On the morning of November 22, 1963, The Washington Post printed an article on the upcoming state visit of West Germany’s Chancellor, Ludwig Erhard. Hours later Kennedy was killed in Dallas, and the visit never happened.
On the day President Kennedy was assassinated, a prayer was printed in The Washington Post asking for patience and light in the midst of sorrow. Read this powerful story and its foreshadowing of the tragedy to come.
Everyone’s talking about JFK’s 50th anniversary of assassination, but have you heard the stories of the regular, average things that happened that day? Get a look at the front pages of the Washington Post on November 22nd and 23rd, 1963.
Four miles northwest of Middleburg, at the base of Rattlesnake Mountain, sits the only home John and Jacqueline Kennedy ever built together. Named Wexford after the Irish county the Kennedys came from, it hosted JFK for about five weekends before Dallas.
Uncovering a piece of history: see the letter John F. Kennedy sent on Inauguration Day 1961 nominating his cabinet and watch his amazing inauguration address.
On November 27th, 1962, 361 days before Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, the Prime Minister of the Somali Republic, Dr. Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, had an official state visit to the White House. We were able to dig up this obscure film footage on YouTube (the Internet is amazing), which features the visit and ceremony on the South Lawn.
Below is the gift that the Prime Minister gave to the President on behalf of his country.
This gift of a carved giraffe was presented to President John F. Kennedy by Dr. Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, Prime Minister of the Somali Republic, during his state visit to the White House on November 27, 1962. (JFK Library)
Shermarke would also fall victim to an assassination in 1969, shot by one of his own bodyguards.
If you read this piece in the Washington Post on Wednesday morning, November 20th, 1963, you probably didn’t think much of it.
President Kennedy was making a trip to Texas, the Vice President’s home state. The White House explicitly stated that the event was nonpolitical, but without a doubt, there were some political undertones for this trip.
President and Mrs. Kennedy arrive in San Antonio – November 21st, 1963 (Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)
It was time to start thinking about the 1964 election and the Kennedy-Johnson ticket had barely won Texas in the last election. The President intended to go down and mend some fences within the Texas Democratic Party and get them primed for the 1964 election.
President Kennedy will make five speeches in Texas Thursday and Friday, attend two receptions and spend a night at the ranch of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Mrs. Kennedy will accompany her husband on the trek, described by the White house as “nonpolitical.”
Pierre Salinger, White House Press Secretary, said yesterday that he expects Mrs. Kenndy [sic] to be with the President at most of his public appearances in Texas.
Mr. Kennedy will fly from Washington to San Antonio Thursday morning, make a speech there, and proceed to Houston where he will address an evening testimonial dinner for Rep. Albert Thomas (D-Tex.)
On Friday evening, the President and Mrs. Kennedy will go by helicopter from Austin to the Johnson City ranch of the Vice President.
Salinger said the Kennedys probably would return to Washington by mid-afternoon on Saturday.
The White House also announced that President Kennedy will spend Thanksgiving Day at the traditional Kennedy family gathering at Hyannis Port, Mass.
He also plans to attend the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia on Saturday, Nov. 30, and probably will fly there from Hyannis Port, Salinger said.
