The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy

3718 Words8 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on the kennedy assassination

The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy

THE ASSASSINATION of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22, 1963, was a cruel and shocking act of violence directed against a man, a family, a nation, and against all mankind. A young and vigorous leader whose years of public and private life stretched before him was the Victim of the fourth Presidential assassination in the history of a country dedicated to the concepts of reasoned argument and peaceful political change. This Commission was created on November 29, 1963, in recognition of the right of people everywhere to full and truthful knowledge concerning these events. This report endeavors to fulfill that right and to appraise this tragedy by the light of reason and the standard of fairness. It has been prepared with a deep awareness of the Commission's responsibility to present to the American people an objective report of the facts relating to the assassination.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Narrative of Events

At 11:40 a.m., c.s.t., on Friday, November '22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy, and their party arrived at Love Field, Dallas, Tex. Behind them was the first day of a Texas trip planned 5 months before by the President, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and John B. Connally, Jr., Governor of Texas. After leaving the White House on Thursday morning, the President had flown initially to San Antonio where Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson joined the party and the President dedicated new research facilities at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. Following a testimonial dinner in Houston for U.S. Representative Albert Thomas, the President flew to Fort Worth where he spent the night and spoke at a large breakfast gathering on Friday.

Planned for later that day were a motorcade through downtown Dallas, a luncheon speech at the Trade Mart, and a flight to Austin where the President would attend a reception and speak at a Democratic fundraising dinner. From Austin he would proceed to the Texas ranch of the Vice President. Evident on this trip were the varied roles which an American President performs--Head of State, Chief Executive, party leader, and, in this instance, prospective candidate for reelection.

The Dallas motorcade, it was hoped, would evoke a demonstration of the President's personal popularity in a city which he had lost in the 1960 election. Once it had been decided that the trip to Texas would span 2 days, those responsible for planning, primarily Governor Connally and Kenneth O'Donnell, a special assistant to the President, agreed that a motorcade through Dallas would be desirable.

Show More
Related

  • Assassination Of JFK

    2003 Words  | 5 Pages

    (A) Make a list of the evidence that suggests that Oswald was preparing to kill President Kennedy.

    Read More

  • The Classic Slave Narratives: Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass and Olaudah Equiano

    1992 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the autobiographical writings Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs’ reflects on the times that her master Dr. Flint consistently tried to molest her sexually. In spite of her fears of horrible repercussions such as beatings or torture if she refuses to submit to him, Harriet always manages to evade his proposals to become his mistress by out-smarting him. She defends herself from his numerous attempts to seduce her, by the power of her mental strength and intelligence, and her Christian morality. While she fears him each time he secretly approaches her with his sexual propositions when he caught her alone, she could always think of ways to protect herself. For example she protects herself from the dangers of his sexual advances by removing herself from the master’s presence any opportunity she gets. She sometimes stays with her grandmother or aunt at night to protect herself from him. They are both Dr. Flint’s former slaves too who live on the plantation where she lives. Even though he threatens to kill her if she tells anyone, she tells his wife about his sexual advances, and Mrs. Flint invites Harriet to sl...

    Read More

  • JFK Assassination

    2152 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 1976, the US Senate ordered a fresh inquiry into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, who was murdered in 1963 during a motorcade in Dallas, Texas while campaigning for re-election. People who had been involved in the original Warren Commission investigations were asked to make fresh statements. The FBI and the CIA were persuaded to release more of their documents on Oswald. New lines of inquiry were opened and individuals who had not previously given evidence were persuaded to come forward. Most important of all, pieces of evidence such as photos and sound recordings were subjected to scientific analysis using the most up-to-date methods and equipment. The House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) completed their investigation in 1979 and they finally came to a discrete verdict that Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots at Kennedy, one of which killed the president. A fourth shot was fired from the grassy knoll, which was contradictory to the statement printed by the Warren Commission 16 years earlier. They concluded that John Kennedy was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Articles Of Confederation And The United States Constitution

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    In comparing the Articles of Confederation with the U.S constitution that was produced by the federal convention in 1787, it is important to note that the U.S operated under both documents. During March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation went into effect when it was ratified by Maryland. However, the U.S constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation as soon as it was ratified on June 21, 1788 by New Hampshire. The main difference between the Articles of Confederations and the U.S Constitution is that the constitution didn’t force the laws, but established the why of the constitution. In establishing the why, it warranted the farmers to work on the government being better than the Articles of Confederations. They wanted the government

    Read More

  • Informative Speech On Jfk Assassination

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    A. On that day in 1963, the 35th president John F Kennedy was assassinated while driving through Dealey Plaza in Texas (Nelson, “Breach of Trust”).

    Read More

  • Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

    1478 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the earliest part of Harriet?s life the whole idea of slavery was foreign to her. As all little girls she was born with a mind that only told her place in the world was that of a little girl. She had no capacity to understand the hardships that she inherited. She explains how her, ?heart was as free from care as that of any free-born white child.?(Jacobs p. 7) She explains this blissful ignorance by not understanding that she was condemned at birth to a life of the worst kind oppression. Even at six when she first became familiar with the realization that people regarded her as a slave, Harriet could not conceptualize the weight of what this meant. She say?s that her circumstances as slave girl were unusua...

    Read More

  • The Robert Kennedy Assassination

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Assassination is a strong word with a powerful meaning. Assassination is defined as to kill suddenly or secretively, especially a politically prominent person; murder premeditatedly and treacherously. Assassinations and attempts have occurred throughout history. The victim is sometimes aware or unaware about their dangerous situation but is either guarded or unguarded. The assassin must have qualities of being determined, courage and intelligence to make the mission successful. Assassination is a long process of planning. It can take even years just to plan an assassination of a victim. Often times, assassination planning cannot be on paper because it can be evidence. The most common ways of assassination are using weapons, drugs, accidents and explosives. Surprisingly, the most common way of assassination is by gun. There can be many motives for assassination such as jealousy, political or religious ideas, revenge and etc. There are many famous assassinations. The assassination of Julius Caesar is very famous. Julius Caesar was Roman political figure, who was later was made the dictator of Rome, that was assassinated by the Senators.

    Read More

  • Essay On Jfk Assassination

    2312 Words  | 5 Pages

    The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States marked a tragic historical moment in American history. The president was fatally shot by a sniper while traveling with his wife, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally’s wife in a presidential motorcade at 12.30 pm on Friday, November 22, 1963. JFK was pronounced dead shortly after rushing to Parkland Hospital, where a tracheostomy and other efforts failed to keep him alive. Although Lee Harvey Oswald, a former United States Marine was convicted of the crime, the purpose behind the assassination remained inclusive as Oswald’s case never came to trial as he got shot to death two days later by Jack Ruby, a local nightclub operator in Texas. The assassination raised many questions and theories concerning the murder. As Oswald’s motives remain unknown, many scholars and investigators yearned to find the key to this mysterious crime, and came up with plausible theories searching for motives behind the assassination. While some straightforwardly blamed Oswald for the murder, claiming Oswald’s personal motives as the cause and supported the theory of the Lone Gunman, many developed more critical theories concerning conspiracies connecting the involvement of Cuba, Russia, the Central Intelligence Agency and the 36th President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson. The Warren Commission was established by President Johnson to exclusively investigate the assassination. The Commission published a detailed report and concluded that Oswald acted alone. The deficiency of the Warren Commission’s evidence to support its theory along with the cordial relationship between JFK and the CIA refute both the Lone Gunman theory and conspiracies involving the CIA in...

    Read More

  • Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl

    503 Words  | 2 Pages

    Harriet Jacobs' words in Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl clearly suggests that the life as a slave girl is harsh and unsatisfactory. In this Composition, Jacobs is born a slave, never to be freed. She struggles through life in many instances making life seem impossible. The author's purpose is to state to the people what happened during slavery times in the point of view of a slave. Her life is so harsh that she even hides from her master for 7 years in a cramped space in the top of a shed without any room to walk. The theme of the story is a statement on how slavery was a much harder way of life than many people may have thought. Many people during these times thought that slaves were happy where they were and that their lives were much easier in the southern states than in their ...

    Read More

  • Summary Of Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl By Harriet Jacobs

    1554 Words  | 4 Pages

    In her story Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs presents what life was like living as a female slave during the 19th century. Born into slavery, she exhibits, to people living in the North who thought slaves were treated fairly and well, how living as a slave, especially as a female slave during that time, was a heinous and horrible experience. Perhaps even harder than it was if one had been a male slave, as female slaves had to deal with issues, such as unwanted sexual attention, sexual victimization and for some the suffering of being separated from their children. Harriet Jacobs shows that despite all of the hardship that she struggled with, having a cause to fight for, that is trying to get your children a better life

    Read More

  • Essay on Traditions in Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

    3751 Words  | 8 Pages

    Though considerable effort has been made to classify Harriet Ann Jacobs'Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself as another example of the typical slave narrative, these efforts have in large part failed. Narrow adherence to this belief limits real appreciation of the text's depth and enables only partial understanding of the author herself Jacobs's story is her own, political yes, but personal as well. Although she does draw from the genre of her people, the slave narrative, to give life and limb to her appeal for the eradication of slavery in America, she simultaneously threads a captivity narrative, a romance, and a seduction novel through the text as well.

    Read More

  • John F. Kennedy's Assassination

    463 Words  | 1 Pages

    On November 22, 1963, at 12:30 in the afternoon, President John F. Kennedy was shot at and killed while participating in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. The most important question that arises from this incident is ‘Who killed President John F. Kennedy?’ This is an issue which has been debated by scholars, The Government, and even common people alike. Many people seem to feel that it was a conspiracy, some large cover-up within a cover-up.

    Read More

  • Morality In The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jackson’s use of setting throughout the story emphasizes the irony of the society and it’s traditions. The pleasant descriptions of the time of day and year illustrate the foreshadowing of the dark, murderous events at the end of the story. Jackson’s portrayal of the town itself depicts the immorality of the society, and how that was paralleled in the current world’s society as well. Lastly, the specific, traditional elements of the lottery show the society’s ironic desire to kill, which is keeping them from truly progressing into a modern society. Jackson knew that the society in this story would mirror the society of the 1940’s as a result of their unpredictability and lack of

    Read More

  • The Articles of Confederation

    792 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States of America. The Articles of Confederation were first drafted by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1777. This first draft was prepared by a man named John Dickinson in 1776. The Articles were then ratified in 1781. The cause for the changes to be made was due to state jealousies and widespread distrust of the central authority. This jealousy then led to the emasculation of the document.

    Read More

  • The Articles of Confederation

    544 Words  | 2 Pages

    When confronted with the task of constructing a new nation, the founders of the United States had recently emerged from centuries of religious and political oppression by an overly strong central government. After winning their independence, one of the most pressing issues on their minds was the assurance that their new government would have limitations, disallowing it to molest their posterity. The patriarchs wanted a government that balanced between abuse and inefficiency. The first attempt to satiate this dream was the Articles of Confederation.

    Read More

More about The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Open Document