Ask anyone you know who was alive on November 22, 1963 where they were that day and it’s almost certain they will know. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated that day, indelibly stamping the event into the memories of every American.
Kennedy was an inspiration to many as he was the youngest American President and the first Catholic elected to office. It’s strange to think that, at the time, being a member of the Catholic Church made it almost impossible to get elected to the Presidency. People were afraid he’d bring his dogma to the Oval Office with him and enact policies in line with it – an idea that frightened Americans at the time.
He ran in 1960 against incumbent Republican Vice President Richard Nixon. He narrowly defeated Nixon and was sworn in as the 35th President at age 43. His inaugural address included the famous line, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” He also called for a world-wide fight against “the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.”
His Presidency is noted for creating the Peace Corps, dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis, addressing issues of racial inequality, and launching the Apollo Space Program to land a man on the moon before the end of the decade.
As a family man John F. Kennedy was married to Jacqueline Bouvier, who was a youthful 24 to his age 36 on their wedding day. His wife was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful women of the day, and gave him two children by the time they reached the White House. Kennedy was widely rumored to have many extramarital affairs, including being alleged to have dallied with Marilyn Monroe.
On November 22, 1963 Kennedy and his wife were traveling through Dallas, Texas in an open-topped touring car as part of the Presidential motorcade. While passing through Dealey Plaza three shots were fired at his vehicle.
The Governor of Texas was in the card with Kennedy, and was struck in the chest. Kennedy was shot through the throat and died shortly thereafter. The incident horrified Americans and citizens of the world at large, and spawned many conspiracy theories regarding the perpetrators and motive.
The Warren Commission Report, the official explanation of events, blames the shooting on Lee Harvey Oswald, thought to have fired from the Texas School Book Depository into the passing vehicle. Oswald was soon captured and was shot by Jack Ruby, so the world will never have his official statement.
Regardless of what one believes the facts of the day to have been, it stands as a day permanently etched into the minds of those who lived through it.
Sources
The Life of John F. Kennedy, The Kennedy Library Web Site
Kennedy Inaugural Address, YouTube
President Kennedy is Assassinated, History.com