JFK: One Day In America

Which day?

The day Marilyn died, Rose.

I still feel sad after all of these years. What a shock it was.

But what is it, OP? Are you seriously going to make us watch a video to find out what the TV show is about? There are 170,000 words in the English language. Use more of them.

Jesus Christ I’m so sick of these

Yes, he was shot. Yes, everyone was sad. How many times are they going to retread this.

The only notable thing left to be documented about this by the mainstream press is how THE GOVERNMENT KILLED HIM AND COVERED IT UP.

The end of "democratic" America and the hidden start of Deep State America

Patshy

Just finished the first episode. It was rich with footage of the motorcade I had never seen.

One of the surviving SS men - the one recently in the news - said he couldn’t look at JFK’s body in the ER for fear that he might pass out. When someone one asked if anybody knew the president’s blood type, Jackie “kind of stood up” & said, “You mean he’s alive?”

Clint Hill - in deep anguish lo these many years later - said Jackie was yelling, “They shot his head off. I love you, Jack.” He also said she knew her husband was dead when his head landed in her lap, that he could not have survived.

Is it all Warren Commission Approved talking points?

Wow, the global conspiracy started immediately upon the shooting with the voiced suspicion that the would-be assassin might still be in the TSBD Building. Impressive work.

I was glued to it. It is chock full of vintage footage, in both b&w and color. It had a couple of interviews I had never seen - some guy named Buell who used to give rides to Oswald to the book depository where they both worked. On that morning Oswald brings along a long thin package which he tells Buell are "curtain rods." Or the neighborhood lady who takes in Marina Oswald and her two children, including a newborn, after they separate. The police show up at her door and the first thing the cop asks her is, "Are you a Communist?" Or that the NURSES at Parkland Hospital wrapped his body in white sheets and PUT IT IN THE CASKET. And Jackie crawls into the back of the hearse for the ride to the airport and Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent, crams in there with her. And before the casket is removed from the Capitol, Jackie asks Clint Hill to open it and get her a pair of scissors. He has to look at the corpse to make sure it's reasonably viewable, and then cannot watch while she takes clippings of his hair.

But what I found most astonishing was how totally inept the Dallas police were!! Allowing all those reporters to cram into that narrow hallway and then dragging Oswald through it to get to the "interview room" - and later, astonishingly, taking Oswald to some larger room so he could GIVE A PRESS CONFERENCE - on live tv! -and answer questions!! He states he does not know he is charged, and has never seen a lawyer. The only time he shows any reaction is when a reporter tells him he is charged with Kennedy's murder.

And then, of course, the biggest fuckup of all - for "security reasons" they decide to transfer Oswald to another prison on a Sunday morning - they back up a huge armored truck into the driveway, have guards posted all over the place - but the same crowd of press, with their massive cameras, some on rolling platforms, is there - and among them is Jack Ruby, who whips out a pistol and plugs Oswald on live TV, with the nation watching. They have to move the armored truck out of the way so the ambulance can get in, and they load Oswald in on live TV.

It is also shocking to remember that Oswald was only TWENTY FOUR - after a stint in the Marines, he lived in Russia for nearly three years, attempted suicide once, and eventually married a Russian woman before returning to the US. He is easily the most enigmatic figure in the whole scenario. He was captured only two hours after the incident, during which time he allegedly shot the cop, Tippitt, who confronted him in a residential area.

I was in 8th grade when this whole saga transpired; in my view it is unquestionably the crime of the century, hands down. It introduced America to murder on live TV - first, the 46 year old President of the United States getting his brains blown out in the middle of the day while riding in an open car, followed by the murder of the alleged assassin on live TV 48 hours later. His brother would be shot on live TV five years later. It was the template for all the mass murders we now regard as routine - in day care centers, elementary schools, high schools, college campuses, places of business, churches, synagogues, all with easily obtainable weapons that are a zillion times more dangerous than the 1940 Russian made rifle that Oswald allegedly used to blow Kennedy's brains out. And, sixty years later, America loves its guns more than ever. And the crime has remained UNSOLVED.

[quote] But what I found most astonishing was how totally inept the Dallas police were!! Allowing all those reporters to cram into that narrow hallway and then dragging Oswald through it to get to the "interview room" - and later, astonishingly, taking Oswald to some larger room so he could GIVE A PRESS CONFERENCE - on live tv! -and answer questions!!

The pre-Miranda world was quite different. The Dallas authorities - already under suspicion for the assassination - were sensitive to the perception they were mistreating the accused assassin, so they paraded Oswald in front of representatives of the international media.

[quote] And then, of course, the biggest fuckup of all - for "security reasons" they decide to transfer Oswald to another prison on a Sunday morning - they back up a huge armored truck into the driveway, have guards posted all over the place - but the same crowd of press, with their massive cameras, some on rolling platforms, is there - and among them is Jack Ruby, who whips out a pistol and plugs Oswald on live TV, with the nation watching. They have to move the armored truck out of the way so the ambulance can get in, and they load Oswald in on live TV.

Oswald was held in the city jail at his arrest. To be formally charged in front of a county judge - in '63, killing a president was not yet a federal offense - he had to be moved to the county jail.

[quote] It is also shocking to remember that Oswald was only TWENTY FOUR

John Wilkes Booth was only 26; Sirhan Sirhan was also 24.

"And the crime has remained UNSOLVED."

Oh, for God's sake... No. It really hasn't.

It would improve 39% if they canned the maudlin music.

Thanks for some sanity, R15, in this increasingly insane world.

Oswald’s driver to work that day talks of the “curtain rods” Oswald claimed were in the package he brought with him. & placed in the backseat. The related questions I ask those who believe Oswald to be an innocent man are why no curtain rods were found at his workplace; why were no curtain rods missing from his boardinghouse; why would he be bringing curtain rods to the Paines’ home when no curtain rods were needed there; and why was his rifle hidden in the Paines’ garage missing.

The people who believe that Oswald wasn't involved are nuts. I recall they tried to push some conspiracy theory that Ruth Paine and her ex-husband were involved in setting up Oswald.

I have no idea where I was when Kennedy was shot.

I don't think Oswald was innocent. I just don't think he acted alone.

R16 I agree on the music.

There was no new footage and no new information. I decided this special was for those who knew very little to nothing at all about JFK and the assassination. I agree R21. I believe he was part of a larger conspiracy and he himself said he was "a patsy." The footage they showed of him being questioned he really did seem to be surprised at being charged with the assasination.

Oswald's brother, Robert, obviously so wanted to believe that Lee was innocent, but that hope was immediately dashed when he saw him in jail that first night. He knew his brother's pathological victimhood complex all too well, so would've expected him to be expressing volcanic rage at being falsely accused. Instead, he encountered a most placid individual. Until his dying day, Robert Oswald never wavered in his belief that his brother was guilty.

[quote] There was no new footage

I was a first grader 11/22/63 & have been transfixed with the assassination for most of my life since then. I watch everything related to that long weekend & I did see footage that was new to me. Nothing substantively material, but new nonetheless.

I liked the interviews with Buell Frazier and the reporters who covered the assassination.

^ What it must do to you to know you were responsible for having driven the assassin to the scene of his dastardly deed. It’s why he probably changed his tune years after the fact to conclude that he thought Oswald was innocent.

Was Oswald gay or is that just speculation because he mixed with some shady, underworld people?

I did it.

The elder Mary’s here need to get a fucking grip already. Christ on the cross, you’ve had six entire decades to process this. Time to move on, darlings.

[quote]Mary’s

Oh, dear.

[quote] Jack Ruby, who whips out a pistol and plugs Oswald on live TV, with the nation watching.

Do you write professionally?

God, I hope not.

^Perfectly fine prose.

I had never seen the b&w footage of the breakfast that Jackie Kennedy was planning to skip. There must have been a thousand people crammed into that hall, and they were clearly disappointed that she wasn't there. Kennedy sent word up to Clint Hill to get her down there pronto, and when she strolls in wearing that pink Chanel suit the place goes nuts. People were standing on chairs just to get a better view.

Among other footage I had never seen was that of the extended footage of the room in which acting press secretary Malcolm Kilduff pronounced Kennedy’s death.

It’s an interesting fact of history that the Texas trip was the first - & only - domestic trip in which Jackie accompanied Pres. Kennedy.

R35 as I recall, I think Pierre Salinger,his official Press Secretary, and some of the WH advisers were on a plane heading to Asia, and had to turn around in Honolulu and fly back to D.C.

I was three when it happened, and funny enough, one of my earliest memories ever was of the mailman telling my mom. It’s a very fleeting memory of course, but I remember it so vividly. That’s about all I remember, though, from that weekend.

[quote] as I recall, I think Pierre Salinger,his official Press Secretary, and some of the WH advisers were on a plane heading to Asia, and had to turn around in Honolulu and fly back to D.C.

Not so much WH advisors, but several Cabinet members.

[quote] I was three when it happened, and funny enough, one of my earliest memories ever was of the mailman telling my mom.

I was in first grade & ran home thinking I would be the one to tell my mother. But she already knew, as I found her - as I vaguely recall - lying on her bed, crying.

The order of nuns that taught at our school were mostly Irish Catholic and they adored the First Family. Loved JFK. They were devastate. They turned on the PA system so we could all hear the radio, then the announcement he was dead. Our Principal, Sister Benedict, made us all kneel down and say the rosary. I was 9. Then they dismissed us. My mother wasn't crying but she had the TV on.

The thing I remember most vividly was the universality of it. As I walked home from school. Cars were pulling over, and people were crying on the streets. It seemed like everything just stopped. We were all rivetted to our TV sets for four days. I don't remember my mother cooking or us having dinner or anything. And when we went to early mass on Sunday it was packed. It felt very personal. Like a family member had died.

My dad was the second oldest of eight kids. He and his six younger siblings were attending public school and his older sister went to a Catholic high school in a neighboring town. On the day of the assassination, that Catholic school dismissed the students early. My dad said his younger siblings complained about how the public schools didn't dismiss early.

The fuck was LadyBird smiling about?

She's laughing because LBJ whipped out Jumbo to lighten the mood.

I think in that she was greeting/ speaking to Judge Sarah Hughes who had come to swear LBJ in.

Looking at the full photo Lady Bird wasn't smiling, in the sense of her being happy. It was more about getting through the horror. It also looks like Judge Hughes was smiling at Jackie, but I'm sure that wasn't the case.

Back in the day when the President of the United States was respected across the political divide. That kind of ended with JFK and has now become completely absent in political discourse (more to do with the calibre of Presidents and candidates).

The Lady Bird Diaries, an audio compilation of Lady Bird’s contemporaneous observations, including that of the assassination, drops on Hulu Monday.

*

Have watched the first two parts. The stock footage they have secured is amazing and some of it I've never seen before. Bill Paxton is a good narrator even though he's been dead for 6 years (did they use AI? Slightly creepy).

I'm struck by just the sheer wave of grief that erupted all over the country not just in 'liberal America'. I shudder to think what would happen if Trump were to be taken out. I think the country would erupt and red America would try and burn the place to the ground. Melania would be delighted though.

R51, I didn’t know that Bill Paxton provided the narration. As a Texas teenager, he was in attendance when JFK spoke outside the Ft. Worth Hotel the morning of 11/22/63.

R52 yes that's his connection to the first episode. I was like 'wait hasn't he been dead for years?' Shows that this must have been several years in the making.

Watching the History Channel’s first episode in its new 8-part series on JFK. The great lifelong friendship with Lem Billings was explored. JFK, it was said politely rebuffed Lem’s romantic overtures. There are some pics in which the young JFK was absolutely gorgeous.

A death notice for Ethel’s last surviving sibling, a 90-year old sister, was in yesterday’s NYT.

The first episode of the History Channel bio has footage of Jack, in Europe pre-US entry in the war, that I, a longtime JFKphile, had never seen.

I'm reading a book about London and the BLitz during WW 2 and Churchill and his cabinet, etc. Great book, and it makes Joe Kennedy look like a complete asshole. In fact the Brits held him in contempt.

I’m enjoying it.

Trivia: With the Beatles was released in the UK on November 22, 1963. (It's American equivalent Meet the Beatles was released Jan 1964). It's amazing how much trivia one can store in the brain.

R59, Phil Spector's fabled Christmas album was also released on 11/22/63.

A lot of good details mentioned in posts above, were included in Manchester's book about the assassination, back in 1967. Jackie kept wanting samples and demanding more and more rewrites or omissions, and he tried to accommodate her until at a certain point he had to decide that it was his book, and not hers, and to make sure there'd be any book at all to release (since she ended up attacking him about it and wanting it not released).

I remember the random section about Caroline being picked up at the WH where her school was housed, by one of the student mothers bringing Caroline to her daughter's house for Caroline's first away-from-home sleepover ever, while her parents were appearing in Texas. The shootings news broadcast occurred while they were still in transit, and at a certain point the Secret Service guy trailing them in his car all the way from the WH stopped the mother at a red light to confirm what happened, for which she made sure to turn off the radio; he then had to tell a very angry and screaming Caroline that he needed to whisk her back to the WH. Along the way, since everyone driving was hearing the news, some random guy in another car noticed the SS agent and recognized Caroline's face, fearing she was kidnapped and this was all part of some ongoing plot. He tried to trail the SS car all the way back to the WH, for with the agent managed to outmaneuver and lose him and get Caroline back safely to the White House.

Just so many bizarre things that happened that day -- which should always be remembered and recounted on its anniversary IMO, not for maudlin reasons, but by virtue of historical importance and striving that such a thing in our gun-obsessed American society doesn't happen again (besides understanding how it was possible that it did occur, in the first place).

R51 You would hear a huge sigh of relief from most Americans.

I also recall reading that there were many folks and even teachers/students in schools in Texas who voiced no love lost for Kennedy having been killed. I think we forget just how much political divide there was nationally even in those days -- including especially between different cities in vast Texas -- against Kennedy. It's just that all of that political vitriol is much more immediate and visible in today's 24/7 social media.

Sidenote, in Streisand's new biography, she mentions how she performed for Kennedy at the White House earlier in 1963 and then found out from her agent that the First Couple invited her back to perform again on December 5 of that same year, for which Barbra was thrilled about that return appearance which turned out never to come to pass.

[quote] Sidenote, in Streisand's new biography, she mentions how she performed for Kennedy at the White House earlier in 1963 and then found out from her agent that the First Couple invited her back to perform again on December 5 of that same year, for which Barbra was thrilled about that return appearance which turned out never to come to pass.

Minnie Pearl performed on that date instead of Barbra.

R57, what book are you reading? Is it The Splendid and the Vile (Erik Larson), by any chance? That was a great book. It reads like a novel and really brings the period and the people alive.

I don't remember the passages about Joe Kennedy - although I know he was mentioned - but what stands out is how desperate the British were, right from the start, to get the US into the war. Can't blame, them, of course, but they really were quite blatant about it, especially Churchill himself.

Is this the thread to remember our beloved, martyred President Kennedy on the 60th anniversary of his assassination?

In this interview promoting his "Who Killed JFK" podcast, Rob Reiner, who was 16 at the time of the assassination, uttered one of my pet peeves when he said, emphatically, "anyone who was alive will never, ever forget where they were when they heard." Apart from those alive who were too young to remember that day, how can one reach the age of 76 & be so defiantly insensitive to the prevalence of dementia, especially among seniors?!

He's not thinkin about dementia. He's assuming most older adults are like him, rich and smart and lucid.

The best movie I saw about the Kennedy assassination was one I came across accidentally. Great cast. It's called Parkland. Excellent movie.

Thanks for the reminder, R69. I remember Parkland; it was well-done and tense.

I also liked Parkland and I thought Jackie Weaver was terrific as delusional Marguerite Oswald.

That movie. Parkland. I felt so sorry for Oswald's brother. Yes, Jackie Weaver was terrific. They really did a good job showing the ER trauma room. I felt like I was there. Claustrophobic.

[quote] I felt so sorry for Oswald's brother.

Not the biggest piece of evidence pointing to Oswald's, but I was always impressed by Robert Oswald's take on Lee when he saw him in custody the night of the assassination. Lee, he knew all too well, was, like their mother, always wont to play the victim. Yet that night, having been charged with the murder of the president, Lee, he said was remarkably calm. No outrage that he had been wrongfully charged, no protestations about being a patsy. Initially hoping against hope that his brother, who carried their family name, as did his own children, was innocent of this gravest of charges, he reluctantly came to the unshakeable conclusion that Lee was a guilty man.

I think the character of Robert as shown in the movie, felt like with his mother being how she was, and Lee being the way he was anything was possible. He was ready to believe anything. He seemed exhausted. Defeated, in a way. But I thought it was a brilliant performance and very well written.

Deanne Stillman, author of "American Confidential: Uncovering the Bizarre Story of Lee Harvey Oswald and his Mother," writes “Lee Harvey Oswald & Marguerite Oswald inadvertently formed a conspiracy of one. They mounted a desperate campaign to matter.”

This series also includes a 1940 radio interview of JFK about his book, "Why England Slept." I'd never heard that.