"THE PUBLIC SMELLED A RAT"

DECLINE IN FAITH IN GOVERNMENT CAN BE TRACED TO JFK ASSASSINATION

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot at 12:30 a.m. CST as he rode in a motorcade through the streets of Dallas.  The President suffered wounds to the throat, back and head.

JFK was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:00 a.m.  Malcolm Kilduff* broke the news to the press in a hospital classroom.  He said...

"The President died of a gunshot wound to the head."

Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was also riding in the motorcade but was unharmed, was taken to Love Field where he boarded Air Force One and was sworn in as POTUS at 2:38 p.m.

Governor of Texas John B. Connally, riding in the same car as JFK, was also wounded in the shooting.  Although his wounds were severe, the Governor recovered.  Jacqueline Kennedy and Nellie Connally, both sitting beside their husbands, escaped injury.

To say that the assassination of JFK has been the subject of great controversy over the past 57 years is clearly an understatement, but as stated on the Mary Ferrell website...

"Perhaps...what is more important than 'who killed JFK' is the effect the murder had on our society.  While the major institutions...quickly lined up behind the Warren Commission**...the public smelled a rat.  The decline of faith in government can be traced to the Kennedy assassination and the Vietnam War which followed it."

 

*Malcolm Kilduff was assistant press secretary filling in on the Texas trip for Pierre Salinger who was on a flight to Japan with some of JFK's cabinet officers.  He remained as APS until 1965 when he started a public relations firm.  MK was riding in a press car in the Dallas motorcade at the time of the shooting.

**Warren Commission (1963-1964) concluded Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman who killed JFK & that there was no evidence of conspiracy foreign or domestic.  Other investigations which followed included the Jim Garrison investigation, Rockefeller Commission, Church Committee, House Select Committee on Assassinations and the Assassinations Records Review Board. 

 

SOURCES

"Malcolm Kilduff," by Adam Bernstein, March 5, 2003, The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/

"The JFK Assassination, Faith and Transparency," Mary Ferrell Foundation, www.maryferrell.org/ 

 

 

 

 The Knoxville News-Sentinel

Nov 22 1963 Extra Edition

Photo by John White

 

"MR. PRESIDENT, YOU CAN'T SAY THAT DALLAS DOESN'T LOVE YOU"

KENNEDY KILLED, CONNALLY WOUNDED

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy arrived here in Dallas aboard Air Force One where they joined Texas Governor John Connally and his wife Nellie in a motorcade through the city.

Despite rumblings of disagreement with JFK's policies, people lined the sidewalks and waved and cheered as the President and First Lady rode by.

Mrs. Connally was so pleased with the reception, she turned to JFK, just after they made the turn from Main to Houston Street, and said...

"Mr. President, you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you."

Shots rang out as the presidential car moved slowly along Elm Street in Dealey Plaza.  Secret Service agent Clint Hill, riding on the follow-up vehicle, made a valiant attempt reach the First Couple but a bullet hit President Kennedy in the head.

JFK was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital where the medical staff did everything humanly possible to save him.  Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff*, with tears in his eyes, announced that the President died at 1:00 p.m. (CST).  Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was riding in the motorcade, was spirited from the hospital to Air Force One at Love Field where he took the presidential oath of office.

With President Kennedy's remains on board, Air Force One returned to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington where the body was transferred to a Navy ambulance and taken to Bethesda for autopsy.

The headline of the final edition of the Knoxville News-Sentinel dated November 22, 1963 read...

KENNEDY KILLED, CONNALLY WOUNDED

*Malcolm MacGregor Kilduff, Jr. (1927-2003) served as assistant press secretary in the Kennedy & Johnson administrations, 1961-1965.  Afterwards, he was editor of the Beattyville, Kentucky Enterprise.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel

November 22, 1963

Final Edition

KENNEDY KILLED, CONNALLY WOUNDED

PRESIDENT SHOT IN DALLAS PARADE, LBJ IS NEW CHIEF


Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) Fifty-four years ago, November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy arrived here in Dallas aboard Air Force One where they joined Texas Governor John Connally and his wife Nellie on a parade through the city.

Despite rumblings of disagreement with JFK's policies, people lined the sidewalks and waved and cheered as the President and First Lady rode by.

Mrs. Connally was so pleased with the reception, she turned to JFK, just after they made the turn from Main to Houston Street, and said...

"Mr. President, you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you."

Shots rang out as the presidential car moved slowly along Elm Street in Dealey Plaza.  Secret Service agent Clint Hill, riding on the follow-up vehicle, made a valiant attempt reach the First Couple but a bullet hit President Kennedy in the head.

JFK was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital where the medical staff did everything humanly possible to save him.

Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff*, with tears in his eyes, announced that the President died at 1:00 p.m. (CST).  Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was riding in the motorcade, was spirited from the hospital to Air Force One at Love Field where he took the presidential oath of office.

With President Kennedy's remains on board, Air Force One returned to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington where the body was transferred to a Navy ambulance and taken to Bethesda for autopsy.

The headline of the final edition of the Knoxville News-Sentinel dated November 22, 1963 read...

KENNEDY KILLED, CONNALLY WOUNDED

*Malcolm MacGregor Kilduff, Jr. (1927-2003) served as assistant press secretary in the Kennedy & Johnson administrations, 1961-1965.  Afterwards, he was editor of the Beattyville, Kentucky Enterprise.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel

November 22, 1963
Final Edition

1ST PRESIDENTIAL NEWS CONFERENCE ON LIVE TV

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1839

JFK'S FIRST NEWS CONFERENCE TELEVISED LIVE

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-five years ago today, January 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy held his first official news conference as President of the United States.  

The meeting with the press, held in the State Department Auditorium, was the first presidential press conference to be televised live across the nation.  Sixty-five million Americans tuned in for the conference in 21.5 million homes.

JFK was to have an average television audience of 18 million for all his news conferences.   Press secretary, Pierre Salinger, said...

"The ideas and philosophy of (President Kennedy)...were best displayed during those moments of truth when he stood alone before the representatives of the press..."

Mr. Salinger went on to say that JFK was well prepared for each of his news conferences.    The staff would provide, beforehand, questions they thought might be asked.  This gave the President the opportunity to form his responses and ask his staff to gather more information on a topic if needed.

According to Assistant Press secretary Malcolm Kilduff, President Kennedy had a unique ability to predict what questions would be asked and sometimes would imitate the reporter's voice who would most likely ask them.

When the double doors of the auditorium opened, the President would stride through and all reporters would stand.  After JFK made a brief opening statement, the floor was open for questions.  Reporters who had questions would stand and say "Mr. President!"

JFK would select one, point at that reporter,  while the others would sit back down and wait for their next opportunity.

Following are two questions and answers from the JFK's first presidential news conference...

Question...

Does your administration plan to take any steps to solve the problem at Fayette County, Tennessee where tenant farmers have been evicted from their homes because they voted last November & now must live in tents?

The President...

The Congress...enacted legislation which placed very clear responsibility on the executive branch to protect the right of voting.  I support that legislation. I am extremely interested in making sure that every American is given the right to cast his vote without prejudice to his rights as a citizen.  And, therefore, I can state that this administration will pursue the problem of providing that protection with all vigor.

Question...

Would you consider reopening diplomatic relations in Cuba?

The President...

We have no plan at the present to resume diplomatic relations with Cuba...because of the factors (Soviet/Communist influence) which are involved on that island.

SOURCE

"Kennedy and the Press:  The News Conferences,"  Edited & Annotated by Harold W. Chase & Allen H. Lerman, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, 1965.

JFK Press Conference

 November 20, 1962

Photo by Abbie Rowe

JFK Library Image