Theater. I want to welcome you to the special event. A talk with james l. Swanson. End of dais assassination of john f kennedy. Sam donlson has won numerous awards for excellence in journalism including broadcaster of the year from the National Press federation and best White House Correspondent. Sam is a 42year abc news cell phone, who served two appointment of chief White House Correspondent for abc news covering president s carter, reagan, and clinton. He coanchored prime time live. And abc news sunday morning broadcast this week with sam donlson. He continues to work on many freelance projects. We are thrilled to have him back for the discussion. James swanson is the ed the 12day chase for lincolns killer. In 2006 they named it one the best books of the year. And claimed crime writer patricia corner blank blag his other books include acclaimed lincolns assassination, trial and ebbing cushion, and bloody crimes that chased if jefferson davis. James swansons current book in the topic for the evening is tighted end of days assassination of john f kennedy. Which was released today. We are fortune to have both james and sam on ford theaters advisory council. And my pleasure to introduce two such distinguished talents. Please join me in welcoming them. [applause] [applause] james, its good to see you. Good to see you, sam. For several generation of americans, people here, im certain, including me, that assassination of president kennedy was the shoughs shocking, horrifying, grief striken day in the public event in my life. And you have now written the book about that day and the days surrounding it. James, there are i dont know how many books about the assassination of the president. Why did you decide to write this book . Well, sam, its the book i always wanted to read that no one else had written. Thats why i written the manhunt book of the lincoln assassination. I wanted to write a thrilling, accurate, daybyday, momentbymoment, hourbyhour. I think its the saddest most incredible story in american history. Its the Great American strag tragedy. I wanted to write a book that would take us back and experience it for the first time. And the younger generations who didnt know the story whose minds have been polluted by the crazy conspiracy theories by movies that dont tell the truth. I wanted to write a book for the new generations to tell them really what happened that day. You have done it. Before we get to the event of that day. Let set the stage. President kennedys first two years were not that terrific. The bay of bigs, he met khrushchev. And then, of course, the berlin wall which stemmed from that. Then khrushchev thought he could put missiles in cuba. After kennedy successfully negotiated the cuban missile crisis. Things turned for him. Im intrigued by the fact you say in the fall of 1963, his marriage was better than ever. He and jackie seemed to be more in love; right . I think so. The secrets have all come out now. None of the American People knew in the 60s. Kennedy, the women, we know all of their names from Audrey Hepburn to the 19yearold intern. Jackie knew about it. She knew before she married him. She accepted it. There are rumors they came close to divorce once early in the marriage but stayed together. I think one thing that brought them together in the summer of and fall of 19 23eu6 was the death of their newborn son patrick who lived less than two days. Jackie and the president were devastated. Something about that loss she had already given birth to a still bosch born daughter before the boy died. Something about the loss did something to them. It brought them closer. She agreed to campaign for the election of 1964. Dallas was just the beginning. She told him ill go anywhere with you. And other evidence suggests that there viewing the marriage and each other in a different closer way. They were having a great time on the trip to texas. She agreed to go texas because the factions of Lyndon Johnson and the liberal senator were at each others throats and jack kennedy needed texas again. So they went to texas. They went to houston, they went ended up in fort worth, the night before on the 21st of november. And on the 22nd of november, as they were talking in the bedroom, he said something that i found eerie. Yes. Well, the night before they arrived in fort forth, they had come from houston. Now they are in the hotel room in the morning. And the president looks at a newspaper. The dallas paper. Hes reading it before he flies there. Theres a fullpage ad welcoming him to texas. They thought theyre welcoming me. They were having a good trip so far. The 21st went great. Then he read the ad. And it was a 12list of being a communist, socialist, causing death of american soldiers in vietnam. And he said, will you look at this . Were flying to nut country today. Then he said, you know, last night when we got here, would been a hell of a night to assassinate the president. It was dark, the crowds were pressing in. We didnt have enough protection. It was raining. A man could have a pistol and briefcase and shot me and ran away to the night and escaped. Then he paused, and said another thing. Nothing could stop a man with a rifle and a tal building from shooting me. Nothing could stop it. Why worry. A few hours later thats what happened. He was a fatalist. He believed he would probably not live a long life. He used to tell friends live every day like it was the last. He was almost killed in world war ii. He almost died from surgeries and disease. His favorite poem of bay harvard graduate killed in the First World War i. I have a rand view of death. At night he would ask jackie to read the poem a loud. Its an interesting man for the 30s and 40s. He had the rand view. There was a man who could shoot him and did. Who was the man . Who was Lee Harvey Oswald . He was a 24yearold man. Lifelong loser. High School Dropout with delusions of grandeur. Minimum wage jobs he could never keep. Joined the u marines at age 17. His brother had been a marine. Served about three years. Didnt do well in the marines. Court march twice. One for accidentally shooting himself with a der gear pistol. One for fighting a superior rank. Stationed in japan. The only thing oswald learned how do well in the marine corps. Was how to shoot a rifle. He was trained to shoot it without a scope. He got the middle grade markmanship. He cheated his way out of the marine corps. That his mother needed him. Dependency danger. Then all a sudden one day he showed up in moscow and said he wanted to renounce his citizenship. The russians thought he was nuts. He claimed to have secrets. He didnt have anything they didnt know. They cube lost interest in him. They recognized him for what he was. A fool. So they shipped him off and made him work in a radio factory. He married a russian woman and had a baby. He hated life in the soviet union. When he experienced it as it was he couldnt wait to get out. He moved the family back to america in 1962. He ended up in dallas. He bought a rifle mail order. But his first target was not john kennedy. No. It was edmund walker. He missed. This was one of the things that i find that few people remember or know about. Seven months before oswald assassinated president kennedy, in april 1963, he tried to murder general walker in dallas. He was known as a white wing per. Called harry fryman pink. Walker hated kennedy. The innovation of cuba. So he had been planning the a . Aitionz of walker even before he ordered rifle. He talk stalk the house. Drew maps. Took photograph. One night he found walker in the window, he was working on the federal income tax. [laughter] and for a man who oppose the strong government authority. He would have been humiliated to be killed doing his income tax. He had seen combat in the world war ii. He was a tough officer. He would have been furious to know that a disgruntled exmarine assassinated him in his own home. He took careful. He was 40 hours a away. He had a fourpower scope. He fired. The cross hairs right on walkers head. In the darkness, oswald didnt notice there was a window frame dividing the window. The bullet struck that, deflected and missed walkers head by one inch. Oswald ran away. He was lucky he did. Walker wasnt going take it. He got the pistol and went outside to look. Oswald ran away and escaped on a city bus. Let do as we talk as we come out the event. Let do some of the what ifs. Im glad general walker was not hit. But what if os waltd had been he would be jailed. At minimum it might have sated his taste for blood. He told his wife to take pictures of him dressed in a we have seen the picture. Hes posing with the rifle and she said are you crazy . Why are you dress the like this . He said, i want to show that im ready for anything. So maybe if you killed walker that would have satisfied his blood lust. Or if his wife knew about it after the fact told the police or the police would have found him. He would have been arrested and jailed. One way or another if he was succeeded in killing walker or arrested i think kennedy would have survived his trip. That jfk was coming to dallas and going to drive past. He got the job to a friend of a woman he knew. And fate brought him to the moment. When did you think from all the Available Evidence we dont have oswalds testimony, obviously, that he decided to take advantage of what he had learned in the newspaper that the president of the United States was coming and the parade was right by his place of employment . He once told his wife im going to be Prime Minister in 20 years and she said you were a full it takes an education to do that and so i think that all small is in despair and he thinks this is it. This is the sign ive been waiting for the triet i dont think he killed john kennedy out of loafing or hatred. Almost strangled her to death one night. She refused she agreed to make dinner but she wasnt americans and she didnt know the southern dish and she made a mistake of mixing the rice and beans together not serving them separately and pouring them on top of the rice. Oslo said this isnt right make it again and she said what difference does it make youre going to mix them any way. He said he will make it again. She poured it in the trash, they fought, he strangled her screaming i wont let you out of this alive. She later tried to commit suicide. He would slapper, punched her, the classic excuse was all sold, it was your fault you shouldnt have made me so mad. Talk about anger management. Its the 22nd of november. The kennedys leave dallas or leave fort worth and fly 26,000 the president smiling and all of this. And its not going to ride with a bubble top. He wants to be seen by texans. He didnt even like it when they would stand on the top of the car there were two footsteps and huge handles they could stand behind the president but he didnt believe in the presidency or in the distancing himself. The chainlink fence some of them had confederate flags today there were some kennedy opponents. Maybe you shouldnt go to dallas. But john kennedy said any member who is afraid to visit an American City doesnt teaser to be president of the United States. It went through Downtown Dallas and there were large crowds everywhere in a prominent cheering and stopped a couple of times and at one point he was driving the governor of texas and John Connally and the governors wife. She said mr. President , you cant say they dont love you in dallas today. Down the street they are going to make the turn. Tell us about oz called. Where was he and how did he get there in that moment . He brought in the rifle to work that morning and told the man that drove him turn it around where im staying. The house already had drapes and curtains and as an aside the searched the entire building after the assassination and no curtain rods were ever found. So she hides the rifle and most of the workers were coming down for lunch to watch the president in the book depository. He doesnt have a radio and he knows when the president is about to arrive and knows when the president comes to houston street people of what we are going to start leaving said that is his signal jfk is coming close. He drove right towards him. Everyone is looking at the book depository and there was the windshield with a car and a metal bar over the car to which the roof can be attached and then theres governor connally. He had to make sure he missed the windshield and after the first shot everyone would see him. Right behind gft there was a secret service. The minute he took the first shot so he waits. The car turns in front of all small and now his back is facing him. This is when he decides hes grandam shoot because it is only ten to 15 Miles Per Hour driving a Straight Line away from him and the optical illusion is the car isnt even moving it is just getting smaller. And so that is when he looks through that rifle scope and jfk appears to only be 40 feet away from the scope and that is when he fires the first shot. That he is seen. Yes. Ten people solve their will pointing out the window. A couple people saw him right below the window, three of his coworkers were looking out the fifth floor windows and a 15yearold schoolboy. They are protecting the president. As they are pointing the rifle out they are looking at the peril and squeezes the trigger. One of those people come fault where after the fact. That is another one of those what ifs. Theres a man in the window with the rifle and the Police Officer might have been able to jump into houston street and stopped the motorcade before it even got to the corner and before it made the turn. That is how early some people saw their all before it even turned on elm street. He makes the turn into elm street and headed towards the freeway and austal as you say begins his deed. Take us through the sequence. He misses the car entirely. It doesnt hit jfk or anyone. He overshoots the car. Probably because the first bullet deflected off of an oak tree branch or possibly the street lamp over hayne. Its so close he shouldnt have missed. He was too good a shot to miss at that range and i dont think it was the excitement of shooting highlight in the civil war it always goes high with the enemy troops. I dont think he was dead on the public got deflected. A couple hundred feet across the way the blood starts to curve and kissed his cheek. He was more than three seconds and the men below him here that and the cartridge will drop on the wooden floor and he takes the second shot. They think the second shot is a firecracker. Nobody is that alarmed yet. The second shot strikes the president coming either call it velo or the upper deck. It comes near the spine and to try to use his arms up like this. Its the new reaction driven up in voluntarily and he cant move them down. That bullet then passes through him and it does strike the governor of texas. It isnt pristine or magical. Its damaged and flattened by the impact mostly striking but not a lot of bone. At that point he says they are going to kill us all. A photograph is taken from the front of his car at that moment and it shows jackie lifting her hand and all the secret Service Agents right behind him the fall turned around and they are looking up at the book. One of them was assigned to protect the first lady and there was another that was specifically designed. He jumps off the board and sprints towards the limousine. And in the same car david powers turned to each other and one says i think the boss has just been shot. A lot of the journalists in the course of that is rifle fire. Somebody shooting. Another said i think they just hit him. So he is the only one running towards the car and all small is zeroing in. They wasted about five seconds he had only gotten there. Of maldon is zeroing in and clinton is running to get to the cart before another shot can be fired. As he approaches, all small fires the third shot and they describe the sound as a melon being smashed on the sidewalk. The head explodes, and jackie cries out, they get back and move and the car speeds away. At this moment lets talk about i dont know how many countless times in that third shot you see the right arm explode and people say its the first shot. It wasnt, but why shouldnt we have realized it wasnt klaxon americans have left conspiracy theories for 200 years in times of trouble. Its a natural impulse. They are exciting and alluring and it appeals to the sense of drama. Most of the witnesses heard three shots. The three men below heard three shots and it moved four times because it reloaded. He could have shot after three. They heard of the cartridge cases. There is simply no evidence. People talk about smoke. That is modern rifles they dont create puffs of smoke. If you look carefully you will see because of the reaction it gives the appearance but then you see it moved. No one saw any one of the grassy rifle. He saw no riflemen. There were 50 pieces of evidence that say there was no other gunman. Dozens of pieces of evidence pointed at all small and it is the book in itself which i do not right. I address it at the end but there were three shots and was also called for. Hes seated for the secret service and he has someone who is on his right. They hear a shot and what happens . The car does not accelerate or swerved which allows austal its never been understood or explained. Some people claim they were part of a conspiracy. Those agents love to jfk. You know that. They would have never participated inconceivable but still we dont know why there wasnt a reaction. The driver turned around to see whats happening in the back of the car and the second shot is fired. Nothing happens. Still, they dont get the gas or swerve . Its another one of those that you described. Okay. They rushed to Parkland Hospital does it matter . Clint hill knew it didnt matter as soon as he got there he went like this now. Some of the agents cried out and others were going to shake the president s car and they said no stay with johnson. Dont go. The car was so close the car behind the president was closer than we are to the people in the front row. So it graces after the president ial car 80 Miles Per Hour and jackie is overwhelmed by the tragedy and says my god ive got his blood and brains all over my hands. So they arrived six or seven minutes later. You might at first she wouldnt let him go. No, she knew he was dead. He said he could tell. So they get out of the car, they want to rush the president inside, and jackie is holding him