Everything You Need To Know About The Assassination Of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, but more than six decades later, many questions still linger about the president’s death and the tumultuous aftermath.
National Archives and Records AdministrationThis photo was taken moments before the Kennedy assassination.
Images from the assassination of John F. Kennedy are seared into the national consciousness. Jackie Kennedy’s blood-spattered pink dress. The president’s final wave, his final smile. The small figure of his son, John F. Kennedy Jr., saluting his father’s coffin during the president’s somber funeral. So, what exactly happened during the JFK assassination?
Depending on who you ask, the Kennedy assassination was either a simple case of a lone-wolf killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, or an impossible tangle of conspiracy, foreign actors, and the mob. But the story ends the same in either case. On a sunny afternoon in Texas, on a day that no one expected would be consequential, the United States changed forever.
This is the story of the John F. Kennedy assassination, the moment that ended the sunny days of America’s “Camelot.”
What Year Was John F. Kennedy Assassinated?
John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. The 46-year-old president had been elected in 1960 and was gearing up to run for a second term in office. According to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Kennedy had not yet announced his candidacy, but he was laying the foundation for it. That September, he had spoken in nine different states in just one week.
When Was JFK Assassinated?
The Kennedy assassination took place on Nov. 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m.
Where Was JFK Going When He Was Assassinated?
On the morning of the John F. Kennedy assassination, the president started his day in Fort Worth, Texas. He spoke to a small crowd gathered outside of his hotel — famously telling them, “Mrs. Kennedy is organizing herself. It takes longer, but, of course, she looks better than we do when she does it” — before flying with his wife to their next stop in Dallas.John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy arriving in Dallas on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963.
Upon their arrival, the presidential couple joined Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie, who were waiting in a 1961 black Lincoln Continental limousine. The car’s top was down, and the foursome headed from the airport to the Dallas Trade Mart, where Kennedy was scheduled to speak. They were also accompanied by Vice President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird Johnson, who followed them in a different car.
Their route fatefully took them through downtown Dallas.
Where Was The John F. Kennedy Assassination?
The presidential motorcade had a ten-mile route from Dallas Love Field to the Dallas Trade Mart. Crowds thronged the streets to see the president, and excitement was rife each time people caught a glimpse of Kennedy and the first lady sitting together in the back of the car. Then, at 12:30 p.m., Kennedy’s car turned off Main Street and onto Dealey Plaza.
And it was here, to the horror of the crowd, that sudden shots rang out.
What Were JFK’s Last Words?
According to Four Days in November: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi, John F. Kennedy spoke his last words in response to a question. Shortly before shots rang out, Nellie Connally turned around and said: “Mr. President, they can’t make you believe now that there are not some in Dallas who love you and appreciate you, can they?”
Kennedy responded with his last words: “No, they sure can’t.”
While some have reported that John F. Kennedy’s last words were, “My God, I’ve been hit,” this would have likely been impossible for the president to say, given how he’d been shot.
ow Was John F. Kennedy Assassinated?
According to the Warren Commission, Kennedy was shot with a 6.5mm Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.
Public DomainA depiction of how one of the bullets hit the president. Kennedy was struck twice.
