Timeline of the John F. Kennedy assassination

October 24, 1956: Lee Harvey Oswald drops out of high school and joins the U.S. Marine Corps, where he is trained as a sharpshooter.[1] October 31, 1959: Oswald defects to the Soviet Union and is sent to work at an electronics factory in Minsk. November 8, 1960: John F. Kennedy wins the 1960 United States presidential election. June 13, 1962: Oswald returns to the United States with his wife Marina and their child to live in Texas.[2] October 9, 1962: Oswald rents P.O. Box 2915 under his real name at the Dallas post office. He will maintain the rental until May 14, 1963.[3] November 6, 1962: Democrat John Connally is elected governor of Texas.[4] January 15, 1963: Connally takes the oath as governor of Texas.[5] As governor, he will assist with planning for President Kennedy's trip to Texas and will serve as Kennedy's host.

February 22, 1963: Ruth Paine meets the Oswalds at a party held at Everett Glover's house.[6]

March 13, 1963: Klein's Sporting Goods of Chicago receives a mail order in the amount of $21.45 ($19.95 plus $1.50 for postage and handing) for item C20-750, a World War II-surplus Italian 1891 Carcano Model 1938 rifle equipped with a 4× scope that was advertised in the February 1963 issue of American Rifleman. The name on the order slip is A. Hidell, an alias used by Oswald, and the delivery address is Oswald's Dallas post-office box.[7] The rifle sent to Oswald bears serial number C2766.[8]

March 17, 1963: Marina Oswald sends a letter to the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C., asking to be granted an entrance visa to the USSR.[9]

Oswald is given notice in the latter part of March that he will be terminated from his job.

April 6, 1963: Oswald works his last day at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall.[10]

April 10, 1963: Oswald fires a bullet that nearly misses retired general Edwin Walker, a strongly anticommunist right-wing advocate. The police determine that the shot was fired from a distance of less than 40 yards.[11] The case remained unsolved until two weeks after Oswald's death when Marina Oswald informed the FBI that it may have been her husband who had fired the shot.[12]

April 23, 1963: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Texas native, tells reporters in Dallas that President Kennedy may visit Texas sometime that summer. Johnson hopes that Kennedy's schedule would allow him to have a breakfast in Fort Worth, a luncheon in Dallas, an afternoon tea in San Antonio and dinner in Houston.[13]

April 24, 1963: In the late evening, Oswald leaves Dallas by bus for his hometown of New Orleans, seeking better employment opportunities.[14]

June 5, 1963: President Kennedy, Vice President Johnson and Governor Connally are together in a meeting in El Paso when they agree to a second presidential visit to Texas later that year.[15] (In 1978, Connally testified to the House Select Committee on Assassinations that in the spring of 1962 "Vice President Johnson told me then that President Kennedy wanted to come to Texas, he wanted to come to Texas to raise some money, have some fund-raising affairs over the state.")

June 6, 1963: Kennedy decides to embark on the Texas trip with three basic goals in mind: to raise more Democratic Party presidential campaign fund contributions,[15] to begin his quest for reelection in November 1964[16] and, because the Kennedy-Johnson ticket had barely won Texas in 1960 (and had even lost in Dallas), to mend political fences among several leading Texas Democratic Party members who appear to be fighting politically against themselves.[17]

June 24, 1963: Oswald applies for a U.S. passport in New Orleans, Louisiana, stating that he intends to depart from New Orleans during the period from October to December 1963 for proposed travel as a tourist for a duration of between three months and one year. The next day, he is issued U.S. Passport DO 92526, which will be valid for three years to all countries except Albania, Cuba and those portions of China, Korea and Vietnam that are under communist control.[18]

September 17, 1963: Jack Valenti sends an invitation to the White House asking whether President Kennedy would attend a dinner in Houston on November 21 honoring congressman Albert Thomas for his decision not to retire from Congress. The invitation is received at the White House on September 19, 1963.[19]

Lee Oswald is issued a 15-day Mexican tourist card using the name "LEE, Harvey Oswald."[20]

September 23, 1963: Ruth Paine drives Marina Oswald from New Orleans back to her home in Irving, Texas.[21] Late that night, Lee Oswald also leaves New Orleans[22] to travel to Mexico City hoping to somehow gain entrance to Cuba,[23] a country to which travel has been banned by the United States.

September 24, 1963: At a press conference in Austin, Governor Connally announces that he will visit Washington, D.C., from October 2–4, 1963 and that he hopes to see President Kennedy. Connally says that has no plans to invite Kennedy to visit Texas but would be delighted if the president would agree to a visit.[24]

The White House accepts the invitation to the Albert Thomas dinner in Houston and turns it into a two-day political trip encompassing the major cities of Texas.[25] Although Kennedy had wanted to visit Texas at some point, he had not originally planned to go there in November.[26][27]

September 25, 1963: White House sources, in an exclusive to the Dallas Morning News, announce that the president will visit Texas November 21–22, 1963 and that the tour will include Dallas.[25]

September 26, 1963: The Dallas Morning News is the first newspaper to announce the Texas visit in an article covering the president's conservation tour in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.[25]

September 27, 1963: Lee Oswald arrives in Mexico City and registers at the Hotel del Comercio.[28] He visits the Cuban consulate three times in an attempt to secure a visa to Cuba, as well as the Soviet embassy to obtain a visa, but is denied at both places.[29]

September 30, 1963: Lee Oswald purchases a bus ticket using the alias "Mr. H. O. Lee." The bus leaves Mexico City for Laredo, Texas at 8:30 a.m. on October 2.[30]

October 3, 1963: Oswald arrives in Dallas and spends the night at the YMCA.[31]

October 4, 1963: Governor Connally meets with President Kennedy at the White House.[32]

Oswald applies for a job at Padgett Printing but is not hired because of a poor recommendation provided by Robert Stovall, president of Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall.[33][34]

Oswald returns to stay at the Paines' residence in Irving for the weekend.[35]

October 11, 1963: Kenneth O'Donnell sends a reply to Jack Valenti formally accepting his invitation for the president to speak at the dinner honoring Rep. Thomas.[36]

October 15, 1963: Ruth Paine calls the Texas School Book Depository and arranges for a job interview for Oswald with building superintendent Roy Truly. Truly interviews Oswald later that day and hires him for $1.25 per hour as a temporary clerk filling customer book orders. Oswald starts work the following day.[37][38] At about the same time, Paine had separated from her husband Michael.[39]

October 20, 1963: Kenneth O'Donnell, special assistant and appointments secretary to President Kennedy, calls Jerry Bruno, the advance man for the Kennedy trips, and asks him to come to the White House to discuss the trip to Texas.[40]

October 21, 1963: Bruno meets with O'Donnell and is told to contact Walter Jenkins, one of Vice President Lyndon Johnson's top administrative assistants, to solicit his input for the trip.

October 24, 1963: Bruno meets with Jenkins, who tells Bruno about the stops that Governor Connally has suggested. The first stop would be to fly to San Antonio on November 21 and drive in a motorcade to Brooks Air Force Base, then fly to Houston and drive in a motorcade to the Rice Hotel, where the Albert Thomas dinner was originally scheduled to take place, and stay overnight at the hotel. Then on the morning of November 22, the president would fly to Fort Worth to receive an honorary degree at Texas Christian University at 9:30 a.m. and then ride in a motorcade for the short distance to Dallas,[41] where he would attend a luncheon at the annual meeting of the Dallas Citizens Council at the Statler Hilton Hotel.[42] Finally, the president would attend a fundraising dinner in Austin before returning to Washington. Jenkins suggests that Bruno visit Texas, meet with Governor Connally and evaluate the sites himself, and also meet with Democratic Texas senator Ralph Yarborough, a bitter political enemy of Connally and Johnson, to avoid any trouble between the two parties on the trip.[43]

United States ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson II delivers a contentious speech on United Nations Day at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, where he is booed and heckled. After the speech, he is struck on the head with a picket sign and spit upon.[44] Dallas police would later fear that similar demonstrations might occur when Kennedy visited Dallas.[45] Several people, including Stevenson, warned Kennedy against coming to Dallas, but Kennedy ignored their advice.[17]

October 28, 1963: Bruno flies to Austin to begin his evaluation of the stops being considered for the Kennedy visit on November 21–22.[46][47]

October 29, 1963: Bruno meets with Henry Brown, president of the Texas AFL–CIO and a friend of Senator Ralph Yarborough, to obtain his input from labor leaders. He then has lunch with Governor Connally to review his itinerary, which includes an honorary degree from Texas Christian University; because Kennedy is Catholic, Bruno considers this event among the highlights of the trip.[48] Connally informs Bruno that he has assigned different members of his staff to each stop on the itinerary and that they would be in charge of the visit.[49] Bruno tells Connally that he welcomes his input and suggestions, but that the final decisions on the itinerary will be made by the White House.[50][51]

Governor Connally announces that a "Texas welcome dinner" for Kennedy will be held in Austin on November 22. The governor says that the dinner will be a $100-per-plate event held at 7:30 p.m. at the Austin Municipal Auditorium as a climax to the president's Texas trip. It is sponsored by the state Democratic executive committee. No other plans have been completed except those for the November 21 Albert Thomas appreciation dinner in Houston.[52]

October 30, 1963: Bruno and Johnson aide Clifton Carter visit the Texas cities that the president will visit.[53] The San Antonio and Houston sites are checked and confirmed as acceptable, but when visiting Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Bruno is informed by school officials that the university does not intend to confer an honorary degree to the president and that they have only approved the use of their campus as the location for a speech. Bruno informs Connally of this development, and Connally says that he will meet with the university's board of regents the next night.[41] Bruno travels to Dallas to evaluate the ballroom at the Statler Hilton Hotel where the luncheon is planned to take place on November 22. He is met there by J. Erik Jonsson, chairman of the Dallas Citizens Council (and an owner of Texas Instruments) and Robert B. Cullum, chairman of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and owner of the Tom Thumb Food Stores. Cullum informs Bruno that the ballroom at the Statler Hilton is now unavailable because organizers of a bottlers' convention had reserved it and would not surrender it.[54] Jonsson and Cullum suggest the Dallas Trade Mart, but after visiting the site, Bruno dislikes the many catwalks that would be above the president, which, in light of the Stevenson incident that had just occurred a few days earlier, could present a security problem. He asks to be shown other available sites in Dallas.[55]

October 31, 1963: Bruno visits two other potential luncheon sites, the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, which he deems too large, and the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest, which he believes would be too far out of town and thus impractical. He is also informed that Governor Connally is unhappy with the decision not to use the Trade Mart for the luncheon because of the catwalk issue. Bruno agrees to visit the Trade Mart again but retains his misgivings. Connally telephones that he has met with the TCU board of regents and that they will not confer an honorary degree on the president.[56] Bruno is now faced with two holes in the schedule, Fort Worth and Dallas. One last place is suggested as a luncheon possibility, the Women's Building (now known as the Women's Museum) at the fairgrounds at Fair Park.[57]

President Kennedy is asked at a press conference about rumors that Johnson will not be selected as his running mate in the 1964 election,[58][59] which Kennedy denies.[60]

November 1, 1963: Bruno returns to Washington, D.C., with the Dallas luncheon site location still undecided. The Fort Worth visit is eventually resolved when the city's chamber of commerce agrees to sponsor a breakfast for the president. Because of this, the president's overnight stay is changed from Houston to Fort Worth so that he will have time to attend the breakfast.[61][62]

November 4, 1963: Gerald Behn, the Secret Service Special Agent in Charge (SAIC) for the White House detail,[63] telephones Forrest Sorrels, Secret Service SAIC of the Dallas district. He instructs Sorrels to survey the buildings that the president is planning to visit during the Dallas leg of the trip. The two leading contenders to host the Dallas luncheon are the Trade Mart (strongly favored by Governor Connally) and the Women's Building at the state fairgrounds, which Bruno favors and Connally bitterly opposes.[64] Later that day, Sorrels reports back to Behn that the Women's Building appears to be preferable from a security standpoint, but that it is not a suitable place to take the president. He reports that the Trade Mart has about 60 entrances as well as six catwalks over the area where the luncheon would be held, which could pose a problem in adequately staffing the site with security personnel.[65]

White House Secret Service agent Winston Lawson is informed that he has been assigned to the Dallas visit.[66]

November 5, 1963: Bruno visits the White House and has separate meetings with Kenneth O'Donnell, Gerald Behn and Walter Jenkins. It is decided that the Trade Mart poses too great a security risk, and the Women's Building is chosen as the Dallas luncheon site.[67]

November 6, 1963: White House press secretary Pierre Salinger announces that First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy will accompany the president on his Texas trip.[68]

November 7, 1963: The Albert Thomas appreciation dinner to be held on November 21 sells out a second time. Organizers of the dinner had already moved the venue from the Rice Hotel, where the event had sold out, to the larger Sam Houston Coliseum because of increased demand for tickets once it became known that Kennedy would attend. After it was announced that the First Lady would also attend, tickets to the dinner at the larger venue sold out as well.[69]

Bruno composes a proposed schedule for the Texas trip, which includes the Women's Building as the site for the Dallas luncheon.[70][71]

November 8, 1963: It is announced that First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy will begin resuming her official White House duties on November 20, more than a month earlier than expected. She had previously announced the cancellation of all her events for the rest of the year following the premature birth and death of her third child, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, the past August.[72]

November 9, 1963: Oswald is driven by Ruth Paine to take his driver's license permit test, but because there is a special election that day, the office is closed.[73][74]

Around 2 p.m., Oswald test-drives a new red Mercury Comet Caliente two-door hardtop at a dealership at 118 East Commerce in Dallas. He tells salesman Albert Bogard that he will be back to buy it in two or three weeks when he will have the $300 down payment.[75][76]

November 12, 1963: A special flight carrying all the advance groups that are to work on the preparation for the trip to Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth and Dallas departs Andrews Air Force Base at 8:20 a.m.[77]

November 13, 1963: Jack Puterbaugh and White House Secret Service agent Winston Lawson, along with Dallas Secret Service agents Forrest Sorrels and Robert Steuart, visit the office of Robert B. Cullum, president of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, to discuss plans for the Kennedy visit. They reexamine the Trade Mart and the Women's Building and meet with representatives of the Trade Mart.[78]

November 14, 1963: Acquiescing to the wishes of Governor Connally, Kenneth O'Donnell reverses his prior decision to hold the Dallas luncheon at the Women's Building and changes the location to the Dallas Trade Mart. According to both O'Donnell and Bruno, this change in the luncheon site, although seemingly insignificant at the time, dramatically alters the motorcade route taken through Dallas.[79][80][81]

Lee Oswald appears at the Allright Parking Garage at 1208 Commerce Street to inquire about job openings.[82]

November 15, 1963: President Kennedy delivers a speech in New York City at the AFL–CIO convention and then flies to West Palm Beach, Florida to spend his last weekend.[83]

The White House announces that the Dallas Trade Mart will be the site of President Kennedy's luncheon address and that a motorcade will proceed through downtown Dallas. Until that point, there had been speculation in the news media that Kennedy's tight schedule in Texas would not allow enough time for a motorcade through Dallas.[84][85]

November 16, 1963: Dallas civic leaders issue statements urging against demonstrations or incidents that may occur during President Kennedy's visit. Dallas County judge W. L. Sterrett says: "I am hoping we won't have any kind of demonstration here. I have confidence that there won't be anything of that sort. That kind of thing can give a city and county a black eye."[86]

November 18, 1963: Kennedy confides to his good friend senator George Smathers of Florida that Vice President Johnson wants First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to ride in the car with him during the upcoming tour of Texas.[87] The exact motorcade route is finalized.

Dallas police chief Jesse Curry increased the level of security during Kennedy's visit; he put into effect the most stringent security precautions in the city's history.[45] Curry even deputized citizens to take action for any suspicious acts that could endanger the president.[88]

November 19, 1963: The White House formally announces the timetable of events for the president's visit, including a planned arrival time of 12:30 p.m. CST at the Trade Mart.[89]

November 21, 1963: At 11:07 p.m., Air Force One lands at Carswell Air Force Base on the outskirts of Fort Worth, Texas. The president and his wife are met by Raymond Buck, president of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, and his wife. Air Force Two also lands at Carswell with the vice president Lyndon Johnson, Texas governor John Connally and Senator Ralph Yarborough. Connally and Yarborough dislike each other so much Yarborough is unwilling to travel in the same car with Johnson, who is an ally of Connally. The following day, the president instructs him to ride with Johnson.[90]

At 11:35 p.m., the Kennedys arrive at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth, after being cheered by well-wishers lined on the route toward the West Freeway. The president and Mrs. Kennedy shake hands with admirers gathered outside the hotel before retiring to their assigned suite (Room 850) for the night.

All times CST unless otherwise stated.

8:45 a.m. The president speaks before breakfast in a square across Eighth Street. Kennedy praises Fort Worth's aviation industry. The attendees, members of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, are largely conservative Republicans.[91]

9:10 a.m. Kennedy takes his place in the Hotel Texas' grand ballroom for a scheduled speech. After the speech, presidential adviser Kenny O'Donnell informs Roy Kellerman, the Secret Service agent in charge of the trip, that the presidential limousine should not be equipped with its bubbletop if the weather is clear in Dallas.[90] Later, assistant (now-ranking), press secretary Malcolm Kilduff shows the Kennedys a negative advertisement published in The Dallas Morning News with the headline "Welcome Mr. Kennedy to Dallas." Kennedy tells his wife: "We're heading into nut country today."

10:40 a.m.: Kennedy's motorcade departs Hotel Texas for Carswell Air Force Base.[92]

11:20 a.m.: Air Force One departs Carswell Air Force Base for Dallas, Texas.[92]

11:35 a.m.: Air Force Two arrives at Love Field in Dallas.[92][93]

11:38 a.m.: Air Force One arrives at Love Field in Dallas.[92][93]

11:44 a.m.: The Kennedys and Connallys disembark Air Force One and are greeted by the Johnsons.[92] The motorcade cars had been lined up in order earlier that morning. The plan is for the motorcade to proceed from Love Field through downtown Dallas before arriving at the Trade Mart at 12:15 p.m., where Kennedy is scheduled to deliver a speech and share a steak luncheon with local government, business, religious and civic leaders and their spouses. Invitations for the event specify a noon start time.

Dallas/Fort Worth's television stations were each assigned separate details. As Bob Walker of WFAA-TV was providing live coverage of the president's arrival at Love Field, KRLD-TV's Eddie Barker was set to broadcast from the Trade Mart for Kennedy's luncheon speech. KTVT had originated live coverage of the breakfast speech in Fort Worth earlier in the day. On hand to report the arrival on radio is Joe Long of KLIF-AM.

11:55 a.m.: The motorcade leaves Love Field for its 10-mile trip through downtown Dallas.[93] The motorcade does not depart Love Field until about 15 minutes after the party had arrived there, as the president and his wife take time to shake hands with many of the enthusiastic supporters.

12:30 p.m.: Shots are fired as the motorcade passes the Texas School Book Depository.[93]

12:34 p.m.: The first United Press International bulletin clears the wire stating: "Three shots were fired today at the president's motorcade in downtown Dallas."[93]

12:36 p.m.: President Kennedy's limousine arrives at Parkland Memorial Hospital.[93]

12:40 p.m.: Viewers of the live soap opera As The World Turns receive the first national television report of the shooting from CBS News anchorman, Walter Cronkite.[93]

12:45 p.m.: Dan Rather of CBS calls Parkland Memorial Hospital; a doctor there tells him he believes Kennedy is dead.[93]

12:50 p.m.: Kennedy's top military aide General Godfrey McHugh calls Air Force One from Parkland to state that they will soon be leaving for Andrews Air Force Base.[94]

1:00 p.m.: President Kennedy is officially pronounced dead.[93]

1:16 p.m.: The first report that Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit has been shot.[93]

1:26 p.m.: Lyndon Johnson departs Parkland Memorial Hospital for Love Field.[93]

1:30 p.m.: Johnson, protected by Rufus Youngblood in a car driven by Jesse Curry, along with passengers Congressmen Albert Thomas and Homer Thornberry, arrives at Air Force One.[94] Lady Bird Johnson, Congressman Jack Brooks, and three members of the Secret Service also arrive in a second car, and Jack Valenti, Lem Johns, Cliff Carter, and Cecil Stoughton arrive in a third.[94] They are followed by additional cars containing officials and aides for both Kennedy and Johnson.[94]

1:33 p.m.: White House Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff announces at Parkland Memorial Hospital that Kennedy is dead.[93][94]

1:38 p.m.: Anchorman Cronkite reports the official word that President Kennedy is dead and Johnson will be sworn in as the United States' 36th President.[93][94]

1:40 p.m.: Johnson telephones Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to express his condolences and ask where he should take the oath of office of the president of the United States.[94]

1:50 p.m.: Johnson telephones his friend Irving Goldberg, an attorney.[94] The two decide to ask Sarah T. Hughes to administer the oath.[94]

1:51 p.m.: Lee Harvey Oswald is arrested at the Texas Theater in Dallas.[93]

2:10 p.m.: Abraham Zapruder arrives at WFAA-TV in Dallas and is interviewed about his film of the assassination.[93]

2:13 p.m.: Police find the weapon used to kill the president on the 6th floor of the Texas School Book depository.[93]

2:38 p.m.: Johnson is sworn in as president by federal judge Sarah Hughes on Air Force One.[93]

2:46 p.m.: Air Force One departs Love Field for Washington, D.C.[93]

The presidential motorcade consisted of the following vehicles and occupants, in the order in which the vehicles appeared:[95]

• The lead car, an unmarked white four-door Ford Mercury sedan:
  • Dallas police chief Jesse Curry (driver)
  • Secret Service SA advance agent Winston Lawson (right front)
  • Dallas County sheriff Bill Decker (left rear)
  • Secret Service SAIC agent Forrest Sorrels (right rear)
• Presidential limousine, a midnight blue four-door 1961 Lincoln Continental Convertible (modified) (SS-100-X):
  • Secret Service driver agent William Greer (driver)
  • Secret Service ASAIC Roy Kellerman, in charge of the White House detail for the Texas trip (right front)
  • Nellie Connally (left middle)
  • Texas governor John Connally (right middle)
  • First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (left rear)
  • President John F. Kennedy (right rear)
• Motorcycle escorts for the presidential limousine:
  • Dallas police officer Billy Joe Martin (left)
  • Dallas police officer Robert W. "Bobby" Hargis (left)
  • Dallas police officer James M. Chaney (right)
  • Dallas police officer Douglas L. Jackson (right)
• Secret Service follow-up car, a black four-door 1956 Cadillac Touring convertible (SS-679-X) code-named "Halfback":[96]
  • Secret Service driver agent Sam Kinney (driver)
  • Secret Service ATSAIC Emory Roberts (right front)
  • Secret Service SA Clint Hill, in charge of the First Lady's security (left front running board)
  • Secret Service SA William T. McIntyre (left rear running board)
  • Secret Service SA Jack Ready (right front running board)
  • Secret Service SA Paul Landis (right rear running board)
  • Presidential aide Kenneth O'Donnell (left middle)
  • Presidential aide David Powers (right middle)
  • Secret Service driver agent George Hickey (left rear)
  • Secret Service SA Glen Bennett (right rear)
• Vice President's car, a steel grey four-door 1964 Lincoln convertible:
  • Texas state policeman Hurchel Jacks (driver)
  • Secret Service ASAIC Rufus Youngblood (front passenger)
  • United States Senator Ralph Yarborough (left rear)
  • Second Lady Lady Bird Johnson (middle rear)
  • Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (right rear)
• Vice Presidential Secret Service follow-up car, a yellow four-door 1964 Ford Mercury sedan, model 54A Monterey with Breezeway design hardtop, code-named "Varsity":
  • Texas state policeman Joe Henry Rich (driver)
  • Vice-presidential aide Cliff Carter (front middle)
  • Secret Service SA Jerry Kivett (right front)
  • Secret Service SA Woody Taylor (left rear)
  • Secret Service ATSAIC Lem Johns (right rear)
• Mayor's car, a white two-door 1964 Ford Mercury Comet Caliente convertible, model 76B with red interior:
  • Texas state policeman Milton T. Wright (driver)
  • Dallas mayor Earle Cabell (front right)
  • Elizabeth "Dearie" Cabell, the mayor's wife (left rear)
  • Texas congressman Ray Roberts (right rear)
• National press-pool car, a grey/blue two-door 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air sedan hardtop (on loan from Southwestern Bell):[97][98]
  • Telephone company employee (driver)
  • Malcolm Kilduff, White House assistant press secretary (right front); for this trip, Kilduff was substituting for Pierre Salinger, who was traveling to Japan with several cabinet officers, including Secretary of State Dean Rusk.[99][100][101]
  • Merriman Smith, UPI (middle front)[97]
  • Robert Baskin, The Dallas Morning News (left rear)
  • Jack Bell, Associated Press (middle rear)[102][103]
  • Bob Clark, ABC (right rear)
• Camera car #1, national motion-picture cameras, a yellow two-door 1964 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport (SS) convertible:
  • Texas state policeman Harlan E. Veasey (driver)
  • John Hofan, NBC sound technician (middle front)
  • Dave Wiegman, Jr., NBC cameraman (right front)
  • Thomas J. Craven, CBS cameraman (left rear)
  • Cleveland Ryan, lighting technician (middle rear)
  • Thomas "Ollie" Atkins, U.S. Navy, White House filmographer (right rear)
• Camera car #2, national still cameras, a silver two-door 1964 Chevrolet Impala convertible:
  • Driver
  • Clint Grant, Dallas Morning News photographer (right front)
  • Frank Cancellare, UPI photographer (middle right)
  • Cecil Stoughton, White House Communications Agency, White House photographer (left rear)
  • Arthur B. Rickerby, Life photographer (middle rear)
  • Henry Burroughs, Associated Press photographer (right rear)
• Camera car #3, local cameras, a grey two-door 1964 Chevrolet Impala convertible:
  • Department of Public Safety employee (driver)
  • James H. Underwood, assistant news director for KRLD-TV and KRLD radio, with motion-picture camera (middle front)
  • Thomas C. Dillard, Dallas Morning News photographer (right front)
  • James Darnell, WBAP-TV, with motion-picture camera (left rear)
  • Malcolm O. Couch, WFAA-TV, with motion-picture camera (middle rear)
  • Bob Jackson, Dallas Times Herald photographer (right rear)
• Congressmen's car #1, a white two-door 1964 Ford Mercury Comet Caliente convertible, model 76B with red top:
  • Driver
  • Congressman George H. Mahon, Lubbock, Texas (right front)
  • Congressman Walter E. Rogers, Pampa, Texas (left rear)
  • Congressman Homer Thornberry, Austin, Texas (middle rear)
  • Larry O'Brien, special assistant to the president (right rear)
• Congressmen's car #2, a white two-door Ford Mercury Comet Caliente, model 76D convertible:
  • Driver
  • Congressman Albert Thomas, Houston, Texas (middle front)
  • Congressman Jack Brooks, Beaumont, Texas (right front)
  • Congressman Lindley Beckworth, Gladewater, Texas (left rear)
  • Congressman Olin E. Teague, College Station, Texas (middle rear)
  • Congressman Jim Wright, Fort Worth, Texas (right rear)
• Congressmen's car #3, a grey 1964 Lincoln sedan:
  • Driver
  • Congressman John Young, Corpus Christi, Texas (right front)
  • Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez, San Antonio, Texas (left rear)
  • State senator William Neff Patman (middle rear)
  • Congressman Graham Purcell (right rear)
• VIP car, a four-door, nine-passenger 1964 Ford Colony Park Station Wagon, model 71D:
  • Maj. General Ted Clifton, U.S. Army, presidential military aide (driver)
  • Maj. General Godfrey McHugh, U.S. Air Force, presidential military aide (right front)
  • Julian Reed, Gov. Connally's press secretary (left rear)
• Two Continental Trailways press buses, a local press car (four-door Chevrolet hardtop), a Western Union car (black 1957 Ford hardtop), the White House Signal Corps car (a white four-door 1964 Chevrolet Impala Sedan hardtop carrying warrant officer Ira Gearhart, who carried the Presidential Emergency Satchel, also known as the "nuclear football"), the official party bus (Continental Trailways bus) carrying Evelyn Lincoln, the president's personal secretary and rear admiral George G. Burkley, the president's physician), several extra cars and police escorts.
• Abbreviations used above include:
  • SA: Secret Service Special Agent
  • SAIC: Special Agent in Charge
  • ASAIC: Assistant Special Agent in Charge
  • ATSAIC: Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge

Secret Service driver agents operated through their own command chain. Driver agents were typically recruited from the uniformed White House Police Force.[104]

The route taken by the motorcade within Dealey Plaza. North is towards the almost direct-left

The motorcade route took a left turn from the south end of Love Field to West Mockingbird Lane and continued through to central Dallas. It progressed down Main Street, then at 12:29 p.m. CST turned right (westbound) into Houston Street, fatefully entering Dealey Plaza. The presidential motorcade began its route without incident, stopping twice so that President Kennedy could shake hands with Catholic nuns and schoolchildren. This exact route cannot be driven today as several of the roads have changed.

The motorcade approached the Texas School Book Depository, and then made a sharp 135 degree left turn onto Elm Street, a downward-sloping road that extends through the plaza and under a railroad bridge at a location known as the "triple underpass." The giant Hertz Rent-a-Car clock on top of the Schoolbook Depository building was seen to change from 12:29 to 12:30 as the limousine turned into Elm Street.[105]

Most of the witnesses recalled that the first shot was fired after the president had started waving with his right hand. Several onlookers recalled hearing three shots, with the second and third shots bunched distinctly much closer together than were the first and second shots. Witness testimony varies; some heard only two shots but others claimed to have heard as many as eight. The Zapruder film shows the president reemerging after being temporarily hidden from view by the Stemmons Freeway sign at Zapruder film frames 215 to 223, and his mouth has already opened wide in an anguished expression by frame 225. He has already been impacted by a bullet that struck him in the throat, and another in his mid-back, a shallow wound, with his hands clench into fists. He then quickly raises his fists dramatically in front of his face and throat as he turns to the left toward his wife. Secret Service Agent Clint Hill testified that he heard one shot, then jumped off the running board of the Secret Service follow-up car directly behind Kennedy (Hill was filmed jumping off his follow-up car at the equivalent of Zapruder frame 308; about a quarter of a second before the president's head exploded at frame 313). Hill then rapidly ran towards the Presidential limo.

As the limousine began speeding up, Mrs. Kennedy was heard to scream[106] and she climbed out of the back seat onto the rear of the limo. At the same time, Hill managed to climb aboard and hang onto the suddenly accelerating limo, and Mrs. Kennedy returned to the back seat. Hill then shielded her and the President. Both of the Connallys stated they heard Mrs. Kennedy say, "I have his brains in my hand!" The limo driver and police motorcycles turned on their sirens and raced at high speeds to Parkland Hospital, passing their intended destination of the Dallas Trade Mart along the way, and arriving at about 12:38 p.m. (CST).

Governor Connally was also struck by the shots, and his wife pulled him closer to her. He suffered several severe wounds that he survived; a bullet entry wound in his upper right back located just behind his right armpit; four inches of his right, fifth chest rib was pulverised; a two-and-a-half inch sized chest exit wound; his right arm's wrist bone was fractured into seven pieces; and he had a bullet entry wound in his left inner thigh. Although there is controversy about exactly when he was wounded, analysts from both the Warren Commission (1964) and House Select Committee on Assassinations (1979) believed that his wounds had been inflicted nearly simultaneously with President Kennedy's in their theories that the two men were struck by a single bullet. The Commission theorized both men were hit nearly simultaneously between Zapruder film frames 210 to 225, while the Committee theorized it happened at frame 190.

Witness James Tague was also injured by the shots when he received a superficial face wound. The Main Street south curb he had been standing 23.5 feet away from was struck by a bullet or bullet fragment that had no copper sheath, and a fragment of the concrete curb or a bullet fragment struck Tague on his right cheek. At Zapruder frame 313 Tague's head top was located 271 feet away from and 16.4 feet below President Kennedy's head top and the limousine's front windshield and its pushed nearly vertically straight-upwards sun visors were in between the president and the impacted curb point. The bullet or bullet fragment that struck the concrete curb was never found.

The Warren Commission report states that seconds after the shooting Roy Kellerman consulted his watch and said "12:30" to William Greer, before he radioed to Police Chief Jesse Curry that the President had been shot. Curry then communicated an order for Parkland Hospital to stand by - the Dallas police radio log reflects that this communication was made at 12:30.[107]

Once back at Air Force One, and only after Mrs. Kennedy and President Kennedy's body had also returned to the plane, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in by Sarah T. Hughes as the 36th president of the United States at 2:38 p.m. CST.[177][178] One of President Kennedy's aides stayed with his coffin during the swearing-in of Johnson.[179]

At about 6:00 p.m. EST, Air Force One arrived at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C.[180][181][182] The television networks made the switch to the AFB just as the plane touched down.[183] Reporting on the arrival for the TV networks were:

The contributors to the reporting on the arrival for the TV networks contributed along with NBC Director Max Schindler, who directed the coverage of the arrival for the networks, in 1965 when he directed A Conversation with the President at the White House with President Johnson during a conversation with him.[185][184]

After President Kennedy's brother (and Attorney General) Robert F. Kennedy, boarded the plane,[189] Kennedy's casket was removed from the rear entrance and loaded into a light gray US Navy ambulance for its transport to the Bethesda Naval Hospital for an autopsy and mortician's preparations.[190][191] When Jackie Kennedy stepped off the plane with her brother-in-law, her pink suit and legs were still stained with her husband's blood.[190] All that long afternoon and into the early morning hours of the next day, the widow objected to leaving her husband's body, except for the swearing in of Johnson.[192] She also refused to change out of her blood-stained suit; Lady Bird Johnson, in her audio diary, quoted Mrs. Kennedy as saying "I want them to see what they have done to Jack."[193][194][195]

The best-known reporter covering the arrival was Theodore H. White of Life magazine, who had been a close friend of Kennedy.[196] He summed it all up with "One wished for a cry, a sob, a wail, any human sound..."[196]

Shortly after the ambulance with the casket and Mrs. Kennedy departed, President Johnson and the First Lady exited Air Force One.[180] They were led to a podium clustered with microphones where Lyndon Johnson made his first official statement as President of the United States:

This is a sad time for all people. We have suffered a loss that cannot be weighed. For me, it is a deep, personal tragedy. I know the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I will do my best; that is all I can do. I ask for your help and God's.[197][198]

Johnson himself ordered the arrival to be televised live.[199] While en route to Washington from Dallas, he and Kilduff told the other assistant press secretary, Andrew Hatcher, that he was going to make his statement and that he wanted the arrival to be televised live.[199] As the new president boarded his helicopter, he said that Mrs. Kennedy was in his heart and remarked about the presidency, and recounted, "Then the door of the helicopter slammed shut behind me and thus ended a tragic chapter in American history."[197]

During that conversation he had with Johnson at the White House, Schindler talked about the arrival, describing the sequence of events to him and asked "Were you in the plane watching TV at that time?" He replied that he was watching television and said that he seeing Schindler pan his camera back to Air Force One was his cue to come out, saying, "Damn right and I figured that was my cue to come out."[185][184] He summed up the scene, "So much for the reported dramatic portrayal of the passing of the baton from the old to the new."[185]

At 7:05 p.m. CST, Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with "murder with malice" in the killing of police officer J.D. Tippit.[200]

At 11:26 p.m. CST, Oswald was then charged with the murder of President Kennedy.[200]

On November 24, 1963, at 11:21 a.m. CST, before live television cameras, Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and mortally wounded in the basement of Dallas Police headquarters by a local nightclub owner with alleged mafia ties, Jack Ruby.[201] Unconscious, Oswald was put into an ambulance and rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, the same hospital where doctors tried to save the life of John F. Kennedy two days earlier.[201] Oswald died at 1:07 pm.[201]

Kennedy's body was brought back to Washington after his assassination. Early on November 23, six military pallbearers carried the flag-draped coffin into the East Room of the White House, where he lay in repose for 24 hours.[202][203] Then, the coffin was carried on a horse-drawn caisson to the Capitol to lie in state. Throughout the day and night, hundreds of thousands lined up to view the guarded casket,[204][205] with a quarter million passing through the rotunda during the 18 hours of lying in state.[204]

Kennedy's funeral service was held on November 25, at St. Matthew's Cathedral.[206] The Requiem Mass was led by Cardinal Richard Cushing.[206] About 1,200 guests, including representatives from over 90 countries, attended.[207][208] After the service, Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.[209]

The Warren Commission presents its report to President Johnson. From left to right: John McCloy, J. Lee Rankin (General Counsel), Senator Richard Russell, Congressman Gerald Ford, Chief Justice Earl Warren, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Allen Dulles, Senator John Sherman Cooper, and Congressman Hale Boggs.

The Warren Commission's 888-page final report was presented to President Johnson on September 24, 1964,[210] and made public three days later,[211] saying one shot wounded President Kennedy and Governor Connally, and a subsequent shot hit Kennedy in the head, killing him. The commission also concluded a third shot was fired, but made no conclusion as to whether it was the first, second or third shot fired. The Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald fired all three shots.

In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigated the assassination of JFK and found that president Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy". The Committee found that the American mobsters Carlos Marcello and Santos Trafficante had the means, motive, and opportunity to assassinate president Kennedy, stating "Trafficante, like Marcello, had the motive, means, and opportunity to assassinate President Kennedy."[212]

• The Torch Is Passed. New York: Associated Press. Associated Press. 1963.
• Johnson, Lyndon (1971). The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963–1969. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. ISBN 9780030844928.
• Miller, Merle (1980). Lyndon: An Oral Biography. New York: Putnam.
• NBC News (1966). There Was a President. New York: Random House.
• The New York Times (2003). Semple, Robert B. Jr. (ed.). Four days in November. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• Trost, Cathy; Bennett, Susan (2003). President Kennedy Has Been Shot. Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks. ISBN 9781402201585.
• United Press International; American Heritage Magazine, eds. (1964). Four Days. New York: American Heritage Pub. Co.
• White, Theodore H. (1965). The Making of the President, 1965. New York: Athenium Publishers.

• JFKtimeline.com: Context to a Coup; Tribute to a Revolutionary Leader