While many contemporary Americans were not yet born when John F. Kennedy met his tragic demise, speculation about his assassination remains rife. Saving Jackie K, a novel that deftly interweaves fact and fiction, aims to unearth the elusive “truth” behind these events. But what do the historical archives actually divulge?
At 12:30 pm on November 22, 1963, President Kennedy fell victim to sniper bullets while traversing Dealey Plaza in Dallas aboard an open limousine. The shots rang out across the plaza, stunning bystanders who bore witness to the fatal headshot that stained Kennedy’s Lincoln convertible with blood.
Just eighty minutes later, Lee Harvey Oswald, a Texas School Book Depository employee situated in Dealey Plaza, was apprehended for the murder of Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit. Subsequently, he faced allegations of assassinating the president, purportedly firing shots from the book depository’s sixth-floor window using a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.
Despite these accusations, Oswald never stood trial. Two days later, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald in the basement of the police headquarters as officers prepared to transfer him to jail—a shocking incident broadcast live on television. President Lyndon Baines Johnson enlisted Chief Justice Earl Warren to spearhead a committee tasked with investigating the assassination. Following ten months of hearings, the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone. Nonetheless, widespread skepticism persists, with many Americans positing a broader conspiracy and alleging a cover-up. As underscored by JFK author and assassination historian L.D.C. Fitzgerald in a recent interview, the discourse surrounding Kennedy’s assassination remains an enduring source of fascination, vexation, and intrigue for generations to come.
