historical

As the last surviving member of the motorcar of two couples in which President John F. Kennedy was assassinated forty years ago, the wife of former Texas Governor John Connally provides us with her experiences of that ill-fated event. Mrs. Connally supports the belief of three shots being fired from behind. The first hit President Kennedy in the throat, the second hitting her husband behind the right shoulder, and the third shattering the skull of President Kennedy. She states that her husband sitting in the front seat had time to move from side to side after Kennedy had been hit in the throat. She states, "Even magic bullets don't hang in the air that long." Following this shot, Mrs. Connally states, her husband was hit behind the right shoulder, and then the President was hit in the head. She states her husband heard the first and third shots, the second one he did not. She has been told you do not hear a bullet that hits you, and John heard the first and third shots. She also describes her apprehension while her husband was in the emergency room, and wondering if he was getting the proper care (he was), or was everyone attending to the stricken president. John Connally researched every report prepared on the subject, and in 1983 he still held to the belief of Oswald's guilt stating, "Nobody in America can keep a secret that big for that long." In addition to Mrs. Connally, each of her three children provide their remembrances of this infamous day. The book concludes with the speeches President Kennedy was to deliver at the Dallas Trade Mart at noon, and his speech in Austin that evening. Forests have been felled with versions of this American tragedy, but it is special to hear it from one as close to the situation as she was. Thank you, Mrs. Connally, for sharing your experiences with us.

Its obvious from reading the Publisher's Weekly review above, the reviewer is a conspiracy buff, doesn't believe the Warren Commission report, and only wants the tabloid-type writing that is so plentiful on the JFK assassination.

Would you want to read Mary Lincoln's account of what happened in the theatre box when President Lincoln was assassinated? Would you want to read what any eyewitness to the shooting that night had to say? If you want a first hand account of what a beautiful day November 22, 1963, started out to be, and how horribly wrong it went, you will want this book.

Nellie Connally, wife of Texas Governor John Connally, was sitting directly in front of Jackie Kennedy in THAT car on THAT day, November 22, 1963. She turned in time to see President Kennedy's hands fly up to his throat, saw the shocked look in his eyes, saw him slump in the seat. Mrs. Connally then made a snap decision that she later learned saved her husband's life.

Also, Publisher's Weekly states that her description of her family's security needs afterwards and her accepting of the Warren Commission's findings "are not of broad interest." I wonder if the Publisher's Weekly reviewer saw any of the programs this past week where every one of these shows came to the conclusion Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone? This was after painstaking analysis of forensic evidence, and looking into every crackpot theory imaginable. I also found it very interesting to read about the fears and nightmares Mrs. Connally and her husband endured after that tragic day. I can't believe anyone would consider that of no interest to the public.

I want to thank Nellie Connally for writing this book, and not only sharing this story with her grandchildren, but with all of us. Mrs. Connally is truly a "steel magnolia." She has made a great contribution to the telling of the history of the 20th century, and that tragic day in November.

The assassination of President Kennedy 40 years ago this month jolted Americans into the realization that their country would never be the same, says Wrone. This history of the 26-second Zapruder film and its role in the criminal investigation argues forcefully that Kennedy was shot by more than one person, none of whom was Lee Harvey Oswald. Wrone is neither a Warren Commission defender nor an outlandish conspiracy theorist but a careful historian who presents a strong case that the Warren Commission hastily and wrongly concluded that Oswald murdered Kennedy and that a single "magic bullet" shot both the President and Texas governor John Connally. Wrone calls Gerald Posner's influential 1993 Case Closed "one of the most error-ridden works on the assassination" but also condemns conspiracy enthusiasts like Oliver Stone for offering such shoddy speculations that the government and mainstream media often treat the work of serious assassination researchers as screeds bordering on the paranoid. Future assassination researchers will consult this fascinating history of the indelible Zapruder film. Strongly recommended for academic and most public libraries. While Lubin (art, Wake Forest Univ.) also makes some interesting comments about the Zapruder film, which he calls "a political thriller," his book offers only cursory comments about the assassination itself. Instead, he provides a series of provocative essays about how perceptions of the Kennedys have become part of our national memory. Lubin's spirited and gracefully written essays demonstrate that John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy became such dominant personalities because the public associated them with enduring themes of classical and popular culture. For example, the Kennedys, viewed as classic defenders of the poor, and The Beverly Hillbillies, the most popular TV show of 1963, were both known for poking fun at the rich. In addition, the macho image that Kennedy cultivated was enhanced by his reading Ian Fleming's best-selling James Bond novels. Following the death of the President, the Camelot myth of noble leadership and the protection of all subjects was readily accepted by a grieving nation. As Lubin shows, this myth was already ingrained in American culture, and he skillfully relates how Kennedy used it to stir the populace and create his own iconography. He also explains why these myths, reinforced by both ancient and contemporary images, remain vibrant. Strongly recommended for academic and larger public libraries. "Mr. President, you certainly can't say that Dallas doesn't love you!" These were the famously innocent last words that Nellie Connally, wife of the Texas governor, uttered to Kennedy seconds before he was killed. In a voice that is both forthright and personable, she presents her recollections of the momentous events of November 22, 1963, based on notes written shortly after the assassination but lost and not rediscovered until 1996. Nellie Connally is the last surviving dignitary who rode in that fateful presidential limo, and this memoir shows how the events of this national trauma personally affected her and the three Connally children. The reader shares her anger at seeing Lee Harvey Oswald receiving excellent medical treatment in the same hospital where President Kennedy was pronounced dead and where her husband almost died from an assassin's bullet. The three Connally children tell how they were pulled out of school that day, while rumors swirled that their wounded father was already dead. This unique account tells how Nellie Connally coped with the long recovery of her husband and how the Connally family lost its sense of security as a result of the assassination. This well-illustrated memoir by a witness to history is recommended for public libraries