Timeline of the John F. Kennedy assassination

Prelude

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

The White House announces that the Dallas Trade Mart would be the site of President Kennedy’s luncheon address and there would definitely be a motorcade through downtown Dallas. Up until that point there was speculation in the news media that Kennedy’s tight schedule in Texas would not allow enough time for a motorcade through Dallas.

November 16, 1963: President Kennedy tours Cape Canaveral to inspect plans for the U.S. man-to-the-moon project and to direct the submarine firing of a Polaris A-2 missile.

November 17, 1963: President Kennedy stays in Palm Beach, Florida spending much of the day preparing for the five speeches he will deliver the next day in Tampa and Miami.

November 18, 1963: President Kennedy gives three speeches in Tampa plus a motorcade through the city, then flies to Miami and gives two more speeches including a hemisphere policy talk at the Miami Beach convention of the Inter-American Press Association where he urges the Cuban people to overthrow the Castro regime.[116] He then flies back to Washington D.C. late that evening. On the return flight, Kennedy confided to his good friend Senator George Smathers (D-FL) that Vice President Lyndon Johnson wanted First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to ride in the car with him during the upcoming tour of Texas.

November 19, 1963: In an informal discussion with his secretary Evelyn Lincoln, President Kennedy revealed some of the plans he had for his next administration if he were re-elected in 1964. He informs Lincoln that he is seriously considering replacing Vice President Lyndon Johnson as his running mate in 1964 with Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina.

November 22, 1963: The second in a series of articles on the Bobby Baker scandal appears in Life Magazine.

Kennedy's upcoming trip to Dallas was first announced to the public in September 1963. The exact motorcade route was finalized on November 18 and announced to the public a few days before November 22.

During the third week of October 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was living in a rented room in a boarding house in the Oak Cliff district of Dallas. He had just been hired for a seasonal job at the Texas School Book Depository as a $1.25/hour clerk, filling customer orders for books. Oswald had obtained the job after a referral by Ruth Paine, with whom Lee's wife, Marina Oswald, and the Oswald children were living. At about the same time, Ruth had also separated from her husband, Michael Paine.

A month before Kennedy's ill-fated trip, U.N. Ambassador Stevenson was jeered, jostled, hit by a sign, and spat upon when he visited Dallas to mark U.N. Day. Dallas Police were fearful that similar demonstrations would occur when Kennedy visited Dallas. Several people, including Stevenson, warned JFK against coming to Dallas, but Kennedy ignored their advice. 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. Curry even deputized citizens to take action for any suspicious acts that could have been pointed towards the president.

President Kennedy's Texas trip schedule

Thursday, November 21

San Antonio: Dedication speech for U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base.
Houston: Testimonial dinner at the Sam Houston Coliseum, honoring Congressman Albert Thomas (Beforehand, the Presidential party makes an impromptu visit at a League of United Latin American Citizens dinner at the Rice Hotel. After the President's brief address, the First Lady speaks to the audience in Spanish.)
Fort Worth: Arrival at Hotel Texas.

Friday, November 22

Fort Worth: Chamber of Commerce breakfast speech at Hotel Texas.
Dallas: Luncheon speech attended by Dallas Citizens Council, Dallas Assembly and Graduate Research Center of the Southwest at Trade Mart.
Austin: Fundraising dinner speech at Municipal Auditorium.
Johnson City: Weekend of relaxation at Lyndon Johnson's ranch.

November 21: Arrival in Fort Worth

On Thursday, 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 walk down the steps of the aircraft and are met by Raymond Buck, president of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and his wife.

Air Force Two also lands at Carswell with vice president Lyndon B. Johnson, the Texas governor John Connally, and Senator Ralph Yarborough. Connally and Yarborough dislike each other so much that Yarborough is unwilling to travel in the same car as Johnson, who is an ally of Connally. The following day, the president tells him to ride with Johnson.

At 11:35 p.m., the First Couple arrives at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth, after being cheered by thousands of well-wishers lined on the route towards the West Freeway. Despite the late time and rainy weather, the President and Mrs. Kennedy take some time to shake hands with well-wishers gathered outside the hotel before retiring to their assigned suite (Room 850) for the night.

Digital Identifier:
JFKWHF-WHN17
Title:
The Last Two Days, November 1963: 21-22
Date(s) of Materials:
November 1963: 21-22
Description:
Motion picture covering highlights of the final two days in the life of President John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy makes scheduled public appearances and delivers remarks, including his last public words, and interacts informally with crowds that greet him in San Antonio, Houston, Fort Worth, and Dallas, Texas. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Governor John Connally, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson make appearances with President Kennedy. Also included is a brief segment as the late President's body is returned to the White House on November 23, 1963. Portions of the soundtrack include radio narration of the assassination

"THE LAST TWO DAYS" (1963)
27,060 views Aug 29, 2013

David Von Pein's JFK Channel
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White House photographers Tom Atkins and Robert Knudsen shot this 19-minute film of President Kennedy's "Last Two Days" on November 21st and 22nd, 1963. This is the only color motion picture footage taken by a professional cameraman/photographer during JFK's fateful trip to Texas.