KENNEDYS ARRIVE IN TEXAS
San Antonio (JFK+50) On Thursday, November 21, 1963, President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy arrived here in San Antonio where teenagers gathered on the observation deck of the airport "scream(ing).... 'Jackie!'"
The Kennedys enjoyed a 26 mile motorcade ride through the city, concluding with the President's speech at the dedication of the USAF Aerospace Medical Division at Brooks Air Force Base.
President Kennedy said...
"This Nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space and we have no choice but to follow it. With the help of all Americans, we will climb this wall with safety and with speed--and we shall explore the wonders on the other side."
Later, JFK spoke at the dinner honoring Congressman Albert Thomas at the Houston Coliseum. The Presidential party arrived in Fort Worth just before midnight. The Kennedys spent their last night together in a three room suite at the Texas Hotel.
Thurston Clarke writes..."(JFK and Jackie) embraced and he said...'You were great today.' She went next door and laid out the pink suit and pillbox hat she would wear the following day."
SOURCES
"End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy," by James Swanson. Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 2013.
"JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President," by Thurston Clarke, Penguin Press, 2013.
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy, 1963," United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1964.
JFK and Jackie
San Antonio, Texas
November 21, 1963
Photo by Cecil Stoughton
JFK Library Image
