In light of the recently regained interest in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy due to the release of additional files, it is understandable that thoughts would also turn to the person who was closest to the President, both literally and figuratively, on that tragic day in November 1963.
No person was closer to President John F. Kennedy during his last moments than his wife, First Lady Jacqueline “Jackie” Bouvier Kennedy, and her recollection of events gives a gruesome depiction of one of the darkest days in American history.
Mrs. Kennedy shunned the public light after her husband’s death and rarely gave interviews. However, the woman who became America’s widow sat down with the Warren Commission to tell her side of the events at 4:20 p.m., on Friday, June 5, 1964, at 3017 N Street NW, Washington, D.C., according to the National Archives.
It appears Mrs. Kennedy’s testimony lasted around 10 minutes and was given to J. Lee Rankin, the Commission’s general counsel.
The Dallas Express has prepared this excerpt from Kennedy’s testimony partly in response to erroneous social media statements that this testimony was part of the newly released JFK files and because of heightened public interest in these documents.
Mr. RANKIN. And then do you remember as you turned off of Houston onto Elm right by the Depository Building?
Mrs. KENNEDY. Well, I don’t know the names of the streets, but I suppose right by the Depository is what you are talking about?
Mr. RANKIN. Yes; that is the street that sort of curves as you go down under the underpass.
Mrs. KENNEDY. Yes; well, that is when [First Lady of Texas Nellie Connally] said to President Kennedy, “You certainly can’t say that the people of Dallas haven’t given you a nice welcome.
Mr. RANKIN. What did he say?
Mrs. KENNEDY. I think he said- I don’t know if I remember it or I have read it, “No, you certainly can’t,” or something. And you know then the car was very slow and there weren’t very many people around.
And then — do you want me to tell you what happened?
Mr. RANKIN. Yes; if you would, please.
Mrs. KENNEDY. You know, there is always noise in a motorcade and there are always motorcycles, besides us, a lot of them backfiring. So I was looking to the left. I guess there was a noise, but it didn’t seem like any different noise really because there is so much noise, motorcycles and things. But then suddenly Governor Connally was yelling, “Oh, no, no, no.”
Mr. RANKIN. Did he turn toward you?
Mrs. KENNEDY. No; I was looking this way, to the left, and I heard these terrible noises. You know. And my husband never made any sound. So I turned to the right. And all I remember is seeing my husband, he had this sort of quizzical look on his face, and his hand was up, it must have been his left hand. And just as I turned and looked at him, I could see a piece of his skull and I remember it was flesh colored. I remember thinking he just looked as if he had a slight headache. And I just remember seeing that. No blood or anything.
[Some sources say that part of Kennedy’s transcript is edited in this section and does not include the more graphic details of her husband’s demise. Notably, the former First Lady’s testimony was not initially released to the public in the first iteration of the Warren Report, only coming out later with another batch of documents.]
DELETED SECTION
I was trying to hold his hair on. From the front there was nothing — I suppose there must have been. But from the back you could see, you know, you were trying to hold his hair on, and his skull on. …. I could see a piece of his skull sort of wedge-shaped, like that, and I remember that it was flesh colored with little ridges at the top. And then he sort of did this [indicating], put his hand to his forehead and fell in my lap.
TESTIMONY RESUMES
And then I just remember falling on him and saying, “Oh, no, no, no,” I mean, “Oh, my God, they have shot my husband.” And “I love you, Jack,” I remember I was shouting. And just being down in the car with his head in my lap. And it just seemed an eternity.
You know, then, there were pictures later on of me climbing out the back. But I don’t remember that at all.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you remember Mr. Hill coming to try to help on the car?
Mrs. KENNEDY. I don’t remember anything. I was just down like that. And finally I remember a voice behind me, or something, and then I remember the people in the front seat, or somebody, finally knew something was wrong, and a voice yelling, which must have been Mr. Hill, “Get to the hospital,” or maybe it was Mr. Kellerman, in the front seat. But someone yelling. I was just down and holding him. [Reference to wounds deleted.]
Mr. RANKIN. Do you have any recollection of whether there were one or more shots?
Mrs. KENNEDY. Well, there must have been two because the one that made me turn around was Governor Connally yelling. And it used to confuse me because first I remembered there were three and I used to think my husband didn’t make any sound when he was shot. And Governor Connally screamed. And then I read the other day that it was the same shot that hit them both. But I used to think if I only had been looking to the right, I would have seen the first shot hit him, then I could have pulled him down, and then the second shot would not have hit him. But I heard Governor Connally yelling and that made me turn around, and as I turned to the right my husband was doing this [indicating with hand at neck]. He was receiving a bullet. And those are the only two I remember.
And I read there was a third shot. But I don’t know. Just those two.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you have any recollection generally of the speed that you were going, not any precise amount.
Mrs. KENNEDY. We were really slowing turning the corner. And there were very few people.
Mr. RANKIN. And did you stop at any time after the shots, or proceed about the same way?
Mrs. KENNEDY. I don’t know, because — I don’t think we stopped. But there was such confusion. And I was down in the car and everyone was yelling to get to the hospital and you could hear them on the radio, and then suddenly I remember a sensation of enormous speed, which must have been when we took off.
Mr. RANKIN. And then from there you proceeded as rapidly as possible to the hospital, is that right?
Mrs. KENNEDY. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall anyone saying anything else during the time of the shooting?
Mrs. KENNEDY. No; there weren’t any words. There was just Governor Connally’s. And then I suppose Mrs. Connally was sort of crying and covering her husband. But I don’t remember any words.
And there was a big windshield between–you know–I think. Isn’t there?
Mr. RANKIN. Between the seats.
Mrs. KENNEDY. So you know, those poor men in the front, you couldn’t hear them.
Mr. RANKIN. Can you think of anything more?
The CHAIRMAN. No; I think not. I think that is the story and that is what we came for.
We thank you very much, Mrs. Kennedy.
Mr. RANKIN. I would just like to ask if you recall Special Agent Kellerman saying anything to you as you came down the street after you turned that corner that you referred to.
Mrs. KENNEDY. You mean before the shots?
Mr. RANKIN. Yes.
Mrs. KENNEDY. Well, I don’t, because you know, it is very hard for them to talk. But I do not remember, just as I don’t recall climbing out on the back of the car.
Mr. RANKIN. Yes. You have told us what you remember about the entire period as far as you can recall, have you?
Mrs. KENNEDY. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Mrs. Kennedy.
The entirety of the former First Lady’s testimony can be read here.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the last batch of classified JFK assassination files, totaling around 80,000 pages, is now also available online, following an executive order by Trump aimed at increasing transparency regarding not only JFK’s assassination but also those of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
The republishing of this testimony is part of The Dallas Express’ greater effort to report on information of historical significance as the nation reconsiders what happened on November 22, 1963, in Dallas in the light of the thousands of files related to the Kennedy assassination that President Donald Trump’s administration released.