22 November 1963

ASSASSINATION
OTHER 22 NOV EVENTS     ANY DAY  OF THE YEAR IN HISTORY  
IF SOMETHING'S WRONG HERE, TRY MIRROR 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, or 19
Deaths which occurred on a 22 November:
1963 J. D. Tippit, Dallas Police patrolman since 28 July 1952, born on 18 September 1924, by three shots to the chest and a fourth to the head from Lee Harvey Oswald at approximately 13:15 (45 minutes after the Kennedy assassination) after Tippit stopped him for questioning, in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. Oswald flees to a movie theater where he is arrested at about 13:55. At 19:10 he is charged with the Tippit murder. At about 01:35 the next day, Oswald would be charged with the Kennedy murder. Tippit leaves a wife and three children, aged 4, 10, and 13 [photo].
1963 John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 46, 35th US President, shot dead in Dallas, Texas ( by Lee Harvey Oswald ??). 10 months later would be issued the Warren Report, giving the official account of what happened.
See dedicated site http://www.jfk-assassination.de/index.html or http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm

JFK     President John F. Kennedy is shot and killed as his motorcade drives through Dealy Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy's suspected assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was believed to have used a mail-order rifle in order to shoot the president from the sixth story window of the Texas Book Depository. Oswald was a former Marine with a record of bizarre behavior. In 1959, he defected to Russia after years of obsessive interest in communism. He spent three years there before becoming disaffected and returning to the United States in 1962. Upon his return, he became involved with several political fringe groups and developed an intense interest in Cuba and Fidel Castro. On 22 November, several people claimed to have seen Oswald carrying a long, brown-paper-wrapped object into the Texas Book Depository, where he was employed. From the sixth floor window, atop cartons of books assembled to make a sniper's perch, Oswald purportedly fired three shots, the last of which killed Kennedy as his motorcade passed by the building. A gun that was later located in the Depository had a palm print that matched Oswald's. Forty-five minutes after the assassination, Oswald was seen hurrying through the Dallas streets by police officer J.D. Tippit, who identified him as matching the description of Kennedy's killer. When Tippit attempted to apprehend him, Oswald shot him to death with a revolver and fled. In the early afternoon, police converged on the Texas Theater, where Oswald had been spotted. Inside, Oswald punched an approaching officer and withdrew a pistol. The gun misfired and other police officers grabbed him. "I am not resisting arrest," Oswald cried as he was dragged out in front of an angry crowd of onlookers. "Don't hit me anymore! I want a lawyer!" In fact, Oswald would never require the services of an attorney because he was shot and killed by Dallas restaurant owner Jack Ruby as he was being transferred from jail to the sheriff's office two days later.

Kennedy and Vietnam
     Kennedy took office on 20 January 1961. From the start of his term, he was faced with a deteriorating situation in Southeast Asia, in which both Laos and South Vietnam were threatened by communist insurgencies. In July 1962, Kennedy's roving ambassador, W. Averell Harriman, negotiated an international agreement that arranged for a neutral coalition government in Laos. Kennedy was less successful in South Vietnam, where U.S. military advisers had been training the South Vietnamese Army since 1954. The government of South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem was threatened by a communist-dominated guerrilla movement called the National Liberation Front. In 1961, Kennedy demonstrated America's commitment to Diem's government by increasing the number of military advisers from 500 to 15'000 and ordering them into combat. By late 1963, Kennedy realized that Diem was more interested in maintaining his own power than in defeating the communists, so Kennedy did nothing to stop dissident South Vietnamese generals from planning a coup against Diem. The coup began on 01 November and was successful; Diem was killed in the process. President Kennedy himself was assassinated only three weeks later. There has been much conjecture about what Kennedy ultimately would have done about the worsening situation in Vietnam — many have asserted that he would not have escalated the war as did his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson. There were more than 16'000 advisers and other U.S. military personnel in South Vietnam when Kennedy was assassinated. Under Johnson, who said he was continuing Kennedy's policies on Southeast Asia, that number grew to over 500'000 by 1969.

Kennedy and the Cold War.
     President John F. Kennedy's death caused intense mourning in the United States and brought Vice President Lyndon Johnson to the presidency. Kennedy's untimely death also left future generations with a great many "what if" questions concerning the subsequent history of the Cold War. In the years since Kennedy's death, a number of supporters argued that had he lived he would have done much to bring the Cold War to a close. Some have suggested that he would have sharply curtailed military spending and brought the arms race under control. The most persistent claim, which served as the centerpiece of Oliver Stone's 1991 film JFK, is that Kennedy would have withdrawn US troops from Vietnam after being re-elected in 1964. Stone went on to charge that right-wing militants in the US government coordinated the assassination plot.
JFK       It is difficult to say what Kennedy would have done had he not been killed in November 1963, but the arguments raised by Stone and others do not seem supported by the available evidence. During his brief presidency, Kennedy consistently requested higher military spending, asking for billions in increased funding. After the humiliating defeat at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba, his administration approved Operation Mongoose, a CIA program that involved plots to destabilize the Communist government in Cuba. There was even discussion about assassinating Cuban leader Fidel Castro. In Vietnam, Kennedy increased the number of US “advisers” from around 1500 when he took office, to more than 16'000 by the time of his death. His administration also participated in the planning of the coup that ultimately overthrew South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, who was murdered by his own military [with CIA connivance] just three weeks prior to Kennedy's assassination. If Kennedy was going to become less of a cold warrior after 1964, there was little to suggest this change prior to 22 November 1963.

Effect on the stock market
      News of the president's death shook the markets, as traders, fearful for the nation's future, dumped stocks left and right. In a little less than an hour, the New York Stock Exchange lost $13 billion of its total stock value. Exchange officials looked to put the brakes on the sell-off and temporarily halted the markets. But, after a few days of mourning, Wall Street seemed ready to return to action with steadier nerves and renewed vigor. On Monday 25 November the Wall Street Journal reported that business and financial leaders predicted a quick return to the strong trends the economy demonstrated just before Kennedy's assassination. This optimism was further fueled by the news that the past weekend saw a number of brokers field "heavy buy orders."

Assassinat de Kennedy à Dallas
      Le président John Fitzgerald Kennedy est assassiné à Dallas (Texas), au cours d'un voyage officiel. Il avait 46 ans, il était beau (et coureur de jupons), il avait de jeunes enfants et une femme séduisante (d'origine française). Sa mort soulève une émotion immense dans le monde. L'assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, est lui-même tué par un certain Ruby avant d'avoir pu communiquer ses mobiles à la police. Cette circonstance laissera planer un doute sur l'existence d'éventuels commanditaires (Mafia, CIA, Castro, le vice-président Johnson, vietnamiens vengeurs de Diem, ...?) et donnera matière à plusieurs films à sensation.
Un bilan controversé
      Kennedy était le rejeton d'une riche et influente famille de Boston, de souche irlandaise. Il est blessé pendant la guerre puis travaille comme journaliste et reçoit le Prix Pulitzer en 1957, avant de devenir le plus jeune de tous les présidents américains et le premier de confession catholique. Il est élu de justesse grâce à l'appui de la Mafia face à son rival républicain, le vice-président Richard Nixon. Beau perdant, celui-ci n'en jure pas moins de prendre sa revanche. Ce sera chose faite en 1968 avec son élection à la présidence face à MacGovern.
      A la Maison Blanche, Kennedy s'acquiert une immense popularité malgré la brièveté de son mandat (moins de trois ans). Les étatsuniens lui sont reconnaissants d'avoir relancé la lutte contre la pauvreté et la ségrégation raciale ainsi que d'avoir inauguré des rapports plus équilibrés avec l'Amérique latine. Le président relève le défi spatial des Soviétiques. Il lance le programme Appolo et fait la promesse d'envoyer un Américain sur la Lune. Kennedy est également impliqué dans les pires moments de la guerre froide avec l'URSS, l'actuelle Russie. "Ich bin ein Berliner", lance-t-il aux Berlinois pendant l'érection du mur de la honte, pour manifester le soutien des Etats-Unis aux Berlinois de l'Ouest, victimes de la pression soviétique. Le 22 octobre 1962, en affichant sa fermeté dans un célèbre discours télédiffusé, il fait plier les Soviétiques qui ont installé des fusées à Cuba et menacent directement les Etats-Unis.
      Kennedy éprouve aussi quelques déboires. A l'instigation des services secrets américains, la CIA, il lance une expédition malheureuse dans la baie des Cochons, à Cuba, dans le dessein de renverser le gouvernement de Fidel Castro. L'opinion lui reconnaît toutefois le mérite d'assumer l'entière responsabilité de ce pitoyable échec. Et il revient à Kennedy le douteux privilège d'engager au Sud-Vietnam les premiers soldats étatsuniens.
Proceeding on Main Street, Dallas, JFK's last minutes of life
From the Warren Report:
Chapter I - Summary and Conclusions
THE ASSASSINATION of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on 22 November 1963, was a cruel and shocking act 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 before him was the Victim of the fourth Presidential assassination in the history of a country dedicated to the concepts of reasoned argument and peaceful political change. This Commission was created on 29 November 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 light of reason and the standard of fairness. It has been prepared with a deep awareness of the Commission's responsibility to present to the American people an objective report of the facts relating to the assassination.

Narrative of Events

At 11:40 CST, on Friday 22 November 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 before by the President, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and John B. Connally, Jr., Governor of Texas. After leaving the White House on Thursday morning [21 November], 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.

motorcade routePlanned 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 attend a reception and speak at a Democratic 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.
[Daley Plaza — top is East left is North — with the motorcade route in green >]
The Dallas motorcade, it was hoped, would evoke a demonstration of the President's 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 O'Donnell, a special assistant to the President, agreed that a motorcade through Dallas would be desirable. The Secret Service was told on 08 November that 45 minutes had been allotted to a motorcade procession from Love Field to the site of a luncheon planned by Dallas business and civic leaders in honor of the President. After considering the facilities and security problems of several buildings, the Trade Mart was chosen as the luncheon site. Given this selection, and in accordance with the customary practice of affording the greatest number of people an opportunity to see the President, the motorcade route selected was a natural one. The route was approved by the local host committee and White House representatives on 18 November and publicized in the local papers starting on 19 November. This advance publicity made it clear that the motorcade would leave Main Street and pass the intersection of Elm and Houston Streets as it proceeded to the Trade Mart by way of the Stemmons Freeway.

JFK in motorcadeBy midmorning of 22 November, clearing skies in Dallas dispelled the threat of rain and the President greeted the crowds from his open limousine without the “bubble top,” which was at that time a plastic shield furnishing protection only against inclement weather. To the left of the President in the rear seat was Mrs. Kennedy. In the jump seats were Governor Connally, who was in front of the President, and Mrs. Connally at the Governor's left. Agent William R. Greer of the Secret Service was driving, and Agent Roy H. Kellerman was sitting to his right.

Directly behind the Presidential limousine was an open "follow-up" car with eight Secret Service agents, two in the front seat, two in the rear, and two on each running board. These agents, in accordance with normal Secret Service procedures, were instructed to scan the crowds, the roofs, and windows of buildings, overpasses, and crossings for signs of trouble. Behind the "follow-up" car was the Vice Presidential car carrying the Vice President and Mrs. Johnson and Senator Ralph W. Yarborough. Next were a Vice Presidential "follow-up" car and several cars and buses for additional dignitaries, press representatives, and others.

The motorcade left Love Field shortly after 11:50, and proceeded through residential neighborhoods, stopping twice at the President's request to greet well_wishers among the friendly crowds. Each time the President's car halted, Secret Service agents from the "follow-up" car moved forward to assume a protective stance near the President and Mrs.Kennedy. As the motorcade reached Main Street, a principal east_west artery in downtown Dallas, the welcome became tumultuous. At the extreme west end of Main Street the motorcade turned right on Houston Street and proceeded north for one block in order to make a left turn on Elm Street, the most direct and convenient approach to the Stemmons Freeway and the Trade Mart. As the President's car approached the intersection of Houston and Elm Streets, there loomed directly ahead on the intersection's northeast corner a seven_story, orange brick warehouse and office building, the Texas School Book Depository. Riding in the Vice President's car, Agent Rufus W. Youngblood of the Secret Service noticed that the clock atop the building indicated 12:30, the scheduled arrival time at the Trade Mart.
School Book Depository
The President's car which had been going north made a sharp turn toward the southwest onto Elm Street. At a speed of about 11 miles per hour [18 km/h], it started down the gradual descent toward a railroad overpass under which the motorcade would proceed before reaching the Stemmons Freeway. The front of the Texas School Book Depository was now on the President's right, and he waved to the crowd assembled there as he passed the building. Dealey Plaza--an open, landscaped area marking the western end of downtown Dallas — stretched out to the President's left. A Secret Service agent riding in the motorcade radioed the Trade Mart that the President would arrive in 5 minutes.
[Texas School Book Depository building 30 seconds after the shooting. Arrow: the shooter's window >]
Seconds later shots resounded in rapid succession. The President's hands moved to his fleck. He appeared to stiffen momentarily and lurch slightly forward in his seat. A bullet had entered the base of the back of his neck slightly to the right of the spine. It traveled downward and exited from the front of the neck, causing a nick in the left lower portion of the knot in the President's necktie. Before the shooting started, Governor Connally had been facing toward the crowd on the right. He started to turn toward the left and suddenly felt a blow on his back. The Governor had been hit by a bullet which entered at the extreme right side of his back at a point below his right armpit. The bullet traveled through his chest in a downward and forward direction, exited below his right nipple, passed through his right wrist which had been in his lap, and then caused a wound to his left thigh. The force of the bullet's impact appeared to spin the Governor to his right, and Mrs. Connally pulled him down into her lap. Another bullet then struck President Kennedy in the rear portion of his head, causing a massive and fatal wound. The President fell to the left into Mrs. Kennedy's lap.

Secret Service Agent Clinton J. Hill, riding on the left running board of the "follow-up" car, heard a noise which sounded like a firecracker and saw the President suddenly lean forward and to the left. Hill jumped off the car and raced toward the President's limousine. In the front seat of the Vice Presidential car, Agent Youngblood heard an explosion and noticed unusual movements in the crowd. He vaulted into the rear seat and sat on the Vice President in order to protect him. At the same time Agent Kellerman in the front seat of the Presidential limousine turned to observe the President. Seeing that the President was struck, Kellerman instructed the driver, "Let's get out of here; we are hit." He radioed ahead to the lead car, "Get us to the hospital immediately." Agent Greer immediately accelerated the Presidential car. As it gained speed, Agent Hill managed to pull himself onto the back of the car where Mrs. Kennedy had climbed. Hill pushed her back into the rear seat and shielded the stricken President and Mrs. Kennedy as the President's car proceeded at high speed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, 4 miles [6 km] away.

At Parkland, the President was immediately treated by a team of physicians who had been alerted for the President's arrival by the Dallas Police Department as the result of a radio message from the motorcade after the shooting. The doctors noted irregular breathing movements and a possible heartbeat, although they could not detect a pulse beat. They observed the extensive wound in the President's head and a small wound approximately one_fourth inch [6 mm] in diameter in the lower third of his neck. In an effort to facilitate breathing, the physicians performed a tracheotomy by enlarging the throat wound and inserting a tube. Totally absorbed in the immediate task of trying to preserve the President's life, the attending doctors never turned the president over for an examination of his back. At 13:00, after all heart activity ceased and the Last Rites were administered by a priest [Father Oscar Huber], President Kennedy was pronounced dead. Governor Connally underwent surgery and ultimately recovered from his serious wounds.
throat wound
Upon learning of the President's death, Vice President Johnson left Parkland Hospital under close guard and proceeded to the Presidential plane at Love Field. Mrs. Kennedy, accompanying her husband's body, boarded the plane shortly thereafter. At 14:38, in the central compartment of the plane, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States by Federal District Court Judge Sarah T. Hughes. The plane left immediately for Washington DC, arriving at Andrews AFB, Md., at 17:58 EST. The President's body was taken to the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., where it was given a complete pathological examination. The autopsy disclosed the large head wound observed at Parkland and the wound in the front of the neck which had been enlarged by a Parkland doctor [Malcolm Perry] when he performed the tracheotomy [<photo]. Both of these wounds were described in the autopsy report as being "presumably of exit." In addition the autopsy revealed a small wound of entry in the rear of the President's skull and another wound of entry near the base of the back of the neck. The autopsy report stated the cause of death as "Gunshot wound, head" and the bullets which struck the President were described as having been fired "from a point behind and somewhat above the level of the deceased." [the chapter continues by relating the immediate investigation]

Warren Report: Table of Contents http://www.informatik.uni-rostock.de/Kennedy/WCR/index.html (19640924)
  • Foreword
  • Chapter I - Summary and Conclusions
  • Chapter II - The Assassination
  • Chapter III - The Shots from the Texas School Book Depository
  • Chapter IV - The Assassin
  • V - Detention and Death of Oswald
  • Treatment of Oswald in Custody
  • Chronology
  • Interrogation Sessions
  • Oswald's Legal Rights
  • Activity of Newsmen
  • On the Third Floor
  • Oswald and the Press
  • The Abortive Transfer
  • Possible Assistance to Jack Ruby in Entering the Basement
  • Adequacy of Security Precautions
  • News Coverage and Police Policy
  • Responsibility of News Media
  • VI - Investigation of Possible Conspiracy
  • Circumstances Surrounding the Assassination
  • Selection of Motorcade Route
  • Oswald's Presence in the Depository Building
  • Bringing Rifle Into Building
  • Accomplices at the Scene of the Assassination
  • Oswald's Escape
  • Background of Lee Harvey Oswald
  • Residence in the Soviet Union
  • Associations in the Dallas-Fort Worth Community
  • Political Activities Upon Return to the United States
  • Contacts With the Cuban and Soviet Embassies in Mexico City and the Soviet Embassy in Washington DC.
  • Investigation of Other Activities
  • Oswald Was Not an Agent for the U.S. Government
  • Oswald's Finances
  • Possible Conspiracy Involving Jack Ruby
  • Ruby's Activities From November 21 to November 24, 1963
  • Ruby and Oswald Were Not Acquainted
  • Ruby's Background and Associations
  • Conclusion
  • VII - Lee Harvey Oswald: Background and Possible Motives
  • The Early Years
  • New York City
  • Return to New Orleans and Joining the Marine Corps
  • Interest in Marxism
  • Defection to the Soviet Union
  • Return to the United States
  • Personal Relations
  • Employment
  • Attack on General Walker
  • Political Activities
  • Interest in Cuba
  • Possible Influence of Anti-Kennedy Sentiment in Dallas
  • Relationship With Wife
  • The Unanswered Questions
  • Conclusion
  • VIII - The Protection of the President
  • The Nature of the Protective Assignment
  • Evaluation of Presidential Protection at the Time of the Assassination of President Kennedy
  • Intelligence Functions Relating to Presidential Protection at the Time of the Dallas
  • Liaison With Other Government Agencies
  • Other Protective Measures and Aspects of Secret Service Performance
  • Recommendations
  • Assassination a Federal Crime
  • Committee of Cabinet Officers
  • Responsibilities for Presidential Protection
  • General Supervision of the Secret Service
  • Liaison With Local Law Enforcement Agencies
  • Manpower and Technical Assistance From Other Agencies
  • Conclusion

  • Appendix I - Executive Order No. 11130
  • Appendix II - White House Release
  • Appendix III - Senate Joint Resolution 137
  • Appendix IV - Biographical Information and Acknowledgments
  • Members of Commission
  • General Counsel
  • Assistant Counsel
  • Staff Members
  • Acknowledgments
  • Appendix V - List of Witnesses
  • Appendix VI - Commission Procedures for the Taking of Testimony
  • Appendix VII - A Brief History of Presidential Protection
  • Appendix VIII - Medical Reports from Doctors at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Texas
  • Appendix IV - Autopsy Report and Supplemental Report
  • Appendix X - Expert Testimony
  • Appendix XI - Reports Relating to the Interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald at the Dallas Police Department
  • Appendix XII - Speculations and Rumors
  • Appendix XIII - Biography of Lee Harvey Oswald
  • Early Years
  • Marines
  • Soviet Union
  • Fort Worth, Dallas, New Orleans
  • Mexico City
  • Dallas

  • Appendix XIV - Analysis of Lee Harvey Oswald's Finances From June 13, 1962, through November 22, 1963

  • Appendix XV - Transactions Between Lee Harvey Oswald and Marina Oswald, and The U.S. Department of State and the Immigration and Natualization Service of the U.S. Department of Justice
  • Appendix XVI - A Biography of Jack Ruby
  • Family Background
  • Childhood and Youth (1911-33)
  • Psychiatric Report
  • Placement in Foster Homes
  • Subsequent Home Life
  • Education
  • Activities
  • Temperament
  • Young Manhood (1933-43)
  • San Francisco (1933-37)
  • Occupations and Activities
  • Chicago (1937-43)
  • Military Activities (1943-46)
  • Postwar Chicago (1946-47)
  • Dallas (1947-63)
  • The Move to Dallas
  • The Change of Name
  • Nightclub Operations
  • Employee Relationships
  • Financial Data and Tax Problems
  • Other Business Ventures
  • Arrests and Violations
  • Police Associations
  • Underworld Ties
  • Travels
  • Character and Interests
  • Family Relationships
  • Social Relationships
  • Affection for Dogs
  • Religious Interests
  • Physical Activities and Violence
  • Generosity to Friends and the Need for Recognition
  • Appendix XVII - Polygraph Examination of Jack Ruby
  • Preliminary Arrangements
  • Administration of the Test
  • Interpretation of the Test

  • Thoughts for the day: "If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” — J.F.Kennedy
    "If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be no help." — Words which were of no help to JFK, in the draft of his planned 22 Nov 1963 speech in Dallas.
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