have friday afternoon and the three days that followed and we'll be taking the measure of a kennedy legacy. the john f. kennedy who loom sod large in our national memory very much a mixture of fact and legend. rita braver will examine the facts, far teichner the legend. >> reporter: when you think of the kennedys, is it what actually happened during j.f.k.'s administration that comes to mind thor? >> think bank on all the pains that you remember. >> we all got to think that the kennedys were mythical. they were royal, they were beautiful. >> reporter: ahead, the immortality of camelot. >> osgood: during the good times first lady jacqueline kennedy played a very big part in the creation of the kennedy mystique. but it was in the worst of times that she made her most lasting mark, as susan spencer will show us. >> reporter: i when tragedy struck in 1963, one woman helped an entire nation heal. >> the reason for mrs. kennedy's iconography, sadly, is because of the way her husband's presidency ended. >> absent tragedy, would we remember her this way? the legend of jacqueline kennedy ahead. oz oz the off

how much has changed since the death of john f. kennedy.s actually perhaps the biggest change. civil rights was only on the table at the time of his assassination. we're here because of those events. >> november 22nd, 1963, and if you go back just about 90 days earlier, you had the march on washington, which was about the civil right's act, which was about john kennedy having this historic meeting, and if you go back just a few -- two months prior to the civil rights act. you have john kennedy introducing for the first time a major peace of civil rights legislation. john kennedy fulfilling his 1960 campaign pledge. >> and people want to believe for some small reason because all they did was get together, have lunch, and say that's a good idea. but america in 1963 was deeply divided. >> deeply divided, and you had birmingham, dr. king being arrested, demonstrations all over the south. you had a resistance taking place to the old system of segregation. again, this was nine years after the decision in topeka, kansas. and this president, 110 or

kennedy. he was born two years before john f. kennedy was killed. but bill clinton, there is the famous photograph. this was a man who meant a great deal to him. >> but he does have a memory of ted kennedy, one of his mentors in the senate, one of the people closest to him, someone without whom he could not have done health care reform, right? ted kennedy's part of it. >> thank you so much. stay with cnn as we continue special coverage. in the next hour, we will be remembering john f. kennedy as president and first lady. go to arlington cemetery for a special service. her busy saturday begins with back pain, when... hey pam, you should take advil. why? you can take four advil for all day relief. so i should give up my two aleve for more pills with advil? you're joking right? for my back pain, i want my aleve. you're joking right? (horn, ding, ding) how long have i had my car insurance? i don't know, eight, ten years. i couldn't tell you but things were a lot less expensive back then. if you're 50 or over you should take a new look at your auto insur

john kennedy, carolyn kennedy. today is john f. kennedy, jr.'s third birthday.t is happening. and, where necessary, what it means. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [background sounds] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the ex-president is at the door. he blesses the remains with holy water, reminded of their baptism as their entrance into the church. the solemn procession moves up the aisle of the church. the procession being led by the cross reminds us that it was through the cross of jesus that death was defeated. he is the way, the truth, and the life, and we follow in his footsteps. [background sounds] [inaudible conversations] procession up the aisle refeet psalm singing of our complete heplessness dependent on god and says with the lord there is mother sis, and with him, plenty redemption. they now remove the cape or coat and puts op the proper vestments, the celebration of mass. [background sounds] [background sounds] john fits gerald kennedy holds title to a special place in our hearts and in our prayers, thus many have gathered here in final testim

that's why people loved john kennedy. and our sense of public service. >> we had a tremendous loss of faith in the government after jack kennedy was killed and i hope the american people remember that to the extent that sometimes people play a board game of who killed kennedy, it's a tremendous disservice to the kennedy family. they deserve better. we all lost somebody, but they lost a key member to their family and we do a disservice to them when we may these conspiracy games. >> thanks to all of you for remembering, reflecting. if we don't learn from history, unfortunately, we could repeat history. let's learn from those awful days. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." a special news room with brooke baldwin continues right after this. to farmer. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, l

. >> john f. kennedy rollins. >> y le pido al señor para que siga guiando dallas para transformar el odio en armonia y la violencia en entendimiento. >> presentó las banderas y mónica saldivas, entonó el himno nacional antes de que sea marcado con el repique de campanas y un minuto de silencio. >> se plamas parte del discurso que john f. kennedy nunca llegó a pronunicar en el world trade center. >> es un momento para recordar de todo lo que hizo y lo que quiso hacer. >> está en las manos de muchos aún concretarlos. >> dignatarios y representantes de los medios de comunicación estuvieron hoy en dallas al igual que personas que obtuvieron boletos para eso. >> en el marco del día nacional de adopcion cientos de personas dieron un paso clave. >> tenemos la historia de una familia latina que hoy adopto a dos bebnes. >> efectivamente nos vinimos al condado de la alameda para cxelebrar el día nacional de la adopacion, platicamos con una familia que tiene dos niños y hoy fueron reconocidos por la ley. >> para nos

john f. kennedy was walking into. there was concern before his trip in general about how he would be received there? >> yeah. there was a lot of conservatives, opposition to kennedy. and an example on the way in to the motorcade into dallas, and the outskirts, one man had a sign, i hold you, mr. kennedy, and your blind socialism in total contempt. and that had been expressed by the biggest newspaper, the morning newspaper in dallas that morning. but the trip had gone so well for them, politically. there were rapturous receptions in the other cities and in ft. worth that morning, you just showed, in speaking there, with the congressional delegation from texas, and the governor, lined up behind him on the platform, looking like guilty school boys because they were feuding among themselves, this one couldn't ride in the car with that one and that sort of thing. but the crowd reaction to the kennedys, up until then, and that morning, and in those days you could get very close to a president walking aroun

we beat john kennedy on civil rights. could not have beat lyndon johnson. once again, flip of what richard russell said. we chief beaten kennedy on civil rights but we can't beat johnson. i do think eventually -- i'm not discounting social forces -- that the civil rights movement would have triumphed. simply as everett dirkson, an idea whose time has come, but would have happened less quickly and less successfully. on the domestic side, i believe there would have been no great society program, because that's not how john kennedy thought. that was johnson. who dreamt of being the second fdr and who had grandiose notions what use could do with legislation, and kennedy was more detached in that sense, too. we're going to have medicare and have demonstration programs, but i think it would have been acutely aware, for instance 0, the political dangers of a great society program with big city mayors at odds with community based organizations, fighting for money. kennedys were from boston. they understood the black-white conflict in terms of white working class and

the son, john kennedy junior, killed in a senseless plane crashed off of cape cod. it is a combination, i think, of continuesthings that to recommend kennedy to us as this very, very appealing figure. >> i wonder whether or not whether -- what ever john kennedy did or did not accomplish, there are those to this day who are concerned about the hype of the kennedy years, and they see him as a mediocre president, at best, not a failed president, but mediocre. my question is whether what he did or did not accomplish in life will always be overshadowed by how he died. >> yes. you know, he did have some accomplishments. there was, of course, the most striking feature, the way in which he led the country through that cuban missile crisis. we know in retrospect that he avoided a nuclear conflict with the soviet union. successseized upon that to make his famous american university speech in which he spoke about thinking anew, a fresh about our relationship with the soviet union. if he lived, i think we would've had an earlier detente then we did under richard nixon. then the

that is what issthis what about john kennedy. how there was no predictable mold to john kennedy. that is what defined him in history and leaves us guessing in history. just ask a historian. rick, this happened after the fact, but let's go back who he was, and i think one thing that comes through loud and clear is not easily labeled, not a conservative but very pragmatic. >> and these are terms the change with every generation. it is the one at was supposed to be in the early 1960s and jfk as a politician, of course, always one of these terms to be flexible. this includes jfk being a liberal in the classic mold. it has pretty much been debunked by historians if you look at his backing of the civil rights movement. he was kind of weak kneed the first couple of years and then offense finally pushed into it and he got more liberal on the issue. talking about his tax cut policy, which is what i think what you really want to talk about here is jfk who started out fairly conservative on tax cuts and he was not a conservative when it came to government policy. so it is a mixed bag. >> he

president john f. kennedy was pronounced dead at parkland hospital at 1:00 p.m., at 2:38 the moment walter cronkite was telling the nation the president was dead lyndon johnson was taking the oath of office aboard air force one. the same plane that was carrying kennedy's body back to washington. that plane is now at the national museum of the u.s. air force in dayton, ohio. jeff underwood takes us on board. >>> we are standing here on board president john kennedy's air force one at the national museum, united states air force. this is the very room where vice president johnson took the oath of office and this is the very place where he stood. as we move back toward the rear of the aircraft, you can see the seats are kind of tight but that's because this was a working aircraft, it flew for the air force in carrying presidents and vips for 36 years a long career and now it has a new career here at the national museum. as we go a little further back, we come to an area which is the galley, the presidential meals

i think we can now say john f. kennedy'slike john f. kennedy was talking about the heroism of kennedy. i say that because after his death there was a lot of camelot literature, books by ted sorenson building up kennedy and other books came out of a different generation very critical of his personal life. but now on the 50th anniversary, not only is he coming off as a sustainable hero, the amount of love, the outpouring from love from all over america, its bipartisan and spirit. david reading those words reminds you kennedy was the greatest orator of the 20th century. you could chisel so many speeches into marble and monuments. now there's another new monument in dallas as of today. >> gerald posner, as you reflect and we get ready for the flyover to recall and to honor the memory of the president of the united states, president john f. kennedy, this is a special moment for the city of dallas itself where this terrible tragedy occurred 50 years ago this hour. >> yeah, absolutely, wolf. dallas did it self very proud today with

we will show you the events at the john f. kennedy library in boston, which will come up sometime in the 2:00 eastern heart. afternoon.good caller: good afternoon. even though i was not born yet, my mother was expecting me. you are on the air. go ahead with your comments. i think we may have lost catherine. do call back if you want to. the numbers are on the screen. anthony is in los angeles. caller: hi. i remember when i was a child, i is only 2 1/2 years old, and was standing with my mom and father, and i was a little child, so i do not know what was going on. andother fell to her knees both parents started weeping uncontrollably. it was not until years later with what had happened, and it they said the president was shot and killed. host: did your parents ever talk about that after they saved a scrapbook of some of the headlines and things like that afterward? somber andy were quiet about it, and it was a wasry from a child, when i a child. i finally asked them, put two and two together, and my mother started crying again. host: in

to run for office because i was inspired by the life of john f. kennedy. of john f. kennedy. >> i think everybody wants to be like jack kennedy because the inspiration that he provided to so many americans and his martyrdom, let's be frank, obviously covered up some failings that he might have -- may have had as every president has had. >> he has been given the kind of referen reverence he didn't have when alive and probably would be the have exercised had he survived dallas. >> nonetheless, i think you would have to say it is a legacy that most politicians would do well to aspire to, to give the country a sense of mission and of hope and direction. >> let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty. >> it was the first telegenic president. i think he mesmerized people by the way he looked, the way he spoke, the way he acted, the way he carried himself. he certainly was charismatic. >> one of the biggest t

we trace john f. kennedy's legacy, leaf after death, through all nine successors. e spent more time on that than anything including the assassination. we asked this question for each successor. how did this president use john f. kennedy to accomplish his own agenda? >> host: right. >> guest: every single president used kennedy in one way or another, as you know better than i do because of your books on reagan, his best use was by reagan. >> host: right. >> guest: who cited kennedy siewfn you thought he was his running mate. >> host: in the 80s campaigns in primaries with crossover voters in wisconsin, the campaign ran commercials that featured president kennedy extolling the need to cut taxes to get the country moving again, and those were made into commercials by the reagan campaign. >> guest: which was very smartment once he got in, he used all of kennedy's words about why the across the board tax cut that kennedy almost got adopted -- died before it was scheduled to be voted on, but he used kennedy's words saying why there was productivity in and across across th

a sung mass.e it will be a simple mass for john kennedy. ter the mass is completed, there will be no eulogy. they will leave say matthews cathedral and go to arlington national cemetery. the president will be buried. about 3:00 to 3:30, jacqueline kennedy, who has performed in an unbelievable fashion throughout all of this since friday, she will receive visiting heads of state. she will meet them, she will undoubtedly display the same self-control she has shown throughout all of this. we go now to the rotunda. there is john mccormick. --ocratic whip and claude pepper, florida. henry jackson, senator from washington. senator strom thurmond, south carolina. with his family. we are not picking up dignitaries to name. we are merely identifying people who have come to pay their tributes to this man with whom they have worked. certainly, many members of the congress were given an opportunity on saturday to pass before the casket of john kennedy in the east room of the white house. they did that in private. they come back again. it is not easy to s

john f. kennedy♪ for a generation of americans the death of president john f. kennedy was a touch stone, every one know where they were in dallas 50 years ago today and the shooting and aftermath viewed by millions and carried the news around the clock and a half century later the nation is marking the moment that changed our nation and al jazeera will have continuing coverage of the somber anniversary all day long and later in the hour we will look at the final days of jfk and how reporters captured those moments. plus we will focus on an unique photography exhibit that has snapshots of his presidency from beginning to end. very good friday morning and welcome to al jazeera and stephanie si has the morning off. we begin with a historic power play in congress, senate democrats passed the so called nuclear option, the landmark vote limits the use of filibustering to block presidential nominees and democrats say the move will engridlock in washington and allow president obama to get his appointments ap

kennedy died. organized crime, maybe some of the cuban exiles. >> john birch society in dallas. >> so the idea that this insignificant guy who, by the way, fits the profile of almost every other assassin and alleged assassin, whether it's the guy that almost killed kennedy in 1960 or the man who almost killed roosevelt or john hinckley, these -- the kind of -- >> and whoever shot the duke that started world war i. >> deranged folks with a kind of twisted -- in oswald's case a twisted self-taught illiterate marxism. that's who does these things. lincoln, a conspiracy. but i think robert dallek is right. it seems somehow more fiting if he were killed for a great reason. >> well, he also had thought about assassinating other people. i forgot the right wing general's name -- edwin walker. >> he was shot at mass. which makes it just to make your point even more improbable that he hit the mark on november 22. because he was at closer range then. >> it was an easy shot. >> rose: it was not a hard shot. >> the limousine was turning a curve so that he was at kennedy's back. it wasn't a car going by at that

be anchoring our special coverage of the dallas memorial of john f. kennedy. stay tuned as the events begin right at the top of the hour. thanks so much for watching, everyone. everyone. and have a good weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> you're with cnn. welcome to "around the world." i'm hal lal gorani. >> i'm michael holmes. we welcome our viewers from all around the world, a very important day in u.s. history. we are in fact, approaching the moment that assassin's bullet took the life of president john f. kennedy and shattered the nation 50 years. >> so it's an event that is still seared in the collective copeousness of this country. one of the darkest days really in this country's history. and people gathering in dallas to honor the slain president. you're looking at live pictures of dealey plaza, the scene of the tragedy. >> the city's going to hold a moment of silence at the exact time of the assassination. today's event the first time dallas zillions officially commemorating jfk's death. the first time in 50 years. of course, the eternal

john f. kennedy and i passed out literature in my neighborhood. i remembered a woman slamming the door and saying i don't support a papist. i didn't know what that was that it was a big deal to us. there was a lot of anti-catholic prejudice. >> host: i was seven at the time that i have a vivid memory of our principal walking into our second grade classroom in new york and telling us. the only two things i remembered that is after i got home standing on the coffee table and my father holding me while i was crying. and then the drums and then the sunday coming home from church and turning on the tv watching oswald being shot. what got you interested in politics? >> guest: john f. kennedy. that's one reason i did the book. i've always had it in the back of my mind that i wanted to write about this once i have the resources. we were doing a big project. you gave an academic another year and he's going to have another 100 pages. but we are doing an online course that is free to anyone that wants to sign u

with president john f. kennedyh for taking the time to talk to us. >> you're welcome. >> and everyone asks the question, of course, where were you when president kennedy was shot. compelling stories from senator pat leahy, among others, coming up. msnbc will be streaming nbc's coverage of the assassination of jfk has it happened starting today at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. in kr-- incredibly powerful footage. >> a flash from dallas. two priests who were with president kennedy say he is dead of bullet wounds. >> this is the latest information we have from dallas. of course standing by to give you all of the available information as it comes to us. i will repeat with the greatest regret this flash, two priests who were with president kennedy say he has died of bullet wounds. >> a flash from dallas. rock beats scissors! [ chuckles ] wife beats rock. and with two checks a year, everyone wins. [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call 866-906

that is john kennedy's womanizing. this is one thing he wrote. had affairs with several women, including pamela turnure, jackie's press secretary, mary pinchot meier, ben bradley's sister-in-law, two white house secretaries playfully dubbed fiddle and fadle. judith campbell exner and a full slender beautiful intern. how much of this did the press know and not report? >> ben bradley who i talked to at great length insists he did not know, did not know about his own sister-in-law being involved with jfk. so in retrospect, there was a feeling this was better known or better documented than it may have been at the time. >> in your biography, you talk about the fact that his reputation as a womanizer was known when he was a senator in washington. she was well aware of this reputation as they were dating. what do we know about mrs. kennedy's knowledge about how much it continued after the marriage? and if so, how she felt about it? >> well, bless her heart, she kept her counsel on most of the time. she didn't write a memoir, she didn't go on oprah and

kennedy will take john jr. in his motorcade to the rich and this morning and back to the white house. in the building in the white house. >> inside the east room, president kennedy's, a fine dignitary. mrs. kennedy in the attorney general returning to the white house. the dignitaries, from the north portico, the solemn procession with a mass will be celebrated. >> it is our understanding as of this moment that mrs. kennedy, the attorney general, members of the family will proceed alone to the rotunda, this motorcade and then follow the casket back here to the white house by motorcade and then be joined by president and mrs. johnson. >> saw her just a second ago. the president's secretary has just arrived. large numbers of people have gathered across pennsylvania avenue, several thousands have been there since early this morning. >> that is this same car. that first car, the same one that was used yesterday. the attorney general sir family, i believe. trying to identify some of the delegation. it is almost imposs

. >> from nbc news, president kennedy and governor john connally of texas have been cut down by assassin's bullets in downtown dallas. we'll repeat that. president kennedy and governor john connally of texas have been cut down by assassin's bullets in downtown dallas. >> the assassination of john f. kennedy 50 years later. brian williams reporting tonight from dallas. >>> and good evening from dallas, texas. we're in dealey plaza just across from the sixth floor window in the texas schoolbook depository building where three shots were fired 50 years ago today that changed the course of american history. and here in the shadow of that very building it was a perfectly awful day. 35 degrees, rain and wind, perfectly matching how dark it felt to be here today. and going back 50 years ago tonight, by this time of night, right now, air force one had just landed back in washington, d.c. carrying the president's casket, his widow jacqueline kennedy and the new president, lyndon johnson. most americans were home for the day. schools and offices let out early, and millions by this time were huddled

some would say john kennedy was a tragic hero. much like the tragic her heos of greek literature and shakespearean plays. kennedy was neither achilles or hamlet. he was a man who through sheer force of personality and conviction motivated and exsided people. -- excited people. he moved the nation. what he shares with ancient heroes was the great promise of before t short by death promise could be fulfilled. james russin wrote, the tragedy of john fitzgerald kennedy was greater than the accomplishment, but in the end tragedy enhances the accomplishment and revives hope. what died in dallas on november hallmark of e, the both the kennedy administration, and the man. it is sad to see what happened in this country, ted sorenson has commented, it is as if people don't want to believe in anything today. sometimes they even turn against john kennedy because, perhaps, he was the last man they believed in. sorenson's remarks are well taken. i share his sadness and tire cynics who seek only to tear down discredit, destroy, and in general bel

i was seven when kennedy ran for president and i was so excited. it was the eighth sacrament to be for john f. kennedy and i passed out literature in my neighborhood about it. i remember warming -- woman slamming the door and saying i don't support papists. i didn't know what tape is was and i had to ask my father. there was a lot of anti-catholic prejudice. >> i had a very vivid memory of our principal walking into our second grade classroom and telling us and the only two things i remember after that was when i got home standing at the coffee table and my father holding me while i was crying. and the drums and sunday coming home from church and watching live oswalt being shot by ruby. what got you interested in politics? >> guest: on wesley john f. kennedy did. that's one reason why did the book. i voice had it in the back of my mind that i wanted to write it. we tried at the center for politics we are doing a big project on kennedy. the book is a five-year project and its 600 pages. if you give an academic another year he's going to add another 100 pages that but we are doing a massive o

kennedy, exactly 50 years ago, america was in shock, coming to the unthinkable, the assassination of john f. kennedy. >>> we begin with the developing story story of iran's nuclear program. secretary of state john kerry is en route to geneva to personally teafned the talks. the chinese minister says, talks are down to the moment. >> peaceful energy but it could also create components of a nuclear weapon. today the u.s. hopes to make a deal that would stop that building and convince iran to give up the capacity to build the bomb. >> it is the president's policy that iran must not be allowed to amakto a enrich uniform. >> building a bomb would be more difficult and time consuming. the deal would also stop construction of iran's ple iranm plant. >> what we need is for iran to provide assurance to the community. >> israel pos opposes. >> more closer than we have ever been in a decade to achieving a diplomatic agreement for a first step with the iranians. >> so nick we're hearing a lot of things tonight. is this deal really imminent? >> john kerry went there two weeks ago and they thought the

and in both their cases, john f. kennedyworld lost all that potential with the president of the united states, the young and gracious 35th president of the united states. what you think about is would there have been a vietnam war? what would the civil rights movement had been like? would there -- there never would have been a watergate. would there have been a robert kennedy presidency following john f. kennedbrother, the attorney general, have succeeded him? you think all the what ifs and all the things he could have contributed and how we were robbed so brutally in both these cases by, you know, no nothing, nobody, selfish people who decided to wreak havoc, to make a name for themselves. you know, that's what i'm thinking. i'm thinking about the loss potential and all the what ifs. >> it's so true, geraldo. all the things that are unknowable on days like this. and, of course, the mayor touched on the feeling that everyone had back then which was we all grew up that day. he said, of course, the saying was patrick quote of,

what i think, gwen, 50 years from now, will we be talking about john kennedy this way anymore? t another president who gen raits a kind of excitement, a kind of hope for us, kennedy will be eclipsed. but if we keep stumbling along, as we vehicle, i think so of i think kennedy will continue to have this extraordinary hold. >> ifill: you have all been great. this is a fascinating conversation. thup william p. jones. bill minutaglio. ellen fitzpatrick. and bob dallek. >> wooduff: later tonight on pbs: charlie rose talks with clint hill, the secret service agent who jumped onto the back of the presidential limousine after the shots were fired. check your local listings. >> wooduff: again, the major developments of the day: americans and the world marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of president john f. kennedy. the u.s. stepped up pressure on afghan president karzai to sign a security deal by year's end. it would govern u.s. troops who may remain there past next year. and secretary of state john kerry headed to geneva to join six-nation talks with iran on freezing its n

that is john kennedy's womanizing. this is one thing he wrote. nedy had affairs with several women, including pamela turnure, jackie's press secretary, mary pinchot meier, ben bradley's sister-in-law, two white house secretaries playfully dubbed fiddle and fadle. judith campbell exner and a full slender beautiful intern. how much of this did the press know and not report. >> ben bradley who i talked to at great length insists he did not know, did not know about his own sister-in-law being involved with jfk. so in retrospect, there was a feeling this was better known or better documented than it may have been at the time. >> in your biography, you talk about the fact that his reputation as a womanizer was known when he was a senator in washington. she was well aware of this reputation as they were dating. what do we know about mrs. kennedy's knowledge about how much it continued after the marriage? and if so, how she felt about it? >> well, bless her heart, she kept her counsel on most of the time. she didn't write a memoir, she didn't go on oprah

much as mary mccrory who you knew once had conversation with pat moynihan waiting online to see john kennedy as casket at the capitol she said, what are we doing at jack kennedy's funeral, i can't believe it. we will never laugh again. pat said, you'll laugh again but never be young again. that was another generation that was just hit by this historical event. >> you said last night on the special that it was a loss of innocence. i think that captures it absolutely right. for so many people america seemed to be at peace with the world, we were prospering, we had this sort of sense that we could go anywhere and do anything. and we had then -- that was a dawn of new age, it was tumultuous period that followed. there was a real sense, we often quoted yates in the '60s about things fall apart. after world war i. also something, we were robbed of a sense of the future. it was very different from the lincoln assassination when it was equal amount of grief but there was sense when lincoln died that his work was completed by 1855. the war was basically over. where as with kennedy it was just beginni

i'm mara schiavocampo. 50 years ago the nation lost its 35th president when john f. kennedy was struck down by an assassin's bullet. jackie kennedy to steal the spot light among the excited crowds. brian williamsrt >> reporter: at the third texas stop in fort worth even though it was late and raining people lined the streets to see them. the kennedy's spent their last night together at hotel texas. the next morning the president emerged to greet a crowd of 5,000 outside. >> i appreciate you being here this morning. mrs. kennedy is organizing herself. >> reporter: and when she appeared mrs. kennedy made a stunning entrance wearing the now-famous pink chanel suit, white gloves. >> i am the man who accompanied mrs. kennedy to paris. i am getting somewhat that same sensation around texas. nobody wonders whathnson and i >> reporter: the hat industry complained he was turning other men against it. that day he was given a statset. >> i can't let you leave fort worth providing you some protection against the rain. >> i'll put it on in the white house on monday. if you come up there

it was 50 years ago today that john f. kennedy was fascinated as he went -- assassinated as he went through texas. jfk's burial site is marked by the eternal flame, and it's one of the most visited gravesites, and for the first time ever in dallas, a memorial will be held at the scene of the shooting. heidi is there, and i understand that they're expecting huge crowds. >> reporter: they are, del. 5,000 lucky lottery winners will be here at the plaza, and on this unseasonably cold day, it's nothing like the clear skies that were in dallas in 1963. well, this bad weather is not keeping people home. but crowds are gathering already in the anticipation of this event. just above them is a book depositry where from the 6th story window came the shots that took president kennedy's life 50 years ago. the people there said that they remember it, and it changed not only their lives but the course of the world. there were tense moments for everyone, and perhaps none of which were more intense than the emergency room at parkland hospital, min

the kennedys recognized that john kennedy belonged to the nation. s generous on their part. >> we are watching president obama greet the kennedy family. kerry kennedy in the front taking pictures and ethyl kennedy. she is in front of the screen and rfk's widow and what was the lasting legacy of president kennedy? >> boy, i mentioned breaking the catholic barrier and the cuban missile crisis was definitive and so much came from that and so many other decisions rippled through the world and it was very critical moment in the cold war. and from the development of weaponry and the impact on the economy. there was the period of the cia gone wild. i don't know how else to describe it. the president was seen as crossing the ciowa a and the bay of pigs invasion and now couldn't say no to them. and there was an assassination of heads of state and which is part of the controversy with the warren commission and trying to understand all of the los ends and it is a mixed legacy and extremely significant and legendary president so. i noticed your correspondent in

to be better if we only will ♪ ♪ >> several officials paid their respects at the grave site of john f. kennedylough. this is 45 minutes. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage the united states naval academy men's glee club under the direction of dr. aaron smith. >> please welcome our distinguished guests to the stage, led by the chairman of the 50th commemorative committee for the city of dallas. the most reverend bishop, kevin j. farrell of the catholic diocese of dallas. the mayor of dallas, the honorable mike rawlings, david mccullough, and pastor emeritus of the st. luke's community united methodist church, sam w. holmes jr. thank you. and now, we ask you to please rise for the presentation of the colors by the dallas police department honor guard. >> please remain standing for the national anthem, performed by monica saldevar. >>. ♪ o say can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what's so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ ♪ through the perilous fight ♪ oo'er the ramparts we won were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ and

it comes from ted and bob kennedy. john f. kennedy was pragmatic, cold warrior. t somebody who had liberal instincts when he needed to. >> john, what do you make of this debate? >> it's a debate you have because our times changed so much and when bill clinton was the democratic president after walter monodell lost 49 states, he said he wanted to be a different democrat. the conservative movement has gone through several changes, from barry goldwater to ronald reagan and now the tea party. there are things ronald reagan did the tea party members would call liberal. as the times change and as movements become ascendant, you put them into the context and language of today and today's politics are messy. i don't think it's fair to anybody, anybody in history to take from today's mess and look back and try to find them a place. >> doug, what do you think is the legacy? do you think he will be most remembered for in another 50 years? >> well, i like to think of going to the moon. what a big moment in american history that 1969, we lived up to the promise and neil armstr

them. 50 years after president kennedy was assassinated here just steps from where i am standing by lee harvey oswald. but this was about the life pa -- and legacy of johnkennedy. a committee of 25 people from dallas put on this event funded completely by private donations. >> you, lord have lifted us up from the horrible tragedy enacted in this place from the cruel suffering that was born on this hill, from the shock and horror that gripped our nation, and from the year when we has citizens of this city suffered and were implicated by the gunshot by one man. >> certainly a mournful experience here in dallas, remembering the 50th anniversary, including the mayor addressing the crowd about the reputation that dallas unfortunately gained as a result of that assassination, becoming known as the city of hate, and now coming full circle 50 years later in an effort of redemption. let's take a listen. >> hope and hatred collided right here in dallas. we watched the nightmarish reality that in our front yard, our president had been taken from us. taken from his family, taken from the world. >> now today's ceremony was abridged because of this weather, a somber