See how it looked in 1963

Kennedy Assassinated

Connally Also Hit In Dallas Attack

By Richard L. Strout | Staff Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Washington

The country and the world reacted with stunned disbelief to the news that President Kennedy had been fatally shot on his visit to Dallas.

Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson thus became President of the United States. Messages of support flooded in on Mr. Johnson.

With the President was Gov. John B. Connally of Texas, likewise cut down by assassin’s bullets in this bitter and senseless tragedy.

Tall, shrewd Mr. Johnson was brought out of the obscurity of the vice-presidency under circumstances which reinforce the patriotic urge he has always had to serve his country well.

Mr. Johnson, rated one of the most astute, persuasive Senate majority leaders in the nation’s history, is a midroad Democrat, agrees with the Kennedy foreign policy, and - though a Southerner - has been a prime mover on the civil-rights front.

The news of the assassination spread with amazing rapidity.

Almost immediately cars began stopping in the front of the previously all but deserted White House as people looked into the ancient edifice. Some cried openly.

Theodore Sorenson, presidential aide, and a long-time friend of Mr. Kennedy, stood mutely in front of a television set in Pierre Salinger’s office.

A reporter asked Mr. Sorenson whether he had anything to say. He just shook his head slowly, and left the room.

President Kennedy has been at the forefront at probing out the possibilities of a diminution of the cold war, and the international situation would have to take stock if a new face came to the White House.
Boston, hometown of the President, was shocked at the news. Calls poured into offices of news media.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts, was presiding in the Senate when the news arrived. Senator Wayne Morse (D) of Oregon immediately interrupted Senator Prouty (R) of Vermont to ask for “an emergency quorum call.” Senator Spessard L. Holland (D) of Florida moved into the presiding officer’s chair and Senator Kennedy left the chamber.

Over the nation as the news reached dumbstruck people there were cries of disbelief and sorrow.
In many big cities telephone lines immediately jammed.

The New York Stock Exchange closed after word was received.

On a motion by Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D) of Montana, the Senate recessed at 1:55 to “wait for further developments.”

“If ever there was an hour to pray, this is the hour all Americans should,” said Senator Morse.
Washington, the political seat of the nation, tried to calm itself and assess the situation.

It was international affairs that the most important change had occurred. Many observers felt that Mr. Kennedy’s firm but cool handling of the Cuban and similar crises had prevented these dangers from exploding into possible wars. Relations had been maintained steadily with the Iron Curtain countries. For the time being, the whole world would wait to test the new hand of President Johnson on the controls.

On the economic front it seemed almost inevitable that the news of the shooting would drive stocks down when the market reopened, if only for a short interval. The stock market traditionally reacts sharply to such sudden changes.

A sorrowing nation closed ranks around a new President who has chaired the President’s commission against discrimination in employment, traveled to South Vietnam, the Berlin Wall, and northern Europe as emissary of the late President, and has been kept constantly and consistently informed on every aspect of presidential duties.

Tough-minded, a political craftsman of the first order, and anxious about his own place in history. Mr. Johnson can be expected to seek to carry through, with vigor, a foreign and domestic policy which will not differ markedly from the Kennedy policies.

On the political scene a new figure will guide the administration and the Democratic party. Mr. Johnson, tall, spare, experienced, is generally regarded as being somewhat to the right of President Kennedy. He was the center of the so-called senatorial “establishment” and became famous for his firm control of the chamber, which he was asserted to guide by the use of pressure, prestige, and patronage.

Mr. Johnson was born near Johnson City, Texas, August 27, 1908. He married Lady Bird Taylor in 1934 and has two daughters. A heart attack at one point threatened to end his political career, but he has made what appears to be a complete physical recovery.

A tense, steel-nerved figure, the tall Texan is given to restless pacing at moments of stress, recalling to some the appearance of a caged leopard.

During six of the eight years of President Eisenhower, Mr. Johnson controlled the Democratic majority in Congress and gave notable bipartisan support to the Republican Chief Executive.

A Johnson administration, after an initial settling-down period, almost certainly would be several points to the right of President Kennedy’s.

Mr. Johnson takes office just as most of the “must” Kennedy legislation still hangs in the balance in Congress. This includes the tax, civil rights, and Medicare bills.