The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was elected the 35th president of the United States in 1960. He was
the youngest man to ever be elected to that office at age forty-three. After serving just
over one thousand days in office, he was killed November 22, 1963, as he rode in a
motorcade through the streets of Dallas, Texas. His assassination put our country in
mourning and to this day has caused much controversy.
The president and the first lady, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, had been traveling in
Texas to win support for the presidential election. He had not received much support
from Texas, a conservative state, in the last election. After flying from Ft. Worth to Love
Field in Dallas, Kennedy and his presidential motorcade proceeded through downtown
Dallas on the way to the Dallas Trade Mart where he was to speak at a luncheon for
several thousand people. The motorcade consisted of the midnight blue presidential
limousine, an oversized, open top, Lincoln. It carried two Secret Service agents, Texas
Governor and Mrs. John Connally, and the president and first lady. Directly behind the
presidents car was a Cadillac convertible, the follow up car, which carried two
presidential aides and eight Secret Service agents. Next was the vehicle carrying vice
president Lyndon Johnson and his wife and Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough. The
motorcade was led by two Dallas police motorcycles with two more beside and slightly
behind the president's car so that the people along the route could get a good view of the
president. Several other police motorcycles were spaced through and behind the
motorcade. The president's limousine was equipped to carry standing Secret Service
agents on each side of the car, but Kennedy ordered them to walk so they wouldn't block
the public's view. The car also had a plastic bubble top to use in ...