60 years ago on November 22, 1963 at around 12:30 PM, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald while traveling in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas. After being shot, President Kennedy slumped over in the car as it sped to Parkland Memorial Hospital. After arriving at the hospital, there was little that doctors could do. Shortly before 1:00 PM a priest administered the last rights. By 1:00 PM, President Kennedy was pronounced dead. Following the assassination of President Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. He would also be killed. In JFK: One Day in America from National Geographic, the events around President John F. Kennedy’s assassination are shared and explored with the help of people who experienced this horrible event first hand.
JFK: One Day in America has three episodes. These include:
- Assassination – President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, traveled to Texas with an eye on the 1964 elections, along with a team of secret service agents. During a motorcade in downtown Dallas, JFK is brutally shot in broad daylight and later tragically pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital with his grieving wife in the next room. America changes forever.
- Manhunt – The race is on to track down JFK’s killer, but before he is arrested, the assassin kills again. Meanwhile, Jackie Kennedy boards Air Force One to return JFK’s body to Washington. Still wearing her bloodstained dress, she witnesses LBJ sworn in as president. As the net closes around suspected killer Lee Harvey Oswald, his co-workers and family face interrogation.
- Revenge – President Kennedy’s body arrives back in Washington, and a grieving Jackie Kennedy leads the funeral march to honor him. In Dallas, Lee Harvey Oswald is charged with JFK’s murder, but the world is shocked again when Oswald himself is shot dead while still in police custody by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. With Oswald dead, there is no reckoning, and America will never be the same.
Several years ago I was able to visit Dealey Plaza and visit the Book Repository where Lee Harvey Oswald opened fire on President Kennedy’s motorcade. Seeing where this happened really brought history to life for me and sparked an interest in the life and death of President Kennedy for me. I have read multiple books since then on both President Kennedy and also the events surrounding November 22, 1963. If I had never done that, I think this docuseries would have sparked my interest in a similar way. Hearing the people who were so close to these events share first hand what happened at the time really is incredible and also heart breaking. It brings history to life when you can see someone’s eyes, hear the pain in their voice as they share a story, and see archival footage that provides even more perspective on what happened.
Watching JFK: One Day in America is not a happy experience. It is a solemn one. However, it is worth watching. It shares a piece of history that had a significant impact on so many things. There are pieces of the story that I hadn’t heard before. There are people that had smaller parts of the story that haven’t shared their stories before that are fascinating to hear. Overall, this is a solid docuseries for history fans and also fans of JFK. I very much enjoyed reviewing this series and I hope there are more One Day in America projects in the works from National Geographic in the future. I also thought 9/11: One Day in America was good as well.
JFK: One Day in America is streaming on Disney+ and also on Hulu. This is a docuseries that I have watched a couple of times already and will most likely return to. I give it a very solid hat tip.
[Review Disclosure/]
Mr. DAPs Hat Rating Scale
- No Hat – Didn’t meet expectations
- Hat Nod – It was ok
- Hat Tip – It was good
- Hat’s Off – Loved it!
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