Braswell 1 Taylor Braswell Ms.

Caruso English 1102-062 2/13/12 John F Kennedy Assassinated The 1960s were a time of political and social change; from the Civil Rights Movement, to Mobsters, to the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War. President John F Kennedy was dealing with all of these things throughout his Presidency and each of these groups could have been a threat to President Kennedy. Robert Kennedy, the Attorney General at the time, had declared a war on crime and many Mobsters who helped put the Kennedys in power were being thrown in jail. President Kenney was campaigning in the fall of 1963 in order to run for re-election in 1964 and traveled west where he spoke in nine different states in less than a week (November 22, 1963). At a meeting on November 12th President Kennedy stressed the importance of campaigning in Texas and Florida in order to gain re-election. On November 21st the President and Mrs. Kennedy landed in Texas where they would visit five cities in two days (this was the first campaign where Mrs. Kennedy accompanied President Kennedy since the death of their baby in August) (November 22, 1963). President Kennedy knew that disagreements between party leaders in Texas could potentially hurt his chances for winning that state in the election in 1964 and one of his goals was to bring Democrats together. President Kennedy also had to be aware of a small extremist group in Dallas that would make their presence known and not to mention the US ambassador to the United Nations was attacked there recently after a speech (November 22, 1963). The first stop in Texas was San Antonio, then Huston, and

Braswell 2 then Fort Worth where President Kennedy spoke in the rain on November 22nd; the President thanked everyone for showing up and was welcomed with smiling faces and handshakes (November 22, 1963). The President and Mrs. Kennedy then flew to Dallas where a crowd of people greeted them as soon as they got off the plane and the Kennedys spent several minutes shaking hands. Governor John Connally and his wife were already waiting in a convertible and President Kennedy and his wife sat behind them (the top had been taken off the car since it was sunny and no longer raining). Vice president Lyndon Johnson and Mrs. Johnson were in another car to accompany the President in the ten-mile motorcade through downtown Dallas where the President was supposed to speak at a luncheon. Crowds of anxious and excited people lined the streets of Dallas to see their President and around 12:30 the motorcade turned off Main Street at Dealey Plaza. The car the President was in was passing the Texas School Book Depository when suddenly gunshots were fired, Governor Connally was shot in the chest, and President Kennedy was shot in the head and neck killing him (November 22, 1963).

Braswell 3 Works Cited The Assassination: An Overview. Jfk-assassination.de. The John F Kennedy Assassination Homepage. n.d. Web. 12 Feb 2012. The JFK Assassination maryferrell.org. Mary Ferrell Foundation, n.d. web. 12 Feb. 2012 McAdams, John. The Kennedy Assassination. mcadams.posc.me.edu. n.d. Web. 12 Feb 2012 November 22, 1963: Death of the President jfklibrary.org. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, n.d. web. 7. Feb. 2012 Polidoro, Massimo. Facts and Fiction in the Kennedy Assassination csicp.org. The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Jan/Feb 2005. Web. 12 Feb 2012