THUNDER BAY – With the passage of time, come larger numbers of people who fail to remember. Do you remember? “From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official: [reading AP flash] ‘PRESIDENT KENNEDY DIED AT 1 P.M. (CST),'[45] 2:00 Eastern Standard Time, some thirty-eight minutes ago”. On November 22nd, 1963, in Dallas Texas, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot. It was a moment that for millions of people where the world seemed to stop. People remembered for years later where they were when they heard the news of the shooting of the President and the Governor of Texas John Connally.
The shooting happened in Dallas Texas, and the alleged shooter was a disaffected former Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. Ever since that fateful day in Dallas, there have been many who firmly believe that the assassination of JFK was a conspiracy, and that there were others involved.
The first CBS reports of the shooting were filed by Walter Cronkite, in audio only as studio cameras were not warmed up. “Here is a bulletin from CBS News. In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy’s motorcade in downtown Dallas. The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting. More details just arrived. These details about the same as previously: President Kennedy shot today just as his motorcade left downtown Dallas. Mrs. Kennedy jumped up and grabbed Mr. Kennedy, she called ‘Oh, no!’ The motorcade sped on. United Press says that the wounds for President Kennedy perhaps could be fatal. Repeating, a bulletin from CBS News, President Kennedy has been shot by a would-be assassin in Dallas, Texas. Stay tuned to CBS News for further details.”
Shortly after, Cronkite read another statement, this time live on the air. “From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official: ‘PRESIDENT KENNEDY DIED AT 1 P.M. (CST),'[45] 2:00 Eastern Standard Time, some thirty-eight minutes ago”.
The murder of President Kennedy was also a moment when across North America, there was a fundamental shift in how news was covered. Television coverage of the event was extensive. It was really the first time that television supplanted newspapers as the major source of news for the public.
The death of President Kennedy was seen by many as the end of a shining era. The President and his beautiful wife and young family were darlings of the American media, and public. Since the death of the young president, for many an era ended, and through the rest of the 1960s, the United States slide into protests and other assassinations. Martin Luthur King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the President’s younger brother were assassinated.
While many celebrate Thanksgiving today in the United States, it is also an anniversary of the death of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President.