The Funeral of John F Kennedy
Air Force One touched down at Andrews Air Force on 22 November
a little after 6 pm, a mere two minutes after technicians had
cobbled together a bank of microphones that would enable Lyndon
Johnson, the new president, to address a shocked nation.
Before he spoke, however, the coffin containing the body of his
predecessor, John F Kennedy, was
taken off the plane, accompanied by his widow, Jacqueline,
her suit and stockings still stained with his blood. Though it had
been suggested she freshen up, the former first lady declined
saying "Let them see what they've done".
And so, within hours of the horrific crime, the two most
immediately affected by Kennedy's
assassination were incorporating television into their
response: Johnson to establish that the democratic order would
prevail, and Jackie to demonstrate the loss.
In November. 1963, television was at best an immature medium
that produced a disposable product. With JFK's death, that was no
longer true. In the days following the assassination, network
cameras caught nearly everything to do with the horror, and those
images were flashed around the world.
 Not only did TV surpass print for primacy as a news source for
the first time, it also created a focal point for the public's
grief.
By the time the 24 November murder of accused assassin Lee
Harvey Oswald was broadcast, TV had not only become
legitimate, but necessary. The point was driven home by the images
from Kennedy's funeral on 25 November - a riderless horse, a
veiled widow, a young sons salute - were transmitted into our
cultural consciousness.
"When the president was assassinated" says Don
Hewitt, executive producer of America's 60
Minutes, who has spent his life in TV news, "people
did not go to church or meetings. They came to their televisions,
and everybody who was watching was, in a sense, holding
hands".
Sadly, the assassination, wars and other atrocities TV has
since transmitted into our homes mean that we have scarcely had a
chance to relax our grip.
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