Welcome to JFK in The Enduring Secret. I'm your host, Jeff Crudell. Hello everyone and welcome back to the podcast.

Today's episode is episode 58.

Today, we tell the story about the events that unfolded in the moments after the president expired, both at Parkland,

on the way to Love Field, and then finally, as the presidential entourage begins to board Air Force One.

We borrow much in today's story from the events that were chronicled by award-winning author Robert Caro in his epic series of books

about Lyndon Johnson, and particularly the passage of power. In these chaotic moments right after the

death of the president, our democracy makes a smooth transition of power, despite the tragic

circumstances under which it was conducted.

So, without further ado, let's listen to Episode 58. Lyndon Johnson stood there near a cubicle.

Down the hallway, just a few feet away, President Kennedy had already passed, and the

events had already occurred that would give Johnson

the presidency. The news delivered by Kenneth O'Donnell was stunning, but nevertheless, Johnson

was president now. Years later, Johnson would recall a very simple fact about that moment. He would say that everything was in chaos.

We were all spinning around and around trying to come to grips with what had happened.

But the more we would try to understand it, the more confused we got. But somehow, instinctively,

he knew what had to be done. No matter what form of grief he was feeling at that moment, he knew that the country needed leadership. He would recall an old Texas

saying, there is but one way to get the cattle out of the swamp, and that is for the man on the horse

to take the lead and to assume command and to provide direction.

And in the period of confusion after the assassination, I was that man.

What a stunning roller coaster of power.

Some three years earlier, Johnson was one of the most powerful

leaders in the U.S. Senate ever. Then, for three years as a vice president under Kennedy, he had lost

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