Misplaced Pages

#151848

99-483: Notable alumni of the newspaper included historian and biographer Douglas Southall Freeman , future television journalist Roger Mudd , conservative commentator James Kilpatrick , and editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly . During its run, it garnered a reputation as being one of the most politically conservative newspapers in the United States. The News Leader began in nearby Manchester, Virginia , where it

198-595: A U.S. senator from Massachusetts , was elected the 35th president of the United States with Lyndon B. Johnson as his vice presidential running mate. Kennedy's tenure saw the height of the Cold War , and much of his foreign policy was dedicated to countering the Soviet Union and communism . As president, he authorized operations to overthrow Fidel Castro 's communist government in Cuba , which culminated in

297-494: A pulmonary embolism , secondary to cancer. Like Oswald and Kennedy, Ruby was declared dead at Parkland Hospital. My god, I saw the whole thing. I saw the man's brains come out of his head. — Abraham Zapruder Standing on the pergola wall some 65 feet (20 m) from the road, tailor Abraham Zapruder recorded Kennedy's killing on 26 seconds of silent 8 mm film — known as the Zapruder film . Frame 313 captures

396-484: A " Lost Cause " historian, a pejorative reference to a pseudohistorical apologist interpretation of the cause of the Civil War that deprecates the central role of slavery. Freeman began work on his biography of Lee in 1926; by the time he had completed his four volume work in 1933, he had committed some 6,100 hours to the effort. Following the critical success of R. E. Lee: A Biography , Freeman expanded his study of

495-489: A biography of Robert E. Lee. Freeman accepted but chose to retain his position at The Richmond News Leader and work longer days to work on the biography. Freeman's research of Lee was exhaustive. He evaluated and cataloged every item about Lee, and he reviewed records at West Point and the War Department and material in private collections. In narrating the general's Civil War years, he used what came to be known as

594-549: A child. In 1962, he returned to the United States with a repatriation loan from the U.S. Embassy. He settled in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where he socialized with Russian émigrés—notably George de Mohrenschildt . In March 1963, a bullet narrowly missed General Edwin Walker at his Dallas residence; a witness observed two conspicuous men. Relying on Marina's testimony, a note left by Oswald, and ballistic evidence,

693-459: A gun barrel emerge from a sixth floor Depository window. Bonnie Ray Williams, who was on the fifth floor of the Depository, stated that the rifle's report was so loud and near that ceiling plaster fell onto his head. When searching the sixth floor of the Depository, two deputies found an Italian Carcano M91/38 bolt-action rifle. Oswald had purchased the used rifle the previous March under

792-473: A jacket and revolver. At 1:12 p.m., police officer J. D. Tippit spotted Oswald walking in the residential neighborhood of Oak Cliff and called him to his patrol car. After an exchange of words, Tippit exited his vehicle; Oswald then shot Tippit three times in the chest. As Tippit lay on the ground, Oswald fired a final shot into Tippit's right temple . Oswald then calmly walked away before running as witnesses emerged. As Dallas police officers conducted

891-503: A large, "roughly ovular " [ sic ] hole on the rear, right side of the head, and spraying blood and fragments. His brain and blood spatter landed as far as the following Secret Service car and the motorcycle officers. Secret Service Agent Clint Hill was riding on the running board of the car immediately behind Kennedy's limousine. Hill testified to the Warren Commission that he heard one shot, jumped onto

990-571: A man, look after your men." Freeman married Inez Virginia Goddin on February 5, 1914. They had three children: Mary Tyler, Anne Ballard, and James Douglas. Mary Tyler Freeman married Leslie Cheek, Jr., longtime director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and became a founder or influential officer of several important community organizations, as well as president of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation. The family lived (and Freeman died) in

1089-712: A mansion he named Westbourne in Richmond's west end, a house listed (in 2000) in the National Register of Historic Places . Douglas Southall Freeman died of a heart attack on June 13, 1953, at his home in Richmond, Virginia , at the age of 67. On the morning of his death he had delivered his usual radio broadcast from Richmond. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. Freeman's newspaper editorials and daily radio broadcasts made him one of

SECTION 10

#1732801775152

1188-486: A moderate approach to race relations, and in his editorials opposed the Byrd Organization —a powerful statewide Democratic political machine run by United States Senator Harry F. Byrd . Freeman retired as editor of The Richmond News Leader on June 25, 1949. Years later, his obituary published in his former newspaper captured the scope of his editorial interests. He must have written close to 600,000 words

1287-410: A police inspector to report seeing a shooter—a white man in khaki clothing—in the same window. Police broadcast Brennan's description of the man at 12:45 p.m. Brennan testified that, after the second shot, "This man   ... was aiming for his last shot ... and maybe paused for another second as though to assure himself that he had hit his mark." Witness James R. Worrell Jr. also reported seeing

1386-490: A press conference after midnight on November 23, and, early in the investigation, made many leaks to the media. Their conduct angered Johnson, who instructed the FBI to tell them to "stop talking about the assassination". Dallas Police, after the FBI expressed concerns that someone might try to kill Oswald, assured federal authorities that they would provide him adequate protection. The FBI immediately launched an investigation into

1485-483: A profound impact and was the first of four major assassinations during the 1960s in the United States , coming two years before the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, and five years before the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Kennedy's brother Robert in 1968. Kennedy was the fourth U.S. president to be assassinated and is the most recent to have died in office . In 1960, John F. Kennedy, then

1584-518: A roll call of Depository employees, Oswald's supervisor Roy Truly realized that Oswald was absent and notified the police. Based on a false identification of Oswald, Dallas police raided a library in Oak Cliff before realizing their mistake. At 1:36 p.m., the police were called after a conspicuous Oswald, tired from running, was seen sneaking into the Texas Theatre without paying. With

1683-418: A seven volume biography of George Washington. Applying the same approach of exhaustive research and writing narrative based on objective fact, Freeman completed the first two volumes, titled Young Washington , in 1948. The following year, he retired from journalism in order to complete his monumental work on Washington. George Washington Volume 3: Planter and Patriot and George Washington Volume 4: Leader of

1782-540: A single morning paper under the Times-Dispatch banner, effective June 1, 1992. News Leader publisher J. Stewart Bryan III, in referencing the company's dual-ownership of both newspapers, said, "[The News Leader is] a grand old name, but we could no longer afford the luxury of competing with ourselves." The final edition of the News Leader was printed on May 30, with the single headline, " Nevermore ." On

1881-509: A year, campaigned for the Federal Reserve Act , for abolition of the old City Administration Board, for repeal of the fee system, for establishment of the battlefield parks, for Richmond's new charter ... Among the legacies he left to us here on the paper were his "Seventy Rules for Good Writing" ... he put brevity just behind accuracy in his list of virtues. In addition to his forty-year career in journalism, Freeman became one of

1980-706: Is best known for his multi-volume biographies of Robert E. Lee and George Washington , for both of which he was awarded Pulitzer Prizes . Douglas Southall Freeman was born May 16, 1886, in Lynchburg, Virginia , to Bettie Allen Hamner and Walker Burford Freeman, an insurance agent who had served four years in Robert E. Lee 's Army of Northern Virginia . From childhood, Freeman exhibited an interest in Southern history. In Lynchburg, his family lived at 416 Main Street, near

2079-513: The Dallas Times Herald photographed the shooting which was titled, Jack Ruby Shoots Lee Harvey Oswald for which he was awarded the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Photography . Drifting in and out of consciousness, Oswald was taken by ambulance to Parkland Memorial Hospital; he was treated by the same surgeons who had tried to save Kennedy. The bullet had entered his lower left chest but had not exited; major heart blood vessels such as

SECTION 20

#1732801775152

2178-514: The Civil Rights Movement , the News Leader editorial page, like that of the Times-Dispatch , took a strong segregationist stance. Years after his tenure at the paper, Kilpatrick wrote that he had been an "ardent segregationist", reflecting his views in his News Leader editorials, but had since renounced segregation. In his memoirs , Mudd recalled that News Leader reporters were often told to identify local white ministers with

2277-583: The National Archives . Conspiracy theorists often claim that the brain may have shown that the headshot entered from the front. Alternatively, the HSCA concluded that an assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy , the president's brother, likely removed the footlocker holding the brain and other materials at his direction, and he "either destroyed these materials or otherwise rendered them inaccessible" to prevent "misuse" of said material or to hide

2376-524: The News Leader as "one of nation's great newspapers" and added, "[T]his distinctive journalistic voice will be missed. Its disappearance represents yet another advance of homogenization and yet another erosion of the sense of place in American journalism. Ave atque vale ." Douglas Southall Freeman Douglas Southall Freeman (May 16, 1886 – June 13, 1953) was an American historian, biographer, newspaper editor, radio commentator, and author. He

2475-421: The News Leader began experiencing a steady decline in circulation ; the decline, like those of other afternoon newspapers at the time, was due primarily to the growth of television news outlets. By the end of the 1980s, it was obvious Richmond was no longer big enough to support separate morning and evening papers. In 1991, Media General announced that it would merge the News Leader and the Times-Dispatch into

2574-476: The News Leader for decades, who wrote about numerous personal experiences tied with the paper. Staff members were transferred to the Times-Dispatch after the merger took place. The end of the News Leader attracted national attention. Stories about the newspaper and its history appeared in The Washington Post and The New York Times . National Review , a conservative periodical , hailed

2673-760: The Times-Dispatch to three families, including that of Norfolk newspaperman Samuel L. Slover, publisher of The Virginian-Pilot and the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch . In 1940, Stewart Bryan repurchased the Times-Dispatch , forming the corporation Richmond Newspapers Inc., which became a subsidiary of the newly formed Media General in 1969. Stewart Bryan died in 1944, leaving Richmond Newspapers Inc. to his son, David Tennant Bryan, who served as publisher of both papers until 1978, when his son John Stewart Bryan III took over. Tennant Bryan remained as chairman, president and CEO of Media General until his son succeeded him in 1990. Tennant Bryan died in 1998. During

2772-551: The Warren Commission attributed this assassination attempt to Oswald. In April 1963, Oswald returned to his birthplace, New Orleans, and established an independent chapter of the pro-Castro Fair Play for Cuba Committee , of which he was the sole member. While passing out pro-Castro literature alongside unknown compatriots, Oswald was arrested after scuffling with anti-Castro Cuban exiles . In late September 1963, Oswald traveled to Mexico City , where, according to

2871-434: The aorta and inferior vena cava were severed, and the spleen, kidney, and liver were hit. Despite surgical intervention and defibrillation , Oswald died at 1:07 p.m. Arrested immediately after the shooting, Ruby testified to the Warren Commission that he had been distraught by Kennedy's death and that killing Oswald would spare "Mrs. Kennedy the discomfiture of coming back to trial". He also stated he shot Oswald on

2970-488: The " fog of war " technique, providing readers only the limited information that Lee himself had at a given moment. That helped convey the confusion of war that Lee experienced as well as the processes by which Lee grappled with problems and made decisions. R. E. Lee: A Biography was published in four volumes in 1934 and 1935. In its book review, The New York Times declared it "Lee complete for all time." Historian Dumas Malone wrote, "Great as my personal expectations were,

3069-504: 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

The Richmond News Leader - Misplaced Pages Continue

3168-514: The Confederacy with the three-volume Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command , published in 1942, 1943, and 1944. It presents a unique combination of military strategy, biography, and Civil War history, and it shows how armies actually work. Published during World War II, it had a great influence on American military leaders and strategists. A few months after the conclusion of the war, Freeman

3267-615: The First Lady boarded a 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible limousine to travel to a luncheon at the Dallas Trade Mart . Other occupants of this vehicle—the second in the motorcade—were Secret Service Agent Bill Greer , who drove; Special Agent Roy Kellerman in the front passenger seat; and Governor Connally and his wife Nellie, who sat just forward of the Kennedys. Four Dallas police motorcycle officers accompanied

3366-520: The Kennedy limousine. Vice President Johnson, his wife Lady Bird , and Senator Yarborough rode in another convertible. The motorcade's meandering 10-mile (16 km) route through Dallas was designed to give Kennedy maximum exposure to crowds by passing through a suburban section of Dallas, and Main Street in Downtown Dallas , before turning right on Houston Street. After another block,

3465-642: The Revolution were published in 1951. The following year, he published George Washington Volume 5: Victory with the Help of France (1952). Freeman completed work on George Washington Volume 6: Patriot and President just before he died; it was published after his death in 1954. The concluding book, George Washington Volume 7: First in Peace , was written by Freeman's associates, John Alexander Carroll and Mary Wells Ashworth , based on Freeman's original research and

3564-557: The University of Richmond, where Freeman served as Rector for seven years, criticized the University board of trustees for refusing to remove Freeman's name from a campus building, although he had "supported racial segregation, opposed interracial marriage and promoted racist concepts underlying the eugenics movement." The "greatest inheritance," Freeman once said, was "clean blood, right-thinking ancestry." John F. Kennedy assassination On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy ,

3663-410: The Warren Commission and the HSCA, Kennedy was waving to the crowds on his right when a shot entered his upper back and exited his throat just beneath his larynx . He raised his elbows and clenched his fists in front of his face and neck, then leaned forward and leftward. Mrs. Kennedy, facing him, put her arms around him. Although a serious wound, it likely would have been survivable. According to

3762-537: The Warren Commission's single-bullet theory —derided as the "magic bullet theory" by conspiracy theorists—Governor Connally was injured by the same bullet that exited Kennedy's neck. The bullet created an oval-shaped entry wound near Connally's shoulder, struck and destroyed several inches of his right fifth rib, and exited his chest just below his right nipple, puncturing and collapsing his lung . That same bullet then entered his arm just above his right wrist and shattered his right radius bone . The bullet exited just below

3861-729: The Warren Commission, he visited the Soviet and Cuban embassies. On October 3, Oswald returned to Dallas and found work at the Texas School Book Depository on Dealey Plaza . During the workweek he lived separately from Marina at a Dallas rooming house . On the morning of the assassination, he carried a long package (which he told coworkers contained curtain rods) into the Depository; the Warren Commission concluded that this package contained Oswald's disassembled rifle. On November 22, Air Force One arrived at Dallas Love Field at 11:40 a.m. President Kennedy and

3960-666: The age of 22, he earned a Ph.D. in history from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore . Unable to secure a position in academia, Freeman joined the staff of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 1909, and, in 1915, at the age of 29, he became editor of The Richmond News Leader —a position he held for 34 years. In 1911, when Freeman was 25 years old, he came into possession of a cache of long-lost wartime communications between Robert E. Lee and Confederate president Jefferson Davis . Freeman spent four years working on

4059-489: The alias "A. Hidell" and had it delivered to his Dallas P.O. box . The FBI found Oswald's partial palm print on the barrel, and fibers on the rifle were consistent with those of Oswald's shirt. A bullet found on Governor Connally's hospital gurney and two fragments found in the limousine were ballistically matched to the Carcano. Oswald left the Depository and traveled by bus to his boarding house, where he retrieved

The Richmond News Leader - Misplaced Pages Continue

4158-402: The assassination, but at farther distances than Zapruder. Of the three, only Nix — who filmed the assassination from the opposite side of Elm Street from Zapruder, capturing the grassy knoll — actually recorded the fatal shot. In 1966, Nix claimed that, after he gave the film to the FBI, the duplicate that they returned had frames "missing" or "ruined". Although lower-quality duplicates exist,

4257-506: The assassination; researchers have nicknamed her the Babushka Lady due to the shawl around her head. In 1978, Gordon Arnold came forward and claimed that he had filmed the assassination from the grassy knoll and that a police officer had confiscated his film. Arnold is not visible in any photographs taken of the area, which Vincent Bugliosi —author of Reclaiming History —called "conclusive photographic proof that Arnold's story

4356-671: The autopsy was "like sending a seven-year-old boy who has taken three lessons on the violin over to the New York Philharmonic and expecting him to perform a Tchaikovsky symphony". Following the autopsy, Kennedy lay in repose in the East Room of the White House for 24 hours. President Johnson issued Presidential Proclamation 3561 , declaring November 25 to be a national day of mourning , and that only essential emergency workers be at their posts. The coffin

4455-556: The complete film at $ 16 million (equivalent to $ 27.5 million in 2022). Zapruder was one of at least 32 people in Dealey Plaza known to have made film or still photographs at or around the time of the shooting. Most notably among the photographers, Mary Moorman took several photos of Kennedy with her Polaroid , including one of Kennedy less than one-sixth of a second after the headshot. In addition to Zapruder, Charles Bronson, Marie Muchmore , and Orville Nix filmed

4554-440: The day's news. After his second broadcast, he would drive home for a short nap and lunch and then worked another five or six hours on his current historical project, with classical music, frequently the work of Joseph Haydn , playing in the background. Freeman was a devout Baptist who prayed daily in the small chapel he built in his home. He acknowledged that his Christian faith played a central role throughout his life. Freeman

4653-518: The documents, and in 1915, he published Lee's Dispatches . The book was received enthusiastically by Civil War historians, and it became an important primary source for Civil War scholars. Written between June 2, 1862, and April 1, 1865, Lee's letters to Davis revealed the general's strategy with clearer perspective, shed new light on some of Lee's decisions, and underscored his close and always co-operative relationship with Davis. In his Introduction, Freeman summarized seven major revelations contained in

4752-463: The exact moment at which Kennedy's head explodes. Life magazine published frame enlargements from the Zapruder film shortly after the assassination. The footage itself was first publicly shown at the 1969 trial of Clay Shaw , and on television in 1975 by Geraldo Rivera . In 1999, an arbitration panel ordered the federal government to pay $ 615,384 per second of film to Zapruder's heirs, valuing

4851-430: The extent of the president's chronic illnesses and consequent medication. Some autopsy X-rays and photographs have also been lost. Most historians regard the autopsy as the "most botched" segment of the government's investigation. The HSCA forensic pathology panel concluded that the autopsy had "extensive failings", including failure to take sufficient photographs, failure to determine the exact exit or entry point of

4950-543: The failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961, during which he declined to directly involve American troops. The following year, Kennedy deescalated the Cuban Missile Crisis , an incident widely regarded as the closest that humanity has come to nuclear holocaust . In 1963, Kennedy decided to travel to Texas to smooth over frictions in the state's Democratic Party between liberal U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough and conservative Governor John Connally . The visit

5049-534: The film War Is Hell still playing, Dallas policemen arrested Oswald after a brief struggle in which Oswald drew his fully loaded gun. He denied shooting anyone and claimed he was being made a " patsy " because he had lived in the Soviet Union. At 12:38 p.m., Kennedy arrived in the emergency room of Parkland Memorial Hospital . Although Kennedy was still breathing after the shooting, his personal physician, George Burkley , immediately saw that survival

SECTION 50

#1732801775152

5148-602: The first radio analysts, in 1925. His twice-daily radio broadcasts helped make him one of the most influential men in Virginia. From 1934 to 1941, he commuted weekly by air to New York City to teach journalism at Columbia University . He also taught as a lecturer at the United States Army War College for seven years, and served as Rector of the University of Richmond . Freeman's work ethic

5247-409: The formal prefix "The Reverend", but local black ministers were simply to be called "Reverend." Dr. Maurice Duke, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University , claimed that the News Leader remained "pro- Confederacy " into the 1970s, while Raymond H. Boone, publisher of the black-oriented Richmond Free Press , blamed the News Leader for racial divisions in the city. Beginning in the 1980s,

5346-421: The grassy knoll. No witness ever reported seeing anyone—with or without a gun—immediately behind the knoll's picket fence at the time of the shooting. Lee Bowers was in a two-story railroad switch tower 120 yards (110 m) behind the grassy knoll's picket fence; he was watching the motorcade and had an unobstructed view of the only route by which a shooter could flee the grassy knoll; he saw no one leaving

5445-405: The head bullet, not dissecting the back and neck, and neglecting to determine the angles of gunshot injuries relative to body axis . The panel further concluded that the two doctors were not qualified to have conducted a forensic autopsy. Panel member Milton Helpern— Chief Medical Examiner for New York City —said that selecting Humes (who had only taken a single course on forensic pathology) to lead

5544-490: The home of Confederate general Jubal Early . The family moved to the former Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia , in 1892 at the height of the monument commemoration movement that memorialized Virginia's Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart , and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson . In 1904, Freeman was awarded an A.B. from Richmond College , where he had been a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. In 1908, at

5643-404: The interrogation. On the evening of November 22, Dallas Police performed paraffin tests on Oswald's hands and right cheek in an effort to establish whether or not he had recently fired a weapon. The results were positive for the hands and negative for the right cheek. Such tests were unreliable, and the Warren Commission did not rely on these results. The Dallas police forced Oswald to host

5742-638: The letters. For example, the letters reveal that the Confederate high command in 1862 considered but rejected a bold proposal to strengthen Stonewall Jackson 's army in the Shenandoah Valley and embark on a vigorous offensive campaign against the North, even at the expense of defending Richmond. Following the immediate critical success of Lee's Dispatches , Freeman was approached by New York publisher Charles Scribner's Sons and invited to write

5841-494: The limited attention paid to Lee's relationship to slavery. Charles B. Dew wrote that Freeman's "magisterial" Lee's Lieutenants , United Daughters of the Confederacy magazine, and Facts the Historians Leave Out: A Youth's Confederate Primer by John S. Tilley were crucial titles in his adolescent indoctrination into the mainstream white Southern worldview of the 1950s. In 2021, some students and faculty at

5940-413: The limousine's bumper, and he clung to the car as it exited Dealey Plaza and sped to Parkland Memorial Hospital . After Mrs. Kennedy crawled back into her seat, both Governor and Mrs. Connally heard her repeatedly saying: "They have killed my husband. I have his brains in my hand." Bystander James Tague received a minor wound to the cheek—either from bullet or concrete curb fragments—while standing by

6039-476: The memory of President Kennedy". Kennedy's funeral service was held on November 25, at St. Matthew's Cathedral , with the Requiem Mass led by Cardinal Richard Cushing . About 1,200 guests, including representatives from over 90 countries, attended. Although there was no formal eulogy, Auxiliary Bishop Philip M. Hannan read excerpts from Kennedy's speeches and writings. After the service, Kennedy

SECTION 60

#1732801775152

6138-650: The most influential Virginians of his day, his analysis of World War I and World War II military campaigns bringing him recognition throughout the country, especially in military circles. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt thanked him for suggesting the use of the term "liberation," rather than "invasion," of Europe. Military commanders such as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Generals George C. Marshall , Douglas MacArthur , and Dwight D. Eisenhower sought his friendship and advice. Eisenhower said Freeman first convinced him to think seriously about running for

6237-703: The motorcade was to turn left onto Elm Street, pass through Dealey Plaza, and travel a short segment of the Stemmons Freeway to the Trade Mart. The planned route had been reported in newspapers several days in advance. Despite concerns about hostile protestors—Kennedy's UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson had been spat on in Dallas a month earlier—Kennedy was greeted warmly by enthusiastic crowds. Kennedy's limousine entered Dealey Plaza at 12:30 p.m. CST. Nellie Connally turned and commented to Kennedy, who

6336-435: The night of November 22. Jacqueline Kennedy had selected a naval hospital as the postmortem site as President Kennedy had been a naval officer during World War II . The autopsy was conducted by three physicians: naval commanders James Humes and J. Thornton Boswell, with assistance from ballistics wound expert Pierre A. Finck; Humes led the procedure. Under pressure from the Kennedy family and White House staffers to expedite

6435-402: The original film has been missing since 1978. Previously unknown footage filmed by George Jefferies was released in 2007. Recorded a few blocks before the shooting, the film captures Kennedy's bunched suit jacket, explaining the discrepancies between the location of the bullet hole in Kennedy's back and his jacket . Some films and photographs captured an unidentified woman apparently filming

6534-611: The presidency. In 1958, Freeman was posthumously awarded his second Pulitzer Prize for his seven-volume biography of George Washington . In 1955, the Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters honored Freeman by creating the Douglas Southall Freeman Award for public service in radio journalism. Eric Foner is more critical of Freeman, whose biography of Lee Foner calls a " hagiography ," criticizing its lack of nuance and

6633-431: The procedure, the physicians conducted a "rushed" and incomplete autopsy. Kennedy's personal physician, Rear Admiral George Burkley, signed a death certificate on November 23 and recorded that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the skull. Three years after the autopsy, Kennedy's brain—which had been removed and preserved for later analysis—was found to be missing when the Kennedy family transferred material to

6732-485: The questioning and kept only rudimentary notes. Days later, Fritz wrote a report of the interrogation from notes he made afterwards. There were no stenographic or tape recordings. Representatives of other law enforcement agencies were also present, including the FBI and the Secret Service, and occasionally participated in the questioning. Several of the FBI agents who were present wrote contemporaneous reports of

6831-774: The realization far surpassed them." In 1935, Freeman was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his four-volume biography. Freeman's R. E. Lee: A Biography established the Virginia School of Civil War scholarship, an approach to writing Civil War history that concentrated on the Eastern Theater of the war, focused the narrative on generals over the common soldier, centered the analysis on military campaigns over social and political events, and treated his Confederate subjects with sympathy. This approach to writing Civil War history would lead some critics to label Freeman

6930-436: The same day, Bryan's The Times and Williams' The Richmond Dispatch merged to become the Richmond Times-Dispatch , owned by Bryan. Bryan died in 1908, shortly after buying the News Leader from Williams, and left both papers to his son John Stewart Bryan . Both newspapers, the two primary sources of news in Richmond and the main competitors of each other, were owned and published by Stewart Bryan until 1914, when he sold

7029-671: The same day, the paper also printed a special commemorative magazine showing past front pages from the News Leader reporting on historic events from the 1890s to the 1990s, including the Hindenburg disaster , the attack on Pearl Harbor , the John F. Kennedy assassination , the Challenger disaster , and the First Persian Gulf War . The magazine also featured letters to the editor by local readers, many of whom had read

7128-440: The scene. Bowers testified to the Warren Commission that "one or two" men were between him and the fence during the assassination: one was a familiar parking lot attendant and the other wore a uniform like a county courthouse custodian. He testified seeing "some commotion" on the grassy knoll at the time of the assassination: "something out of the ordinary, a sort of milling around, but something occurred in this particular spot which

7227-428: The sound as that of a rifle and turned his head and torso rightward, noting nothing unusual behind him. He testified that he could not see Kennedy, so he started to turn forward again (turning from his right to his left), and that when his head was facing about 20 degrees left of center, he was struck in his upper right back by a shot he did not hear, then shouted, "My God. They're going to kill us all!" According to

7326-469: The spur of the moment when the opportunity presented itself, without considering any reason for doing so. Initially, Ruby wished to represent himself in his trial until his lawyer Melvin Belli dissuaded him: Belli argued that Ruby had an episode of psychomotor epilepsy and was thus not responsible. Ruby was convicted, but the decision was overturned on appeal . While awaiting retrial in 1967, Ruby died of

7425-477: The street, and ran forward to board the limousine and protect Kennedy. Hill stated that he heard the fatal headshot as he reached the Lincoln, "approximately five seconds" after the first shot that he heard. After the headshot, Mrs. Kennedy began climbing onto the limousine's trunk, but she later had no recollection of doing so. Hill believed she may have been reaching for a piece of Kennedy's skull. He jumped onto

7524-524: The time of Kennedy's assassination, the murder of a president was not under federal jurisdiction . Accordingly, Dallas County medical examiner Earl Rose insisted that Texas law required him to perform an autopsy. A heated exchange between Kennedy's aides and Dallas officials nearly erupted into a fistfight before the Texans yielded and allowed Kennedy's body to be transported to Air Force One. At 2:38 p.m., with Jacqueline Kennedy at his side, Johnson

7623-532: The triple underpass. Nine months later, the FBI removed the curb, and spectrographic analysis revealed metallic residue consistent with the lead core in Oswald's ammunition. Tague testified before the Warren Commission and initially stated that he was wounded by either the second or third shot of the three shots that he remembered hearing. When the commission counsel pressed him to be more specific, Tague testified that he

7722-554: The witnesses recalled hearing three shots. The Warren Commission concluded that three shots were fired and noted that most witnesses recalled that the second and third shots were bunched together. Shortly after Kennedy began waving, some witnesses heard the first gunshot, but few in the crowd or motorcade reacted, many interpreting the sound as a firecracker or backfire . Within one second of each other, Governor Connally and Mrs. Kennedy turned abruptly from their left to their right. Connally—an experienced hunter—immediately recognized

7821-499: The wrist at the inner side of his right palm and finally lodged in his left thigh. As the limousine passed the grassy knoll , Kennedy was struck a second time, by a fatal shot to the head. The Warren Commission made no finding as to whether this was the second or third bullet fired, and concluded—as did the HSCA—that the second shot to strike Kennedy entered the rear of his head. It then passed in fragments through his skull, creating

7920-429: Was "a high probability that two gunmen fired at [the] President". The HSCA's conclusions were largely based on a police Dictabelt recording later debunked by the U.S. Justice Department . Kennedy's assassination is still the subject of widespread debate and has spawned many conspiracy theories and alternative scenarios; polls found that a vast majority of Americans believed there was a conspiracy. The assassination left

8019-570: Was acquitted. Subsequent federal investigations—such as the Rockefeller Commission and Church Committee —agreed with the Warren Commission's general findings. In its 1979 report, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) concluded that Kennedy was likely " assassinated as a result of a conspiracy ". The HSCA did not identify possible conspirators, but concluded that there

8118-581: Was administered the oath of office by federal judge Sarah Tilghman Hughes aboard Air Force One, shortly before departing for Washington with Kennedy's coffin. Where bungled autopsies are concerned, President Kennedy's is the exemplar. — Dr. Michael Baden , chairman of the forensic pathology panel of the House Select Committee on Assassinations President Kennedy's autopsy was performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland on

8217-415: Was also a Virginian, and described himself as "deeply rooted in the soil of old Virginia." He believed in the importance of continuity, even in personal geography, once writing, "I think the American people lose a large part of the joy of life because they do not live for generations in the same place." Freeman believed in the importance of a character. His definition of leadership was, "Know your stuff, be

8316-515: Was apprehended by the Dallas Police Department and charged under Texas state law with the murders of Kennedy and Tippit. Two days later, at 11:21 a.m. on November 24, 1963, as live television cameras covered Oswald's being moved through the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters , he was fatally shot by Dallas nightclub operator Jack Ruby . Like Kennedy, Oswald was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he soon died. Ruby

8415-468: Was asked to join an official tour of American forces in Europe and Japan. Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command established Freeman as the preeminent military historian in the country, and led to close friendships with United States generals George C. Marshall and Dwight D. Eisenhower . After completing his exhaustive studies of Lee, his generals, and the Confederate war effort, Freeman started work on

8514-421: Was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. An eternal flame was lit at his burial site in 1967. On Sunday, November 24, at 11:21 a.m., as Oswald was being escorted to a car in the basement of Dallas Police headquarters for the transfer from the city jail to the county jail, he was shot by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby . The shooting was broadcast live on television. Robert H. Jackson of

8613-464: Was convicted of Oswald's murder, though the decision was overturned on appeal, and Ruby died in prison in 1967 while awaiting a new trial. After a 10-month investigation, the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald assassinated Kennedy, and that there was no evidence that either Oswald or Ruby was part of a conspiracy. In 1967, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison brought the only trial for Kennedy's murder , against businessman Clay Shaw ; Shaw

8712-565: Was court-martialed twice and demoted. In September 1959, he received a dependency discharge after claiming his mother was disabled. A 19-year-old Oswald sailed on a freighter from New Orleans to France and then traveled to Finland, where he was issued a Soviet visa. Oswald defected to the Soviet Union, and in January 1960 he was sent to work at a factory in Minsk , Belarus. In 1961, he met and married Marina Prusakova , with whom he had

8811-556: Was fabricated". At the Dallas Police headquarters, officers interrogated Oswald about the shootings of Kennedy and Tippit; these intermittent interviews lasted for approximately 12 hours between 2:30 p.m. on November 22 and 11 a.m. on November 24. Throughout, Oswald denied any involvement and resorted to statements that were found to be false. Captain J. W. Fritz of the Homicide and Robbery Bureau did most of

8910-815: Was first agreed upon by Kennedy, Johnson, and Connally during a meeting in El Paso in June. The motorcade route was finalized on November 18 and announced soon thereafter. Kennedy also viewed the Texas trip as an informal launch of his 1964 reelection campaign . Lee Harvey Oswald (born 1939) was a former U.S. Marine who had served in Japan and the Philippines and had espoused communist beliefs since reading Karl Marx aged 14. After accidentally shooting his elbow with an unauthorized handgun and fighting an officer, Oswald

9009-428: Was founded as The Leader by J. F. Bradley and Ben P. Owen, Jr. in 1888. It was purchased in 1896 by Richmond newspaper publisher Joseph Bryan, who re-launched the paper on November 30 as The Evening Leader . On January 26, 1903, The Evening Leader merged with The Richmond News , which Harvey L. Wilson had founded in 1899 and John L. Williams had bought in 1900, to form The Richmond News Leader , owned by Williams. On

9108-946: Was impossible. After Parkland surgeons performed futile cardiac massage , Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m., 30 minutes after the shooting. CBS host Walter Cronkite broke the news on live television. The Secret Service was concerned about the possibility of a larger plot and urged Johnson to leave Dallas and return to the White House , but Johnson refused to do so without any proof of Kennedy's death. Johnson returned to Air Force One around 1:30   p.m., and shortly thereafter, he received telephone calls from advisors McGeorge Bundy and Walter Jenkins advising him to depart for Washington, D.C., immediately. He replied that he would not leave Dallas without Jacqueline Kennedy and that she would not leave without Kennedy's body. According to Esquire , Johnson did "not want to be remembered as an abandoner of beautiful widows". At

9207-418: Was legendary. Throughout his life, he kept a demanding schedule that allowed him to accomplish a great deal in his two full-time careers, as a journalist and as a historian. When at home, he rose at three every morning and drove to his newspaper office, saluting Robert E. Lee's monument on Monument Avenue as he passed. Twice daily, he walked to a nearby radio studio, where he gave news broadcasts and discussed

9306-444: Was out of the ordinary, which attracted my eye for some reason which I could not identify". At 12:36 p.m., teenager Amos Euins approached Dallas police Sergeant D.V. Harkness to report having seen a " colored man ... leaning out of the window [with] a rifle" on the sixth floor of the Depository during the assassination; in response, Harkness radioed that he was sealing off the Depository. Witness Howard Brennan then approached

9405-472: 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 . After the assassination, Oswald returned home to retrieve a pistol; he shot and killed lone Dallas policeman J. D. Tippit shortly afterwards. Around 70 minutes after Kennedy and Connally were shot, Oswald

9504-530: Was published in 1957. Historian and George Washington biographer John E. Ferling maintains that no other biography of Washington compares to that of Freeman's work. Freeman's considerable literary achievements have overshadowed his career as editor of The Richmond News Leader . Between 1915 and 1949, he wrote an estimated 600,000 words of editorial copy every year. He earned a national reputation among military scholars for his analyses of operations during World War I and World War II . His editorials expressed

9603-512: Was sitting behind her, "Mr. President, they can't make you believe now that there are not some in Dallas who love and appreciate you, can they?" Kennedy's reply – "No, they sure can't" – were his last words. From Houston Street, the limousine made the planned left turn onto Elm, passing the Texas School Book Depository. As it continued down Elm Street, multiple shots were fired: about 80% of

9702-547: Was then carried on a horse -drawn caisson to the Capitol to lie in state. Hundreds of thousands of mourners lined up to view the guarded casket, with a quarter million passing through the rotunda during the 18 hours of lying in state. Even in the Soviet Union—according to a memo by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover —news of the assassination "was greeted by great shock and consternation and church bells were tolled in

9801-417: Was wounded by the second shot. As the motorcade left Dealey Plaza, some witnesses sought cover, and others joined police officers to run up the grassy knoll in search of a shooter. No shooter was found behind the knoll's picket fence. Among the 178 witnesses who testified to the Warren Commission, 78 were unsure of the shots' origin, 49 believed they came from the Depository, and 21 thought they came from

#151848