Plot
On the morning of November 22, 1963, an elderly man who wears spacesuit-type clothing materializes in the hotel suite occupied by Jackie Kennedy. The Time Traveler shows Jackie future television footage of the assassination and funeral of John F. Kennedy. Shortly thereafter, the Time Traveler speaks to the president and to Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, giving them details of their respective assassinations and of the public revelations of JFK's sex scandals, convincing the president to remain faithful to Jackie. The Time Traveler won't state his name or his birthplace, but does mention that he was born on this day. The Time Traveler, who is clearly very fond of Jackie, is pleased when she agrees to dance with him.
The Time Traveler and the three Kennedys drink a toast in the hotel suite just before 12:30, which is the time that afternoon that JFK was historically assassinated in his motorcade. At 12:30 the Time Traveler turns into nothingness, and a lead-crystal glass that he was holding drops to the floor and shatters. Bobby finds a piece of glass with the Time Traveler's fingerprint on it.
Clint Hill and Bobby then travel ahead to Dallas, where Hill takes out two gunmen behind a fence on grassy knoll, confirming one of the later conspiracy theories about the assassination. Third gunman Lee Harvey Oswald is captured, and Jack Ruby is killed before he can shoot Oswald, who is taken to Washington, D.C. and interrogated by the Warren Commission, culminating in the CIA's disbandment. When FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover threatens to blackmail the President by revealing audio tapes of Kennedy having sex with Marilyn Monroe, Bobby counters by threatening to release photos of Hoover's homosexuality. Hoover agrees to hand over the tapes, and also agrees to hand in his letter of resignation.
John and Jackie appear on television. John reveals his infidelities and asks for forgiveness from both his wife and the nation. Jackie stands with her husband and asks the country to do the same.
Having been forewarned by the Time Traveler that the Vietnam War will end with 57,000 American soldiers having died for nothing, Kennedy announces, ahead of the 1964 presidential election, the withdrawal of US military forces from Vietnam. Vice President Lyndon Johnson is enraged by this and tries to dissuade him from this or least wait until after the 1964 election (which realistically Kennedy would've done the latter) but Kennedy refuses. Kennedy, in a speech televised from a rally at Rice Stadium, recommits to the importance of the Apollo Program, but also expands it to be a project for all humanity, and openly calls for the Soviet Union to participate in it, appealing to Nikita Khrushchev to negotiate an end to the Cold War. His efforts are ultimately successful, resulting in humanity's first Moon landing being a joint US-Soviet project, with astronaut John Glenn and (fictional) cosmonaut Nikilia Bresnev planting their two nations' flags together on the Moon.
In 1964, Bobby is still determined to uncover the Time Traveler's identity, wanting to prevent him from eventually inventing time travel, but a pregnant Jackie exacts an iron promise from Bobby that the Time Traveler would never be harmed. As it turns out, the Time Traveler is currently a toddler named Raymond Mead. Mead, like his older Time Traveler self, is obsessed with Jackie Kennedy. In 1979, a then sixteen-year-old Mead commits a burglary, is arrested and put on a prison bus; his fingerprinting enables now-President Bobby Kennedy to know the Time Traveler's name. President Bobby has the teenager pulled off the bus, he talks to the kid, and he gives Mead a full pardon.
As time passes, Mead becomes an artist and gets married. Jackie has bought many of his paintings, up until her 1994 death (the same year as in the original timeline). JFK dies in 2000, at age 83, of natural causes. With both his parents gone, the Kennedy's youngest son, James Robert, explains to Mead why the Kennedy family has been so generous to him and reveals a portrait of his older self. The film ends with Mead's younger self (rather than the older Time Traveler) dancing with Jackie in 1963 as a dream sequence, then shows the real Mead as a toddler in 1964 staring at televised footage of Jackie with her new baby, James, being discharged from Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital, where JFK had died in the original timeline.
Jack Leon Ruby was an American nightclub owner who killed Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald was accused of assassinating President John F. Kennedy. Ruby shot and mortally wounded Oswald on live television in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters and was immediately arrested.
Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of president John F. Kennedy. A popular first lady, she endeared herself to the American public with her devotion to her family, dedication to the historic preservation of the White House, the campaigns she led to preserve and restore historic landmarks and architecture along with her interest in American history, culture, and arts. During her lifetime, she was regarded as an international icon for her unique fashion choices, and her work as a cultural ambassador of the United States made her very popular globally.
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through Executive Order 11130 on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy that had taken place on November 22, 1963.
On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline, Texas governor John Connally, and Connally's wife Nellie, when he was fatally shot from the nearby Texas School Book Depository by Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine. The motorcade rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Kennedy was pronounced dead about 30 minutes after the shooting; Connally was also wounded in the attack but recovered. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was hastily sworn in as president two hours and eight minutes later aboard Air Force One at Dallas Love Field.
J. D. Tippit was an American World War II U.S. Army veteran and Bronze Star recipient, who was a police officer with the Dallas Police Department for 11 years. About 45 minutes after the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, Tippit was shot and killed in a residential neighborhood in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, Texas, by Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was initially arrested for the murder of Tippit and was subsequently charged with killing President Kennedy. Oswald was murdered by Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner, two days later.
The Death of a President: November 20–November 25, 1963 is historian William Manchester's 1967 account of the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy. The book gained public attention before it was published when Kennedy's widow Jacqueline, who had initially asked Manchester to write the book, demanded that the author make changes in the manuscript.
Abbott Vaughn Meader was an American comedian, impersonator, musician, and film actor.
This article outlines the timeline of events before, during, and after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States.
James William "Ike" Altgens was an American photojournalist, photo editor, and field reporter for the Associated Press (AP) based in Dallas, Texas, who became known for his photographic work during the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy (JFK). Altgens was 19 when he began his AP career, which was interrupted by military service during World War II. When his service time ended, Altgens returned to Dallas and got married. He soon went back to work for the local AP bureau and eventually earned a position as a senior editor.
The assassination of John F. Kennedy and the subsequent conspiracy theories surrounding it have been discussed, referenced, or recreated in popular culture numerous times.
A major American icon, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis has been portrayed, alluded to, and referred to in many media in the popular culture from the 1960s and continuing into the 21st century.
There are many coincidences with the assassinations of U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, and these have become a piece of American folklore. The list of coincidences appeared in the mainstream American press in 1964, a year after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, having appeared prior to that in the GOP Congressional Committee Newsletter. In the 1970s, Martin Gardner examined the list in an article in Scientific American, pointing out that several of the claimed coincidences were based on misinformation. Gardner's version of the list contained 16 items; many subsequent versions have circulated much longer lists.
Robert Francis Kennedy, also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New York from January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968, when he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Like his brothers John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy, he was a prominent member of the Democratic Party and is considered an icon of modern American liberalism.
The CIA Kennedy assassination is a prominent John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory. According to ABC News, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is represented in nearly every theory that involves American conspirators. The secretive nature of the CIA, and the conjecture surrounding the high-profile political assassinations in the United States during the 1960s, has made the CIA a plausible suspect for some who believe in a conspiracy. Conspiracy theorists have ascribed various motives for CIA involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy, including Kennedy's firing of CIA director Allen Dulles, Kennedy's refusal to provide air support to the Bay of Pigs invasion, Kennedy's plan to cut the agency's budget by 20 percent, and the belief that the president was weak on communism. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) concluded that the CIA was not involved in the assassination of Kennedy.
James Patrick Hosty Jr. was an American FBI agent known for unofficially investigating Lee Harvey Oswald in the months before the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Hosty later testified before the Warren Commission, and came to believe Oswald shot Kennedy in coordination with an agent of the Soviet Union.
The assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, has spawned numerous conspiracy theories. These theories allege the involvement of the CIA, the Mafia, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, the KGB, or some combination of these individuals and entities. Some conspiracy theories have alleged a coverup by parts of the federal government, such as the original FBI investigators, the Warren Commission, or the CIA. Lawyer and author Vincent Bugliosi estimated that a total of 42 groups, 82 assassins, and 214 people had been accused at one time or another in various conspiracy scenarios.
Parkland is a 2013 American historical drama film that recounts the chaotic events that occurred following the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy. The film was written and directed by Peter Landesman, in his directorial debut, and produced by Playtone's Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, Bill Paxton, and Exclusive Media's Nigel Sinclair and Matt Jackson. The film is based on Vincent Bugliosi's 2008 book Reclaiming History Four Days in November: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Killing Kennedy is a 2013 American docudrama TV film directed by Nelson McCormick and written by Kelly Masterson, based on the 2012 non-fiction book of the same title by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard. The film stars Rob Lowe, Will Rothhaar, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Michelle Trachtenberg. It dramatizes the presidency and assassination of John F. Kennedy, as well as the life of Lee Harvey Oswald in the years leading up to the assassination.
Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy, the 35th American president, include films, songs, games, toys, stamps, coins, artwork, and other portrayals.
Jackie is a 2016 historical drama film directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Noah Oppenheim. The film stars Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy. Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, and John Hurt also star; it was Hurt's final film released in his lifetime before his death in January 2017. It is the first film in Larraín's trilogy of 20th century iconic women, succeeded by Spencer (2021) and Maria (2024). The film follows Kennedy in the days when she was First Lady in the White House and her life immediately following the assassination of her husband, United States President John F. Kennedy, in 1963. It is partly based on Theodore H. White's Life magazine interview with the widow at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in November 1963.
