Kennedy Assassination

National Attitude Remember, Kennedy had won a really close election in 1960 He needed to be concerned with getting re-elected in 1964 He decided (along with his advisors) that he needed to begin campaigning early

Why would Kennedy have a tight election? Think about some of the main things he had done during his Presidency –Space –Peace Corps Program –Civil Rights Which of those is going to make it the most hard for him to get re-elected? Where is he going to have the hardest time getting re-elected?

Conditions in Texas LBJ (Vice President) was from the Austin area He helped Kennedy win some southern states in 1960 Why would the South be a problem for JFK in 1964? Texas was known for being extremely conservative Adlai Stevenson attacked a few weeks before the assassination in Dallas

JFK to Texas Goes on a Campaign trip through Texas Starts in Houston, then Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas In Dallas he was supposed to go on a motorcade from the airport and then give a speech at the Trade Mart

Lee Harvey Oswald A loner Had been a supporter of the “Free Cuba” movement in New Orleans Had been in the marines, but at one point defected to the Soviet Union Comes back to Dallas with a Russian wife, and gets a job at the Texas School Book Depository

November 22 Kennedy gets to Dallas on a clear fall morning Thousands turn out in downtown Dallas to welcome the President Most people were surprised by such a good reaction from the people of Dallas Shot as he turns the corner in Dealy Plaza

Dealy Plaza

“The President is dead…” For the young generation, this was their “9/11” A lot of the hope that had come with this young President would never be gotten back for America LBJ is sworn in as President on Air Force One on the way back to D.C.

Jack Ruby

Abraham Zapruder He had been filming with his home movie camera as the President turned the corner to begin going to the trade mart He was standing on the “grassy knoll” Captured the fatal shot

The Nation Mourns Schools were cancelled Millions watched on television the funeral in Washington, D.C. After waiting, LBJ will call for continuing President Kennedy’s unfinished legacy

Warren Commission Charged with investigating the assassination Headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren Included future President Gerald Ford Controversial report said Oswald was the lone assassin A later investigation in the late 1970s concluded there was some other involvement, but left it open as to what that meant