The 1960s were such a tumultuous time. John F. Kennedy's assassination was the first of four major assassinations during the 1960s and another horrible event in a string of unsettling moments that shook Americans. It’s hard for me to imagine living in the 1960s, but in another way, it seems more innocent than what we are witnessing now. It was an era in world history where uncertainty was a constant emotion, much like the present day.
The assassination of a President, regardless of your politics, is unequivocally damaging to a country’s stability, and it’s heartbreaking on a personal level for so many. It’s a reminder that we can’t control everything - something I think Americans struggle with uniquely. It’s a reminder that evil exists. It’s a reminder that change can occur in a flash. And it’s a reminder that life is a vapor.
This post is not (by any stretch) a comprehensive look at the details of that day and the days that followed - I didn’t even touch on Oswald, the Warren Commission, the details of the funeral, or the “conspiracy” theories that were born out of President Kennedy’s death.
My intention was simply to remind us all of a pivotal moment in United States history and, perhaps, to encourage us to reflect on the brevity of life and bask in healthy nostalgia for a bygone era in our country’s history.
I want to believe that if (God forbid) something similar happened now, we would all gather to mourn, pray, and stand united.
If the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination is any indicator, I don’t think we would, and that makes me sad.
For all of us.
This is not completely off topic, but I would love to see veils come back for mourning. The clothes back then were lovely. I grew up in Dallas and it’s just in the ethos. Sadly, it stains the street…there is an X on the spot it happened.
Yes. I was 9 years old in San Antonio, Texas and we were released from schools. My dad was away in an Air Force training school at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls Tx and was listening to the parade on the radio while he waited for a dentist appointment on base. When he came home that weekend he sat and wept in our living room. Even though a lifelong republican, he valued the commander-in-chief and the disgrace on Texas that the president had been shot there. I will always remember that.
You are right it wouldn’t happen today. What has been happening since the assassination of Charlie Kirk shows us that. What a sad time we live in. Come, Lord Jesus..