JFK

On the evening of November 21, 1963, President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy arrived in Fort Worth to spend the night at the Hotel Texas. Early the next morning, President Kennedy made an unscheduled outdoor appearance and surprised a crowd that had gathered there hoping to see him. At breakfast in the hotel, he spoke to 3,000 people, emphasizing Fort Worth’s role in defense and aircraft production, and accepted with good humor the city’s traditional welcome gift of a locally made Shady Oaks Western Hat. His trip around Texas, though billed as non-political, was surely brought about by infighting among Texas Democrats. Following breakfast on November 22, 1963, the president and his entourage left the Hotel Texas in a motorcade to Carswell Air Force Base for a short flight to Dallas. On the drive to a luncheon speech in Dallas, President Kennedy was assassinated, bringing shock and grief to Texas, the nation, and the world.

Fort Worth, Texas · United States