Timeline of the John F. Kennedy assassination

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,^[64] honoring Congressman Albert Thomas.

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.

Motorcade vehicles and personnel

The following lists the order of the vehicles in the Nov. 22, 1963 Dallas Presidential motorcade, along with their occupants:^[66]

• The lead car, an unmarked white 4-door Ford Mercury sedan:
  • Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry (driver)
  • SA (Advance Agent) Winston Lawson (right front)
  • Dallas County Sheriff Bill Decker (left rear)
  • SAIC Forrest Sorrels (right rear)
• Presidential limousine, a midnight blue 4-door 1961 Lincoln Continental Convertible (modified) (SS-100-X):
  • Driver Agent William Greer (driver)
  • ASAIC Roy Kellerman, in charge of the White House detail for the Texas trip (right front),
  • Nellie Connally (left middle)
  • Governor John Connally (right middle)
  • First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (left rear)
  • President John F. Kennedy (right rear)
• Motorcycle escorts for the Presidential limousine
  • Dallas Police Officer Billy Joe Martin (left)
  • Dallas Police Officer Robert W. "Bobby" Hargis (left)
  • Dallas Police Officer James M. Chaney (right)
  • Dallas Police Officer Douglas L. Jackson (right)
• Presidential Secret Service follow-up car, a black 4-door 1956 Cadillac Touring convertible (SS-679-X) code-named "Halfback":^[67]
  • Driver Agent Sam Kinney (driver)
  • ATSAIC Emory Roberts (right front)
  • SA Clint Hill, in charge of the First Lady's security (left front running board)
  • SA William T. McIntyre (left rear running board)
  • SA Jack Ready (right front running board)
  • SA Paul Landis (right rear running board)
  • Presidential aide Kenneth O'Donnell (left middle)
  • Presidential aide David Powers (right middle)
  • Driver Agent George Hickey (left rear)
  • SA Glen Bennett (right rear)
• Vice Presidential car, a steel grey 4-door 1964 Lincoln convertible:
  • Texas State Policeman Hurchel Jacks (Driver)
  • ASAIC Rufus Youngblood (Front Passenger)
  • Senator Ralph Yarborough (Left rear)
  • Second Lady Lady Bird Johnson (Middle Rear)
  • Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson (Right Rear)
• Vice Presidential Secret Service follow-up car, a yellow 4-door 1964 Ford Mercury sedan, model 54A Monterey with Breezeway design hardtop code-named "Varsity":
  • Texas State Policeman Joe Henry Rich (driver)
  • Vice Presidential aide Cliff Carter (front middle)
  • SA Jerry Kivett (right front),
  • SA Woody Taylor (left rear)
  • ATSAIC Lem Johns (right rear)
• Mayor's car, a white 2-door 1964 Ford Mercury Comet Caliente convertible, model 76B with red interior:
  • Texas State Policeman Milton T. Wright (driver)
  • Dallas Mayor, Earle Cabell (front right)
  • Mrs. Earle (Elizabeth "Dearie") Cabell (left rear)
  • Texas Congressman, Ray Roberts (right rear)
• National press pool car, a greyblue 2-door 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air sedan hardtop (on loan from Southwestern Bell telephone company):^[68]
  • Telephone company employee (driver)
  • Malcolm Kilduff, White House assistant press secretary (right front)
    • For this trip, Kilduff was substituting for Pierre Salinger, who was traveling to Japan with several cabinet officers, including Secretary of State Dean Rusk.^[69][70][71]
  • Merriman Smith, UPI (middle front)^[68]
  • Robert Baskin, The Dallas Morning News (left rear)
  • Jack Bell, AP (middle rear)^[72]
  • Bob Clark, ABC (right rear)
• Camera car #1, national motion picture cameras, a yellow 2-door 1964 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport (SS) convertible:
  • Texas State Policeman Harlan E. Veasey (driver)
  • John Hofan, NBC sound (middle front)
  • Dave Wiegman, Jr., NBC Black & White movie (right front)
  • Thomas J. Craven, CBS Black & White movie (left rear)
  • Cleveland Ryan, lighting technician (middle rear)
  • Thomas "Ollie" Atkins, U.S. Navy, White House color movie (right rear)
• Camera car #2, national still cameras, a silver 2-door 1964 Chevrolet Impala convertible:
  • Driver
  • Clint Grant, Dallas Morning News Black & White still (right front)
  • Frank Cancellare, UPI Black & White still (middle right)
  • Cecil Stoughton, White House Communications Agency, White House color still (left rear)
  • Arthur B. Rickerby, Life Black & White still (middle rear)
  • Henry Burroughs, AP Black & White still (right rear)
• Camera car #3, local cameras, a grey 2-door 1964 Chevrolet Impala convertible:
  • An employee of the Department of Public Safety (driver)
  • James H. Underwood, assistant news director for KRLD-TV and KRLD radio, (CBS) Black & White movie (middle front)
  • Thomas C. Dillard, The Dallas Morning News Black & White still (right front)
  • James Darnell, WBAP-TV Channel 8 (NBC) Black & White movie (left rear)
  • Malcolm O. Couch, WFAA-TV Channel 5 (ABC) Black & White movie (middle rear)
  • Bob Jackson, The Dallas Times Herald Black & White still (right rear)
• Congressman's car #1, a white 2-door 1964 Ford Mercury Comet Caliente convertible, model 76B with red top:
  • Driver
  • Congressman George H. Mahon, Lubbock, Texas (right front)
  • Congressman Walter E. Rogers, Pampa, Texas (left rear)
  • Congressman Homer Thornberry, Austin, Texas (middle rear)
  • Larry O'Brien, Special Assistant to the President (right rear)
• Congressman's car #2, a white 2-door Ford Mercury Comet Caliente, model 76D convertible:
  • Driver
  • Congressman Albert Thomas, Houston, Texas (middle front)
  • Congressman Jack Brooks, Beaumont, Texas (right front)
  • Congressman Lindley Beckworth, Gladewater, Texas (left rear)
  • Congressman Olin E. Teague, College Station, Texas (middle rear)
  • Congressman Jim Wright, Fort Worth, Texas (right rear)
• Congressman's car #3, a grey 1964 Lincoln sedan:
  • Driver
  • Congressman John Young, Corpus Christi, Texas (right front)
  • Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez, San Antonio, Texas, Black & White still camera (left rear)
  • State Senator William Neff Patman (middle rear)
  • Congressman Graham Purcell (right rear)
• VIP car, a 4-door 1964 Ford Colony Park Station Wagon, model 71D (9 passenger):
  • Maj. General Ted Clifton, U.S. Army, Presidential Military Aid (driver)
  • Maj. General Godfrey McHugh, USAF, Presidential Military Aid (right front)
  • Julian Reed, Gov. Connolly's Press Secretary (left rear)
• Two Continental Trailways press buses, a local press car (4-door Chevrolet hardtop), a Western Union car (black 1957 Ford hardtop), the White House Signal Corps car (a white 4-door 1964 Chevrolet Impala Sedan hardtop) (carrying Warrant Officer Ira Gearhart, who carried the President's Emergency Satchel, aka the "nuclear football"), the Official Party bus (Continental Trailways bus) (carrying Evelyn Lincoln, the President's Personal Secretary, and Rear Admiral George G. Burkley, MD, the President's Physician), several extra cars, and police escorts follow.
• Abbreviations used above include:
  • SA: Secret Service Special Agent
  • SAIC: Special Agent in Charge
  • ASAIC: Assistant Special Agent in Charge
  • ATSAIC: Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge
  • Driver Agent: Secret Service driver agents operated through their own command chain. Driver agents were typically recruited from the uniformed White House Police Force.^[73]

12:30 p.m. (CST): Shots are fired

According to witnesses, the shooting occurred shortly after the limousine made the sharp left-hand turn from Houston onto Elm Street. Most of the witnesses recalled that the first shot was fired after the president had started waving with his right hand. The onlookers recalled hearing three shots, with the second and third shots bunched distinctly much closer together than the first and second shots. The Zapruder film shows the President re-emerging in the footage after being temporarily hidden from view by the Stemmons Freeway sign at Zapruder film frames 215 to 223; his mouth has already opened wide in an anguished expression by frame 225. He has already been impacted by a bullet, which hit him in the upper back and exited his throat, and his hands clench into fists. He then quickly raises his fists dramatically in front of his face and throat as he turns leftwards towards his wife. Secret Service Agent Clint Hill testified that he heard one shot, then jumped off the running board of the Secret Service follow-up car directly behind Kennedy (Hill was filmed jumping off his follow-up car at the equivalent of Zapruder frame 308; about a quarter of a second before the president's head exploded at frame 313). Hill then rapidly ran towards the Presidential limo and then another shot hit Kennedy in the head, cracking open the right side of his skull. As the limousine began speeding up, Mrs. Kennedy was heard to scream^[74] and she climbed out of the back seat onto the rear of the limo. At the same time, Hill managed to climb aboard and hang onto the suddenly accelerating limo, and Mrs. Kennedy returned to the back seat. Hill then shielded her and the President. Both of the Connallys stated they heard Mrs. Kennedy say, "I have his brains in my hand!" The limo driver and police motorcycles turned on their sirens and raced at high speeds to Parkland Hospital, passing their intended destination of the Dallas Trade Mart along the way, and arriving at about 12:38 p.m. (CST).

Governor Connally was also struck by the shots, and his wife pulled him closer to her. He suffered several severe wounds that he survived; a bullet entry wound in his upper right back located just behind his right armpit; four inches of his right, fifth chest rib was pulverised; a two-and-a-half inch sized chest exit wound; his right arm's wrist bone was fractured into seven pieces; and he had a bullet entry wound in his left inner thigh. Although there is controversy about exactly when he was wounded, analysts from both the Warren Commission (1964) and House Select Committee on Assassinations (1979) believed that his wounds had been inflicted nearly simultaneously with President Kennedy's in their theories that the two men were struck by a single bullet. The Commission theorized both men were hit nearly simultaneously between Zapruder film frames 210 to 225, while the Committee theorized it happened at frame 190.

Witness James Tague was also injured by the shots when he received a superficial face wound. The Main Street south curb he had been standing 23.5 feet away from was struck by a bullet or bullet fragment that had no copper sheath, and a fragment of the concrete curb or a bullet fragment struck Tague on his right cheek. At Zapruder frame 313 Tague's head top was located 271 feet away from and 16.4 feet below President Kennedy's head top and the limousine's front windshield and its pushed nearly vertically straight-upwards sun visors were in between the president and the impacted curb point. The bullet or bullet fragment that struck the concrete curb was never found.

Lee Harvey Oswald

Dallas Patrolman Marion L. Baker had been assigned to serve as a motorcycle escort for the motorcade, and he was riding just behind the camera cars. He testified that the first shot he could hear was fired after he turned from Main St. onto Houston St. and had traveled approximately 60 to 80 feet along Houston as he approached the Houston and Elm streets intersection. Baker stated that he recognized the first shot he could hear as the report of a high-powered rifle and that he thought the shots had originated from the building "either right in front of me [the Depository] or the one across to the right of it" [the Dallas Textile Building (DalTex)]. He also said that he noticed pigeons take flight up from the roof of the depository building and start flying around. Baker then quickly drove to the corner of Houston and Elm St., parked his motorcycle, then looked westward into the aftermath of persons screaming, running and laying on the ground. He then listened to Chief Curry's radio broadcast saying, "Get some men up on that railroad track".

Baker then ran to the entrance of the Texas School Book Depository, entered the building with his gun drawn, and led by building superintendent Roy Truly, made his way to the far northwest corner of the first floor. From there, Baker and Truly started yelling for someone to send an elevator down from a higher floor. When there was no response, the two men began climbing the stairs, with Truly in the lead. Approximately 90 seconds after the shots rang out, Baker stepped out onto the second floor and a movement towards the lunchroom vestibule across from the stairs caught his attention. Baker confronted Oswald at gunpoint. He let Oswald pass after Truly identified him as an employee. According to Baker, Oswald did not appear to be nervous or out of breath.^[75] Truly said that Oswald appeared "startled" when Baker aimed his gun at him.^[76][77] According to the Warren Commission, Oswald was next seen by a secretary as he crossed through the second-floor business office carrying a soda bottle.^[78] He left the Texas School Book Depository through its front door at approximately 12:33 p.m.^[79]

The Warren Commission theorized that Oswald had traveled from the sixth-floor easternmost window, and hid an 8-pound, Italian-made 1940 Carcano, 6.5-millimeter rifle equipped with a four-power scope along the way. The rifle was reportedly discovered near the sixth-floor northwest corner by a Dallas police detective at 1:22 p.m., having been placed down between stacks of boxes, balanced upright on the lowest edges of its barrel and wooden stock. After being discovered, the rifle was photographed before being touched and was filmed while it was being inspected by the police crime lab supervisor.

Estimates of when the depository building was sealed off by police range from 12:33 to 12:50 p.m.^[80] The Dealey Plaza immediate area streets and blocks were never sealed-off, and nine minutes after the assassination, photographs show that vehicles were still driving unhampered down Elm Street, through the crime scene kill zone.

After leaving the depository, Oswald walked seven blocks before boarding a bus. When the bus got stuck in traffic, he got off, walked to a nearby bus station, entered a taxi, took it several blocks past his rooming house, and then walked back to the rooming house. He arrived at his rooming house at 1026 North Beckley Ave. at around 1:00 p.m. According to his housekeeper Earlene Roberts, he left three or four minutes later. She last saw him standing and waiting at a bus stop outside the rooming house.^[81]

At 1:15 p.m, Oswald shot and killed Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit near the intersection of 10th St. and Patton Ave.^[82][83][84] This was 0.86 mile from Oswald's rooming house. Thirteen people witnessed Oswald shooting Tippit or fleeing the immediate scene.^[85][86] By that evening, five of the witnesses had identified him in police lineups, and a sixth identified him the following day. Four others subsequently identified Oswald from a photograph.^[85][86]

After killing Tippit, Oswald was seen traveling on foot toward the Texas Theater on West Jefferson Blvd.^[87] About 1:35 p.m. Johnny Calvin Brewer, who worked as a manager at Hardy's Shoe Store in the same block as the Texas Theater on Jefferson Blvd. saw Oswald turning his face away from the street and duck into the entranceway of the shoe store as Dallas squad cars drove up the street with sirens on. When Oswald left the store, Brewer followed Oswald and watched him go into the Texas Theater movie house without paying while ticket attendant Julie Postal was distracted. Brewer notified Postal, who in turn informed the Dallas Police at 1:40 p.m.

Almost two dozen policemen, sheriffs, and detectives in several patrol cars arrived at Texas Theater because they believed Tippit's killer was inside. When an arrest attempt was made at 1:50 p.m. inside the theater, Oswald resisted arrest and, according to the police, attempted to shoot a patrolman after yelling once, "Well, it's all over now!" then punching a patrolman.^[88]

President Kennedy

A Catholic priest named Father Oscar Huber (1895–1975) was summoned to Parkland Hospital to perform the last rites for President Kennedy.^[89] Dr. Malcolm Perry, assistant professor of surgery at UT Southwestern and a vascular surgeon on the Parkland staff, was the first to treat Kennedy and he performed a tracheotomy, followed by a cardiopulmonary resuscitation performed with another surgeon.^[90][91] Other doctors and surgeons who gathered worked frantically to save the president's life, but his wounds were too severe.^[92]

At 1:00 p.m. CST, Kennedy was pronounced dead after all activity had ceased and after Huber had administered Extreme Unction. Personnel at Parkland Hospital Trauma Room #1, who treated the President, observed that the president's condition was "moribund",^[93] meaning he had no chance of survival upon arrival at the hospital. "We never had any hope of saving his life," Dr. Perry said.^[88][94] "I am absolutely sure he never knew what hit him," said Dr. Tom Shires, Parkland's chief of surgery.^[95] Father Huber, after administering the last rites to the president, told The New York Times that the president was already dead upon the priest's arrival at the hospital. Huber had to draw back a sheet covering the President's face so that the last rites could be given.^[96][97] Governor Connally, meanwhile, was soon taken to emergency surgery where he underwent two operations that day.

Although Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m. CST, the official announcement would not come until more than half an hour later. After receiving word of the president's death, acting White House press secretary Malcolm Kilduff entered the hospital room where Vice President Johnson—who would be sworn in as the new President on Air Force one later that day—and his wife were sitting.^[72][98] Kilduff approached them and said to Johnson, "Mr. President, I have to announce the death of President Kennedy. Is it OK with you that the announcement be made now?"^[98] Johnson ordered that the announcement be made only after he left the hospital.^[99] When asking that the announcement be delayed, Johnson told Kilduff: "I think I had better get out of here.. .before you announce it. We don't know whether this is a worldwide conspiracy, whether they are after me as well as they were after President Kennedy, or whether they are after Speaker (John W.) McCormack, or Senator (Carl) Hayden. We just don't know."^[72]

At 1:33 p.m. CST, Malcolm Kilduff entered a nurses' classroom at the hospital filled with press reporters and made the official announcement:^[100][92]

President John F. Kennedy died at approximately 1:00 CST today, here in Dallas. He died of a gunshot wound to the brain. I have no other details regarding the assassination of the president.^[98]

A few minutes after 2:00 p.m. CST, President Kennedy's body was removed from Parkland Hospital and transported straight to Air Force One.^[101] The removal occurred subsequent to a ten- to fifteen-minute angry confrontation between Kennedy's special assistant Ken O'Donnell (backed by weapons-drawn and/or aimed Secret Service agents) with Parkland Hospital doctors and Medical Examiner Dr. Earl Rose, along with a justice of the peace. The removal of President Kennedy's body may have been illegal according to Texas state law, because it was done before a forensic examination could be performed by the Dallas coroner.^[102] The assassination of the president was, at that time, listed on the books as a state-level crime and not a federal one, and as such legally occurred under Texas jurisdiction. To this date, however, no official judge or court of law has ruled on this matter.

Locally in Dallas

From Dallas, local listeners of top-rated Top 40 music station KLIF-1190 were listening to The Rex Jones Show when they received the first bulletin at approximately 12:38 p.m. CST.^[103] A "bulletin alert" sounder faded in during the song "I Have A Boyfriend" by The Chiffons. The song was stopped and newscaster Gary Delaune made the first announcement over the bulletin signal:

This KLIF Bulletin, from Dallas: Three shots reportedly were fired at the motorcade of President Kennedy today near the downtown section. KLIF News is checking out the report. We will have further reports. Stay tuned.

KLIF's competitor Top 40 station, KBOX, has been widely cited as the only station to report the shooting as it happened, but the "aircheck" of this moment widely circulated in the decades since - in which newsman Sam Pate breathlessly reports, "It appears as though something has happened in the motorcade route..." - is in fact a recreation. Although authentic airchecks of KBOX's coverage from later in the day do exist and have been posted online, they do not include the moment when the station first broke the news.

Down the dial, Dallas' CBS Radio affiliate KRLD concluded the coverage of the presidential party's arrival at Love Field and switched to reporter Bob Huffaker who was standing at the corner of Main and Akard Streets in the downtown area, just 1/2 mile east of Dealey Plaza where the shooting occurred. After the president's car passed him, Huffaker continued reporting for several more minutes and was said to have been on the air as the shooting took place (although shots cannot be heard in the audio coverage). Shortly after returning to regular programming with the nationally syndicated religious program Back To The Bible, the first reports of the shooting came through CBS Radio. Huffaker was not aware of the developments until he arrived back at the KRLD studio after wrapping up his coverage; he quickly drove out to Parkland Hospital to report the scene outside the hospital's emergency entrance.

NBC Radio affiliate WBAP played instrumental music, with interruptions for local bulletins, until NBC Radio's continuous coverage began.

Dallas' ABC television affiliate WFAA was airing a local lifestyle program, The Julie Benell Show, at the time. At 12:45 p.m. CST, the station abruptly cut from the prerecorded program to news director Jay Watson in the studio, who had been at Dealey Plaza and ran back to the station following the incident:

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. You'll excuse the fact that I am out of breath, but about 10 or 15 minutes ago a tragic thing from all indications at this point has happened in the city of Dallas. Let me quote to you this [briefly looks at the bulletin sheet in his left hand], and I'll... you'll excuse me if I am out of breath. A bulletin, this is from the United Press from Dallas: (Reading UPI bulletin) 'President Kennedy and Governor John Connally [in his agitated state, he mispronounced Connally's name as "Colony"] have been cut down by assassins' bullets in downtown Dallas. They were riding in an open automobile when the shots were fired.'^[104]

Watson then began anchoring continuous coverage of the tragedy with Jerry Haynes, better known as WFAA-TV children's TV show host "Mr. Peppermint," followed shortly by an interview with witnesses Bill and Gayle Newman.

Other stations

In addition to the local Dallas radio and television coverage, recordings exist of coverage by various other radio stations nationwide. Four such stations are WTIC in Hartford, Connecticut; WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio; WCCO in Minneapolis – St. Paul, Minnesota; and KNX in Los Angeles, California.

Nationally

The first national news bulletin of the shooting came over the ABC Radio Network at 12:36 p.m. CST/1:36 p.m. EST.^[108] The most complete recording of the initial ABC bulletins came from WRUL, a New York-based station transmitting to Latin America and Europe on shortwave, which was featuring a program of MOR album music when the shooting took place. At the time, Doris Day's recording of "Hooray for Hollywood" was playing when newscaster Don Gardiner broke in with the developments:

We interrupt this program to bring you a special bulletin from ABC Radio. Here is a special bulletin from Dallas, Texas: (Reading UPI bulletin) 'THREE SHOTS WERE FIRED AT PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S MOTORCADE TODAY IN DOWNTOWN DALLAS, TEXAS.'^[109] This is ABC Radio. To repeat: in Dallas Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade today, the president now making a two-day speaking tour of Texas. We're going to stand by for more details on the incident in Dallas, stay tuned to your ABC station for further details. Now we return you to your regular program.^[108]

Four minutes following ABC's radio bulletin, CBS was the first to break the news over television at 12:40 p.m. CST/1:40 p.m. EST. The network interrupted its live production broadcast of As the World Turns with a "CBS News Bulletin" bumper slide and Walter Cronkite, reporting from the CBS Radio flash booth, filed an audio-only report. Live video of Cronkite was impossible at that time, as no camera in the CBS newsroom (which used image orthicon tubes and took approximately 20 minutes to warm up^[110]) was ready:

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.

Initially, the live broadcast of As the World Turns continued, with the actors unaware of the earlier pre-emption for the bulletin. Cronkite later filed two additional audio-only bulletins to interrupt programming, the last of which interrupted a Friskies dog food commercial and pre-empted the remaining running time of As the World Turns. Only the bulletin bumper remained on screen while a television camera warmed up, until 2:00 p.m. EST. Cronkite stated in a later interview that this event was responsible for a new CBS network policy of always having a hot camera available to the newsroom to avoid this difficulty in the future.^[111]

At that time, As the World Turns was the runaway top-rated daytime show, and ABC and NBC made no concerted effort to compete with CBS in the time slot; as a result, the other television networks weren't on the air in the Eastern and Central Time Zones. Various programs were being broadcast through their affiliate stations.^[112] From their main headquarters in New York, WABC-TV's first bulletin came from Ed Silverman at 1:42 p.m. EST, also interrupting a rerun of Father Knows Best in the Mountain Time Zone on the ABC-TV network; ABC-TV was not feeding programming to its affiliates in the Pacific Time Zone at that hour. Three minutes later, Don Pardo broke into WNBC-TV's local rerun of Bachelor Father with the news, saying (reading AP bulletin) 'PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS SHOT TODAY JUST AS HIS MOTORCADE LEFT DOWNTOWN DALLAS. MRS. KENNEDY JUMPED UP AND GRABBED MR. KENNEDY. SHE CRIED 'OH NO!' THE MOTORCADE SPED ON.'^[90] (Videotape of the NBC bulletins have been assumed "lost" as they did not start recording coverage until minutes later. However, audio engineer Phil Gries rolled tape on a set of audio recordings on a 1/4" reel to reel audiotape recorder. These have been donated to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.^[113] However, NBC, in its book on the coverage of the assassination, mentioned the bulletins.)^[114] At 1:53 p.m. (EST), NBC broke into programming with a NBC Network bumper slide and Chet Huntley and Bill Ryan began informing the viewers what was going on as it happened.^[114] However, NBC's camera was not ready and the coverage was limited to audio-only reports as CBS' coverage had been to that point. Other than for two audio-only bulletins (one following the initial report), ABC did not break into its stations' programming at all, instead waiting until the network was to return to broadcasting at 2:00 p.m. Eastern to begin its coverage.

At 1:57 p.m. EST, just as Frank McGee joined the reporting, NBC began broadcasting the report as their camera was ready and working.^[113] Three minutes later, at 2:00 EST, CBS' camera was finally ready and Cronkite appeared on the air after a brief station break, with ABC beginning its coverage at the same time. Radio coverage was reported by Don Gardiner (ABC), Alan Jackson (CBS), and (after a top-of-the-hour newscast) by Peter Hackes and Edwin Newman (NBC).

ABC

Providing the reports for ABC Television were Don Goddard, Ron Cochran, and Ed Silverman in New York, Edward P. Morgan in Washington, Bob Clark (who as noted above had been riding in the motorcade when Kennedy was shot) from Parkland Hospital, and Bill Lord from the Dallas County sheriff's office. As with the other networks, ABC interspersed with their Dallas affiliate WFAA-TV 8 for up-to-date information. Reporting from WFAA were Bob Walker (who had been at Love Field for live coverage of the President's arrival) and Jay Watson (who had remained on the air locally from the time he broke into local programming upon his return from Dealey Plaza). They were later joined by Bob Clark upon his arrival from the hospital.

ABC's initial coverage of the incident was very disorganized. Cochran, ABC's primary news anchor, was on his lunch break when word of the assassination attempt first broke and the network had to call him back to the studio. Silverman was the voice accompanying ABC's first bulletin, broadcast during a rerun episode of Father Knows Best that was airing on a majority of the network's affiliates in the Mountain Time Zone at the time; the surviving videotape of ABC's initial bulletins appears to have been recorded by then-affiliate KTVK in Phoenix, as it contains the interruption of Father Knows Best. The first on-camera report was given by Goddard in the network's news studio, which was too far away from the teletype machines. Goddard then moved to the newsroom and was joined by the returning Cochran, and the technical crew began constructing an impromptu news set around them (ABC did not have studio space ready for such an occasion; NBC had a flash studio in its newsroom and CBS' reports came directly from their own newsroom as they had since they launched an evening newscast earlier in 1963). Cochran and Goddard were forced to stand and awkwardly hold microphones and headsets so they could report the information.

In addition to the disorganization in New York, ABC was not able to switch to Dallas to speak to its correspondents. Only one feed was available to them at first, which came from the Dallas Trade Mart and CBS affiliate KRLD reporter Eddie Barker. CBS had earlier aired snippets of Barker's report, but had cut it off to return to its own reporting of the incident before Barker finished; ABC aired the remainder of the report until the end. The reason that ABC was able to air the CBS affiliate's coverage was due to a pool arrangement the three major Dallas stations agreed to for the President's visit. WBAP was responsible for covering the President's visit to Fort Worth and his departure and landing at Love Field, WFAA was assigned to cover the parade through downtown Dallas, and KRLD was set up at the Dallas Trade Mart for the address the President was to give.

At 2:25 p.m. EST, while attempting to switch to Bob Clark in Dallas, ABC Radio reported that Parkland Hospital said President Kennedy was dead, and then stressed that it was unconfirmed. Upon reporting the news, anchor Don Gardiner said this to his audience:

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a moment trying for all of us. Let us pause, and let us all pray.

ABC Radio then stopped coverage to broadcast orchestral music.^[115]

At 2:33 p.m. EST, Cochran reported on ABC Television that the two priests who were called into the hospital to administer the last rites to the President said that he had died from his wounds. Although this was an unconfirmed report, ABC prematurely placed a photo of the President with the words "JOHN F. KENNEDY -- 1917–1963" on the screen.

Five minutes later, this photo was again prematurely placed when Cochran received an erroneous report that the President had died at 1:35 p.m. CST when, in fact, he had died at 1:00 p.m. CST. A few minutes following that, Cochran received further information regarding the President's condition and relayed the following to the ABC viewing audience:

Government sources now confirm...we have this from Washington. Government sources now confirm that President Kennedy is dead. So that, apparently, is the final word and an incredible event that I am sure no one except the assassin himself could have possibly imagined would occur on this day.

On ABC Radio, Gardiner reported the news, but did not say whether or not it was official. ABC then switched to Pete Clapper on Capitol Hill for an interview with the Senate's press liaison. Moments later, the interview was interrupted by Gardiner's report of the President's death:

Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, is dead. The President is dead. Let us pray.

ABC Radio then returned to orchestral music.

CBS

At 2:00 p.m. EST, Walter Cronkite moved from the CBS Radio flash booth, to his desk. The static CBS news bulletin bumper which had been on the screen for the last several minutes as Cronkite filed audio reports was now replaced by a live image of him, since a camera was now warmed up and ready to broadcast. Any CBS affiliates that had not been with CBS News New York joined their feed. From the time the CBS affiliates joined Cronkite in the news room at the top of the hour to approximately 2:38 p.m. EST, the coverage alternated from the CBS Newsroom and Cronkite, to KRLD-TV's Eddie Barker at the Dallas Trade Mart where President Kennedy was to give his luncheon address.

At approximately 2:11 p.m. EST, CBS News correspondent Dan Rather telephoned one of the two priests who performed last rites on Kennedy to confirm that he had indeed been shot. "Yes, he's been shot and he is dead," the priest told Rather. Almost simultaneously at the Trade Mart, a doctor went up to Barker and whispered, "Eddie, he is dead... I called the emergency room and he is DOA." Moments later, as the news cameras panned throughout the Trade Mart crowds, Barker gave this report:

As you can imagine, there are many stories that are coming in now as to the actual condition of the President. One is that he is dead; this cannot be confirmed. Another is that Governor Connally is in the operating room; this we have not confirmed.

Several minutes later, when CBS switched back to KRLD and the Trade Mart for another report, Barker repeated the claim of the President's death, adding "the source would normally be a good one." During this report, as Barker was speaking of security precautions for the President's visit, a Trade Mart employee was shown removing the Presidential seal from the podium where President Kennedy was to have spoken.

NBC

At NBC-TV, Chet Huntley, Bill Ryan, and Frank McGee anchored from the network's emergency "flash" studio (code name 5HN) in New York, with reports from David Brinkley in Washington, Charles Murphy and Tom Whelan from NBC affiliate WBAP-TV (now KXAS-TV) in Fort Worth, Texas, and Robert MacNeil, who had been in the motorcade, at Parkland Hospital.^[124] Edwin Newman reported from NBC Radio with periodic simulcast with NBC-TV. NBC Radio's coverage was simulcast in Canada by CBC Radio.^[125] Also, the United States' international shortwave broadcaster, Voice of America, relayed portions of NBC's coverage (including the simulcast with the television coverage) as part of its English-language coverage of the tragic news. (A short aircheck of VOA exists in which the announcers on duty attempt to make sense of the conflicting reports about Kennedy's condition, and then the station briefly simulcasts NBC before heading into Polish language programming at 1:00 p.m. Central Time.)

Throughout the first 35 minutes, there were technical difficulties with the Fort Worth TV relay as well as with the phone link MacNeil was using to report from the hospital.^[112] When the coverage began, McGee was waiting for MacNeil to call in with information. While Ryan and Huntley were recounting the information, McGee got MacNeil on the line and told him to recount chronologically what happened.^[89] However, NBC was using a studio that wasn't equipped to patch calls through to the air and thus only McGee could hear MacNeil.^[112] While the studio crew worked on a solution, McGee improvised and told MacNeil to relay the information in fragments, which he would then repeat for the audience. While they were talking, Huntley was handed a speaker from off camera and took the receiver from McGee so he could attach it to the earpiece, this enabling MacNeil to be heard. However, by that time there was no further information to report; MacNeil had a medical student from Parkland hold the phone line for him so that he could return to the emergency ward for the latest developments. He would return briefly several minutes later to offer more word on the condition of the President, during which the phone link temporarily worked, but as MacNeil left again the relay cut out. Before he left, he informed McGee that a press conference regarding Kennedy's condition was forthcoming.^[89]

At approximately 2:35 p.m. EST, shortly after Ryan reported that a neurosurgeon had just arrived at Parkland to assist in treating Kennedy. Huntley alluded to the last time a president had died in office:

In just this momentary lull, I would assume that the memory of every person listening at this moment has flashed back to that day in April 1945 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt...

He was unable to complete his thought, however. The flash regarding the priests who administered the Last Rites to the President had reached the desk while Huntley was speaking and Ryan interrupted him to relay this:^[126]

Excuse me, Chet. Here is a flash from the Associated Press, dateline Dallas: 'Two priests who were with President Kennedy say he is dead of bullet wounds.' There is no further confirmation, but this is what we have on a flash basis from the Associated Press: 'Two priests in Dallas who were with President Kennedy say he is dead of bullet wounds.' There is no further confirmation. This is the only word we have indicating that the president may, in fact, have lost his life. It has just moved on the Associated Press wires from Dallas. The two priests were called to the hospital to administer the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church. And it is from them, we get the word, that the president has died, that the bullet wounds inflicted on him as he rode in a motorcade through downtown Dallas have been fatal. We will remind you that there is no official confirmation of this from any source as yet.

As this was going on, McGee received a report from Parkland Hospital. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Vice President Johnson had been advised to begin heading back to Washington to assume executive duties in case he needed to be sworn in. Johnson decided to wait until he received word of Kennedy's condition, which he did at approximately 1:20 PM CST. McGee reported to Ryan that a motorcade carrying the Johnsons had just left Parkland Hospital, which Ryan took to be confirmation of the President's death as the priests had reported.

On NBC Radio and CBC Radio, Newman reported the same flash:

Here is a flash from Dallas: Two priests who were with President Kennedy say he is dead of bullet wounds suffered in the assassination attempt today. I repeat, a flash from Dallas: 'Two priests who were with President Kennedy say he is dead of bullet wounds.' This is the latest information we have from Dallas. We are, of course, standing by to give you all available information as it comes to us. I will repeat, with the greatest regret, this flash: Two priests who were with President Kennedy say he has died of bullet wounds.^[127]

At that point, both radio networks rejoined NBC-TV where Ryan reported that there may in fact be confirmation of the priests' account of Kennedy's death. The feed then switched back to Charles Murphy at WBAP-TV, who reported that although no official statement had been released by the President's staff, the Dallas police had been notified of Kennedy's death and radioed the word to every officer on duty shortly before the flash from Dallas made the wires.^[126]

As Murphy was filing his report, McGee got back in touch with Robert MacNeil, who had just returned from the aforementioned press conference. Partway through the report, the audio link was fixed and MacNeil could be heard clearly in studio and on air. McGee was unaware of this, as he simply carried on as he had been:^[126]

White House (Acting) Press Secretary... Malcolm Kilduff... has just announced that President Kennedy... died at approximately 1:00 Central Standard Time, which is about 35 minutes ago... (audio enabled) ...after being shot at (after being shot)... by an unknown assailant (by an unknown assailant) ...during a motorcade drive through downtown Dallas (during a motorcade drive through downtown Dallas).

After MacNeil finished giving all the relevant information available, he left the phone to obtain further information. McGee, wiping a tear from his eye, stood by and kept the phone line open for MacNeil's next update.

KLIF Radio, Dallas

From local radio station KLIF, Gary Delaune relayed the bulletins as received with reports from Joe Long from KLIF News Mobile Unit #4. Long, who had reported the President's arrival at Love Field earlier, later joined Delaune in the studio; Roy Nichols took over the #4 mobile unit and headed for Parkland Hospital. After a report from the Trade Mart, radio broadcaster and KLIF founder Gordon McLendon returned to the radio station to relieve Delaune. The reporters continuously stressed, as a strict radio station rule of McLendon's, whether the information received is from official or unofficial sources, especially concerning reports of the President's death. At approximately 1:38 p.m. CST, KLIF's Teletype sounded ten bells (indicating an incoming bulletin of utmost importance) and Long was given the official flash:

Gordon McLendon: The President is clearly, gravely, critically, and perhaps fatally wounded. There are strong indications that he may already have expired, although that is not official, we repeat, not official. But, the extent of the injuries to Governor Connally is, uh, a closely shrouded secret at the moment...

Joe Long: President Kennedy is dead, Gordon. This is official word.

Gordon McLendon: Ladies and gentlemen, the President is dead. The President, ladies and gentlemen, is dead at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

KLIF's continuous coverage would eventually be aired over an ad-hoc radio network of its own, as the station's coverage was fed to KLIF's sister stations in Houston, Louisville, and other cities and reportedly aired (with or without permission) on dozens, possibly hundreds, of others.

Following the official announcement of President Kennedy's death, all three commercial networks suspended their regular programming and commercials for the first time in the short history of television and ran coverage on a non-stop basis for four days. The assassination of President Kennedy was the longest uninterrupted news event in the history of American television until just before 9:00 a.m. EDT, September 11, 2001, when the networks were on the air for 72 hours straight covering the 9/11 terrorist attacks.^[128]