An Intersection of History
50th Anniversary Breakfast Remembering JFK’s Visit to Fort Worth
Courtesy, The Dallas Morning News
Courtesy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, The University of Texas at Arlington Library
“There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth.” What everyone knows is this: On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. But not everyone knows that before the tragic motorcade in downtown Dallas, President Kennedy visited Fort Worth. He was greeted by a passionate crowd that braved the cold, rainy weather, prompting the President to say, “There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth.” Later, he spoke to the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce; In what would be his final public speech, he praised the city’s pivotal role in national defense and space exploration efforts. What happened next was a shocking blow – to the country and the DFW area. For 50 years, it’s been the source of tremendous sorrow and the subject of endless speculation. But that’s not why we’re here today. We’re here to celebrate a moment in history that connected our city to the world – a moment of inspiration, of strength, of leadership.
Agenda Welcome Susan Halsey, managing partner Jackson Walker L.L.P. and chairman of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
Presentation of Colors J.P. Elder Middle School ROTC
National Anthem Texas Boys Choir
Introductions Susan Halsey
Recognition of High Impact Legacy Award Recipient, Former Speaker of the House, Congressman Jim Wright Susan Halsey
Video Presentation Acknowledgment Jim Wright
Keynote Speaker Clint Hill, author and former U.S. Secret Service agent, with Lisa McCubbin, author and former journalist
Closing Susan Halsey
Courtesy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, The University of Texas at Arlington Library
Clint Hill is a retired United States Secret Service agent who will forever be remembered for his courageous actions in the presidential motorcade during the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Assigned to protect Jacqueline Kennedy, Hill remained with Mrs. Kennedy and the children for one year after the tragedy. Proudly and humbly serving five presidents – Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford – Hill rose through the ranks of the most elite protective force in the world during the tumultuous time that encompassed the Vietnam War; the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; and Watergate. He retired in 1975 as assistant director, United States Secret Service, responsible for all protective forces. In 2012, he penned his remarkable memoir, “Mrs. Kennedy and Me,” which became a #1 New York Times bestseller.
Courtesy, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Lisa McCubbin is the coauthor of the New York Times bestsellers, “Mrs. Kennedy and Me” and “The Kennedy Detail.” An award-winning journalist, she has been a television news anchor and reporter, hosted her own radio show, and spent more than five years in the Middle East as a freelance writer. Visit her at lisamccubbin.com.
Jim Wright
Courtesy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, The University of Texas at Arlington Library
was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1922. A student at the University of Texas, he left one week after Pearl Harbor to join the Army Air Corps and flew combat missions in the South Pacific during World War II, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Legion of Merit. After the war, Wright became a successful businessman, state legislator (at age 23), then mayor of his boyhood home, Weatherford, Texas. He was elected to Congress from his native district in 1954 (at age 32) and served 18 terms, during which he authored major legislation in foreign affairs, economic development, water conservation, energy, and education. For a decade, Wright was House Majority Leader before becoming Speaker of the House. Following his resignation in 1989, he began a nearly 20-year career teaching political science at Texas Christian University, where he still meets with students several times each month. He is the author of “You and Your Congressman,” “The Coming Water Famine,” “Reflections of a Public Man,” and the 1993 “Worth It All: My War for Peace.”
Courtesy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, The University of Texas at Arlington Library
Courtesy, Gene Gordon
Courtesy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, The University of Texas at Arlington Library
The moments that made history.
Thursday, November 21
Friday, November 22
11:45 p.m.
8:50 a.m.
9:10 a.m.
Air Force One lands at Carswell Air Force Base. The city skyline is ablaze with lights, the special Christmas lighting having been turned on early in honor of the President’s late night arrival.
Despite the rain, a crowd estimated at 5,000 gathers to greet the President in the Hotel Texas parking lot. He gives a brief address to the appreciative audience, claiming “There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth.”
The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce hosts a breakfast event honoring President Kennedy with more than 2,000 of Fort Worth’s most notable citizens in attendance. The President gives what will be his final public speech.
Courtesy, Jeffrey Stvan
Courtesy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, The University of Texas at Arlington Library
Courtesy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, The University of Texas at Arlington Library
November 8, 2012: 10:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
A Timeless Tribute
Breakfast concludes. Before leaving for Dallas, the President and First Lady rest briefly in their suite at the Hotel Texas, which features a special installation of artwork curated by Ruth Carter Stevenson. The installation includes work by Thomas Eakins, Lyonel Feininger, Marsden Hartley, Franz Kline, Henry Moore and Pablo Picasso, among others.
The President says goodbye to Fort Worth. A motorcade that includes the President and First Lady, along with other politicians, reporters and photographers, leaves the Hotel Texas, turning north onto Main Street before eventually heading to Carswell Air Force Base for their departure to Dallas.
Forty-nine years later, a permanent tribute is established in General Worth Square featuring a bronze sculpture of the President and a granite wall with photos and quotes from his historic visit to Fort Worth.
Sponsors Presenting Sponsor:
Keynote Sponsor:
Platinum Sponsors:
Gold Sponsors: Community Trust Bank Fort Worth Star-Telegram Jackson Walker L.L.P. Joan Trew – Williams Trew Sotheby’s International Realtors Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. McDonald Sanders, P.C. Southwest Bank Southwest Office Systems, Inc.
Media Sponsor: Fort Worth, Texas Magazine
Silver Sponsors:
Creative Sponsor:
Acme Brick Company Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth Coors Distributing Company of Fort Worth Fidelity Investments Frost Gordon Boswell Flowers Harris, Finley & Bogle, PC Haynes and Boone, LLP Justin Brands, Inc. OmniAmerican Bank Omni Fort Worth Hotel Oncor PlainsCapital Bank
RadioShack Corporation Sanford, Baumeister & Frazier, LLP Texas Christian University Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth The Northern Trust Company The WhitneySmith Company UNT Health Science Center Wells Fargo Western Production Co.
Remembering 50 Years
Courtesy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, The University of Texas at Arlington Library
John F. Kennedy 35th President November 22, 2013
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Courtesy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, The University of Texas at Arlington Library
fortworthchamber.com