Intersection With History

By Alan Livingston

From the author of the novel “Gabriel’s Creek” comes “Intersection With History”, a personal look back at the experience of his Fort Worth, Texas family on a historic day that shocked the world.

After charismatic U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy spent the last night of his life in downtown Fort Worth’s landmark Hotel Texas, the morning broke with a dreary, drizzling overcast. The president made his last speeches and had his last meal while being entertained by an acclaimed local youth choir. The singers fascinated the president so much he stopped on his way out of the banquet hall to thrill the adolescents, shaking their hands and chatting over the roar of the crowd’s applause. Afterwards, bright sunshine had broken, bathing the motorcade driving the president and his entourage through enthusiastic neighborhoods to Air Force One for his final flight to Dallas, only minutes away.

The sound of that presidential jet taking off just above the roof of the author’s classroom was still burning into the memories of the children when their Principal told them of the assassination. Minutes later, he learned from his mother that Kennedy’s killer had been her fourth-grade student; she had been a teacher years before in that very same grade school. Of course she remembered him – she always had a soft spot for challenged children. Young Lee Harvey Oswald had grown from the schoolboy she mentored to become the alleged assassin of the President of the United States.

Soon, his older brother arrived home from his performance for the president with the Texas Boys Choir. The excitement of his brief encounter with President Kennedy was shattered by news of the man’s murder within an hour of their handshake. The dramatic contrast of those two events haunted the brother the rest of his life.

For their mother, the days and weeks that followed included the unwanted notoriety of her picture in Life Magazine, television interviews, and a deposition for the Warren Commission. Oswald would become the subject of conspiracy theories regarding the assassination until long after her death.

The author was a second-grader when he witnessed history and felt it touch his family. A novelist in his senior years, he offers a narrative that is both intimate memoir and essential reference. “Intersection With History” is a time capsule that sheds another fresh light on the events of November 22nd, 1963.

Note: “Intersection With History” contains bonus material: the opening chapters of “Gabriel’s Creek”, the author’s novel of a man’s inspirational round of golf on a magical course with an unusual dog.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alan Livingston
• Release date: Jul 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370576272

Alan Livingston

Alan Livingston enjoyed a career as an accountant across the United States for over 30 years, primarily in the hospitality industry. His work in hotels, resorts, golf courses, and casinos included a variety of positions including corporate executive. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, he is an alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin. Alan moved to Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and two dogs after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina destroyed their waterfront home of 12 years in Biloxi, Mississippi. In Las Vegas, both continued their work in the casino industry on the Las Vegas Strip before Alan became a multiple cancer survivor. The couple has three adult children, and two grandsons. Livingston’s published works began with the novel "Gabriel’s Creek", joined by the memoir "Intersection With History" in 2017. He writes novels, short stories, memoir, travel pieces, and poetry, as well as website posts. New titles, plus how to buy all his works in all their formats, can be found with other information at the author’s website, www.alanlivingston.com.

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INTERSECTION WITH HISTORY

How my family crossed paths with JFK and Oswald

Alan Livingston

Published by Three Nineteens Publishing

Smashwords Edition

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Copyright 2017 Charles Alan Livingston

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DEDICATION

To the memory of the two most important people in this book:

Emma Dee Miles Livingston (1917-1986)

&

John Lafayette Livingston (1952-2017)

I wish they were able to tell their own stories in person

PREFACE

In the fall of 1963, the 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy and his staff began to strategize and plan for his re-election bid the following year. During these early stages, they all agreed the campaign must focus on winning the states of Florida and Texas in order to ensure their second term. Texas was of particular concern because the incumbent Democratic Party was in disarray, and a priority was placed upon bringing the fractured factions together behind their presumptive nominee, their president.

Three years earlier, Kennedy’s win over Richard Nixon in the historically close 1960 election was considered by many to have been delivered by the once opposing party candidate then suddenly a running mate, Texas’ favorite son, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson. Texas had been a volatile state both culturally and politically in 1960, and not much had changed by late 1963. Kennedy badly needed his Texan Vice President to come through again.

In early November, Kennedy told his advisors that he would visit both states in the coming weeks. He was anxious both to get back into campaigning and to get away from Washington accompanied by his wife Jackie. Mrs. Kennedy had not been out of the capital since the premature birth and death two days later of the couple’s third child, Patrick, the preceding August. The baby’s siblings, Caroline and John, Jr., would remain in the White House while the parents were in Texas.

Plans went into motion for Kennedy to visit major Texas cities with key Democratic politicians from the state in tow, headed by Vice President Johnson, U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough, and Texas Governor John Connally. On November 21, Air Force One left Washington for San Antonio. The welcoming party accompanied the president to Brooks Air Force Base, where he made a speech at the dedication of a medical center. That afternoon, they left San Antonio for Houston, where then-Senator Kennedy had experienced particular stress from religious factions before the 1960 election. The president made speeches to a Latin American organization and then to a dinner honoring a local congressman before ending the day with a flight to Fort Worth’s Carswell Air Force Base.

The party spent the night in downtown Fort Worth at the prestigious Hotel Texas, where the local Chamber of Commerce would host a breakfast for the president the following morning. The day broke in a chilly overcast, with a gloomy drizzle falling on a large crowd of well-wishers in a parking lot across the street from the hotel’s entrance. Thousands had gathered early in hope of a glimpse of the First Couple and their contingent before their trip would continue after the morning’s ceremonies.

Touched at the sight of the large crowd waiting in the rain, a podium was hastily erected and the president thrilled those gathered with an impromptu speech before shaking several hands on his way inside. At the dais in front of the assembled breakfast crowd inside the main ballroom, the glamorous and popular Mrs. Kennedy joined the party late before making a few remarks. Then the president’s speech focused on military preparedness, an industry vital to the local economy. The rain had cleared to leave a clean, crisp, and cloudless morning before the entourage left the hotel by motorcade for the return to Carswell. Air Force One headed for Love Field in Dallas, a flight of only 13 minutes.

Another motorcade awaited the party at the Dallas airport. There was an air of anxiety regarding the visit to Dallas, where political extremists were known to be making waves, especially in the Democratic Party. United Nations Ambassador and former Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson had been physically attacked after a speech there only a month earlier. Original plans were for the limousine carrying the president, Governor Connally and their wives to be covered with a protective bubble for their drive through the streets of Dallas and downtown to the Trade Mart, where a large luncheon gathering waited for the president’s address. The beauty of the November day coupled with his long-standing desire to be closer to the people greeting him along the streets prompted the president to order the bubble left off. The Kennedys walked an airport fence line to shake hands with the large crowd there, some who presented Jackie with a dozen long-stemmed roses. After several minutes, the group loaded into their cars and left for downtown Dallas. Mrs. Kennedy sat with her roses in the open convertible’s rear seat next to her husband, with John and Nellie Connally in the center seat in front of them.

Like prior Texas stops, the throngs lining their route contained a sprinkling of hatred for the nation’s first Catholic leader, but they were greatly outnumbered by adoration for the young and charismatic leader and his attractive First Lady. The motorcade had wound its way in a not-so-direct route from the airport though the downtown area to maximize the viewing opportunities for Dallasites hoping to see the visitors. Police motorcycles accompanying the motorcade stayed back a distance from its cars to allow citizens to see the occupants within. They approached the end of the downtown segment of the visit before what would be a short ride north on Stemmons Freeway to head for the luncheon. Two final tight turns required the cars to slow in order to negotiate around Dealey Plaza, the city-center park surrounded by tall buildings with open windows. The presidential limousine made its final turn to head beneath the coming railroad tracks and onto the freeway to the convention hall. Mrs. Connally turned back to tell the Kennedy, Mr. President, you certainly can’t say that the people of Dallas haven’t given you a warm welcome. Kennedy answered, No, you certainly can’t, his final words.

Shots rang out. Onlookers hearing the echoing pops initially attributed them to backfires of cars or motorcycles, or fireworks. They were wrong. President Kennedy clutched his throat upon being hit. Governor Connally had been stricken as well, falling to the arms of his shocked wife beside him. When the next loud report literally blew the top of the president’s head into an exploding spray of blood and mass, they saw Mrs. Kennedy crawl onto the trunk of the car. Only later was it learned that she was reacting to parts of her husband’s skull and brain flying back onto the trunk lid. Secret Service men pushed the First Lady back forward into her seat next to her slumping husband.

The limo driver and the rest of the motorcade accelerated onto the freeway, speeding past Market Center and the Trade Mart to nearby Parkland Hospital. Both wounded men were hustled into Trauma Rooms 1 and 2 inside Parkland’s Emergency Room. The governor was badly wounded, but the Kennedy’s condition was terribly grave.

Nationwide alerts interrupted scheduled afternoon programming to broadcast on radio and television the news that shots had been heard in Dallas before the president’s motorcade rushed to a local hospital. Media confusion abounded as few facts were available to clearly present the story. As news outlets scrambled to try to learn what was happening, the unthinkable announcement was made at the hospital by the acting Press Secretary: President Kennedy was dead.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the victim of only the fourth assassination of a sitting United States president, the first such case in 62 years. The youngest president ever elected to office was now also the youngest president to leave office, albeit in death.

While few facts were known either to law enforcement or media, broadcasts announced that a lone gunman was responsible. Witnesses initially reported that somewhere between two and five shots had rung out, many believing they had come from the Texas School Book Depository building. The sixty-year-old seven-story brick building faced Dealey Plaza, fronting President Kennedy’s motorcade route. A suspect was announced, a man recently employed at the depository and now missing from the building after the assassination. The man was Lee Harvey Oswald, a 24-year old discharged Marine with a history of political upheaval. His capture came after police officer J.D Tippit was killed on a Dallas street within an hour of the president’s assassination. Initially arrested for the policeman’s murder, Oswald soon became identified as the alleged murderer of the president as well.

The grief of the nation was deep and palpable as Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as the succeeding president on board Air Force One at the Dallas airport. President Johnson refused to depart before Kennedy’s corpse was loaded onto the plane with Mrs. Kennedy and others. Air Force One then returned to Washington, and the nation’s mourning began in earnest.

In Dallas, a media frenzy became an integral part of the suspect’s processing at Dallas Police Headquarters. Oswald was paraded in front of the press, open to verbal exchanges during which he proclaimed his innocence, repeatedly claiming to be a patsy. Two days later, the prisoner was to be transferred from Dallas Police Headquarters at City Hall to the county jail. Security measures thought to be stringent enough to ensure Oswald’s safety were put in place, including an armored car waiting there to use for the accused assassin’s move. Despite those efforts, a local nightclub operator named Jack Ruby was able to enter the building’s basement and mingle with a crowd of reporters assembled there.

A network television pool camera was broadcasting the event live to millions on national TV as the handcuffed Oswald exited the jail escorted by two Dallas police detectives, one on either side of him. They were only