He had come a long way to this
blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.
He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
One week from today, marks the 46th year anniversary of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
In remembrance, The Morning Delivery has compiled some historic facts about the assassination, the legacy that the 35th president of the United State left behind, along with some of the major issues facing the nation nearly 50 years ago.
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The Assassination: November 22, 1963: Questions and Answers
What type of gun was used to kill Kennedy?
It was a 6.5 millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano: Serial No: C2766
Where is the rifle now?
It is stored at the National Archives in College Park, Md., along with Kennedy's suit, shirt, the original windshield of the limousine, and the wrapping used to support his back.
Where is the limousine today?
It is at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
What was the limousine License Plate No?
The Presidential limousine was assigned SS 100X; license plate no: GG300 D.C. License Plate
How many passengers were in the limousine?
6.
The driver was Secret Service agent Bill Greer, age 44. Seated next to him was Roy Kellerman, 48, special agent in charge of the White House Detail; behind him was Texas Gov. John Connally and his wife Nellie; and in the back was President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy.
How many of those passengers are living today?
None.
How long did the shooting last?
4.6 seconds.
How long did it take to take to transport Kennedy to Parkland Memorial Hospital?
6 minutes
What happened when Kennedy entered the hospital?
He was assigned to Trauma Room No. 1
How many doctors examined Kennedy?
3.
Charles J. Carrico, a second year surgical student, was the first to examine him followed by Marion T. Jenkins, chairman of the hospital's department of anesthesiology. Kennedy was pronounced dead by Dr. William Clark.
Which was the first network to announce Kennedy had been shot?
At 12:36 CST, Don Gardiner of the ABC Radio network interrupted Doris Day's recording of "Hooray for Hollywood’’ to make the stunning announcement. The CBS television network followed at 12:40, when Walter Cronkite broke into the soap opera: ``As the World Turns''; NBC didn’t go live with the tragic news until 12: 45, when they broke away from a fashion show.
Who administered the last rites to Kennedy?
Father Oscar Huber of Holy Trinity Church in Dallas recited the words: ``Si capax ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis, in nomine Patris, et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, Amen'' (``If it is possible, I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and the son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen'')
Jacqueline Kennedy followed with the words: ``And let perpetual light shine upon him''.
NOTE: Father Huber died on January 21, 1975
How many Pulitzers were awarded for the Kennedy Assassination?
2.
Merriman Smith of UPI, who was riding in the White House press pool car; and Robert H. Jackson of the Dallas Times-Herald for his photograph capturing Jack Ruby plugging bullets into the chest of Oswald.
How many books have been published on the JFK Assassination?
440, as of November 11, 2009, according to Bowker’s Books in Print database.
How many Secret Service Agents were there in 1963?
There were 320 agents worldwide. 41 were assigned to White House detail.
NOTE: Today, there are over 3000 Secret Service agents worldwide.
What became of the Texas School Depository Building in Dallas?
The Texas School Book Depository Company moved out of the building in 1970 and relocated to North Dallas.
Opened to the public in 1989, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza is today a thriving repository of approximately 35,000 items, including photographs, film and video footage, documents and artifacts, related to the assassination and legacy of President John F. Kennedy.
What happened to Jack Ruby?
He died on January 3, 1967, in a Dallas hospital from lung cancer. He was 55.
What was the name of the $3.01 an-hour laborer who dug JFK's grave and became the subject of a Jimmy Breslin feature story that appeared in the New York Herald Tribune on November 26, 1963?
Clifton Pollard.
Who were the members of the Warren Commission charged with investigating the assassination of JFK?
Chief Justice Earl Warren, Chairman
Senator Richard B. Russell
Senator John Sherman Cooper
Representative Hale Boggs
Representative Gerald R. Ford
Mr. Allen W. Dulles
Mr. John J. McCloy
J. Lee Rankin, General Counsel
How many of those members are living today.
None.
Who were the original cabinet members of the Kennedy Administration?
Secretary of State: Dean Rusk
Secretary of Treasury: C. Douglas Dillon
Secretary of Defense: Robert S. McNamara
Attorney General: Robert F. Kennedy
Postmaster General: J. Edward Day (1961-63); John A. Gronouski, Jr (1963)
Secretary of the Interior: Stewart L. Udall
Secretary of Agriculture: Orville L. Freeman
Secretary of Commerce: Luther H. Hodges
Secretary of Labor: Arthur J. Goldberg (1961-62); W. Willard Wirtz (1962-63).
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare: Abraham A. Ribicoff (1961-62).
Anthony J. Celebrezze (1962-63)
How many Kennedy cabinet members are still living?
2: Stewart L. Udall; and W. Willard Wirtz
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Other Kennedy's who have died since November 22, 1963:
Robert Francis Kennedy: Died: June 6, 1968
Joseph Patrick Kennedy: Died: November 16, 1969
David Anthony Kennedy: Died: April 25, 1984
Stephen Edward Smith: Died: August 19, 1990
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onasis: Died: May 19, 1994
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy: Died: January 22, 1995
Michael LeMoyne Kennedy: Died: December 31, 1997
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr: Died: July 16, 1999
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: Died July 16, 1999
Rosemary Kennedy: Died January 7, 2005
Patricia Kennedy: Died September 17, 2006
Eunice Mary Kennedy: Died August 11, 2009
Edward Moore ``Ted’’ Kennedy: Died August 25, 2009
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Select minute-by-minute timeline of the assassination (eastern standard time) as recorded in William Manchester's Book: ``The Death of a President''
1: 30 p.m. Lee Harvey Oswald shoots JFK from the 6th floor of the Book Depository
1: 34 p.m: First UPI flash
1: 38 p.m. Parkland Memorial Hospital admits case ``24740'' described as a white male suffering from ``gunshot wound''.
1: 57 p.m. Father Huber arrives at hospital
2:00 p.m. JFK is pronounced dead
According to poll conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), 75 million Americans knew of the assassination at this time.
-Robert McNamara summons the Joint Chiefs
-Washington phone system breaks down.
2: 05 p.m: Robert Kennedy learns his brother is dead.
2: 32 p.m.: UPI quotes Father Huber: ``He's dead...''
2: 33 p.m.,: LBJ boards- Air Force One
2: 40 p.m: Oswald enters a Texas movie theater: ``War is Hell'' is showing.
2: 50 p.m: Oswald is arrested
3:06 p.m: LBJ phones lawyers in an attempt to locate the oath of office
3: 14 p.m. The Associated Press erroneously reports a Secret Service Agent was killed
3: 38: LBJ is sworn in as the 36th President of the United States.
4: 15 p.m. Networks report Oswald has been arrested.
8:00 p.m: Autopsy on JFK commences.
8: 50 p.m Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John and Jacqueline, is informed of her father's death by Miss Shaw.
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Kennedy Years: Legislative Scorecard
87th Congress
1961: President Kennedy submitted 355 legislative proposals. 172 were approved by Congress, giving him a 48.4 percent approval score
1962: President Kennedy submitted 298 legislative proposals. 133 were approved by Congress, giving him a 44.6 percent approval score.
88th Congress
1963: President Kennedy submitted 401 legislative proposals. 109 were approved, giving him a 27.2 percent approval score.
Source: Congressional Quarterly tabulations
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1963: A Look Back
Major News Events:
April 1, 1963: New York Newspaper strike ends
April 12, 1963: Martin Luther King Jr., along with 60 others, are arrested in Birmingham Ala., after leading an anti-segregation drive.
May 12, 1963: President Kennedy sends 3,000 troops to Birmingham to maintain order.
June 3, 1963: Pope John XXIII dies at age 81 during the 5th year of his reign.
June 11, 1963: When confronted by National Guardsman, Gov George Wallace of Alabama allows two black students to enter the University of Alabama.
June 19,1963: President Kennedy proposes aggressive civil rights legislation.
June 19, 1963: Two Soviet cosmonauts, one being a woman, launches into space.
June 26, 1963: President Kennedy delivers historic ``Ich bin ein Berliner'' speech in West Berlin.
July 8, 1963: The United States bans financial dealings with the Castro regime.
July 25, 1963: The United States, along with Great Britain and the Soviet Union, reach agreement on a test ban treaty, which calls for the end of nuclear testing on land, in space, and under water.
August 27, 1963: Congress passes a bill prohibiting a national railroad strike when it imposes compulsory arbitration, the first time such an act was imposed in U.S. history.
August 28, 1963: 200,000 persons make a peaceful pilgrimage to the nation's capital to push for civil rights legislation.
September 15, 1963: A bomb exploded in an Alabama church, killing four black girls.
September 20, 1963: In a speech before the U.N. General Assembly, President Kennedy proposes a joint U.S Soviet expedition to the moon.
October 13, 1963: Hurricane Flora kills over 1,000 persons in Cuba.
November 1, 1963: President Diem along with his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu are assassinated when a military coup uproots the government of South Vietnam.
November 18, 1963: The Baath regime in Iraq is overthrown.
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News Magazine Cover stories that never went to press due to the Kennedy Assassination
• Life Magazine originally planned a cover splash on Navy quarterback Roger Staubach, including 22 pages of text and pictures.
• Time Magazine discarded their cover feature on jazz musician Thelonious Monk
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1963: Demographics
• Federal budget reaches nearly $100 billion
• National Debt: $315 billion
• Employed: 69.8 million as of October 31, 1963
• Unemployment Rate: 5.5 percent or 3.4 million as of October 31, 1963
• Per capita annual income: $2,500
• Gross National Product: $600 billion
• Defense Spending: $52 billion
• Two-thirds of the world’s automobiles are in the United States
• First class postage stamps increased to five cents an ounce.
• Cost of a Drive-in movie? $1.50 per car
• A pound of Maxwell House coffee cost 38 cents.
• A four bedroom house in North San Bernardino, Ca. was selling for $17,100
• A subway token was 15 cents.
• A Royalite typewriter, including a carrying case, standard keyboard pica or elite was selling for $49.95.
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Odds and Ends
• Church attendance in 1963 stood at 46 percent, according to a Gallup poll
• In the November 22, 1963 issue of Time Magazine, Republican presidential front runner Barry Goldwater was quoted from a speech he had given at the Better Business Bureau Banquet in Chicago as saying: ``The New Frontier has produced 1,026 days of wasted spending, wishful thinking, unwarranted intervention, wistful theories and waning confidence''.
• The Best Selling Book listed on Time Magazine's Best Selling List in the November 29, 1963 issue was Victor Lasky's: JFK: The Man and the Myth.
NOTE: Immediately after the JFK assassination, Macmillan Co., cancelled the promotion and distribution of Lasky's book due to its critical assessment of the Kennedy administration.
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1963 Footnotes:
• Sidney Portier wins the Academy Award for Lilies of the Fields, a film that cost $250,000 to make and was filmed in just 14 days.
• Richard Nixon plays the piano during his appearance on the Jack Paar show in March.
• William Faulkner wins the Pulitzer for fiction for ``The Reivers''
• Cincinnati Reds 2nd Baseman Pete Rose is named Rookie of the Year
• There were 4, 200 computers (all large main frames) in the U.S.
-Bill Lucey
WPLucey@gmail.com
Doesn't Arlen Specter, still a senator from Pennsylvania, count as member of Warren Commission? He was an assistant counsel.
Posted by: Chris Mitchell | 11/17/2009 at 12:21 PM
Chris,
Arlen Specter, along with several others, were part of the ``legal staff serving on the commission.
But there were only seven, which were considered members of the ``Special Commission.
http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/appendix2.html
Bill Lucey
The Morning Delivery
www.billlucey.com
Posted by: Bill Lucey | 11/17/2009 at 02:23 PM
No apostrophe needed in Kennedy's, Pulitzer's, other non-possessive plurals.
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