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John F. Kennedy Assassination

John F. Kennedy assassination

The assassination of John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, took place on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, USA at 12:30 PM Central Standard Time (18:30 UTC). Kennedy was fatally wounded by gunshots while riding in a presidential motorcade within Dealey Plaza. He was the fourth U.S. President to be assassinated, and the eighth to die while in office. An official investigation by the Warren Commission was conducted over a 10-month period and published its report in September 1964, concluding that the assassin was Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee of the Texas School Book Depository in Dealey Plaza. A later official investigation by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) was conducted from 1976 to 1979, and concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald probably acted with at least one other person. The assassination is still the subject of widespread speculation, and has spawned a number of Kennedy assassination theories.

Background to the Texas trip

Kennedy had chosen to visit Dallas on November 20 for three main reasons: to help raise more Democratic Party presidential campaign fund contributions in advance of the November 1964 presidential election; to begin his quest for re-election; and, as the Kennedy-Johnson ticket had barely won Texas (and had lost Dallas) in 1960, to mend political fences among several leading Texas Democratic Party members who appeared to be fighting politically amongst themselves. There were concerns about security because of recent events: on October 24, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson had been jeered, jostled, struck by a protest sign, and spat upon during a visit to Dallas. To prevent a recurrence, Dallas police Sgt. Davis had prepared the most stringent security precautions in the city's history. The danger from a concealed sniper on the Dallas trip was of concern to those who had considered the problem. President Kennedy himself had mentioned it the morning he was assassinated, as had the Secret Service agents when they were fixing the motorcade route. It was planned that Kennedy would travel from Love Field airport in a motorcade through downtown Dallas (including Dealey Plaza) to give a speech at the Dallas Trade Mart in suburban Dallas. The car in which he was traveling was a 1961 Lincoln Continental, open-top, modified limousine. Riding with Kennedy in the limousine were: his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy; Texas Governor John B. Connally, Sr, and his wife, Nellie; Secret Service agent and White House Detail Team #3 Assistant in Charge, Roy Kellerman; and Secret Service agent and limousine driver Bill Greer. No presidential car with a bulletproof top was yet in service in 1963 (plans for such a top were presented in October 1963; FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover already had three bulletproofed cars.) In a November 22 Dallas newspaper there appeared a black-bordered, full-page advertisement paid for by Kennedy critics who were associated with the ultraconservative John Birch Society. Throughout Dallas, and especially along the motorcade route, several groups critical of Kennedy expressed their views and handed out flyers. A smattering of handmade protest signs were held aloft by motorcade viewers, but there were no major disturbances.

The assassination

The presidential motorcade traveled nearly its entire route without incident, stopping twice so Kennedy could shake hands with some Catholic nuns, then some school children. Shortly before the limousine turned onto Main Street a man ran towards the limousine, but was thrust to the ground by a Secret Service agent and hustled away. Just before 12:30 PM CST (18:30 UTC), Kennedy slowly approached the Texas School Book Depository head-on, then the limousine slowly turned the 120-degrees directly in front of the depository, now only 65 feet (20 m) away. When the limousine had passed the depository Kennedy was shot at for an estimated 6 to 9 seconds. During the shooting the limousine is calculated to have slowed from over 13 mph (20 km/h) to only 9 mph (15 km/h). The shooting took place in front of Abraham Zapruder who was filming the president. His testimony expresses the disbelief, and then the shock, of witnessing the assassination of a president:

Mr. Zapruder: I heard the first shot and I saw the President lean over and grab himself like this (holding his left chest area).

Examiner: Grab himself on the front of his chest?

Mr. Zapruder: Right---something like that. In other words, he was sitting like this and waving and then after the shot he just went like that.

Examiner: He was sitting upright in the car and you heard the shot and you saw the President slump over?

Mr. Zapruder: Leaning--leaning toward the side of Jacqueline. For a moment I thought it was, you know, like you say, "Oh, he got me," when you hear a shot--you've heard these expressions and then I saw---I don't believe the President is going to make jokes like this, but before I had a chance to organize my mind, I heard a second shot and then I saw his head opened up and the blood and everything came out and I started--I can hardly talk about it [ the witness crying].

Mr. Zapruder: [T]hen I started yelling, "They killed him, they killed him."

See Warren Commission testimony of Zapruder. Governor Connally was also seriously wounded by a bullet and screamed, "No, no, no. They are going to kill us all!" At the end of the shooting, the president's body bounced off the back of the rear seat and slumped lifelessly leftward towards his wife. Mrs. Kennedy cried out to her bodyguard, Clint Hill, "My God, they have shot his head off." Clint Hill was riding in the car that was immediately behind the presidential limousine. As soon as the shooting began, Hill jumped out and began running to overtake the moving car in front of him with the plan to climb on from the rear bumper and crawl over the trunk to the back seat where the stricken President and frightened First Lady were located. Just as Hill was grabbing the small handrail by the trunk that was used by the bodyguards to climb onto a small back platform, he heard another gunshot and saw a portion of the president’s head blown away. The driver then sped up causing the car to slip away from Hill, who was in the midst of trying to leap on to it. He somehow succeeded in regaining his footing and jumped on to the back of the quickly accelerating car. As he got on, he saw Mrs. Kennedy, apparently in shock, crawling onto the flat trunk of the moving limousine and retrieving parts of her husband’s head that had been blown out. Agent Hill crawled to her and guided the frantic Mrs. Kennedy back into her seat and placed his body above the President and Mrs. Kennedy. An agent in the front seat of the car gave orders, over the car’s two-way radio, to the lead of the procession "To the nearest hospital, quick." Hill was shouting as loud as he could "To the hospital, to the hospital." As the car moved at high speed to the hospital, Hill maintained his position shielding the couple with his body, and was looking down at the mortally wounded president. Agent Hill later testified:

The right rear portion of his head was missing. It was lying in the rear seat of the car. His brain was exposed. There was blood and bits of brain all over the entire rear portion of the car.

Mrs. Kennedy was completely covered with blood. There was so much blood you could not tell if there had been any other wound or not, except for the one large gaping wound in the right rear portion of the head.

The limousine then exited Dealey Plaza and sped to Parkland Memorial Hospital that was only minutes away. There was hardly any reaction in the crowd to the first shot, many later saying they thought they had heard a firecracker or a car's exhaust backfire.

Others wounded

Texas Governor John Bowden Connally, Sr., riding in the same limousine in a seat in front of the president, was also critically injured but survived. Doctors later stated that after the Governor was shot, Mrs. Connally pulled the governor onto her lap, and the resulting posture helped close his front chest wound (which was causing air to be sucked directly into a collapsed lung). The action helped save his life. James Tague, a spectator and witness to the assassination, also received a minor wound to his right cheek while standing 270 feet (82 meters) in front of where Kennedy was hit.

Kennedy in the emergency room

Upon Kennedy's arrival at the Parkland Hospital's Trauma Room Number 1, treating staff members observed that his condition was "moribund", meaning that he had no chance of survival. This terminal condition arose out of the extensive gunshot damage done to the president's brain rather than by the other gunshot wounds suffered by the president to his back and throat. In the emergency room, the President had been placed on his back. His face was not damaged, but some brain tissue was present near the head indicating brain damage. When the doctors arrived they quickly cut into the president's throat and inserted a small tube for breathing (a tracheotomy). But then, Dr. Jenkins, one of the five treating doctors in the emergency room, lifted Kennedy's upper half of the body, looked at the back of Kennedy's head and announced:

"Boys you better come up here and take a look at this brain before you do anything as heroic as opening the chest and massaging the heart directly."

Dr. Peters did look and observed:

"There was obviously quite a bit of brain missing."

Dr. McClellend provided this description:

"You could actually look down into the skull cavity itself and see that probably a third or so, at least, of the brain tissue, posterior cerebral tissue and some of the cerebellar tissue had been blasted out."

"We never had any hope of saving his life", one doctor said. Roy Kellerman, a Secret Service Agent, who was in the car with the president, later testified a gunshot removed a section of the president's skull in the back right-hand side of the head measuring about five inches in diameter. See drawing by Dr. McClellend [http://www.jfklancer.com/pub/md/mcc_draw.gif] The priests who administered the last rites to Kennedy told The New York Times that the President was already dead by the time he arrived at the hospital, and he had to draw back a sheet covering the President's face to administer the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. It was not until 1:00 PM CST (19:00 UTC), after all heart activity had ceased and after a Roman Catholic priest administered the last rites, the president was pronounced dead. Kennedy's death was officially announced some time later, at 1:38 PM CST (19:38 UTC).

Federal agents seize Kennedy's body

Once the president was officially pronounced dead, his murder investigation came within the jurisdiction of Texas state criminal law. The law of Texas required the Dallas County coroner to perform a forensic examination of the president. At the time no specific federal law prohibited killing a president. This set the stage for a conflict between federal and state agents. After Kennedy was pronounced dead, a group of federal agents seized the body and attempted to remove it from the hospital. A stand off then occurred between state officials and cursing, gun-wielding Secret Service agents that lasted for ten to fifteen minutes. Finally, a few minutes after 2:00 PM CST (20:00 UTC), the federal agents gained full control over the body, placed it in a coffin, and removed it from Parkland Hospital. An ambulance, under federal control, then took the dead president's body back to Love Field and placed the coffin aboard Air Force One. Governor Connally, meanwhile, was soon taken to emergency surgery where he underwent two operations that day. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (who had been riding two cars behind Kennedy in the motorcade through Dallas and was not wounded) was first in line of succession to become President of the United States upon Kennedy's death. Johnson took the oath of office aboard Air Force One at 2:38 PM CST, just before it departed Love Field.

The autopsy

After Air Force One landed at Andrews Air Force Base, just outside Washington DC, Kennedy's body was taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital at the bequest of Jacqueline Kennedy for an autopsy. The autopsy was conducted by three Navy physicians and witnessed by over thirty military officers. Many different versions of what was seen and what happened at the autopsy have been written. One military physician who participated in the autopsy destroyed his notes, and a drawing of Kennedy's head wound by another of the physicians is close to incomprehensible. [http://www.jfklancer.com/pub/md/MD001-2.JPG] Two FBI agents present at the autopsy have since revealed that Kennedy had a large wound on the back, right-hand side, of his head, another wound 5.5 inches (14 cm) below his suit jacket collar top just to the right of his spine, and a third wound centered in the front of his throat at the bottom edge of his Adam's apple. [http://www.jfklancer.com/pub/md/sibert2.gif] Several photos and x-rays were captured during the autopsy (several of which have disappeared from the official record). Graphic autopsy photos, along with the skull x-rays, and medical drawings prepared by the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) when it took testimony from the Parkland Hospital medical witnesses, are available [http://www.jfklancer.com/MDsmall.html here] and [http://www.jfklancer.com/Backes.html here] The autopsy photographs of the President’s brain are apparently missing;, in 1998 what appear to be photographs of another person's brain were given to the ARRB. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/jfk/jfk1110.htm] This panel was created under federal law to gather and preserve the documents relating to the assassination. [http://www.accessreports.com/statutes/JFK.ACT.htm]

Reaction to the assassination

The first hour after the shooting, before Kennedy's death was announced, was a time of great confusion. As it took place during the Cold War, some people at first wondered if the shooting were not part of a larger attack upon the USA, and there was concern about Vice-President Johnson's safety. People began to huddle around radios and TVs for the latest bulletins. The news of Kennedy's death by assassination shocked the world. In cities around the world, people wept openly. People clustered in department stores to catch TV coverage, and others prayed. Motor traffic in some areas came to a halt as the news of Kennedy's death spread literally from car to car. Schools across the USA and Canada dismissed students early. A misguided fury against Texas and Texans was reported from some individuals. All three TV networks cancelled regular programs scheduled for the next three days in order to provide non-stop news coverage of the assassination. The television coverage of the assassination was the longest uninterrupted news coverage of one event until the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Memorial services for Kennedy were held worldwide. The US Government declared a day of national mourning and sorrow for the day of state funeral, Monday, November 25. Many other countries did the same.

Funeral

November 25 After the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Kennedy's body was prepared for burial and then brought back to the White House and placed in the East Room for 24 hours. The Sunday following the assassination, his flag-draped coffin was moved to the Capitol for public viewing. Throughout the day and night, hundreds of thousands lined up to view the guarded casket. Representatives from over 90 countries, including the Soviet Union, attended the funeral on November 25 (which was his son's third birthday). After the service, the casket was taken by caisson to Arlington National Cemetery for burial.

Lee Harvey Oswald

Arlington National Cemetery Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested eighty minutes after the assassination for killing Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit. He was charged with murders of Tippit and Kennedy late that evening. Oswald denied shooting the president and claimed he was a "patsy." Oswald's case never came to trial because two days later, while in police custody, he was shot and fatally wounded by Jack Ruby.

Recordings of the assassination

No radio or television stations broadcast the assassination live, because the area through which the motorcade was traveling was not considered important enough for a live broadcast. Most media crews were not even with the motorcade but instead were waiting, at the Trade Mart , in anticipation for Kennedy's arrival. Those members of the media that were with the motorcade were riding at the rear of the procession. However, Kennedy's last seconds of life traveling through Dealey Plaza were recorded on silent 8 mm film for the 26.6 seconds before, during, and immediately following the assassination. This famous film footage was taken by garment manufacturer and amateur cameraman Abraham Zapruder, in what became known as the Zapruder Film. The 486 frames of this film have been used in many studies, but the film has not been able to settle disputes concerning whether or not Oswald was the sole assassin. Zapruder was not the only one that either took photographs of or filmed at least part of the assassination. Those bystanders that recorded, at least part of the assassination include Robert Hughes, Orville Nix, Charles Bronson, Elsie Dorman, Tina and Jim Towner, Philip Willis and Mary Moorman. An unknown woman, nicknamed by researchers as the Babushka Lady might have been filming the presidential motorcade during the assassination because she was seen apparently doing so on film and photographs taken by the others. Her identity is still unknown. For several minutes around the time of the assassination, a Dallas police motorcycle man's radio microphone was stuck in the 'transmit' position and was recorded back at the police radio dispatcher's room on a Dictabelt. A Dallas radio station KBOX-AM did recreate the sounds of the shooting on a Long playing record and it released the record album with excerpts of news coverage of that day, but it was not an original recording of the shooting.

Official investigations

Dallas Police

After arresting Oswald and collecting physical evidence at the crime scenes, at 10:30 PM CST 22 November (04:30 UTC 23 November) Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry was ordered by, in his words, "people in Washington" to send all of the physical evidence found, but not Oswald, to FBI headquarters.

FBI investigation

On November 24, 1963, just hours after Lee Harvey Oswald was murdered, FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover, said that he wanted "something issued so we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin." [http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-1d.html] Then, the FBI completed its investigation on December 9, 1963, less than three weeks after the assassination. The FBI report was issued and given to the Warren Commission while the FBI was still the primary investigating authority for the commission. The FBI stated that only three bullets were fired during the assassination. This contrasts with the conclusion of the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), which concluded that four shots had been fired during the assassination of the president. The Warren Commission agreed with the FBI investigation that only three shots were fired, but disagreed with the FBI report on which shots hit Kennedy and which hit Governor Connally. The FBI report claimed that the first shot hit President Kennedy, the second shot hit Governor Connally, and the third shot hit Kennedy in the head, killing him. The Warren Commission concluded that one of the three shots missed, one of the shots hit Kennedy and then struck Connally, and a third shot struck Kennedy in the head, killing him. The FBI report was consistent with the later Warren Commission Report stating that Lee Harvey Oswald fired all three shots.

The destruction of evidence

The FBI's role in the murder investigation has come under criticism for destroying evidence. Shortly before the assassination, an FBI agent named James Hosty talked to Oswald's wife on how to get in touch with him. When Oswald heard about the visit he went to the FBI office in Dallas, to see Hosty. When Oswald was told that Hosty was not in, Oswald left him a message in an envelope. The contents of the envelope have remained a mystery, because soon after Oswald was murdered Hosty was called into the office of his superior, Gordon Shanklin and ordered to destroy Oswald's letter, which he did. The FBI then discovered that Hosty's name and phone number appeared in Oswald's address book. Instead of turning Oswald's address book over to the Warren Commission, the FBI provided a typewritten transcription of the document in which Hosty's name and phone number were deleted (without reporting they had done so). Hosty then misled the Warren Commission about his contacts with Oswald when he testified, and this information only became public much later. [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKhosty.htm]

The Warren Commission

The first official investigation of the assassination was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson on November 29 1963, a week after the assassination. The commission was headed by Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States and became universally (but unofficially) known as the Warren Commission. In late September 1964, after a 10 month investigation, the Warren Commission Report was published. The Commission reported that it could not find any persuasive evidence of a domestic or foreign conspiracy involving any other person(s), group(s), or country(ies), and that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. The theory that Oswald acted alone is also informally called the Lone Gunman Theory. The commission also concluded that only three shots were fired during the assassination, and that Lee Harvey Oswald fired all three of these shots from the Texas School Book Depository building behind the motorcade. The commission's determination was that:
- one shot likely missed the motorcade (it could not determine which of the three),
- the first shot to hit anyone struck Kennedy in the upper back, exited near the front of his neck and likely continued on to cause all of Governor Connally's numerous injuries, and
- the last shot to hit anyone struck Kennedy in the head, fatally wounding him. It noted that three empty shells were found in the sixth floor in the book depository, and a rifle identified as the one used in the shooting - Oswald's Italian military surplus 6.5x52 mm Model 91/38 Carcano - was found hidden nearby along with three spent cartridge cases. The Commission offered as a likely explanation that the same bullet that wounded Kennedy also caused all of Governor Connally's wounds. This theory has become known as the "Single Bullet Theory" or the "magic bullet theory" as it is commonly referred to by its critics and detractors. The Commission also criticized weaknesses in security, which has resulted in greatly increased security whenever the President travels. The supporting documents for the Warren Commission Report are not all due to be released until 2017. The commission's findings have not gained general acceptance from the general public in the USA, and many theories exist that conflict with its findings. Most polls show that (1) most people do not agree with the Warren Commission's finding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, and (2) no single alternative suspect or theory is accepted either.

The House Select Committee on Assassinations

An official investigation by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), conducted from 1976 to 1979, concluded :that the scientific acoustical evidence established a high probability that two gunmen fired at President John F. Kennedy. Other scientific evidence did not preclude the possibility of two gunmen firing at the President, but it did negate some specific conspiracy allegations. Their conclusion was that four shots had been fired during the assassination and that President Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. The HSCA concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald fired the first, second, and fourth bullets, and that (based on the acoustic evidence) there was a high probability that an unnamed second assassin fired the third bullet (but missed) from President Kennedy's right front from a location concealed behind the Grassy Knoll picket fence, nine feet (approximately 3 meters) to the west of the picket fence east corner (exactly where an image is seen in the Moorman #5 Polaroid photo captured at Zf-315 to 316, but not seen seconds later). The HSCA's test firings within Dealey Plaza in 1978 also acoustically matched this same Grassy Knoll fence location nine feet (3m) to the west of the picket fence east corner where several witnesses claimed to observe small puffs of gunpowder smoke.

Summary of other evidence

Witnesses

On November 22, and in the months and years following the assassination, many witnesses in Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination have come forward or have been identified, and have stated their observations about what happened during the crucial seconds of the attack. Many witnesses were known to investigators, but some were never called by the investigators to describe what they observed. Many witnesses who were photographed at the scene (including several photographers and film-makers) are still unknown and have chosen to not come forward and/or have died. In many respects, the details of the events described by the identified witnesses match, but there are also conflicting details between information described by the witnesses. Some witnesses have also described details that no other witness has yet described. Among the important witness considerations were:
- The reactions to the gunshots of all limousine occupants relative to each other and relative to what each limousine occupant testified they saw, heard, and felt during the assassination.
- How many muzzle blasts a witness remembered hearing.
- The origin of the muzzle blasts a witness remembered hearing.
- The identities of two armed men and at least one other man seen on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.
- The identities of other potential witnesses, photographers, filmers and/or other located assassins and/or co-conspirators. One researcher has identified 216 witness to the assassination; and shows on a map where they were located; and describes what they saw and heard regarding the gunshots. [http://www.history-matters.com/analysis/witness/]

Shot sequencing and origins

There was a clear consensus among the witnesses as to the number of shots: over 90% thought there were three or fewer shots. However, at least some of the eyewitness statements appear to have been influenced by the investigators. [http://www.history-matters.com/analysis/witness/artScience.htm ] One of the eyewitnesses standing closest to the president [http://www.history-matters.com/analysis/witness/]was Mrs. Jeane Hill, a local schoolteacher. She testified, in secret, to the Warren Commission:

I talked with this man, a Secret Service man, and I said, "Am I a kook or what's wrong with me?" I said, "They keep saying three shots---three shots," and I said, "I know I heard more. I heard from four to six shots anyway." He said, "Mrs. Hill, we were standing at the window and we heard more shots also, but we have three wounds and we have three bullets, three shots is all that we are willing to say right now."'

Mrs. Hill also testified that she saw a man running from the grassy knoll area, where she believed the shots originated:

'"I was told not to say--was to not mention the man running," and [an attorney hired by Oswald's mother] said, "And why?" And I said, "Well, it was an FBI or Secret Service that told me not to, but they came in to me just right after I was taken-I was in there in the pressroom . . . [a newsman] Featherstone that told me [not to]. He said, "You know you were wrong about seeing a man running." He said, "You didn't." Mr. Featherstone had told me that, and I said, "But I did," and he said, "No; don't say that any more on the air.'"

More witnesses thought the final two shots were bunched together than thought the shots were evenly spaced, or that the first two were bunched. Of the witnesses who gave some testimony as to the source of the shots, 35 thought the shots came from the direction of the Grassy Knoll, 56 thought the shots came from the direction of the School Book Depository, eight thought the shots came from an entirely different location (including two who thought the shots came from inside the limo). Only five witnesses thought the shots came from two different locations. As the wound to the back, right side, of his skull opened up, Kennedy's right shoulder twisted forward and slightly upward, then his torso appears to move quickly backwards and to his left side, until he bounced off the rear seat vertical cushion and slumped lifelessly leftward towards his wife as shown in the Zapruder film. Some theorize this is not inconsistent with a bullet fired from the rear. One theory was by Dr. Luis Alvarez, in the mid-1960s. During experiments with rifle fire at melons and at human skulls filled with simulated brain material some pieces of a skull would go backwards if it exploded and melons were shown to roll backward if hit at the bottom and given back spin toward the shooter. However, the Rockefeller Commission asked a veterinarian, Alfred G. Olivier, who had extensive experience shooting goats for ballistic tests, about a "jet effect" theory involving any of the thousands of animals he had tested in his line of work. He said that he never seen such a "jet effect" recoil any animal towards the shooter. He said that skulls struck by a bullet invariably went in the direction of the bullet--not backward. Besides the theory of a "jet effect," at least two other theories are offered by those who contend that Kennedy was shot in the head from behind to explain the violent movement of the president's body towards the shooter as if blasted from the front: (1) A neuro-muscular spasm theory, and (2)a theory of compression of the skull against the chest (and brace that Kennedy wore), which caused his head and upper body to rebound backwards after compression. There is no experimental basis establishing that any of these three theories account for the president's body's movement backward shown in the Zapruder film. [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dealey.htm#jeteffect]

Assassination theories

An official investigation by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), conducted from 1976 to 1979, concluded that President Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. This conclusion of a conspiracy contrasts with the earlier conclusion by the Warren Commission that the president was assassinated by a lone gunman. Many not only dispute the conclusion that Oswald was the lone assassin (claiming that there was a conspiracy), but also claim that Oswald was not involved at all. Shortly after his arrest, Oswald insisted he was a "patsy." Oswald never admitted any participation in the assassination, and was murdered two days after being taken into police custody. Investigations, scientific testing, and re-creations of the circumstances of Kennedy's death have not, in the American public's view, settled the question of who plotted to kill him. A 2003 ABC TV News poll showed that only 32 % (plus or minus 3 %) of Americans who expressed a view believe that Oswald acted alone in the Kennedy assassination [http://abcnews.go.com/images/pdf/937a1JFKAssassination.pdf]; a Discovery Channel poll revealed that only 21% believe Oswald acted alone. [http://poll.discovery.com/servlet/viewsflash?jfk=6&cmd=tally&pollid=jfk&results=data%2Fdsc%2Fpackage%2Fjfk.results.html&submit.x=51&submit.y=6]; a History Channel poll gave a figure of 17%. [http://www.historychannel.com/jfk/jfk_poll_results.jsp]. These same polls also show that there is no agreement on who else may have been involved. Over the years, scores of Kennedy assassination theories have emerged as to who was involved in killing JFK. Suspects range from an organized crime/CIA cabal, to the military-industrial complex opposed to his decommitment from Vietnam, the oil industry, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, and Israeli soldiers because of his vow that Israel would "never have Atomic Weapons as long as I'm president." Frank Sinatra, a friend of Peter Lawford (brother in law to President Kennedy) supposedly requested union leaders, among them Jimmy Hoffa, to assist in "voter turnout" in the 1960 Presidential election. Hoffa, angry at being called to testify by Attorney General Robert Kennedy about union pension funds being invested in mob owned gambling casinos, felt double crossed by the Kennedy family and called for a mafia "hit" on the President. This is a theory, but not very well documented. Jack Ruby, the assassin of Lee Harvey Oswald, the suspected Kennedy assassin, had links to the mafia. Robert Kennedy accepted the findings of the Warren Commission, and declined to have the assassination further investigated. More recently, Senator Edward Kennedy has expressed his lack of interest in further investigation.

Similarities to other Presidential deaths in office

Every United States president elected or reelected in 20-year intervals beginning with 1840 (beginning with William Henry Harrison) had died in office (Harrison 1840, Lincoln 1860, Garfield 1880, McKinley 1900, Harding 1920, Roosevelt 1940). John F. Kennedy's assassination continued this pattern. It ultimately broke with Ronald Reagan who, elected in 1980, survived being shot in a March 1981 assassination attempt. This pattern of Presidential deaths has been referred to as Tecumseh's curse or the "zero factor". Only one of eight presidents to die while still in office did not follow this pattern: Zachary Taylor. After JFK's assassination, numerous similarities between Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln were noted. See Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences for a discussion of these similarities and the probabilities involved.

Film portrayals

Kennedy's life and the subsequent conspiracy theories surrounding his death have been the topic for many films, including Mark Lane's 1966 Rush to Judgment, Executive Action (movie) in 1973, ABC TV's 1983 mini series Kennedy, Nigel Turner's 1988, 1991, 1995, and 2003's continuing documentary The Men Who Killed Kennedy, Oliver Stone's 1991 JFK, and the 1993 JFK: Reckless Youth (which looked at Kennedy's early years).

Unreleased documents

Just before the 1964 presidential election, President Johnson ordered the Warren Commission documentations to be sealed against public availability for 75 years (until 2039). However, in 1992 Congress enacted the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. The Act requires all documents related to the assassination that have not been destroyed to be released to the public by 2017. Until 2017, tens of thousands of pages of documents will remain classified and sealed, away from the public's availability and research, including:
- 3+% of all Warren Commission documents
- 21+% of the House Select Committee on Assassinations documents
- An undeterminable percentage of CIA, FBI, Secret Service, National Security Agency, State Department, US Marine Corps, Naval Investigative Service, Defense Investigative Service, and many other US government documents. Additionally, several key pieces of evidence and documentation are known to have been cleaned or destroyed, or are missing from the original chain of evidence (e.g., limousine cleaned out at hospital, Connally's suit dry-cleaned, Oswald's Marine Corps service record file destroyed, President Kennedy's brain not accounted for, Connally's Stetson hat and shirt sleeve gold cufflink missing, forensic autopsy photos missing, etc.) The On May 19, 2044, the 50th anniversary of the death of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, if her last child has died, the Kennedy library will release to the public a 500-page transcript of an oral history about John F. Kennedy given by Mrs. Kennedy before her death in 1994.

External links

- [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm JFK/The Kennedy Assassination Home Page]
- [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/headwnd.htm Testimony regarding head-wound]
- [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/faq.txt JFK assassination FAQ]
- [http://www.jfk-online.com/ JFK Assassination Resources Online]
- [http://www.jfk-assassination.com John F. Kennedy Assassination Homepage]
- [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oswald/ Frontline: Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?]
- [http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/ JFK Collection at the National Archives]
- [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKindex.htm Assassination of President Kennedy Encyclopaedia]
- [http://ciajfk.com/timeline.html JFK Assassination Timeline and Research]
- [http://www.jfkmurderphotos.bravehost.com/ Photographs of the assassination]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22/newsid_2451000/2451143.stm BBC article on Kennedy's assassination]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/25/newsid_3211000/3211440.stm BBC article on Kennedy's funeral]
- [http://release.theplatform.com/content.smil?pid=KADAUgatDNG8pqmrC2G8P1oqha7xp8_G&UserName=Unknown Universal International News: "President Assassinated"]
- [http://release.theplatform.com/content.smil?pid=lZ2W6bl5Ev8WI8oWphUSUEFEXew2Aunc&UserName=Unknown Universal International News: "Assassin Killed"]
- [http://release.theplatform.com/content.smil?pid=djlVhW-TqAJkltaeiQP4u3kei7GS0LC8&UserName=Unknown Universal International News: "The World Mourns"]
- [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/kennedyjf/kennedyjf.htm Museum.tv archives]
- [http://dsc.discovery.com/anthology/unsolvedhistory/dealeyplaza/dealeyplaza.html Discovery Channel Unsolved History Dealey Plaza]
- [http://www.celebritymorgue.com/jfk/ JFK: Bullet Trajectory and Autopsy]
- [http://www.csicop.org/si/2005-01/strange-world.html article: Facts and Fiction in the Kennedy Assassination]
- [http://www.history-matters.com History Matters]
- [http://www.maryferrell.org Mary Ferrell Foundation]
- [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=411+Elm+Street,+Dallas+TX&spn=0.008411,0.011952&t=k&hl=en Google Map showing the location of assassination] Category:1963 Category:Assassinations
- ja:ケネディ大統領暗殺事件

John F. Kennedy

For other uses, see JFK (disambiguation) or John Kennedy (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), often referred to as John F Kennedy, JFK, or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. He served from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. A member of the prominent Kennedy political family, he is considered an icon of American liberalism. Kennedy is the youngest person ever to have been elected president of the country, at the age of 43. (Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest ever to serve as President of the country.) Major events during his presidency included the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, early events of the Vietnam War, and the American Civil Rights Movement. In rankings of U.S. presidents, historians usually grade Kennedy above average, but among the general public he is often regarded as among the greatest presidents. Kennedy is also the only Roman Catholic ever to become President, the first president to serve who was born in the 20th century, the last to die while still in office, the last Democrat from the North to be elected, and the last to be elected while serving in the U.S. Senate. Kennedy died the youngest of any U.S. president, at 46 years and 177 days, when he was assassinated on November 22, 1963. The assassination is often considered a defining moment in U.S. history both because of its traumatic impact on the entire nation, and because of Kennedy's elevation as an icon for a new generation of Americans and American aspirations.

Early life and Education

Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, the son of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald. Years later, it would be revealed that Kennedy had been diagnosed as a young man with Addison's Disease, a rare endocrine disorder. This and other medical disorders were kept from the press and the public throughout Kennedy's life. Kennedy attended The Choate School in Connecticut, one of the country's most elite, and he graduated in 1935. Before enrolling in college, he attended the London School of Economics for a year, where he studied political economy under the tutelage of Professor Harold Laski. In the fall of 1935, he enrolled in Princeton University, but was forced to leave after contracting jaundice. The next fall, he began attending Harvard College. Kennedy traveled to Europe twice during his years at Harvard, visiting the United Kingdom, while his father was serving as Ambassador to the Court of St. James's. In 1937, Kennedy was prescribed steroids to control his colitis, which only heightened his medical problems causing him to develop osteoporosis of the lower lumbar spine [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1276266]. In 1938, Kennedy wrote his honors thesis, entitled "Why England Slept" on the British portion of the Munich Agreement. He graduated cum laude from Harvard with a degree in international affairs in June 1940. His thesis was published in 1940 and became a best-seller.

Military service

In the spring of 1941, Kennedy volunteered for the U.S. Army, but was rejected, mainly because of his troublesome back. However, the U.S. Navy accepted him in September of that year with the influence of the director of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), a former naval attaché to ambassador Joseph Kennedy. As an ensign, he served in the office that supplied bulletins and briefing information for the Secretary of the Navy. It was during this assignment that the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. It was also during this time that he began a romantic relationship with Inga Arvad, a suspected Nazi spy. The relationship ended, however, when Kennedy was transferred to the ONI field office in South Carolina. He attended the Naval Reserve Officers Training School and Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center before being assigned for duty in Panama and eventually the Pacific theater. He participated in various commands in the Pacific theater and earned the rank of lieutenant, commanding a patrol torpedo boat (PT boat).[http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-2.htm] patrol torpedo boat On August 2, 1943, Kennedy's boat, the PT-109, was taking part in a night-time military raid near New Georgia (near the Solomon Islands) when it was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy was thrown across the deck, injuring his already troubled back. Still, Kennedy somehow towed a wounded man three miles through the ocean, arriving on an island where his crew was subsequently rescued. Kennedy said that he blacked out for periods of time during the ordeal. For these actions, Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal under the following citation: :"For heroism the rescue of 3 men following the ramming and sinking of his motor torpedo boat while attempting a torpedo attack on a Japanese destroyer in the Solomon Islands area on the night of Aug 1-2, 1943. Lt. KENNEDY, Capt. of the boat, directed the rescue of the crew and personally rescued 3 men, one of whom was seriously injured. During the following 6 days, he succeeded in getting his crew ashore, and after swimming many hours attempting to secure aid and food, finally effected the rescue of the men. His courage, endurance and excellent leadership contributed to the saving of several lives and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service." Kennedy's other decorations of the Second World War include the Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. He was honorably discharged in early 1945, just a few months before the Japanese surrendered. In May 2002, a National Geographic expedition found what is believed to be the wreckage of the PT-109 in the Solomon Islands [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/07/0709_020710_kennedyPT109.html].

Early political career

PT-109 After World War II, Kennedy entered politics (partly to fill the void of his popular brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., on whom his family had pinned many of their hopes but who was killed in the war). In 1946, Representative James Michael Curley vacated his seat in an overwhelmingly Democratic district to become mayor of Boston and Kennedy ran for that seat, beating his Republican opponent by a large margin. He was reelected twice, but had a mixed voting record, often diverging from President Harry S. Truman and the rest of the Democratic Party. Harry S. Truman commencement.]] In 1952, Kennedy ran for the Senate with the slogan "Kennedy will do more for Massachusetts." In an upset victory, he defeated Republican incumbent Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. by a margin of about 70,000 votes. Kennedy adroitly dodged criticizing fellow Senator Joseph McCarthy's controversial campaign to root out Communists and Soviet spies in the U.S. government, because of McCarthy's popularity in Massachusetts. McCarthy was a friend of JFK's father, dated the Kennedy sisters, and younger brother Robert F. Kennedy briefly worked for McCarthy. Although Kennedy was ill during the 65–22 vote to censure McCarthy, he was criticized by McCarthy opponents such as Eleanor Roosevelt who later said of the episode, "he should have displayed less profile, and more courage". Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier on September 12, 1953. He underwent several spinal operations in the two following years, nearly dying (receiving the Catholic faith's "last rites" four times during his life), and was often absent from the Senate. During this period, he published Profiles in Courage, highlighting eight instances in which U.S. Senators risked their careers by standing by their personal beliefs. The book was awarded the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. In 1956, Kennedy campaigned for the Vice Presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention, but convention delegates selected Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver instead. However, Kennedy's efforts helped bolster his reputation within the party. An example of Kennedy's political suppleness prior to the 1960 campaign was his handling of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. He voted for final passage, while earlier voting for the "jury trial amendment", which some people feel rendered the Act toothless. He was able to say to both sides that he supported them. In 1958, Kennedy published the first edition of his book A Nation of Immigrants, closely following his involvement in the Displaced Persons Act and the 1957 bill to bring families together.

1960 Presidential election

A Nation of Immigrants In 1960, Kennedy declared his intent to run for President of the United States. In the Democratic primary election, he faced challenges from Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, and Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic nominee in 1952 and 1956 who was not officially running but was a favorite write-in candidate. Kennedy won key primaries like Wisconsin and West Virginia. In the latter state, Kennedy made a visit to a coal-mine, and talked to the mine workers to win their support, as most people in that conservative, mostly Protestant state were deeply suspicious about Kennedy being a Catholic. Kennedy emerged as a universally acceptable candidate for the party after that victory. On July 13, 1960 the Democratic Party nominated Kennedy as its candidate for president. Kennedy asked Johnson to be his Vice Presidential candidate, despite clashes between the two during the primary elections. He needed Johnson's strength in the South to win what was considered likely to be the closest election since 1916. Major issues included how to get the economy moving again, Kennedy's Catholicism, Cuba, and whether or not both the Soviet space and missile programs had surpassed those of the U.S. To allay fears that his Roman Catholicism would impact his decision-making, he said in a famous speech in Houston, Texas (to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association), on September 12, 1960, "I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters - and the Church does not speak for me." [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/johnfkennedyhoustonministerialspeech.html] (Also see Al Smith, the first Catholic to receive the presidential nomination for a major party, in 1928.) In September and October, Kennedy debated Republican candidate Vice President Richard Nixon in the first televised US presidential debates. During the debates, Nixon looked tense, sweaty, and unshaven compared to Kennedy's composure and handsomeness, leading many to deem Kennedy the winner, although historians consider the two evenly matched as orators. Interestingly, many who listened on radio thought Nixon more impressive in the debate.[http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/kennedy-nixon/kennedy-nixon.htm] The debates are considered a political landmark: the point at which the medium of television played an important role in politics and looking presentable on camera became one of the important considerations for presidential and other political candidates. In the general election on November 8, 1960, Kennedy beat Nixon in a very close race. There were serious allegations that vote fraud in Texas and Illinois had cost Nixon the presidency[http://www.leanleft.com/archives/cat_reviews.html]. There were unusually large margins in Richard Daley's Chicago — which were announced after the rest of the vote in Illinois. The only change after the official recount was a win for Kennedy in Hawaii.

Presidency

Hawaii] Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President on January 20, 1961. In his inaugural address he spoke of the need for all Americans to be active citizens. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country", he said. He also asked the nations of the world to join together to fight what he called the "common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself." [http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/jfk-inaug.htm]

Foreign policies

On April 17, 1961, Kennedy gave orders allowing a previously-planned invasion of Cuba to proceed. With support from the CIA, in what is known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1,500 U.S.-trained Cuban exiles, called "Brigade 2506" returned to the island in the hope of deposing Castro, but the CIA had underestimated popular support for Castro, made several mistakes in devising and carrying out the plan, and the exiles did not rally the Cuban people as expected. By April 19 Castro's government had killed or captured most of the invading exiles and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release for the 1,189 survivors. After 20 months, Cuba released the captured exiles in exchange for $53 million worth of food and medicine. The incident was a major embarrassment for Kennedy, but he took full responsibility for the debacle. On August 13, 1961, the East German government began construction of the Berlin Wall separating East Berlin from the Western sector of the city, due to the American military presence in West Berlin. Kennedy claimed this action was in violation of the "Four Powers" agreements. Kennedy initiated no action to have it dismantled, and did little to reverse or halt the eventual extension of this barrier to a length of 155 km. The Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962 when American U-2 spy planes took photographs of a Soviet intermediate range ballistic missile site under construction in Cuba. Kennedy faced a dire dilemma: if the U.S. attacked the sites it might have led to nuclear war with the U.S.S.R. If the U.S. did nothing, it would endure the perpetual threat of nuclear weapons within its region, in such close proximity, that if launched preemptively, the U.S. may have been unable to retaliate. Another fear was that the U.S. would appear to the world as weak in its own hemisphere. Many military officials and cabinet members pressed for an air assault on the missile sites but Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine in which the U.S. Navy inspected all ships. He began negotiations with the Soviets and a week later, he and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reached an agreement. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles while the U.S. publicly promised never to invade Cuba, and also secretly promised to remove U.S. ballistic missiles from Turkey within six months. Following this incident, which brought the world closer to nuclear war than at any point before or since, Kennedy was more cautious in confronting the Soviet Union. Arguing that "those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable", Kennedy sought to contain communism in Latin America, by establishing the Alliance for Progress, which sent aid to troubled countries in the region and sought greater human rights standards in the region. He worked closely with Puerto Rican Governor Luis Muñoz Marín for the development of the Alliance of Progress, as well as developments on the autonomy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Another example of Kennedy's belief in the ability of non-military power to improve the world was the creation of the Peace Corps, one of his first acts as president. Through this program, which still exists today, Americans volunteered to help underdeveloped nations in areas such as education, farming, health care, and construction. Kennedy also used limited military action to contain the spread of communism. Determined to stand firm against the spread of communism, Kennedy continued the previous administration's policy of political, economic, and military support for the unstable South Vietnamese government, which included sending military advisers and U.S. special forces to the area. U.S. involvement in the area continually escalated until regular U.S. forces were directly fighting the Vietnam War in the next administration. On June 26, 1963 Kennedy visited West Berlin and gave a public speech criticizing communism. While Kennedy was speaking, some people on the other side of the wall in East Berlin were applauding Kennedy and showing their distaste for Soviet control. Kennedy used the construction of the Berlin Wall as an example of the failures of communism - "Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in." The speech is known for its famous phrase "Ich bin ein Berliner". Troubled by the long-term dangers of radioactive contamination and nuclear weapons proliferation, Kennedy also pushed for the adoption of a Limited or Partial Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited atomic testing on the ground, in the atmosphere, or underwater, but does not prohibit testing underground. The United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were the initial signatories to the Treaty. Kennedy signed the Treaty into law in August 1963, and believed it to be one of the greatest accomplishments of his administration. On the occasion of his visit to Ireland in 1963, President Kennedy joined with Irish President Eamon de Valera to form The American Irish Foundation. The mission of this organization was to foster connections between Americans of Irish descent and the country of their ancestry. (See The Ireland Funds)

Domestic policies

The Ireland Funds]] Kennedy used the term New Frontier as a label for his domestic program. It ambitiously promised federal funding for education, medical care for the elderly, and government intervention to halt the recession. Kennedy also promised an end to racial discrimination. The turbulent end of state-sanctioned racial discrimination was one of the most pressing domestic issues of Kennedy's era. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in 1954 that racial segregation in public schools would no longer be permitted. However, there were many schools, especially in southern states, that did not obey this decision. There also remained the practice of segregation on buses, in restaurants, movie theaters, and other public places. Kennedy started his fight for civil rights when he appealed to Black voters during his campaign in 1962. In 1962 James Meredith tried to enroll at the University of Mississippi, but he was prevented by white students. Kennedy responded by sending some 400 federal marshals and 3000 troops to ensure that Meredith could enroll in his first class. Kennedy also assigned federal marshals to protect Freedom Riders. Thousands of Americans of all races and backgrounds joined Kennedy in protesting racial discrimination. Kennedy supported racial integration and civil rights, and during the 1960 campaign he telephoned Coretta Scott King, wife of the jailed Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which drew much black support to his candidacy. However, as president, Kennedy initially believed the grassroots movement for civil rights would only anger many Southern whites and make it even more difficult to pass civil rights laws through Congress, which was dominated by Southern Democrats, and he distanced himself from it. As a result, many civil rights leaders viewed Kennedy as unsupportive of their efforts. On June 11, President Kennedy intervened when the Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, blocked the doorway to the University of Alabama to stop two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from enrolling. George Wallace moved aside after being confronted by federal marshals, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, and the Alabama National Guard. That evening Kennedy gave his famous Civil Rights Address on National television and radio. [http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/johnfkennedycivilrights.htm] Kennedy proposed what would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964. [http://www.mass.gov/statehouse/statues/jfk_landing.htm] [http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/39.htm] Also on the domestic front, in 1963 Kennedy proposed a tax reform that included income tax cuts, but this was not passed by the Congress until after his death in 1964. It is one of the largest tax cuts in modern U.S. history, surpassing the Reagan tax cut of 1981.

Support of space programs

Neil Armstrong.]] Kennedy was eager for the United States to lead the way in the space race. The Soviet Union was ahead of the U.S. in its knowledge of space exploration and Kennedy was determined that the U.S. could catch up. In a speech made at Rice University in September 1962, he said , "No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space" and "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."[http://webcast.rice.edu/speeches/19620912kennedy.html] Kennedy asked Congress to approve more than twenty two billion dollars for Project Apollo, which had the goal of landing an American man on the Moon before the end of the decade. In 1969, six years after Kennedy's death, this goal was finally realized when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon.

Cabinet

Buzz Aldrin ----

Supreme Court appointments

Kennedy appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
- Byron Raymond White - 1962
- Arthur Joseph Goldberg - 1962

Image, social life and family

Both Kennedy and his wife "Jackie" were very young in comparison to earlier presidents and first ladies, and were both extraordinarily popular in ways more common to pop singers and movie stars than politicians, influencing fashion trends and becoming the subjects of numerous photo spreads in popular magazines. The Kennedys brought a new life and vigor to the atmosphere of the White House. They believed that the White House should be a place to celebrate American history, culture, and achievement, and invited artists, writers, scientists, poets, musicians, actors, Nobel Prize winners and athletes to visit. Jacqueline Kennedy also gathered new art and furniture and eventually restored all the rooms in the White House. The White House also seemed like a more fun, youthful place, because of the Kennedys' two young children, Caroline and John Jr. (who came to be known in the popular press as "John-John" though years later Jacqueline Kennedy denied that the family called him by that name). Outside the White House Lawn, the Kennedys established a pre-school, swimming pool, and tree house. John Jr. Behind the glamorous facade, the Kennedys also suffered many personal tragedies. Jacqueline suffered a miscarriage in 1955, and gave birth to a stillborn daughter in 1956. (Although the daughter was unnamed - and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery next to her parents with a marker reading "Baby Girl" Kennedy - later reports indicated that the Kennedys had intended to call her Arabella.) The death of their newborn son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy in August 1963 was a great loss. Information revealed after Kennedy's death leaves no doubt that he had many extramarital affairs while in office, including liaisons in the White House with some female staff, prostitutes, members of the press and others. In his era, though, such issues were not considered fit for publication, and in Kennedy's case, they were never publicly discussed during his life, even though there were some public clues of an involvement with Marilyn Monroe, such as the manner in which she sang Happy Birthday Mr. President at his televised birthday party in May 1962. In the years after his death, many liaisons were revealed, including one with Judith Campbell Exner, who was simultaneously involved with Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana. The charisma of Kennedy and his family posthumously led to the figurative designation of "Camelot" for his administration.

Assassination and aftermath

Camelot President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, November 22, 1963 at 12:30 pm CST while on a political trip through Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged at 7:00 pm for killing a Dallas policeman by "murder with malice", and also charged at 11:30 pm for the murder of the president (there being no charge of "assassination" of a president at that time). Oswald was fatally shot less than two days later in the basement of the Dallas police station by Jack Ruby. Five days after Oswald was killed, the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, created the Warren Commission, chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren, to investigate the assassination. It concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. A later investigation in the 1970s by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) also concluded that Oswald was the assassin, however, it added that he was likely part of a conspiracy to kill the president, although the committee did not uncover sufficient evidence to identify any other members of the conspiracy. Critics have proposed a number of Kennedy assassination theories which contradict the various theories on exactly how the assassination took place that have been proposed by the government's official reports. There is no consensus among government investigations, let alone amongst their critics, on the number of bullets fired at the president, the direction from which all the bullets were fired, and which of the bullets struck the president, and Governor John Connally who was also wounded in the attack. Lee Harvey Oswald denied shooting anyone, and claimed he was being set up as a "patsy". He claimed the photograph of him holding the alleged murder weapon was a fabrication, and that he would prove his face was pasted on the body of someone else holding the rifle. However, because of his own murder by Jack Ruby, Oswald's guilt or innocence was never determined in a court of law. Some critics contend that Oswald was not involved at all and that he was framed. Among the most widely posited conspirators in the assassination are the CIA, the mafia, the KGB, and Fidel Castro, Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson, and some sort of military-industrial complex led by U.S. Army Generals.

Legacy and memorials

Lyndon B. Johnson Television became the primary source by which people kept informed of events surrounding John F. Kennedy's assassination, with newspapers the following day becoming more souvenirs than sources of updated information. U.S. networks switched to 24 hour news coverage for the first time ever. Kennedy's state funeral and the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald were all broadcast live in America and in other places around the world. It was with this event that television matured as a news source rivalling that of newspapers. Lee Harvey Oswald On March 14, 1967 Kennedy's body was moved to a permanent burial place and memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson said of the assassination that "all of us...will bear the grief of his death until the day of ours." Kennedy is buried with his wife and their deceased children, and his brother Robert is also buried nearby. His grave is marked with an "Eternal Flame". Many of Kennedy's speeches, especially his inaugural address are considered iconic, and despite his relatively short term in office, and a lack of major legislative changes during his term, Americans regularly vote him as one of the best presidents, in the same league as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Kennedy's legacy has been memoralized in various aspects of American culture. New York Idlewild International Airport was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 24, 1963 to honor his memory, and the USS John F. Kennedy was awarded on April 30, 1964 as a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. The John F. Kennedy Library opened in 1979 as Kennedy's official presidential library. John F. Kennedy University opened in Pleasant Hill, California in 1964 as a school for adult education. John F. Kennedy National Historic Site preserves his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy in 1963, but reverted to its original name in 1973. Hundreds of schools across the U.S were also renamed in his honor. The Phi Kappa Theta chapter at Worcester Polytechnic Institute made Kennedy an honorary brother of the fraternity. fraternity Posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, Kennedy's portrait now appears on the United States half dollar coin.

Criticism

Kennedy is among the most popular former presidents of the United States; however, a number of critics argue that his reputation is largely undeserved. While he was young and charismatic, he had little chance to achieve much during his presidency. Under this reasoning, his immense popularity results from the fact that his short time in office was marked by the optimistic beginnings of many programs declared to be of great benefit to the United States, its people, and various global issues. Unlike the tenures of other U.S. presidents, Kennedy's time in office, generally speaking, thereby lacked the scandals and controversies seen in the terms of many other presidents who served longer. The Civil Rights Act which he sent to Congress in June of 1963 was, at least in part, conceived by his brother and Attorney-General Robert F. Kennedy, and largely implemented by his successor, Lyndon Johnson, in 1964. Kennedy's personal life has attracted the ire of critics, some of whom argue that lapses in judgment in his personal life impacted his professional life. Many of these criticisms stem from revelations about the extent to which the Kennedy family went to hide his serious, potentially life-threatening health issues (e.g. he suffered from Addison's disease) from the voting public, his heavy medication regimen, his long history of extra-marital dalliances, and alleged, circuitous links to organized crime figures. Seymour Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot (1998) presents such a critical argument. Robert Dallek's An Unfinished Life (2003) is a more balanced biography, but contains much detail on Kennedy's health issues. Another of Kennedy's critics is U.S. intellectual Noam Chomsky, whose book Rethinking Camelot: JFK, the Vietnam War, and US Political Culture (1993) presents an image of the Kennedy administration opposite to the one that lingers in mainstream memory. The book is a criticism of policy rather than his personal life, and explores information not usually presented about the 35th president. In particular, Chomsky and many other critics highlight the ill-planned increased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam conflict under Kennedy's tenure.

Media

References

-
-
- [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000107 Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress]
- Gretchen Rubin radio interview. November 4, 2005 on Up To Date. [www.kcur.org/UTDarchive.html]

External links

- [http://www.jfklibrary.org/ John F. Kennedy Library]
- [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jk35.html The White House Biography]
- [http://search.yale.edu:8765/query.html?col=ycsg&col=opa&col=yaleuniv&col=dynamic&qt=John+F.+Kennedy&charset=iso-8859-1&qp=%2Burl%3Awww.yale.edu%2Flawweb%2Favalon JFK at the Avalon Project]
- [http://www.whitehousetapes.org/pages/tapes_jfk.htm JFK's Secret White House Recordings @ University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs]
- [http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/showfindingaid.cfm?findaidid=KennedyJF Audio clips of Kennedy's speeches and other commentary]
- [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKindex.htm Assassination of President Kennedy Encyclopaedia]
- [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm McAdams website about JFK]
- [http://www.csicop.org/si/2005-01/strange-world.html article: Facts and Fiction in the Kennedy Assassination]
- [http://www.rootdig.com/john_f_kennedy.html John F. Kennedy in United States Census Records]
- Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. ko:존 F. 케네디 ja:ジョン・F・ケネディ simple:John F. Kennedy th:จอห์น เอฟ. เคนเนดี้

President of the United States

The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated "POTUS") is the head of state of the United States. Under the U.S. Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The full title is President of the United States of America. Because of the superpower status of the United States, the American President is widely considered to be the most powerful person on Earth, and is usually one of the world's best-known public figures. During the Cold War, the President was sometimes referred to as "the leader of the free world," a phrase that is still invoked today. The United States was the first nation to create the office of President as the head of state in a modern republic. Today the office is widely emulated all over the world in nations with a presidential system of government. Many countries with a parliamentary system also have an office named "president", but the roles of this office vary widely, and the President in such systems usually has far more limited powers than the Prime Minister. The 43rd and current President of the United States is George W. Bush. His first term ran from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2005; his second term began on January 20, 2005 and ends on January 20, 2009; and President Bush is constitutionally barred from a third term.

Requirements to hold office

Section One of Article II of the U.S. Constitution establishes the requirements one must meet in order to become President. The president must be a natural-born citizen of the United States (or a citizen of the United States at the time the U.S. Constitution was adopted), be at least 35 years old, and have been a resident of the United States for 14 years. The natural-born citizenship requirement has been the subject of controversy. Critics argue that this requirement arbitrarily excludes some highly qualified candidates for the Presidency. They also charge that supporters fail to appreciate the contributions made by immigrants to American society. Proponents of the requirement argue that the requirement helps to ensure that the President fully understands and is a part of the American people and their outlook. Proponents also argue that the clause helps protect the country from foreign interference—another country could send an emigrant to the United States and through subterfuge get them elected. Many prominent public officials, such as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA; born in Austria) and Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI; born in Canada), are barred from the presidency because they were not natural-born citizens. Constitutional amendments are occasionally proposed to remove or modify this requirement, but none have been successful.

Election

Presidential elections are held every four years. Presidents are elected indirectly, through the Electoral College. The President and the Vice President are the only two nationally elected officials in the United States. (Legislators are elected on a state-by-state basis; other executive officers and judges are appointed.)

Old system

Originally, each elector voted for two people for President. The votes were tallied and the person receiving the greatest number of votes (provided that such a number was a majority of electors) became President, while the individual who was in second place became Vice President.

Current system

The Amendment XII in 1804 changed the electoral process by directing the electors to use separate ballots to vote for the President and Vice President. To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes, or if no candidate receives a majority, the President and Vice President are chosen by the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, as necessary.

Campaign

The modern Presidential election process begins with the primary elections, during which the major parties (currently the Democrats and the Republicans) each select a nominee to unite behind; the nominee in turn selects a running mate to join him on the ticket as the Vice Presidential candidate. The two major candidates then face off in the general election, usually participating in nationally televised debates before Election Day and campaigning across the country to explain their views and plans to the voters. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states, through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.

Inauguration and oath of office

mass media Since 1933, with the ratification of Amendment XX, a newly elected President, or a re-elected incumbent, is sworn into office on January 20 of the year following the election, an event called Inauguration Day. Although the Chief Justice of the United States usually administers the presidential oath of office, the Constitution does not specify any requirements; thus, anyone with the legal authority to administer oaths can perform the duty. In accordance with Article II, Section 1, Paragraph 8 of the Constitution, upon entering office, the President must take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Only presidents Franklin Pierce and Herbert Hoover have chosen to affirm rather than swear. The oath is traditionally ended with, "So help me God," although for religious reasons some Presidents have said, "So help me", or "and thus I swear." On Inauguration Day, following the oath of office, the President customarily delivers an inaugural address which sets the tone for his administration. These addresses can reach the level of high oratory, from such stand-alone lines as Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," to entire speeches, such as Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.

Term(s) of office

Under the Constitution, the President serves a four-year term. Amendment XXII (which took effect in 1951 and was first applied to Dwight D. Eisenhower starting in 1953) limits the president to either two four-year terms or a maximum of ten years in office should he have succeeded to the Presidency previously and served two years at most completing his predecessor's term. Since then, three presidents have served two full terms: Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. Incumbent President George W. Bush would become the fourth if he completes his current (and second) term in 2009. (Richard Nixon was elected to a second term but resigned before completing it.)

Succession

The United States presidential line of succession is a detailed list of government officials to serve or act as President upon a vacancy in the office due to death, resignation, or removal from office (by impeachment and conviction). impeachment, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy]] The line of 17 begins with the Vice President and ends with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Legislation to add the Secretary of Homeland Security to the line of succession is pending in Congress. The Constitution provided that, if a President were to die, resign, or be removed from office, the "powers and duties" of the office would devolve upon the Vice President, Article II, Section 1 (which seems to imply the position of acting president), and that he [Vice President] shall "exercise the office of President of the United States," Article I, Section 2 (which seems to imply actual assumption of the presidency itself). People did not agree as to the exact meaning and intention of the text, and whether the Vice President would succeed to the office of President or merely act as President. After the death of William Henry Harrison, however, Vice President John Tyler asserted that he had become the President, not merely Acting President, and this precedent was followed in all subsequent cases. The 25th amendment eliminated this ambiguity by confirming that the Vice President fully becomes President, not Acting President, if the presidency becomes vacant. It sets the Vice President first in the line of succession and spells out a process for him to serve as Acting President should the President become temporarily disabled. A provision of the United States Code () establishes the rest of the succession line. To date, no officer other than the Vice President has been called upon to act as President.

Powers

The President, according to the Constitution, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." To carry out this responsibility, the president presides over the executive branch of the federal government; a vast organization of about 4 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel. A President-elect will make as many as 6,000 appointments to government positions, including appointments to the federal judiciary. The Senate must consent to all judicial appointments as well as the appointments of all principal officers. The President may veto laws made by the United States Congress but cannot personally initiate laws. Congress can overturn the veto with a two-thirds majority in both houses. He is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The President may make treaties, but the Senate must ratify them by a two-thirds supermajority. The political scientist Richard Neustadt said, "Presidential power is the power to persuade and the power to persuade is the ability to bargain". He was commenting on the fact that the President's domestically constitutional power is limited, despite the modern expectation of Presidents to have a legislative program, and successful bargaining with Congress is usually essential to Presidential success.

Presidential salary and benefits

Salary

The First U.S. Congress voted to pay George Washington a salary of $25,000 a year—a significant sum in 1789. (Washington, already a successful man, refused to accept his salary.) Traditionally, the President is the highest-paid government employee. Consequently, the President's salary serves as a traditional cap for all other federal officials, such as the Chief Justice. A raise for 2001 was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 because other officials who receive annual cost-of-living increases had salaries approaching the President's. Consequently, to raise the salaries of the other federal employees, the President's salary had to be raised as well. While far higher than the median wage in the United States, in modern times the President's salary is paltry compared to the Chief Executive Officers of many publicly-listed companies, and indeed modern Presidents have typically earned far more in the corporate world after the end of their term than they did as President.

Residences

Chief Executive Officer Among the many non-salary benefits are living and working in the White House mansion in Washington, DC The President's principal workplace and official residence is the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in Washington, DC. His official vacation or weekend residence is Camp David in Maryland. Many presidents have also had their own homes.

Travelling

While travelling, the President is able to conduct all the functions of the office aboard several specially built Boeing 747s, known as Air Force One. The President travels around Washington in an armored Cadillac limousine, often referred to informally as "Cadillac One," equipped with bullet-proof windows and tires and a self-contained ventilation system in the event of a biological or chemical attack. When traveling longer distances around the Washington area or on presidential trips, the President travels aboard the presidential helicopter, Marine One. The President also has the use of: Army One, Coast Guard One, Executive One, and Navy One. Additionally, the President has full use of Camp David in Maryland, a retreat which is occasionally used as a casual setting for hosting foreign dignitaries.

Secret Service

The President and his family are always protected by a Secret Service detail. Until 1997, all former Presidents and their families were protected by the Secret Service until the President's death. The last President to have lifetime Secret Service protection is Bill Clinton; George W. Bush and all subsequent Presidents will be protected by the Secret Service for a maximum of 10 years after leaving office.

Benefits after Presidency

Presidents continue to enjoy other benefits after leaving office such as free mailing privileges, free office space, the right to hold a diplomatic passport and budgets for office help and staff assistance. However, it was not until after Harry S. Truman (1958) that Presidents received a pension after they left office. Additionally, since the presidency of Herbert Hoover, Presidents receive funding from the National Archives and Records Administration upon leaving office to establish their own presidential library. These are not traditional libraries, but rather repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, and other historical materials for each President since Herbert Hoover.

Officeholders

: See: List of Presidents of the United States.

Timeline

- Martin Van Buren, born December 5, 1782, was the first president born after the Declaration of Independence and was thus arguably the first president who was not born a British subject. Interestingly, he is also the first president not of Anglo-Celtic origin.
- John Tyler, born March 29, 1790, was the first president born after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. All presidents born before him were eligible to be president because they were citizens at the time the Constitution was adopted. (Zachary Taylor was born on

John F. Kennedy assassination

Background to the Texas trip

The assassination

Others wounded

Kennedy in the emergency room

Federal agents seize Kennedy's body

The autopsy

Reaction to the assassination

Funeral

Lee Harvey Oswald

Recordings of the assassination

Official investigations

Dallas Police

FBI investigation

The destruction of evidence

The Warren Commission

The House Select Committee on Assassinations

Summary of other evidence

Witnesses

Shot sequencing and origins

Assassination theories

Similarities to other Presidential deaths in office

Film portrayals

Unreleased documents

See also

External links

John F. Kennedy

Early life and Education

Military service

Early political career

1960 Presidential election

Presidency

Foreign policies

Domestic policies

Support of space programs

Cabinet

Supreme Court appointments

Image, social life and family

Assassination and aftermath

Legacy and memorials

Criticism

Media

See also

References

External links

President of the United States

Requirements to hold office

Election

Old system

Current system

Campaign

Inauguration and oath of office

Term(s) of office

Succession

Powers

Presidential salary and benefits

Salary

Residences

Travelling

Secret Service

Benefits after Presidency

Officeholders

Timeline