JFK Assassination: A Witness Remembers
American History Hit
History Hit
4.3 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 20 November 2023
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On November 22nd 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot dead. The ensuing years have been filled with questions and conspiracy about the events of that day, and the weeks, months and years leading to it.
In the second of our special series, Don meets Paul Landis, a former secret service agent who was feet from the presidential limousine when the assassination happened. He tells us his recollection of the event itself, the direction of the bullets and the experience of accompanying First Lady Jackie Kennedy into the Emergency Room alongside her husband.
Don is also joined by Jefferson Morley and Thomas Whalen to explore why we have so many unanswered questions despite the Warren Commission report of 1964 and the many other reports that have followed.
Jefferson Morley is a journalist and editor who has worked in Washington journalism for over thirty years. He has been researching the CIA files of the assassination since their release 3 decades ago, is the editor of the JFK Facts blog, and his books include 'Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA' and 'Scorpions' Dance: The President, the Spymaster, and Watergate.'
Thomas J. Whalen is an associate professor of social science at Boston University. His books on JFK include 'JFK and His Enemies: A Portrait of Power' and 'Kennedy Versus Lodge: The 1952 Massachusetts Senate Race'.
Produced and edited by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.
This podcast contains archive from NBC, 22 November 1963, and music and SFX from Epidemic Sound.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to American History Hit. |
| 0:03.0 | Before we begin, a quick warning that this episode contains graphic content that some listeners may find upsetting. |
| 0:19.7 | I was right in the right in the middle right behind the president's car. I was looking right at him when the assassin's bullet struck him in the head. |
| 0:25.0 | I saw the whole thing. |
| 0:28.0 | His head kind of exploded in just a mist of blood and flesh and brain matter. |
| 0:35.0 | And I even ducked. I was so close that I just wanted to avoid getting splattered. |
| 0:43.0 | It has been 60 years since the gunshots in Dallas found their target, |
| 0:48.0 | and then would echo over the generations to come. |
| 0:51.0 | In the last episode, I spoke to Professor Frederick Logovol about JFK's politics |
| 0:56.4 | and personality, the origins of his outlook on American society and our role in the world. Unfortunately today, so many people first hear about JFK through the appalling tale of his assassination, |
| 1:09.0 | the perplexing questions and doubts, the speculations on a brutal killing. |
| 1:14.5 | It was an argument supposedly settled just 10 months after the shooting in Dallas, when on September |
| 1:20.8 | 24, 1964 President Linden B Johnson was presented with the findings of the |
| 1:26.4 | official inquiry into the event. |
| 1:29.4 | Three days later, the 888-page report from the Warren Commission was made available to the American public. |
| 1:37.0 | Its conclusions? |
| 1:38.0 | The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connolly were fired from the sixth floor window at the southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository. |
| 1:49.0 | The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connolly, |
| 1:53.2 | were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald. |
| 1:55.7 | There is no credible evidence that the shots were fired |
| 1:58.5 | from the Triple Underpass, ahead of the motorcade, |
| 2:02.0 | or from any other location. |
... |
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