The Death of a President

by William Manchester

  “Television in the Lives of Children During a National Crisis,” Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich.; N.D.

  Skelton, Byron. Letter to Robert F. Kennedy dated November 6, 1963, with accompanying note from Robert F. Kennedy to P. Kenneth O’Donnell, November 8, 1963.

  Letter to Walter Jenkins, November 6, 1963, with carbon copy to Mrs. H. H. Weinert, Democratic National Committeewoman from Texas.

  Telegram to Robert F. Kennedy, 10:10 A.M., November 23, 1963.

  Smith, Jean Kennedy. Untitled notes on the events of November 22–28, 1963.

  Sorensen, Theodore C., Special Assistant to the President. Original draft of joint session address delivered by President Johnson, written November 25, 1963.

  Letter to the author regarding selection of Biblical and Presidential quotations to be read during President Kennedy’s state funeral; March 7, 1966.

  Spalding, Charles F. Letter to the author on his activities in New York and Washington, November 22–25, 1963; September 28, 1964.

  Stevenson, Adlai, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Statement read at the first Cabinet meeting of President Lyndon Johnson, Washington, November 23, 1963.

  Swindal, Col. James B. Flight Chart for Aircraft 26000, USAF, November 22, 1963, Love Field, Dallas, to Andrews AFB, Md.

  Letters to the author on his recollections of November 21–22, 1963; April 30, 1964, and July 1, 1964.

  Mrs. Eamon de Valera. Letter to Evan Thomas, August 4, 1966.

  Ward, Theron, J.P. Death certificate of John F. Kennedy, signed December 6, 1963, in Garland, Texas, and received by local registrar December 11, 1963.

  White, Theodore H. Notes on November 29, 1963, interview with Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy; December 19, 1963.

  Witte, John C., Sp/4, U.S. Signal Corps. “22 Nov. 63 in Commcen.”; N.D.

  Wolfenstein, Martha. “Death of a Parent and Death of a President: Children’s Reactions to Two Kinds of Loss,” a paper presented to the Conference on Children’s Reactions to the Death of the President, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, April 3, 1964.

  Wright, Elizabeth L., Director of Nursing Service, Parkland Hospital. Report of activities, November 22, 1963; N.D.

  Yarborough, Senator Ralph. Sketch made on April 6, 1964, showing the position of vehicles parked outside Parkland Hospital’s three emergency loading bays at 12:40 P.M.(approx.) CST, November 22, 1963.

  Youngblood, Rufus. Map of route followed by President Johnson in Washington, D.C., evening of November 22, 1963.

  Zapruder, Abraham. 18.24-second color motion picture sequence (334 frames) taken in Dealey Plaza, 12:30 CST November 22, 1963, showing the Presidential car at the moment of the assassination. Observed by the author June 29, June 30, August 5, and October 9, 1964.

  III. PUBLISHED MATERIAL

  A. BOOKS

  Bell, Daniel, editor. The Radical Right, containing essays by Richard Hofstadter, David Riesman, Nathan Glazer, Peter Viereck, Talcott Parsons, Alan F. Westin, H. H. Hyman, S. M. Lipset. Anchor Books, Doubleday & Company, New York: 1964.

  Four Days, compiled by United Press International and American Heritage Magazine. American Heritage Publishing Company: 1964.

  Hearings Before the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy. Containing the transcripts of testimony and deposition (15 volumes) and exhibits (11 volumes). United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1964.

  Kennedy, John F. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, January 1 to November 22, 1963. United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1964.

  Leslie, Warren. Dallas Public and Private: Aspects of an American City. Grossman Publishers, New York: 1964.

  Lewis, Lloyd. Myths After Lincoln. Harcourt, Brace, New York: 1929.

  McGrory, Mary. In Memoriam: John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Washington Star Newspaper Company, Washington: 1963.

  Memorial Addresses in the Congress of the United States and Tributes in Eulogy of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Late a President of the United States. United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1964.

  Murray, Norbert. Legacy of an Assassination. The Pro-People Press, New York: 1964.

  Report of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy. United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1964.

  Rossiter, Clinton. The American Presidency. Harcourt, Brace, New York: 1960.

  The Torch Is Passed, compiled by the Associated Press: 1963.

  The White House: An Historic Guide. The White House Historical Association, Washington: 1962.

  B. ARTICLES

  Austin American: files for November 1963.

  Banta, Thomas J., “The Kennedy Assassination: Early Thoughts and Emotions,” The Public Opinion Quarterly, Summer 1964.

  “The Black Watch,” The Red Hackle, publication of the Black Watch Royal Highland Regiment, January 1964.

  Breslin, Jimmy, “A Death in Emergency Room No. One,” Saturday Evening Post, December 14, 1963.

  Columbia Journalism Review, Winter 1964. An entire issue devoted to newspaper and television coverage of the assassination.

  Dallas Morning News: files for 1963.

  Dallas Times Herald: files for 1963.

  Dugger, Ronnie, “The Last Voyage of Mr. Kennedy,” The Texas Observer, November 29, 1963.

  “Dallas, After All,” The Texas Observer, March 6, 1964.

  “And Finally, as to John F. Kennedy,” The Texas Observer, June 11, 1965.

  Fort Worth Star-Telegram: files for November 1963.

  Greenberg, Bradley J., “Diffusion of News of the Kennedy Assassination,” The Public Opinion Quarterly, Summer 1964.

  Greenstein, Fred I., “College Students’ Reactions to the Assassination,” in The Kennedy Assassination and the American Public School: Social Communication in Crisis, edited by Benjamin S. Greenburg and Edwin B. Parker, Stanford University Press: 1965.

  “Young Men and the Death of a Young President,” in Children and the Death of a President: Multi-disciplinary Studies, edited by Martha Wolfenstein and Gilbert Kliman, Doubleday: 1965.

  Grosvenor, Melville Bell, “The Last Full Measure,” National Geographic, March 1964.

  Houston Chronicle: files for November 1963.

  Huber, The Very Reverend Oscar L., C.M., “President Kennedy’s Final Hours,” The Register, Denver, Colorado, December 8, 1963.

  Hughes, Sarah T., “The President Is Sworn In,” The Texas Observer, November 29, 1963.

  Humphrey, Hubert, “Mental Health and World Peace,” Remarks to the National Association of Mental Health, Washington, D.C., November 21, 1963. Congressional Record, November 26, 1963.

  Katz, Joseph, “President Kennedy’s Assassination,” The Psychoanalytic Review, Winter 1964–65.

  Kennedy, Robert F., Opinions of the Attorneys General, XLII, 5, August 2, 1961.

  Kirschner, David, “The Death of a President: Reactions of Psychoanalytic Patients,” Behavioral Science, January 1965.

  Lattimer, John K., “The Wound That Killed Lincoln,” Journal of the American Medical Association, February 15, 1964.

  Lowens, Irving, “Accurate Listing of Funeral Music,” Washington Star, December 1, 1963.

  New York Times: files for November-December 1963.

  Rothstein, David A., “Presidential Assassination Syndrome,” privately printed, Springfield, Mass., 1964.

  San Antonio Light: files for November 1963.

  San Antonio News: files for November 1963.

  Sheatsley, Paul B., and Feldman, Jacob J., “The Assassination of President Kennedy: A Preliminary Report on Public Reactions and Behavior,” The Public Opinion Quarterly, Summer 1964.

  “Three Patients at Parkland,” Texas State Journal of Medicine, January 1964.

  U.S. Department of Commerce Weather Bureau, Local Climatological Data, Washington, National Airport, November 1963.

  “Wanted for Treason,” unsigned dodger
attacking President Kennedy, distributed in Dallas November 21, 1963.

  West, Jessamyn, “Prelude to Tragedy: The Woman Who Sheltered Lee Oswald’s Family Tells Her Story,” Redbook, July 1964.

  Wicker, Tom, “Wicker Describes That Day in Dallas,” Times Talk, December 1963.

  1 The Warren Commission reported that the luncheon site was selected by the Secret Service with O’Donnell’s approval. This is incorrect. The decision was a political decision, made by politicians. Bruno was among the witnesses whom the Commission did not summon.

  2 From Camelot, copyright © 1960 by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Chappell & Co., Inc., owner of publication and allied rights throughout the world.

  3 In 1961 Michael W. Terina, Chief Inspector of the Secret Service, told this writer that wherever a Presidential motorcade must slow down for a turn, the entire intersection is checked in advance.

  4 Airline pilots provide an excellent illustration. Each six months they must demonstrate their proficiency in all the physical and mental skills required by their profession. This testing is done both in the airplane in which they fly and in special electronic flight simulators where performance in situations which would be hazardous in an actual airplane can be evaluated. Both normal and emergency maneuvers are included. Second, the Federal Aviation Agency requires them to submit to strenuous physical examinations—also at six-month intervals—by designated aeromedical specialists. Finally, the airlines themselves give aircraft captains annual checkups.

  5 T. S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men.”

  6 Ibid.

  1 Kennedy personally wrote the family of every American who died in uniform during his Presidency. The lines to Box 813, Kirbyville, Texas, are particularly eloquent, but there were between forty and fifty such letters each month. Whenever one of them produced a reply, he invited the widow and children to Washington for a talk in the Rose Garden.

  2 In 1964 Wilkinson did run on the Republican ticket in Oklahoma. His slogan was “Put the best man in the game.” His opponent, a Kennedy Democrat, replied that the future of the world is no game, and Wilkinson vanished in the anti-Goldwater landslide.

  3 That winter the digits took over, and it was changed to 456-1414.

  4 From time to time names and groupings were changed. One man, who was Porter (P) in November 1963, later became Super (S), and then River (R). He has retired.

  5 “Not,” the San Antonio News reported of the helicopter, “that there was any danger.” News coverage of that Thursday’s events was rather captious. One writer described Jacqueline Kennedy as “taciturn” and complained that she was aloof from the people. Another called security agents “nitpickers,” adding that “taxpayers foot the bill while the Secret Service heroes gumshoe around thinking up different kinds of new—and ruinously expensive—duties for themselves.” These comments appeared the following afternoon, November 22, 1963.

  6 In fairness it should be noted that films of the following morning’s activities suggest that this man was—with Clint Hill—one of the most agile members of the detail. Therefore his name is not given here.

  7 In the Shoreham audience was Senator Dan Inouye of Hawaii. Next time they met he told Humphrey in awe, “You told us—you were telling us!” Humphrey replied, “But I didn’t know it.”

  8 A subsequent controversy developed over whether or not the shots fired from the warehouse on November 22 had been difficult ones, and echoes of the dispute are heard today. Here the author must appear briefly as an expert witness. This writer has carefully examined the site in Dallas and once qualified as an Expert Rifleman on the U.S. Marine Corps range at Parris Island, S.C., firing the M-1 rifle, as Oswald did, from 500, 300, and 200 yards. From the sixth floor in the Book Depository Oswald would look down on a slowly drifting target less than ninety yards away, and his scope brought it within twenty-two yards. At that distance, with his training, he could scarcely have missed.

  9 Everyone who has questioned Ruth Paine, this writer included, has been impressed by her exceptional forthrightness. After the assassination she talked to Jessamyn West, a fellow Quaker. Miss West noted that when she spoke of Ruth’s “kindness to the Oswalds” Ruth corrected her, “reminding me that she had gained as much in her association with Marina Oswald as she had given.”

  1 The plaza is an acoustical freak, and this writer, like the Warren Commission, could not determine how many shots were fired by the assassin. Two found their mark. A majority of witnesses say they heard three detonations, and three spent shells were found in the sniper’s perch. Yet several witnesses closest to the scene—e.g., Mrs. Kennedy, Clint Hill, Zapruder—heard only two reports. And it would have been typical of Oswald’s laxity to have come to the warehouse with an expended cartridge in the breech, which would have required removal before he could commence firing.

  2 In the summer of 1966 a former Cornell graduate student published a book which suggested that this first bullet followed a different trajectory. The implication was that a second assassin had aided Oswald. The issue is resolved by the X-rays and photographs which were taken from every conceivable angle during the autopsy on the President’s body. Because this material is unsightly it will be unavailable until 1971. However, the author has discussed it with three men who examined it before it was placed under seal. All three carried special professional qualifications. Each was a stranger to the other two. Nevertheless their accounts were identical. The X-rays show no entry wound “below the shoulder,” as argued by the graduate student. Admittedly X-rays of active projectiles passing through soft tissue are difficult to read. Yet, the photographs support them in this case—and reveal that the wound was in the neck. Finally, the recollections of all doctors present during the autopsy, including the President’s personal physician, agree unanimously with this overwhelming evidence. Thus the account in the above text is correct.

  1 Colonel Jim Swindal, monitoring the radio in 26000’s communications shack, thought he heard Kellerman say, “Lancer is hurt. It looks bad. We have to get to a hospital.”

  It is Kellerman’s recollection that he ordered Greer to leave the scene and radioed the alarm to Lawson just before Oswald’s final shot. In his words to the author, “Greer then looked in the back of the car. Maybe he didn’t believe me.” Kellerman is mistaken. Although Greer’s memory is vague, the Zapruder film and the recollections of Lawson, Mrs. Kennedy, and the Connallys contradict Kellerman’s version. Moreover, had he alerted Lawson, the agents in Halfback—Kinney among them—would have heard him over their Charlie set.

  2 Indeed, Mrs. Kennedy has no recollection of being on the trunk at all. She was in deep shock. Later she looked at still frames developed from the Zapruder sequence. They brought nothing back to her. It was as though she were looking at photographs of another woman.

  3 A Time caption (November 29, 1963, page 23) incorrectly identified the foot as Kennedy’s. The President’s body, invisible to all photographers, was sprawled across the back seat.

  4 There were larger variations on this theme. The uses of personal pronouns are infinite. Some Americans blamed all Texas; some foreigners, all America. In Washington an Englishwoman said to this writer, “You get a good President and what do you do? You shoot him.” The absurdity of this does not, of course, preclude a plural responsibility for the tragedy.

  5 That was only the beginning. All afternoon the Associated Press was a source of misleading and inaccurate reports. Two highlights came at 1:18 P.M. CST, when the AP circulated an unconfirmed report that Lyndon Johnson had been “wounded slightly,” and at 2:14, when AP teletypes chattered that “A Secret Service agent and a Dallas policeman were shot and killed today some distance from the area where President Kennedy was assassinated.” This seemed to support theories of an elaborate plot. It wasn’t corrected until 3:33 P.M. Inevitably, word-of-mouth transmissions embellished errors. In a Nevada motion picture theater the lights went up and the manager took the stage. He announced, “We have just learned that the President of the United S
tates, the Vice President, the Governor of Texas, and a Secret Service man have been murdered. We now continue with our matinee feature.” The lights went down. No one in the audience stirred. One wonders whether they could have been thinking.

  6 Hill says he heard “no verbal reply.” There was one, though. The source is her own recollection. It is the best possible source, for at this point her recovery was instantaneous and complete. From this moment forward her retention—which has been checked against the memories of everyone who was with her during this period—is astonishingly accurate.

  7 Partly because not all Presidential aides knew it. As late as 2:15 P.M. the tape of Dallas police dispatcher No. 2 recorded a message from Patrolman J. E. Jennings at Parkland, who reported that certain members of the White House staff were asking “if it would be possible for your office to make a collect call to deliver a message for them.” Dispatcher Gerald Henslee replied, “I’m sorry, all my phones are tied up.”

  It should be added that both police channels were frequently clogged with unnecessary traffic: demands for police dogs, confusion over wrong arrests and incorrect addresses, and—this from Inspector Sawyer—speculation over whether overtime pay would be authorized for forty patrolmen who would normally have been relieved by now.

  8 There weren’t enough useless jobs for everyone; some were duplicated. A few moments later Lem Johns appeared and issued the same instructions to the two drivers. Chuck Roberts, watching the top go up, said bitterly, “Why now?” One of the drivers said numbly, “You can’t look.” An inaccurate story reported that they washed out the back seat with a bucket of water. Actually, this was contemplated. Nurse’s aide Shirley Randall was asked whether she would “come and wash the blood out of the car.” Miss Randall agreed, but in the excitement she forgot.

  9 In the Texas State Journal of Medicine (January 1964, p. 61) it was stated, “Blood was drawn for typing and crossmatching. Type O RH negative blood was obtained immediately.” In fact, the President was given O RH negative because there could be no reaction to it, whatever his type. The article, which was prepared by Parkland’s medical staff, contains another minor inaccuracy and a startling omission. One of the senior doctors declared that he believes it “evidence of the clear thinking of the resuscitative team that the patient received 300 mg. hydrocortisone intravenously in the first few minutes.” This medication (Solu-Cortef) was necessary because the President suffered from Addison’s disease, but it was provided by his personal physician, Dr. Burkley, who also passed along word of his blood type. Dr. Burkley is mentioned nowhere in the article. Doctors, too, may become victims of irrationalism.