DRR 821
Episode Number: 21
Episode Title: My Days in Dallas: A Remembrance with Dan Rather
Description: An eyewitness to history. Fifty years after the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy, Dan Rather remembers the dark days in Dallas. In the clip above, Rather talks about
seeing the presidential limousine race past him as he waited down the road from where the actual
assassination took place. He knew something was wrong, but could never have imagined what.
Rather offers his first-hand account of the day in “My Days in Dallas: A Remembrance with Dan
Rather.”
ACT 1
DAN RATHER
Hello. I'm Dan Rather. And tonight, I'm going to tell you a story that is both engrained in our
national fabric and, for me, is deeply personal. The great American author Pearl Buck once said,
"If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday." I've been fortunate to witness a
lot of yesterdays, important moments in our history.
But perhaps none was more defining to this country than November 22nd, 1963, in Dallas,
Texas. I find it hard to believe that it's now been 50 years since that fateful day. I was a young
reporter, covering a country struggling to live up to its ideals of liberty and justice for all.
There was already so much uncertainty about America's future before President Kennedy stepped
out of Air Force One onto the tarmac of Love Field. I was in Dallas that day. And what will
follow over the next hour will be, to the best of my recollection, the events as they unfolded and
how that horrific event shaped this country for decades to come.
ACT 2
DAN RATHER
You know, to stand here on this cold, slightly wet November morning 50 years -- 50 years after
President Kennedy was slain here...someone asked me does it seem a long time ago? And yes it
does. In some ways it seems not 50 years ago, 500 years ago.
DAN RATHER (VOICE OVER)
SO MUCH HAS CHANGED. DALLAS TODAY IS A GLEAMING CITY OF GLASS, A
FINANCIAL AND HIGH TECH CENTER… BUT THIS SMALL CORNER OF
DOWNTOWN HAS BEEN PRESERVED, PRETTY MUCH LIKE IT WAS THAT DAY. THE
OLD SCHOOL BOOK DEPOSITORY IS NOW A COUNTY OFFICE BUILDING AND
MUSEUM.
I’VE BEEN BACK A FEW TIMES OVER THE YEARS BUT I’VE NEVER BEEN
COMFORTABLE RETURNING TO DEALEY PLAZA -- A LOT OF GHOSTS HERE,
PAINFUL MEMORIES. I WAS A YOUNG REPORTER FOR CBS NEWS WHEN MY PATH
CROSSED WITH THE PRESIDENT’S THAT FATEFUL DAY IN NOVEMBER.
I’M A TEXAN MYSELF; I HAD GROWN UP IN HOUSTON AND IN 1962 HAD BEEN
ASSIGNED TO DALLAS AS BUREAU CHIEF FOR CBS NEWS.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
May mean goin’ to jail, but I’m goin’ if it means that…
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
BUT THE STORY I WANTED TO COVER, THE STORY THAT DEMANDED COVERAGE,
WAS FAR FROM TEXAS. IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT AND A YOUNG SOUTHERN PREACHER NAMED DR. MARTIN LUTHER
KING, JR. WAS BEGINNING TO EMERGEON THE NATIONAL SCENE. I FOUND
MYSELF IN PLACES AND DATELINES NOW FAMOUS IN THE STRUGGLE FOR
EQUALITY.
RATHER
Being on the Ole Miss campus is something like being in the eye of a hurricane...
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
THE DESEGREGATION OF OLE MISS AND THE RIOT THAT FOLLOWED -- THAT WAS
1962. A YEAR LATER, ANOTHER SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY - ALABAMA - AND A
GOVERNOR, GEORGE WALLACE, STANDING IN THE DOORWAY DEFYING THE
ORDERS OF THE COURTS AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
BUT I WAS ALSO STRUCK, NOT JUST AS A REPORTER BUT AS A MAN, BY A LEVEL
OF HATRED AND VIOLENCE I HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
RATHER
And the first time I saw a Ku Klux Klan rally, I remember the chill that went up my spine, and
yes, the fear and remember saying to myself, "If I feel this way as a white person, what must
every person of African-American heritage-- for hundreds of miles feel, knowing that this is
going on, this Klan rally?"
Before television, very few in the south would even cover issues of racial segregation, much less
even approaching the Civil Rights Movement. Most newspapers around the country paid very
little attention to it and television brought the reality of what the worst of institutionalized racism
and segregation was doing to the country. It was an eye opener, an eye popper if you will and a
mind expander not only for Caucasians and people who were not of African-American heritage,
but of African-Americans themselves and this created an inner force within the country which
the Kennedy administration had to--begin to come to grips with, that was saying, “Listen, we
can’t tolerate this, now that we’ve seen it. Now that it’s been brought into our living rooms. That
was all coming together as the year 1963 proceeded.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
IN DALLAS TEXAS, MANY OF THE LEADING BUSINESS AND CIVIC LEADERS
LOOKED ON THESE SCENES COMING ACROSS THEIR TELEVISIONS WITH DREAD.
CHILDREN IN A DALLAS SCHOOL
I pledge allegiance to the flag…
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
DALLAS WAS NOT A BASTION OF RACIAL TOLERANCE -- IT WAS THE LAST
MAJOR CITY TO DESEGREGATE ITS PUBLIC SCHOOLS. RIOTS IN DALLAS WOULD
BE BAD FOR BUSINESS AND TARNISH THE IMAGE OF AN UP AND COMING CITY
THAT ASPIRED TO BE SEEN AS MORE LIKE NEW YORK THAN BIRMINGHAM.
NARRATOR ON DALLAS PROMOTIONAL FILM
This is your city -- Dallas!
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
SO BUSINESS LEADERS MADE A PROMOTIONAL FILM PRAISING LAW AND ORDER
WITH NOT VERY SUBTLE RACIAL OVERTONES.
NARRATOR ON DALLAS PROMOTIONAL FILM
Dallas is the finest home on earth to raise a family…
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
IT WAS CALLED “DALLAS AT THE CROSSROADS.”
EARL CABELL, MAYOR OF DALLAS
Dallas is a good city and we want to keep it that way. We need all of our citizens to accept their
civic and their personal responsibilities and to stand up and be counted for law and order.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
THESE HIGH PROFILE PLEAS FOR QUOTE LAW AND ORDER COULD NOT HIDE THE
FACT THAT MANY IN DALLAS WERE SEETHING WITH ANGER AND HATRED
TOWARDS PRESIDENT KENNEDY AS HE PREPARED TO VISIT.
AN AD APPEARED IN THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS ON THE MORNING OF
NOVEMBER 22 THAT QUESTIONED PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S ACTIONS IN OFFICE -AND ACCUSED HIM OF IGNORING THE CONSTITUTION...
FLYERS -- MOCKED UP TO LOOK LIKE “WANTED” POSTERS -- APPEARED ON CAR
WINDSHIELDS ALL OVER DOWNTOWN DALLAS…. THEY CALLED THE PRESIDENT
TREASONOUS.
RATHER
Much of the leadership in Dallas was one, very conservative by its own definition, what others
might call reactionary, deeply, deeply committed to segregation and not making changes in terms
of race. It was virulently -- anti Jack Kennedy. Some of that was based on the fact that he was
Roman Catholic. Some of it was based on the fact that he was, quote, a Yankee, up from
Massachusetts. Some of it was based on the fact that he was in the Democratic Party but much of
the leadership of the city -- not all of it -- but much of the leadership of the city and particularly
with the newspaper, The Dallas Morning News -- all of that was Dallas in 1963.
The state as a whole, Texas as a whole was beginning to change politically, led in part by the
political leadership in Dallas and much of the wealth of Dallas.
Since the Civil War, Texas had been part of a so-called quote, solid south -- which is to say it
always voted Democratic and winning a Democratic primary was tantamount to being elected in
the state. That’s the way it had been since the 1860s.
But what this created was--within the Democratic Party--a huge split between, if you want to call
it is, the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and the quote, conservative, or at least self
described conservative part of the Democratic Party. These tensions, differences of opinions and
fractures within the Democratic Party had been contained within the party until the beginning of
the 1960s.
This was very important to President Kennedy and his aspirations to win a second term in 1964.
And it was in fact the reason that President Kennedy came to Dallas. Now no question that
President Kennedy had been briefed on what the Dallas of 1963 was, what it really was, as
opposed to what some optimists would like him to believe it was politically. But it’s my opinion
that he did not have a full recognition of how so much of the power structure of the Dallas of
1963 was not just opposed to him, but hated him.
Now it was a strange mix, a rich mix if you will, there were plenty of people who were
committed to the Democratic party who liked John Kennedy, who had high hopes for his
presidency, so one has to allow for light and shade when you describe the Dallas of 1963 but
without question, there was a strong element of the leadership of the city that not only disliked
John Kennedy but had a deep and abiding hatred for him.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
As the Kennedy presidency rolled into the autumn of 1963, keep in mind, the presidential
election is only about a year away. The Kennedy presidency-- its own assessment was that it had
finally picked up its rhythm. It's finally found its groove, if you will, that nearly everybody-agreed that the-- the young John Kennedy-- his presidency had gotten off to not a very good
start. There was the Bay of Pigs disaster, there was the meeting with Nikita Khrushchev which
turned out to be disastrous by the President's own thinking, that they got off to a slow start to say
the least but within the administration there was a sense -- by the time they got to the summer
and now the early fall of 1963 -- “you know what, it's taken us a while but we've learned it now,
we're beginning to make some headway.”
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY, “Radio and Television Report to the American People on
the State of the National Economy” (August 13, 1962)
The worst deficit comes from a recession…
RATHER
There’d been the tax reduction which had gone over very well.
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY, "Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort"
(September 12, 1962)
We choose to go to the moon…
RATHER
There was the committing the United States to be the first on the moon before the end of the
decade.
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY, "A Strategy of Peace" Commencement Address at
American University (June 10, 1963)
I realize the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war…
RATHER
The president had given one of the better speeches of his presidency at American University
laying out a way for peace at that height of the Cold War. So the administration was beginning
to feel pretty good about itself. But there were those voices within the party including Vice
President Lyndon Johnson and Johnson protégé, John Connally, the Governor of Texas who
were saying-- not whispering -- but saying quietly, "Mr. President, yes, your administration is
doing better, but don't forget that you barely won in 1960. In Texas, where you only won by
some 50,000 votes or whatever it was 1960 and was the whole reason you won the presidency,
you're not nearly as popular today in our judgment, partly because you're more known and a lot
of people don't like your policies. But here's the thing, Mr. President-- the forces of the
Republican party have been in there and they're raising money, not just from oil and gas interest
but from others in the state and you've got to get down there and do-- help us--" Lyndon Johnson
and John Connally, in effect, "You've got to help yourself and help us do the following: pull the
party together, get the Democratic party which is beginning to come apart at the seams in kind of
a red state/blue state potential way gotta get the party to pull together. Two: raise money, you
can't just give the Republicans a free raise money range in Texas for the rest of the time." And
that resonated of course with President Kennedy and those around him and was the primary
reason that the president was coming to Texas. It was to be a political trip. He was to visit-- all
of the-- the major cities. He was to make peace with the warring factions within the Democratic
Party and he was to tap the big money.
And one reason that it was insisted upon that the First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy come was, you
know, "The-- the country has sort of warmed to the Kennedy family and one of the things you
have going for you in the 1964 election is your youth, your vigor-- your family, this beautiful,
intelligent wife which many people who don't even like you or your policies admire the symbol
she represents as first lady of the country. So come down with Mrs. Kennedy. Spend a few days
patching over differences within the party, raising big money and fueling a new popularity for
yourself because that potential is there in Texas. It's-- it's there for you. But you have to come
down to the state to do it."
NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER
Mrs. Kennedy’s entrance draws another comment from the president.
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY (speaking at Ft. Worth Chamber of Commerce Breakfast on
the morning of November 22, 1963)
Two years ago I said - introduced myself in Paris by saying that I was the man who had
accompanied Mrs. Kennedy to Paris. I’m getting that - somewhat that same sensation as I travel
around Texas...
RATHER
Now I know when I was called, remember, I'd only been with CBS News-- fewer than two years.
I didn't wanna do it. Frankly, seems kind of a political routine trip and I had the Civil Rights
movement as my main focus and was passionately engaged in the responsibilities of covering
that. But-- I was sent to set up the coverage in Texas. And so I dutifully went and-- and did it.
And that is what occasioned my being in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963.
ACT 3
DAN RATHER (VOICE OVER)
PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S TRIP TO TEXAS IN 1963 WAS PLANNED TO COVER FIVE
CITIES AND CBS NEWS PUT THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF ITS RESOURCES INTO
DALLAS, BECAUSE WE FELT THAT WAS WHERE UNPREDICTABLE NEWS MIGHT
BREAK. NO ONE WAS THINKING ASSASSINATION BUT DALLAS WAS THE
EPICENTER OF HARD RIGHT POLITICAL OPERATIONS HIGH AND LOW WHO
DESPISED DEMOCRATS AND WERE DEDICATED TO GIVING THEM TROUBLE....
SOME OF THIS WAS LED BY FORMER U.S. ARMY GENERAL EDWIN WALKER…
EDWIN WALKER
Well, there’s an enemy within this country and, of course, it’s the same enemy that -- represents
the position that we should do away with the House Un-American Activities Committee…
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
AND THE FAR RIGHT-WING JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY…
ROBERT W. WELCH, JR., FOUNDER OF THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY
Ladies and gentlemen, what is the John Birch Society? An adequate answer to that question
requires two full days…
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
THE KENNEDY WHITE HOUSE KNEW THEY MIGHT HAVE SOME TROUBLES IN
DALLAS. IN 1960, THEN SENATOR FROM TEXAS AND SOON VICE PRESIDENT
LYNDON JOHNSON AND HIS WIFE LADYBIRD WERE ACCOSTED BY A MOB IN
DOWNTOWN DALLAS. AND THEN IN OCTOBER 1963, JUST WEEKS BEFORE
PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S VISIT, HIS UN AMBASSADOR, ADLAI STEVENSON, WAS
SPAT UPON AND STRUCK BY A SIGN-WIELDING PROTESTER.
ADLAI STEVENSON
Surely my dear friend I don’t have to come here from Illinois to teach Texas manners, do I?
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
THE ATMOSPHERE WAS SO TENSE, THAT THE CITY’S POLICE CHIEF TOOK TO THE
AIR WAVES TO APPEAL FOR PEACE AND CALM.
CHIEF JESSE CURRY
Nothing must occur that is disrespectful or degrading to the President of the United States. He is
entitled to the highest respect of all of our citizens. Now the law enforcement agencies in this
area are going to do everything within their power to ensure that no untoward accident or
incident occurs.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
IT WAS INTO THIS ENVIRONMENT THAT JFK ARRIVED.
RATHER
You didn't have to be a reporter-- you didn't have to be particularly well-informed to know-- that
if there was gonna be trouble in the state-- that it was most likely going to be-- in Dallas. More
likely in Dallas than any other place. We weren't particularly heavy in coverage, but we're gonna
be heavier in Dallas than we are any other place.
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY (speaking at Ft. Worth Chamber of Commerce Breakfast on
the morning of November 22, 1963)
This is a very dangerous and uncertain world. We would like to live as we once lived but history
will not permit it. The balance of power is still on the side of freedom. We are still the keystone
in the arch of freedom and I think we will continue to do as we have done in our past, our duty.
RATHER
President Kennedy was to arrive by air from Fort Worth where he'd stayed the night before.
There was to be a motorcade for him through downtown Dallas. It was to end at the now
infamous, at that time not all that well known, Dealey Plaza area and from there the president
was going to go-- speed to the Trade Mart, the Trade Mart was some miles from the center of
Dallas where the president was to make his centerpiece speech of the day. Fair to say-- some of
the most influential people in Dallas would be at that crowd.
Now for the motorcade route, keep in mind-- this is-- before videotape. Things were filmed.
With film, you film the event, then you have to process that film, put it through a chemical
process, process it and bring it out, dry it and then edit the film. All of this is time consuming.
So in the motorcade, there would be a-- the White House press corps with-- the late Bob
Pierpoint -- was the CBS News White House correspondent. He would be in the motorcade with
the press contingent. A CBS camera crew was traveling with the presidential party. They would
be in the motorcade. Now, since the president wasn't due to arrive until roughly the noon hour-the ear-- very early afternoon-- we were on central time which is one hour behind eastern time-looking to get every advantage we could in terms of time to process the film and edit the film
and feed it to New York from our local affiliate station for the CBS Evening News with Walter
Cronkite, we'd worked out the following arrangement: that we would place along the motorcade
route -- couriers, people who would be posted and the camera crew in the-- in the motorcade
would look for people who had yellow grapefruit bags. Yellow grapefruit bags-- I know it
sounds silly-- and in some ways it was but a yellow grapefruit boy-- bag with CBS News on the
side was used by CBS News worldwide. Anytime you saw a yellow grapefruit bag it was likely
to be CBS film. So when the motorcade came by, the cameraman would throw his can of film to
the person with the yellow grapefruit bag who then would run it back to the local station and we
could get, if you will, a jump on-- in terms of time in terms of processing that film.
And we had-- I think it was three -- I’m pretty sure it was three different positions where that
was to happen. We did not have anybody at the very end of the motorcade. Motorcade, as now
many people know, made sort of a left turn in front of the School Book Depository and then was
to go-- under an underpass-- railroad passed over it. And at that point-- that-- the motorcade
would officially end. That was the end of the motorcade route there. And the motorcade would
pick up speed and go onto the Trade Mart, the place where the president was to make his speech.
So the day it turned out to be a pretty nice day which in the history of the day-- turned out to be
ironic and tragic because while rain had been predicted and the Secret Service wanted to have the
cover on the presidential limousine, because the weather had begun to clear up and President
Kennedy wanted to feel close to the crowds-- his decision overru-- rode the Secret Service and
the top was off the-- the limousine.
None of that was known to me at the time and I just thought, "Well, it-- it's-- the day's turning
out pretty nice so I think I'll-- I'll go down. It's only-- a very few blocks-- to the Dealey Plaza
and position myself where the motorcade is to officially end. And I'll have my grapefruit bag.
And there probably won't be much-- film to be had there but I'll stand there and take the film
and then I'll come on back to the station and we'll begin to put our report together.”
So that's why I was-- as the motorcade wound its way through Dallas-- at the end of Dealey
Plaza, just the other side of the underpass with a yellow grapefruit bag when the assassination
happened.
When I asked myself immediately after the assassination what had I seen, it was very hard to
recall and it's always been hard to recall. I didn't hear any shots. I didn't hear anybody-shouting anything. It just -- I thought I saw the presidential limousine go by but I couldn't be
sure. I thought, "Well, was Mrs. Kennedy in that-- not? What was this?" But what I do know is
almost immediately I looked and the rest of the motorcade was not coming. And then it occurred
to me, "Something has happened." I had no idea what had happened. An-- an assassination
attempt, I'd have to truthfully say, did not enter my mind at that point. All I knew is, one:
something had happened and two: that I was the person in charge of CBS News coverage for the
day, as it turned out, badly out of position whatever happened, I needed to be at our feed point to
New York which was our affiliated station, KRLD.
Without waiting-- I made my way -- those who know the topography of Dealey Plaza, there's the
railroad track and the overpass and the famous or infamous grassy knoll, if you will -- so I came
up there, stretched out in front is this incredible scene of people shouting, fathers placing
themselves on top of their children and their wives. Some people pointing to the building, some
people pointing, people shouting. Great confusion.
Now I'm really worried. Something has happened here. And anything-- any little thing is gonna
be news. And I've got to get back to the station. The station is only a few blocks away. Bolted-you could make a case, "Well, why didn't you stop-- why didn't you stop and try to find out what
was going on?"
But my job was to be at the-- at the central communications point for CBS News that day. No
story's worth a damn unless you can get it out and whatever the story was I needed to be in the
position that-- at our station. And as soon as I got back in-- in the station, a bulletin had moved
on the-- UP wire-- that shots had been fired at-- at the president. It was-- a great dictated lead by
the late Merriman Smith. At that moment, instinct kicks in to a very large degree was, "Okay,
they must be taking to Parkland Hospital.” And right there let’s pause... Remember, there're no
cell phones. Most places of business of any size at all had a switchboard. There were no direct-you go through a switchboard kind of thing. Did get through to the hospital. The switchboard
operator, in fact, hung up on me. Called right back, begged her not to-- hang up. "Please don't
hang up on me." Which happened. This woman was not panicked. But she was clearly-worried and-- sequence of events happened following that-- in no particular order…
I talked to a doctor. Talked to a priest. Eddie Barker, who was the news director at KRLD, was
at the Trade Mart where the president was to speak. Eddie had talked to someone on the board
of the hospital who had indicated to-- to Eddie that he-- this board member-- thought the
president was dead. And very quickly what we had is we had a member of the b-- the hospital
board telling Eddie Barker he thought the president was dead. Doctor telling me, priest telling
me that the president-- president was dead. I'm saying to myself, "What do we have here?" And
what we have is a dead president.
I was on open line to New York with radio, the radio and television sections of CBS News world
headquarters in New York on 57th Street were near one another. But they were in separate-areas of the building, if you will. And I was on an open phone line-- with radio. There was
another-- line that went to-- to television. But the-- the radio desk person-- said, "What's the
situation?" And I said, "He's dead." He said, "The president is dead?" I said, "Yes."
ALAN JACKSON, CBS NEWS RADIO ANCHOR
Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States is dead.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
THIS IS A RECORDING OF THE ACTUAL RADIO REPORT FROM THAT DAY WHERE
CBS RADIO ANCHOR ALAN JACKSON BROKE THE NEWS.
JACKSON
We repeat, it has just been announced that President Kennedy is dead.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
THE PLAN WAS TO PLAY THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER BUT IN THE CHAOS OF
THE MOMENT, SOMEONE PLAYED A DIFFERENT PIECE OF MUSIC -- AT THE
WRONG SPEED. A COUPLE OF MINUTES LATER, ANOTHER ANNOUNCEMENT OF
THE DEATH - AND THE NATIONAL ANTHEM.
RATHER
When radio played the Star Spangled Banner and announced the death of the president, there
was-- a moment or two of-- of kind of shock or pull back of, "Well, wait a minute, maybe we
should have discussed this before we-- we do it." And-- and I can't remember what I said. But,
you know, the person at the other end of the line said, "Well, you said he was dead." I said,
"Well, I did say he was dead. And I-- I think he's dead. I'm sure he's dead." He said, "Well,
what's the problem?" It was that sort of quick conversation. But the thought occurred to me that,
"Look, this is well a grade-- above my pay grade. I mean, I'm a reporter-- and I know what I
have. I know what we have. And I know that that shouts that the president's dead." But, you
know, it's heavy to play the Star Spangled Banner and announce it-- while the government
officially hadn't announced it. And it certainly went through my mind that if by any-- stretch it
turns out not to be true-- I-- I was sure it was true. But it-- was, “Look, I'll probably have to do
another line of work-- if-- if for any reason this turns out not to be true.” But I don't wanna-- say
too much about that because-- there wasn't any doubt in my mind that the president was dead and
while I would have preferred that somebody else take the responsibility-- that once they played
the Star Spangled Banner and announced that he was dead it didn't take long to say to myself,
"Well, you know, I know what I know. And I know he's dead and that's that."
WALTER CRONKITE
We just have a report from our correspondent Dan Rather in Dallas that he has confirmed that
President Kennedy is dead.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
AT 2:27 PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME, SEVERAL MINUTES LATER, WALTER
CRONKITE BROKE THE NEWS TO THE TELEVISION AUDIENCE. IT TOOK ANOTHER
10-PLUS MINUTES FOR THE NEWS TO OFFICIALLY COME FROM THE WHITE
HOUSE.
CRONKITE
From Dallas, Texas the flash apparently official -- President Kennedy died at 1PM Central
Standard Time, 2 o’clock Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.
RATHER
I wasn't experienced enough at the time to know what I came to know later as a reporter, that
when some cataclysmic event happens, an assassination of a president, a 9/11, a challenger
explosion, earthquake, what have you, your immediate reaction as a journalist, maybe especially
as a journalist on scene, is virtually the same as every other citizen.
In the case of the Kennedy assassination itself, the immediate thought the rush that went through,
"This can't be happening. This can't be happening in America. This-- this is unbelievable." It's
an emotional earthquake to you. That's the first rush. But then, your experience dictates to you a
version of, "I can't deal with this. I can't deal with my emotions right now.” One has to get laserbeam focused on the story. Nothing counts but the story. Your own emotions-- you don't deal
with them, you can't deal with them. You know, did I want to weep? You bet. Did I want to
curse? Yes. Did I want to pound my fist against the wall? Yes. Did I want to pray? Yes. All
of those, I think, very human under the circumstances, very American reactions to the president
being assassinated. For a nanosecond or so, that's what I wanted to do but then kicked in the,
"You're a reporter. This is a story, the likes of which you've never had to deal with. And you
may never deal with again. So put your emotions aside, push them down, deal with them later,
do what you're trained to do. Do what your instincts tell you to do and hope for the best."
ACT 4
DAN RATHER
My most vivid memory of the day is the realization that the president was dead. Having been
told by the people at the hospital, doctors, priest-- the realization that it wasn't just a case the
president had been shot at, if you’ll pardon that syntax, not just a case the president had been hit,
he was dead.
We had the assassination on Friday, the interrogation of the assassin on Saturday and then still
almost incredible to me, the assassination of the assassin on Sunday and then the funeral and the
national day of mourning led by the first lady on Monday, what we now call the four dark days
in Dallas.
As a reporter I wanted-- I wanted badly to be-- for our coverage to be not just good, but to be
great. It was important to the country. Mine was a small, almost infinitesimal role, but in so far
as I had a role, I wanted to do it as well as I could do it. I wanted to do it well f-- yes, for CBS
News but I wanted to do it for my country. That-- I thought it was important and I knew it was
important and the-- the days didn't go by in a blur but they were endless. I don't think that I slept
more than two or three or four hours the whole weekend. Perhaps I did but my memory is-- is
almost no sleep.
RATHER (MONTAGE OF REPORTS FROM THE FOUR DARK DAYS)
Not many people at this moment are looking at the building where the shot came… the crowd
now has moved to the sidewalk, facing the county jail away from the wreath… which was placed
there early this morning to mark the approximate spot where President Kennedy…The county
jail is where 24 year old Lee Oswald is expected to be brought any time now. He has been at
Dallas police headquarters, about a mile and a half or two miles from this location, since his
arrest yesterday afternoon for the assassination of President Kennedy… They came to see the
exact spot in the street...They’re average Dallasites: the butcher, the baker, the housewife, the
candlestick maker. They’re --they’re all over there. They want to look at Oswald; they want to
see just who it is the state thinks did this terrible thing… This is the County Jail in Dallas. It’s
located a short distance from the city jail where Lee Oswald is now. This county jail is the likely
next stop for the man accused of being the assassin of President Kennedy.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
OF COURSE OSWALD NEVER MADE IT TO THE COUNTY JAIL. HE WAS SHOT AND
KILLED IN THE POLICE STATION BY JACK RUBY. ONE OF MANY STRANGE
EVENTS DURING THOSE DAYS IN DALLAS THAT STILL SEEM SURREAL TO ME.
RATHER
In the immediate wake of the official announcement that the president was dead, then it was,
"Are there any pictures?" Remember, this is 1963. Home movie cameras were around, some
families have them but-- home movie cameras were-- were not all that common. Remember, no
cell phone-- cameras whatsoever and we started searching-- those of us on the CBS News team
and with our affiliate newsmen at KRLD trying to find pictures. We were thinking mostly in
terms of still pictures. The ultimate of course would be moving pictures and sometime in the late
afternoon, maybe it was early evening, it’s a blur, but we got a lead that this-- yes, someone had
seen someone with a movie camera and that-- led us to indeed finding-- Mr. Zapruder-- who said
that he-- th-- he had filmed it and he thought he had filmed the whole thing. My recollection he
said, "Might take two or three days to get it processed” because Kodak-- that's the way it was in
the home camera and we among others helped-- make arrangements to get the film of course
processed right away which resulted in-- in I and the Time-Life representative, Dick Stolley, the
next day being invited to the lawyer's office to see the Zapruder film and, you know, it was-- it-attorney simply said, "We're gonna put this film up once and only once. You'll view it once and
only once and after you've seen it and see what is in it-- we'll entertain bids-- for it to-- for the
rights to it." I think when the film was up on the wall-- I really think-- I know I was gapemouthed and I think I was literally bug-eyed. It went by so quickly.
At that moment I have, you know, I've seen the assassination. There it is. And I left the room al- almost taking the hinges off the-- the door and shouted, you know-- "I'm gonna go file and tell
people I've seen. I'll be back." Raced to the KRLD studios, our main transmission point to New
York to describe from memory this film that I've seen one time -- to camera, live on television -describe this Zapruder film which nobody else had.
RATHER (LIVE CBS REPORT)
The films we saw were taken by an amateur photographer who had a particularly good vantage
point just past the building from which the fatal shot was fired.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
LIFE MAGAZINE WON THE BIDDING AND PUBLISHED STILLS FROM THE
ZAPRUDER FILM, BUT IT WAS NOT UNTIL 1975, THAT THE FILM ITSELF WAS
SHOWN ON NETWORK TELEVISION.
RATHER (LIVE CBS REPORT)
Only she knows, but it appeared that she was trying desperately to get the Secret Service man’s
attention or perhaps to help pull him into the car. The car never stopped, it never paused. In the
front seat a Secret Service man was on the telephone. The car picked up speed and disappeared
beneath an underpass.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
AS A YOUNG REPORTER, I COULDN’T HELP BUT FEEL THE WEIGHT OF THESE
RESPONSIBILITIES. NEWS SEEMED TO BE COMING FROM ALL DIRECTIONS AND
YOU KNEW THAT MILLIONS OF AMERICANS - STILL IN SHOCK - WERE - FOR THE
FIRST TIME IN HISTORY - NOW LOOKING TO TELEVISION NEWS - FOR ANSWERS
TO THEIR QUESTIONS.
RATHER
These are the latest developments concerning Lee Oswald, the man accused of assassinating
President Kennedy…
RATHER
New York would say, “You’re going to be up in 5 minutes, tell us what you can.” Trying to hold
back the chaos was no small thing and when it came time for the network to go off the air-- no
network would now go off the air, we'd be on the air, around the clock for days but at that time
networks went off the air. Most stations played the Star Spangled Banner. And I remember-sort of-- mouthing the words and also reminding myself-- that I needed to call home. That my
wife, Jean and-- my two young children, my daughter-- my oldest child, and my son-- the
youngest-- still of an early age-- about roughly the age of-- the president's-- children. But I had
spoken only briefly-- to my family-- during the day and-- picked up the phone and called them
and had the first anywhere near lengthy conversation. It wasn't all that lengthy but the first really
substantive conversation of the day at that time.
Jean did most of the talking and it was, as is typical of her, supportive and encouraging and-briefly telling me what she had-- told the children, that she had the decision-- being a wife and
mother at home alone-- to how much to tell each child-- that she had tried to explain to them,
but-- you know, we said those-- those things-- those personal, intimate things that-- husbands
and wives say to one another and I was very much concerned about the children as was-- Jean.
And she also urged me to get some sleep. But I knew that-- sleep wouldn't come.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25TH, CAME THE STATE FUNERAL IN WASHINGTON, DC.
STILL IN DALLAS, I WATCHED ON TELEVISION - AS MILLIONS OF OTHERS DID THE NOW ICONIC IMAGES OF THE CAISSON MAKING ITS WAY THROUGH THE
STREETS OF OUR NATION’S CAPITAL. THIS WAS THE FOURTH DARK DAY AND I
KNEW THAT THE CENTER OF GRAVITY WAS MOVING FROM DALLAS TO
WASHINGTON AND A NEW ADMINISTRATION. FOR THOSE OF US WORKING THE
STORY, IT WAS OUR FIRST CHANCE TO STOP, AND MOURN WITH THE REST OF
THE COUNTRY.
RATHER
I can't say that I'm surprised about the continuing American fascination with the Kennedy family,
what some call the Kennedy dynasty. We know from history that this-- this often happens when
charismatic leaders die young, and particularly when they are taken suddenly and violently. The
shortness of the Kennedy presidency and the-- what many people see as its promise, which was
cut short after only 1,000 days is what keeps this fascination with-- I don't like the term, but
perhaps it's apt-- of as close to American royalty as we're going to have with the Kennedys-- no
surprise about that. Nor do I think there should be all that much surprise about the continuing
conspiracy theories about the president's death.
RATHER (CBS REPORT)
During the last 5 months, CBS has been filming interviews with people involved in the Kennedy
and Oswald murder stories. All of these people were principal witnesses for the Warren
Commission.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
OVER THE YEARS, I WAS PART OF SEVERAL INDEPENDENT CBS NEWS
INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE ASSASSINATION…
RATHER (CBS REPORT)
It is vital to reconstruct Lee Harvey Oswald’s actions...
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
INCLUDING EXTENSIVE COVERAGE AROUND THE REPORT PREPARED BY THE
WARREN COMMISSION REPORT.
RATHER (CBS REPORT)
One missed, one struck both the President and Texas Governor John Connally, riding with him,
the third shot killed the President.
RATHER
I'm at an age and stage where I'm tolerant of other people's views about the president's death.
Don't wanna argue with anybody about it. I believed at the time-- I believe after leading no
fewer than four CBS News independent investigations of the assassination that while the Warren
Commission, the process was flawed, I think their conclusion was not. I do believe there was
one gun, one shooter, Oswald was the shooter. I consider that beyond any reasonable doubt.
Don't wanna argue with anybody who has other views and understand that a lot of other people-think that that's wrong if not outrageous.
Now, as to whether anybody else -- anybody else -- was involved with Oswald in arranging the
assassination, I'm open-minded about it. I think the Warren Commission probably should’ve left
itself -- make its preliminary conclusion - left itself open for a while. There're all kinds of
questions about the C.I.A., the Cubans, mobs, so forth and so on. But what I come down to, one
man's opinion. I've looked into this over a lifetime. S-- led investigation for CBS News in
which we try to disprove-- the Warren Commission conclusions and try to prove a conspiracy,
couldn't do it. I do think that Oswald acted alone.
You know, as time goes along people say, "Well, history will eventually show." I doubt that. If
we're still debating the Lincoln assassination, there's still conspiracy theorists about the Lincoln
assassination, I think so it will be with-- about the Kennedy assassination.
But it's very difficult to keep a conspiracy for very long. Not impossible. There are some
examples. But overwhelmingly somebody eventually talks to their girlfriend or wife. Somebody
eventually whispers to a priest or somebody slips. Many of the conspiracy theories about the
Kennedy assassination involve not just hundreds but thousands of people. It's the C.I.A., the
Defense Department-- Lyndon Johnson and his political apparatus-- widespread-- organized
crime. With that many people involved in a conspiracy, it's possible but it's not probable that
after 50 years with that many people involved in the conspiracy that we wouldn't have closer to
some conclusive evidence. It's just food for thought. Not impossible - but -- but --not probable.
RATHER (VOICE OVER)
THERE WILL ALWAYS BE QUESTIONS ABOUT THOSE DAYS IN DALLAS AND
WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF PRESIDENT KENNEDY HAD LIVED. WE CAN
ONLY GUESS WHETHER MAJOR CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION WOULD HAVE
PASSED IN A 2ND KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION AS IT DID UNDER PRESIDENT
JOHNSON. ANOTHER UNKNOWN IS WHETHER THE HISTORY OF THE VIETNAM
WAR WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT AND IF SO, HOW?
WHAT WE DO KNOW IS DALLAS WAS A TURNING POINT IN HOW AMERICANS GET
THEIR NEWS. TELEVISION JOURNALISM CAME INTO ITS OWN THOSE FOUR DAYS
IN NOVEMBER 50 YEARS AGO. IT HAD TO. USING TECHNOLOGY THAT NOW
SEEMS ALMOST ARCHAIC, AMERICANS FOR THE FIRST TIME WERE BROUGHT
FACE TO FACE WITH A NATIONAL TRAGEDY - WITH PICTURES - IN REAL TIME.
AND IT ALL HAPPENED IN AN INSTANT -- HISTORY TURNED ON ITS HEAD ON THIS
NON-DESCRIPT AREA OF DOWNTOWN. 50 YEARS AGO, MY DAYS IN DALLAS. IT
ALL STILL SEEMS SO EERIE, SO STRANGE, SO SAD.