LBJ’S GRACE AMID GRIEF
Consoled First Lady in horrifying aftermath of JFK slay 55 yrs. ago
Even in the anxious hours following national tragedy — John F. Kennedy's assassination 55 years ago, on Nov. 22, 1963 — Lyndon Johnson realized the importance of respecting a symbolic constitutional ritual.
In his very first request as President, LBJ invited Mrs. Kennedy to “stand with us for the swearing-in ceremony.” Together the new President and grieving former First Lady made a compelling scene of patriotism and courage on one of the worst days in U.S. history.
I was working as a White House correspondent for Westinghouse Broadcasting Company that sunny, warm day in Dallas. Tens of thousands lined the downtown streets to welcome the President, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Vice President Johnson, and other dignitaries.
From my seat on a press bus, I heard clearly the three shots fired by assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, and saw the crowds panic. The presidential limousine with the President, Mrs. Kennedy and Texas Gov. John Connally and his wife Nellie, sped to nearby Parkland Memorial Hospital.
I soon got myself to Parkland. While I was on the phone with my office in Washington, a fellow reporter, Jerry terHorst of the Detroit News, interviewed a Catholic priest.
Jerry waved me over just in time to hear the priest, Father Oscar Huber, say: “He's dead, all right. I just gave President Kennedy the last rites.”
My editor, Jim Snyder, and I agreed not to broadcast the news of Kennedy's death before the official White House announcement. But it was only a matter of minutes until I went on the air with White House assistant press secretary Malcolm Kilduff's terse statement:
“President John F. Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time today in Dallas.”
All hell broke loose as reporters ran for telephones.
While I was broadcasting over a phone, a White House aide approached me — and virtually dragged me to an unmarked Dallas police cruiser, its motor running. Two other White House correspondents — Merriman Smith of United Press International and Charles Roberts of Newsweek — were waiting for me.
The officer driving the car slammed the accelerator. We sped off at over 70 mph, through police roadblocks and over median strips. The officer did not reveal our destination but the three of us figured we were heading to Air Force One, several miles away at Love Field.
As we pulled up, Secret Service agents were struggling to place President Kennedy's casket aboard the plane.
LBJ was waiting in a compartment amidships. Smith, Roberts and I sensed the urgency. The Secret Service was concerned about other possible assassins in Dallas and wanted Johnson and Mrs. Kennedy to leave as soon as possible.
Johnson sent his secretary, Marie Fehmer, to a rear compartment to ask Mrs. Kennedy if she would stand with us for the swearing-in. Jackie said she needed a few minutes to compose herself.
Just before the ceremony, Mrs. Kennedy appeared in the doorway of the forward compartment. LBJ greeted her, and in a display of compassion, took both her hands, and walked her to the center of the compartment. She wore the same pink outfit she wore in the motorcade, stained with her husband's blood. She was wide-eyed, staring.
I counted 28 people in the room, many of them the young Kennedy staffers who had made the long, victorious 1960 march with JFK to the White House. The room filled with sobbing. Tears streaked the mascara on the cheeks of the young female JFK staffers. Jackie, 34 years old, spoke not a word, her sadness overpowering.
Johnson placed Jackie on his left and and Mrs Johnson on his right as he took the oath of office.
Saul Pett of The Associated Press wrote of President Johnson's behavior that day: “A new hand reached out to soothe the stricken soul of the Republic.” I've never forgotten those words.