11-22-63: It would not be a very difficult job to shoot the POTUS

[stopbush]

On the morning JFK was killed, a person in Fort Worth, Texas was overheard saying the following only hours before the assassination:

“It would not be a very difficult job to shoot the President of the United States. All you'd have to do is get up in a high buliding with a high-powered rifle with a telescopic sight, and there’s nothing anybody could do.”

Believe it or not, this was overheard by White House employees, yet nothing happened to the person uttering this unbelievable idea. They weren’t held for questioning, they weren’t arrested, the police weren’t notified. Nothing.

Why was that? Why?

Well, the so-called “reason” given is that the person uttering those words was none other than...John Fitzgerald Kennedy, President of the United States of America. And those words were heard by none other than JFK’s Chief of Staff, Ken O’Donnell. (Source: Bugliosi, “Reclaiming History,”pg 21.

Looks like JFK had prior knowledge of - and was deeply involved in - the plot to kill himself.

[Merlot]

1. Or he was not very confident in his protection

And was also aware that his enemies would stop at nothing.

[Sanity Claws]

2. He had been warned that Texas was scary

and advised not to go. In light of the warning, I can see why JFK looked at a building and said that.

[MFM008]

3. travel with the top up at the very least

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[LeftInTX]

15. According to Jackie, it was his idea to put the top down

She had a migraine and wanted to put on her sunglasses. In order to encourage her not to put the shades on, he said something about how the crowds loved her.

[GeorgeGist]

4. Only one problem with this OP ...

JFK was assassinated on Nov 22, 1963

[cwydro]

7. Lol.

Good catch!

[stopbush]

12. Thanks. Fixed the typo.

[doc03]

5. I understand nobody knew the Kennedy motorcade was going by the book depository until

Last edited Fri Oct 27, 2017, 02:50 PM - Edit history (1)

shortly before. How did Oswald know to get a job at the book depository and bring a rifle to work that day to shoot the President?

[Kaleva]

8. Oswald need3d a job just like most any of us.

The trip to Dallas was announced in September, Oswald got the job about a month before the motorcade route was finalized.

[doc03]

16. So he was just lucky to get a job where he

had a perfect shot at the president. I saw a video where they said the motorcade route had been changed that morning.
I think Oswald was the only shooter but I think someone with inside knowledge assited him with the planing.

[Kaleva]

20. It was luck that Hitler survived the attempt on his life at Wolf's Lair

A knock on a door and a table leg saved Hitler.

And recall that it was a twist of fate that allowed a single gunman to assassinate Crown Prince Ferdinand .

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. The route of the motorcade was published in the paper.

I think a day or two before. Oswald was lucky in that he had the job he had in the Texas Book Depository Building that overlooks the parade.

He'd gotten the job at least a few weeks before. He would not have been planning the assassination then. But again, the motorcade route was published in the local paper.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. I'm under the impression that JFK was very aware

of how easy it would be to assassinate a President. But I am most impressed that he spoke up like this after he was dead.

Even now, a determined person could assassinate the Commander in Chief. It's no doubt harder in recent years, but I'm reasonably certain could be done.

[Kaleva]

9. The very hard part would be trying to make a clean getaway

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

11. Possibly.

But someone sufficiently willing to die could get it done. Just look at virtually every mass shooting in recent years. The shooter dies either of self-inflicted wounds, or by the cops.

[Kaleva]

14. If the perp expects to die, I can think of a number of ways it could be possible

But such a discussion isn't kosher.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

19. Yep.

I can say that for me personally, I know so very little about guns or anything else destructive, that I would not be able to successfully assassinate a prominent public figure. Nor would I want to.

[stopbush]

13. Fixed the typo from my OP.

[Hoyt]

10. Or, he was just saying what every Prez likely thinks before going out in public.

Nowadays, most of us probably think that at times, although hardly every day.

[octoberlib]

17. With all the nastiness in Dallas, he shouldn't have been riding around in a convertible.

That seems insane to me but maybe all Presidents did that back then.