president john f. kennedy departed washington on november 21 1963. on saturday morning november 23, his body was returned to the white house. this is a film record of that two day period. president kennedy went to texas to take his program to the people. he carried the state only by a narrow margin in the election. a there was dissension over his strong civil rights program. conservative elements were critical of the administration s foreign policy. and yet the crowds that greeted the president and mrs. kennedy were friendly, enthusiastic. most newspapers described the trip as political. a it was that and more than that. speaking at dedication ceremonies for the aerospace medical health center president kennedy sought for unity amongst americans. his conviction was that the united states should be a leader. president kennedy: it is not the exclusive property of republicans or democrats. it refers instead to this nation s place in history, to the fact we do stand on the ed
president kennedy went to texas to take his program to the people. he had carried the state only by a narrow margin in the election. there was dissension over his strong civil rights program. conservative elements were critical of the administration s foreign policy. and yet the crowds that greeted the president and mrs. kennedy were friendly, enthusiastic. most newspapers described the trip as political. a it was that and more than that. speaking at dedication ceremonies for the aerospace medical health center, president kennedy sought for unity amongst americans. his conviction was that the united states should be a leader. president kennedy: for more than three years, i have spoken about the new frontier. it is not the exclusive property of republicans or democrats. it refers instead to this nation s place in history, to the fact we do stand on the edge of a great new era. filled with both opportunity to be characterized by achievement and by challenge. it is an area whi
we re here to talk about our book, we could not fail: the first african-americans in the space program. it looks at nasa s role in civil rights in the years before the civil rights act passed, and that s an important distinction. because before the civil rights act passed, discrimination was not against the law. it was legal to say, no, you can t use this toilet, you re black. or, no, you can t come into this restaurant, you re black, which is an important distinction that will become even more so as we talk about the achievements of some of the people in this book. we ll be talking about the rules put in place by the kennedy administration to try and address workplace discrimination and how they were implemented by nasa and by its contractors. but more importantly, we ll be talking about the people whose lives were touched by those rules. our book tells the stories of ten men, most of whom came to work in the space program during the years that we call the civil rights era
boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, reverend john fort elvin, diocese of worth, texas. the chaplain: lord god, as citizens of this great land, we mark today the 50th anniversary of the tragic death of the 35th president of the united states, president john f. kennedy. in commemorating such a one whose life and presidency were to sow , we do so not in tears, as the psalmist says, but rather to reap with shouts of joy. help us, lord god, to make the late president s inaugural visit our own, so that together, as fellow americans, we may ask not what our country can do for us, but rather, what we can do for our country. and so, sacrificing ourselves for the sake of others helps help us go forth to lead the land we love, asking your blessing and your help in knowing that here on earth, your work, o god, must truly be our own. n your name we pray, amen. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to se
texas the governor had been shot. this is two hours. we have a mobile unit on the way to the white house now. the white house does not seem to have anymore information than the reporters on the scene. we are also establishing contact with robert mcneil in dallas. we expect to be getting reports from him very shortly. as you can imagine, extensive efforts are being made to get our men dispensed to the right place of the right timing get as much information as we can. thank you, frank. we are relaying information as it comes in. obviously, it will be sketchy for some time, because you can imagine what is happening to every circuit of radio and telephone between the east coast and dallas, texas at this moment. obviously, at the moment, circuits are jammed. here is something else. it was impossible to tell at once where kennedy was hit. but bullet wounds in governor connally s chest were plainly visible, indicating the gunfire might possibly have come from an automatic weap