John F. Kennedy – Assassination Of A President – November 22, 1963

ABC Radio – Continuous coverage – first 3 hours – November 22, 1963 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –

One of those days that, if you were around at the time, you knew exactly where you were, exactly what you were doing and exactly how you felt. Sixty years ago today, President Kennedy was assassinated. The day started out unremarkable. Just like any other day, especially one so close to Thanksgiving. Mid-morning on the West Coast – early-Afternoon on the East Coast and the first bulletins came in – vague reports; a shooting in Dallas where President Kennedy happened to be – not sure if there was a connection or not. Minutes later the bulletins came in clarifying that the shots had something to do with Kennedy and there “may” have been injuries – seconds later bulletins came in that, yes it was indeed Kennedy who had been shot. It was also John Connelly. And then it was reported that Mrs. Kennedy jumped up and cried “oh no!” as it was learned that President Kennedy had been shot in the head.

And for the next several minutes conflicting reports came pouring in – Priests were called in to give Last Rites – one Priest said the President was still alive but badly wounded. Another Priest said the President was already dead. Another report came in saying vice-President Johnson was seen walking into the hospital holding his arm, causing many to speculate he too had been shot. Later, a report claimed Johnson had a heart attack and speculation arose that the job of President would now come down to Speaker of The House.

Reports, eyewitnesses, speculation, hearsay, grains of truth – for almost the next hour the country bordered on a state of panic; not knowing what was actually happening in Dallas.

And then word finally came down and was finally confirmed, that President Kennedy had in fact died of his wounds from gunshots in Dallas and that vice-President Johnson had been sworn in as President.

And for the next few days, all that occupied radio, TV and casual conversation was the assassination of President Kennedy. America had been stunned and its grief was palpable.

Even though the kids and teenagers who were glued to their seats in classrooms while radios blared out the horrifying news are now in their late 60s, early 70s and slowly, inevitably forgetting. And even though one generation who had replaced the previous generation who sat in horror listening to reports about Pearl Harbor, another generation has come along and replaced the horror of this day with the horror of September 11, 2001, it seems each generation has a defining moment where complacency got a jolt and reality shook us to our core.

As a reminder of this day, sixty years ago, here are the first three hours of reports and bulletins from ABC Radio (and relayed by Radio New York Worldwide) as they were heard on November 22, 1963.