ARLINGTON, Va. - s4story -- by Michael F. Bishop for David Bruce Smith's Grateful American Book Prize

The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in an open-top limousine through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, during a political trip intended to mend fences within the Democratic Party ahead of the 1964 election. As the motorcade passed the Texas School Book Depository, shots were fired. Kennedy was struck in the neck and head and slumped into the lap of his wife, Jacqueline. Texas Governor John Connally, who was seated in front of the president, was also wounded, but he survived. Kennedy was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m. CST, at age 46. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president aboard Air Force One, two hours later, while Jacqueline Kennedy, still in her bloodstained pink suit, stood beside him.

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The official investigation, conducted by the Warren Commission, appointed by President Johnson, and chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren, concluded in its 1964 report that Lee Harvey Oswald, a 24-year-old former Marine and Marxist sympathizer who had defected to and returned from the Soviet Union, acted alone as the assassin. Oswald fired three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository using a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle he owned; two bullets struck Kennedy, and one missed. The commission's 'single-bullet theory' explained how one projectile passed through Kennedy's neck and caused Connally's multiple wounds.

Oswald was arrested shortly after for killing Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit, but two days later, while being transferred from police headquarters, he was fatally shot on live television by nightclub owner Jack Ruby, powering up immediate speculation about a broader conspiracy. The assassination shocked the nation, the world, and initiated a decade of distrust in government institutions. While the Warren Commission's findings remain the official record, polls consistently show a majority of Americans believe others were involved, citing motives ranging from CIA resentment over the Bay of Pigs to Mafia retaliation for Robert Kennedy's crackdowns. Declassified documents, including those released under the 1992 JFK Records Act, have revealed intelligence failures and agency cover-ups of unrelated matters, but with no definitive proof of conspiracy. The tragedy, however, secured Kennedy's posthumous mythic status, endless books, and films.

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For more information, the Grateful American Book Prize recommends James Swanson's End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy.

History Matters is a feature courtesy of the Grateful American Book Prize. For more book recommendations and information about the annual award visit https://gratefulamericanbookprize.org/.