JOHNSON ASSUMES PRESIDENCY AFTER KENNEDY ASSASSINATION

November 23, 1963


In addition to the copy of the November 22, 1963 Final Edition of the Knoxville News Sentinel we discussed in yesterday's posting, I have an original copy of the Saturday, November 23, 1963 Knoxville Journal.*  


We will attempt today to replicate some of the news reports in this newspaper. 


*In 1963,The Knoxville Journal was our morning paper.  Ironically, there is a misprint in my copy of the date.  Under the Journal banner it reads Knoxville, Tennessee, Saturday, November 22, 1963.


   The Knoxville Journal
              Independently Owned And Operated
                                   
          KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, 
    SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1963


JOHNSON ASSUMES PRESIDENCY AFTER KENNEDY ASSASSINATION


Gov. Connally Shot; High-Power Rifle Found; Suspect Held


 by FRANK CORMIER


DALLAS, Nov. 22 (AP)--A hidden gunman shot President Kennedy to death with a high-powered rifle today.


Three shots reverberated & blood sprang from the President's face.  He fell face downward.  His wife clutched his head, crying "Oh, no!"


Within half an hour, John F. Kennedy was dead & the United States had a new President, Lyndon B. Johnson.


Almost within the hour, police had arrested a 24-year old man following the fatal shooting of a Dallas policeman.  They questioned him to see whether he knew anything about the President's death.  He was identified as Lee Harvey Oswald of Fort Worth, who 4 years ago said he was applying for Russian citizenship.  He has a Russian wife.


After 2 hours of questioning, Oswald denied any connection with the shootings.


Witnesses heard 3 shots. Two hit the President, one in the head & one in the neck.


The 3rd shot wounded Gov. John B. Connally of Texas in the side but his condition was reported not critical.


As the gunfire rang in the street, a reporter in the caravan screamed, "My God, they're shooting at the President."


ONLOOKERS TERRIFIED


Onlookers, terrified at the sight & sound of the assassination, dived face forward for protection onto a grassy park at the entrance of the underpass, fearing more shots.  Police swarmed into the scene.


At the hospital emergency entrance, an AP Reporter said the President was stretched out face down at full length, motionless on the back seat of the car.  His suit still looked neat -- but there was blood on the floor.


KENNEDY VISITED EAST TENNESSEE ON TWO OCCASIONS IN LONG CAREER


By PAT FIELDS


John Fitzgerald Kennedy made two visits to East Tennessee, once in 1959 as Massachusetts Senator & presidential hopeful touring Oak Ridge atomic plants, & again in 1960 when he stopped briefly at McGhee Tyson Airport during his all-out campaign as Democrat nominee.


Mrs. Kennedy was with her husband on the 1959 visit & both reportedly showed perceptive interest in the AEC Oak Ridge operations, & atomic power which the young senator said could be "a salvation for New England industries," since power there costs twice as much as in the Tennessee Valley.


Accompanying the Kennedy's on this 1st visit were Sen. Albert Gore & Mrs. Gore of Tennessee.

Senator Kennedy, then a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for President, reportedly expressed his thanks to Senator Gore for opposing him for the party's vice presidential nomination in 1956.


"Had I won," he said, "that would have probably been the end of my political career."


THE KNOXVILLE JOURNAL EDITORIAL


NATION UNITED IN SORROW


The country is in a state of shock.
It is in a state of grief.
It is in a state of anger.


All the emotions noted above ran though the minds & hearts of the nation's millions yesterday when the tragic news of Mr. Kennedy's assassination sped from one end of the land to the other.


Our history made it clear that Presidents in the past were in jeopardy through assassination. Modern Americans....had come to feel that we were living in a day & age when the dastardly gunning down of President Kennedy in Dallas was something that no one would have thought could occur.


The nation's anger is heightened by frustration in the knowledge that when yesterday's miserable assassin is brought to earth, as he will be, even if he pays for his crime with his own life, the damage will not be repaired.


The tragedy...is compounded by Mr. Kennedy's youth.  His death came at an age far younger than that which most of our Presidents have been considered by their contemporaries old enough even to become candidates for this highest office.


He will go down in history not only as one of the youngest Presidents, but as a man of intelligence, will & courage, all of these beyond his calendar years.


The coming days will be ones of mourning for all Americans.  Mr. Kennedy's widow, his children, & surviving members of his family will be the subjects of the prayers of all of us.*


*The editor of the Journal in 1963 was Guy L. Smith