Dealey Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum

You are about to get bombarded with history right now with personal reflection in the mix. Just wanted to warn you!

So we did see the grassy knoll and where JFK was shot. There is am x in the road where he was assassinated.

So we went into the Sixth Floor Museum ( formally known as Texas Bookstore Depository). It was an audio tour so we had headsets and we could go at our own pace. There were panels of information throughout the museum too. A lot of these included picture (in black and white of course) p, campaign posters and newspaper clippings. There was also little movies throughout.

JFK was all about change and all of the newness is why people voted for him. His good looks also helped.
The TV had came out so it really was  huge deal to actually see and hear the president talk instead of seeing pictures of him and listening to him on the radio. This was the first president that the people really got to know.

They were playing "the Twist" by the Chimney Checkers and of course I was getting my groove on. I absolutely love the 50s and 60s music.

JFK established the peace corps and promoted civic and social programs. His economic policies were not very popular but he the economy was pretty lovely during that time.

The 60s still had a ton of segregation throughout the country and he backed a bill to ban segregation I'm 1963 :-)  since Kennedy believed in equal rights I wonder what his position would be on the lgbt community.

The threat of a nuclear war with Cuba happened in 62 and everyone was terrified. Kennedy refused to go to war with Cuba and he was considered  hero!

In 62 we had a man orbit the earth. America was behind Russia so JFK brought out the competitive side of people by saying we will have the man to land on the moon by the end of the decade. Sure enough in 1969 a man landed on the moon.

JFK reminds me a lot of Obama where they are focused on the young people in the community. He challenged the young to make the changes in the world.

He tried to overthrow Fidel Castro 3 months after he was inaugurated which is pretty bold.

During the videos we watched, him and Jackie both knew multiple languages so they could address whatever population they were in correctly.

One of the quotes in the video clips I enjoyed was "I look forward to an America of grace and beauty. . . I look forward to a world of world peace." I wonder what America and the world would look like if he never got assassinated. Would we have reached the "world peace" status he was hoping to achieve?

He believed his greatest accomplishment was the Test Ban Treaty where the Soviet Union and the US got rid of our nuclear bombs.

JFK made the visit in 1963 to get votes for the 1964 campaign. No president had ever one the election without getting the lone star state's vote. His assigned secret service agent was Clint Hill. He spoke a few times throughout the tour. :-) On Friday November 22 he made two speeches in Fort Worth then headed to Dallas. Several thousand people greeted him. The President was known for wandering off from the secret service to shake the hands of the people where he was visiting.

JFK said it was too nice for the bubble top on the limo. He did not want to be separated from the crowd.

In Texas they did give him a cowboy hat which he didn't even get a chance to try on.

Dallas at the time was super conservative. The newspaper ran an article entitled "Welcome Mr. President" which voiced everything they did not like about him.

The people were so excited to see the President in color!

Everyone thought it was firecrackers. He was. Shot in the chest and then in the head. Trauma teams at parkland hospital tried their hardest to save him but at 1:30pm he was pronounced dead. Everyone was stopped in their tracks especially when CBS announced the news. The announcer said that dead came flashing at him and he almost lost it on air.

Some witnesses said it was from the grassy knoll but others said they saw a rifle pointed out of the sixth floor window of the building. The rifle was right by the window. It gave me an eery feeling being able to look out the window and clearly see where he was shot.

Lee Harvey Oswald lived in the Soviet Union for 3 years and his fingerprints were there. They went to the movie theatre to find him.

The only word that could describe america was grief.

The rifle Oswald used cost $12.78. $12.78 killed the president. $12.78 stopped America.

Dallas was in a state of tension after. Jack ruby killed Oswald when the police were bringing him to the car after 2 days of interrogation. I wonder is Ruby and Oswald were in on it together. Being I'm jail for killing the Presidents killer seems a lot less intimidating than going in for killing the President.

I find it ironic that Oswald also went to parkland hospital.

In the pictures you can see the blood in Jackie's outfit. Imagine wearing your partners blood on you?

My favorite fact was on November 25 there was a line of mourners that was 3 mikes long in DC.

Johnson was sworn in on air force one at 2:38pm on November 23rd.

They showed his son saluti g which definitely choked me up.

Jackie lit the eternal flame and she paused for one last look at her husband and her face just showed complete devastation.

There are tributes all around the world including Paris, Germany, Algiers, Chile, Columbia, and Argentina.  In America, there is one in Boston, Washington  DC and Dallas.

A lot of people think that the warren commission is not accurate but seeing all the information presented ,I'm pretty sure it was Oswald.

JFK paved the way for civil rights, the peace corps and space.

A lot of people of the time felt like they were losing a family member when he died.

Since the death of senator Kennedy in 68, secret service must protect presidential candidate.

I definitely suggest coming to Dallas just for this museum. It is a huge chunk of history that happened 50 years ago this November. I' interested to keep my eyes open to see what they do for the 50th anniversary :)

Over and out!