Sixty-two years ago, on this day, President John F. Kennedy was tragically assassinated as his motorcade moved through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, witnessed by thousands of supporters.
This event is so deeply ingrained in the American consciousness that even those born long after November 22, 1963, have a clear mental picture of that fateful day.
Kennedy’s assassination abruptly ended the presidency of the youngest person ever elected to the most powerful office worldwide. It was a shocking event for a nation that hadn’t experienced a presidential assassination since William McKinley in 1901.
Recent attempts on Donald Trump’s life, including one incident where a bullet grazed his ear at a campaign rally, have reminded Americans of the persistent vulnerability of their presidents, despite the protection of the Secret Service.
The impact of Kennedy’s assassination lingered for years. Skepticism about the ‘single bullet theory’ and discrepancies in the autopsy fueled a growing inclination to consider conspiracy theories.
According to a 2023 Gallup poll, only 29 percent of Americans believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, while 65 percent suspect a conspiracy was involved.
What made Kennedy’s murder different from McKinley’s, James A. Garfield’s and Abraham Lincoln’s, was that there were high-definition photos capturing the moments before, during and after the two bullets struck.
Pictures taken by reporters and bystanders show a startling juxtaposition that day. Jubilant crowds welcomed the 35th president one second, and the next, panicked throngs dove to the ground as First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy cradled the mangled head of her husband.
President John F. Kennedy smiles at the crowd that had gathered along the presidential motorcade route in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963
There were up to 200,000 people who came out to see Kennedy pass by that day. It was a Friday
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was in the limousine seated to her husband’s left
Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie, were seated in the middle row of the dark blue, modified 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible. In the front row were two Secret Service agents
Kennedy’s head slumps over after he is shot. Jackie Kennedy can be seen trying to help him
A news crew tries to capture the assassination while a couple and their toddler get down as the shots ring out
The view from the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, from which Lee Harvey Oswald is believed to have assassinated Kennedy
Kennedy was in Texas with his wife and Vice President Lyndon B Johnson the day of his assassination and the day prior to shore up support among Democrats in the state ahead of the 1964 election.
On November 21, he visited San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth. The next morning, he took a short flight to Dallas, landing in Love Field.
Kennedy greeted his supporters and departed from the airport in his open-top limousine at 11.55am.
Seated to his left was the first lady, his wife of 10 years. In front of him, in the second row sat Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie. And in the very front of the vehicle were two Secret Service agents.
The dark blue, modified 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible was headed for the Dallas Trade Mart, where Kennedy was slated to give a speech focused on how America was in the strongest position it had ever been on the world stage.
At around 12.30pm, the motorcade turned onto Elm Street in Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy was shot twice in quick succession. One of the bullets also struck Governor Connally.
Right before he was shot, Nellie Connally referenced the people cheering for Kennedy and said to him: ‘Well, Mr. President, you can’t say there aren’t some people in Dallas who love you.’
According to the Warren Commission, three shots were fired in total. The first bullet missed, while the second struck Kennedy near the base of the back of his neck and exited out of the front of his neck.
The third bullet entered the back of his head on the right and exited out the same side, causing the massive wound that ultimately killed him.
Secret Service Agent Clint Hill is seen jumping onto the presidential limousine to protect the president and the first lady. He later testify that Jackie Kennedy reached for bits of her husband’s skull that were on lying on the trunk
Another family is seen dropping to the ground after shots were fired at Dealey Plaza
The limousine with Kennedy and Governor Connally, both of whom were struck with gunfire, speeds off to Parkland Memorial Hospital
The shirt worn by John F. Kennedy on the day he was assassinated is seen covered in blood
A man standing on the corner of 125th St. in Harlem reads the latest edition of the New York Post, which reported the news of the Kennedy’s death
Lee Harvey Oswald is arrested by Dallas police officers roughly 45 minutes after shooting Kennedy. He also murdered Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit, who recognized him
A Dallas policeman holds up the rifle used to kill Kennedy
Secret Service Agent Clint Hill was on the running board of the car immediately behind Kennedy’s limousine and was seen diving onto it to protect the president after the first shot was fired.
Hill later testified in front of Congress that he heard the next shot before he got to the president. He also recalled Jackie Kennedy climbing into the trunk to reach for a piece of the president’s skull that had been blown off.
Jackie Kennedy later said she had no memory of this. Governor Connally and his wife both said they remembered her saying: ‘They have killed my husband. I have his brains in my hand.’
The president’s car immediately sped out of Dealey Plaza and rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital.
At 12.38pm, eight minutes after he was shot, Kennedy arrived at the emergency room.
Dr Kenneth Salyer, a 27-year-old resident at the hospital, told CBS News in 2013 that Kennedy was still breathing when he got there.
‘It’s sort of agonal, labored, close-to-your-last sort of breaths. But he still was breathing,’ Salyer said.
Doctors tried to save him, but those who were there said there was nothing that could be done to keep him alive, given the damage to his head.
Oswald is carried into an ambulance on November 24, 1963. He was shot by Jack Ruby just two days after the Kennedy assassination
The funeral procession for Kennedy in front of the Capitol Building on November 25, 1963, three days after he was killed
Jacqueline and Caroline Kennedy, wife and daughter of Kennedy, kneel at his coffin
Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1pm and by 2pm, Jackie Kennedy was escorting his remains to Air Force One.
Oswald was arrested about 45 minutes after Kennedy was shot. The 24-year-old ex-Marine had killed Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit, who stopped him on the street because he resembled the suspect description.
Two days later, on November 24, Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby as he was being escorted to the county jail by police officers.
Kennedy had a state funeral on November 25. More than 250,000 people walked past his American flag-draped coffin as it lay in the Capitol Rotunda.
