Attempted Assassination of JFK

[Peter McGuire]

November 22, 1963 and the aftermath:

1963, November 22 12:30 PM CST: An attempted assassination was made against President John F. Kennedy while passing through downtown Dallas. Governor John Connally was hit by the 1st shot. . The 2nd bullet struck the president in the back and he is undergoing surgery at this time. A third bullet

struck a secret service agent who moved in to protect the president. Special consideration should be given to Secret Service Agent William Greer, who sped off at the first signs of trouble. Many people thought that they heard a sound of a car’s backfire, but Greer, an experienced Agent of many years used his training and reacted immediately. Agent Roy Kellerman, who leaped into the back of the limousine was shot in the back by a small caliber bullet and is expected to survive.

1963 November 22 12:39 PM CST: The following News Bulletin made over Dallas Radio Station KLIF:

“This KLIF Bulletin from Dallas: Three shots reportedly were fired at the motorcade of President Kennedy today near the downtown section. KLIF News is checking out the report, we will have further reports, stay tuned.”

1963, November 22 approx. 12:35 PM CST: Local viewers of Dallas' ABC-TV affiliate WFAA-TV 8 were watching a pre-recorded program on ladies' fashions when the station suddenly cut over to newsman Jay Watson who was out of breath from running back to the station from Dealey Plaza:

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. You'll excuse the fact that I am out of breath, but about 10 or 15 minutes ago a tragic thing from all indications at this point has happened in the city of Dallas. Let me quote to you this [briefly looks at the bulletin sheet in his left hand], and I'll...you'll excuse me if I am out of breath. A bulletin, this is from the United Press from Dallas: President Kennedy and Governor John Connally have been cut down by assassins' bullets in downtown Dallas.”

1963, November 22 1:36 EST: Those listening to the ABC Radio Network were the first of the national audience to receive word of the shooting from newscaster Don Gardner:

“We interrupt this program to bring you this special report from ABC Radio. Here is a special report from Dallas, Texas. Three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade today in downtown Dallas, Texas. This is ABC Radio.”

1963, November 22 approximately 1:40 PM EST: A CBS News Bulletin slide suddenly cut off the soap opera "As The World Turns" with Walter Cronkite’s first report:

“Here is a bulletin from CBS News. In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas. The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting.”

1963, November 22nd 2:33 EST: Acting White House Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff made the official announcement. He said::

"Today, at approximately 1:30 PM EST, Shots were fired at President John F. Kennedy’s motorcade as it approached Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. The president was rushed to the Parkland Hospital. President Kennedy was looked at by the doctors and they found that President Kennedy suffered a bullet wound in the back.. I have no other details regarding the attempted assassination of the president except that he will be returning to Washington D.C."

1963, November 22 1:55 PM CST: Lee Harvey Oswald arrested at “The Texas Theater” as a suspect in the shooting of Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippet.

Edited May 25, 2009 by Peter McGuire

[J. William King]

I have always wondered if we would have reached the moon by 1969 (if at all) if JFK had not been assassinated in Dallas. If things had gone as Peter described above, there would not have been that desire to make JFK's wish become reality. Interest may have waned with budget battles, Vietnam, civil rights, scandles, etc. With Kennedy's death, and renaming of the space center in his name, I think there was a desire to make the space program his legacy.

Edited May 25, 2009 by J. William King

[Peter McGuire]

Good point , William. Kennedy's assassination made him a martyr, and absolved him from any wrongdoing until many years later, certainly after the moon landing.

Bryce Zabel and Harry Turtledove have written about a less favorable future for JFK in "The Impeachment and Trial of JFK."

http://www.brycezabel.com/altjfk/

What if John Kennedy survived Dallas?

Historians love to speculate on this “what-if” scenario, wondering if magically the nation would have been spared the pain of Vietnam and even Watergate. They have missed the point.

If he’d gotten out of Dealey Plaza alive, John Kennedy might easily have suffered the same fate as his arch-nemesis Richard Nixon -- humiliation and removal from office.

With the eyes of the world on the United States and the media in a frenzy, with JFK himself alive and not a martyr, an immediate investigation would have been launched into who might have been interested in killing our popular American President. And the Kennedy brothers would have been hell-bent to ensure their political as well as their physical survival.

Starting with the Secret Service, the blame-game would have taken on a life of its own, forcing explosive revelations in mere months that have instead dribbled out over decades. Kennedy’s reckless conduct would have become public: the lies about his medical condition, contacts with mobsters, election money-laundering, numerous attempts to assassinate foreign leaders, and even the hundreds of high-risk sexual encounters that endangered Kennedy’s safety and, by extension, our country’s security.

This alternative history novel covers the period from the November 22, 1963 near-miss assassination attempt of President Kennedy in Dallas, Texas through the events of early 1966 when the fate of John F. Kennedy was in the hands of 100 United States Senators worried about their own careers in the next election.

Edited May 25, 2009 by Peter McGuire

[Jack White]

LBJ faked the moon landings.

Jack