Only about 25 percent of Americans living today were alive November 22, 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, but time hasn’t faded their memories. Ask anyone old enough, and they can recall where they were when they heard that Kennedy had been shot.
Lee Harvey Oswald fired three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository . The first shot struck Texas Governor John Connally, who survived. The second and third struck Kennedy. Oswald was gunned down by night club owner Jack Ruby two days later in the basement of the Dallas Police Department. The country watched it all on national television.
Some historians say it was the day the country lost its innocence. The Vietnam war, race riots, more assassinations and Watergate followed. Historians, journalists and fiction writers love to speculate what might have been had the assassination never happened.
Conspiracy theorists didn’t need social media to spread their claims that Oswald didn’t act alone. The theories ranged from Fidel Castro to the Mafia to the CIA to the Soviet Union plotting the assassination. The government’s Warren Commission said Oswald acted alone.
It didn’t take long for songwriters to pay tribute to Kennedy. Our Song of the Day was the first. Herb Kretzmer and David Lee wrote it hours after the assassination. Millicent Martin sang it the next day on the British TV show “That Was the Week That Was.”
Many artists recorded the song, but Connie Francis’ version was the only one to reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It peaked at 46. Some radio stations refused to play the song, not wanting looking like they were cashing in on a tragedy.
Song of the Day is created by Sheldon Zoldan, and produced by Pam James for WGCU. To receive the Song of the Day in your inbox every day, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.
