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Dallas, November 22, 1963
An eBook short.
This account of the Kennedy assassination ("the most riveting ever," says The New York Times) is taken from Robert A. Caro's brilliant and bestselling The Passage of Power.
Here is that tragic day in Dallas alive with startling details reported for the first time by the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Just as scandals that might end his career are about to break over Lyndon Johnson's head, the motorcade containing the presidential party is making its slow and triumphant way along the streets of Dallas. In Caro's breathtakingly vivid narrative, we witness the shots, the procession speeding to Parkland Memorial Hospital, the moment when Kennedy aide Kenneth O'Donnell tells Johnson "He's gone," and Johnson's iconic swearing in on Air Force One. Compelling.
This account of the Kennedy assassination ("the most riveting ever," says The New York Times) is taken from Robert A. Caro's brilliant and bestselling The Passage of Power.
Here is that tragic day in Dallas alive with startling details reported for the first time by the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Just as scandals that might end his career are about to break over Lyndon Johnson's head, the motorcade containing the presidential party is making its slow and triumphant way along the streets of Dallas. In Caro's breathtakingly vivid narrative, we witness the shots, the procession speeding to Parkland Memorial Hospital, the moment when Kennedy aide Kenneth O'Donnell tells Johnson "He's gone," and Johnson's iconic swearing in on Air Force One. Compelling.
62 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
168 people are currently reading
733 people want to read
About the author
Robert A. Caro
35 books2,915 followersRobert Allan Caro is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson.
After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote The Power Broker (1974), a biography of New York urban planner Robert Moses, which was chosen by the Modern Library as one of the hundred greatest nonfiction books of the twentieth century. He has since written four of a planned five volumes of The Years of Lyndon Johnson (1982, 1990, 2002, 2012), a biography of the former president. Caro has been described as "the most influential biographer of the last century".
For his biographies, he has won two Pulitzer Prizes in Biography, two National Book Awards (including one for Lifetime Achievement), the Francis Parkman Prize (awarded by the Society of American Historians to the book that "best exemplifies the union of the historian and the artist"), three National Book Critics Circle Awards, the Mencken Award for Best Book, the Carr P. Collins Award from the Texas Institute of Letters, the D. B. Hardeman Prize, and a Gold Medal in Biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2010 President Barack Obama awarded Caro the National Humanities Medal.
Due to Caro's reputation for exhaustive research and detail, he is sometimes invoked by reviewers of other writers who are called "Caro-esque" for their own extensive research.
After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote The Power Broker (1974), a biography of New York urban planner Robert Moses, which was chosen by the Modern Library as one of the hundred greatest nonfiction books of the twentieth century. He has since written four of a planned five volumes of The Years of Lyndon Johnson (1982, 1990, 2002, 2012), a biography of the former president. Caro has been described as "the most influential biographer of the last century".
For his biographies, he has won two Pulitzer Prizes in Biography, two National Book Awards (including one for Lifetime Achievement), the Francis Parkman Prize (awarded by the Society of American Historians to the book that "best exemplifies the union of the historian and the artist"), three National Book Critics Circle Awards, the Mencken Award for Best Book, the Carr P. Collins Award from the Texas Institute of Letters, the D. B. Hardeman Prize, and a Gold Medal in Biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2010 President Barack Obama awarded Caro the National Humanities Medal.
Due to Caro's reputation for exhaustive research and detail, he is sometimes invoked by reviewers of other writers who are called "Caro-esque" for their own extensive research.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 7, 2022
Breve historia sobre los últimos momentos de JFK.
Se analiza también la tensa relación que existía con su Vicepresidente, Lyndon B. Johnson, a causa de una comisión que investigaba sus finanzas.
Después de leer este relato, te apetece conocer más cosas del magnicidio de Dallas.
-------------------------
A brief history of JFK's last moments.
It also looks at the strained relationship with his Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson, over a commission investigating his finances.
After reading this story, you will want to know more about the Dallas assassination.
Se analiza también la tensa relación que existía con su Vicepresidente, Lyndon B. Johnson, a causa de una comisión que investigaba sus finanzas.
Después de leer este relato, te apetece conocer más cosas del magnicidio de Dallas.
-------------------------
A brief history of JFK's last moments.
It also looks at the strained relationship with his Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson, over a commission investigating his finances.
After reading this story, you will want to know more about the Dallas assassination.
July 11, 2023
In hopes of trying to stir up the vibes for Robert A. Caro to complete this multi-volume biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson, I chose to begin a re-read of those tomes already published. Let’s see if it works!
Robert A. Caro is the preeminent Lyndon Johnson biographer, with his massive Years of Lyndon Johnson collection awaiting its fifth (and final?) volume. To this point, Caro has taken much of Johnson's life into account leading up to his ascension to the White House, but no further. In this short piece of non-fiction, Caro takes the most talked-about 'where were you?' day in US history up to that point and turns the narrative onto Lyndon Johnson's actions. How he was snubbed in his home state, rumoured to be dropped from the ticket in '64, and the congressional investigation into one of his aides back in Washington. Caro expounds on the happenings of November 22, 1963 and shows the role Johnson played in it, as well as the actions he undertook in light of the tragedy. Powerfully written, just like the rest of the series, Caro places emphasis on Johnson's reactions and sentiments on the day he rose to become POTUS, and its immediate aftermath.
Caro is a master, no doubt about that. That he's crafted this short historical single-day biography only goes to show how well Caro captures the untold stories. While something of this length would never be kept from the editor's pen in a full-length biography, it is a telling snapshot of the goings-on and sentiments of those closest to Lyndon Johnson. A perfect addition for fans of Caro's multi-volume biography, this is both a telling historical set of events and a wonderful teaser for the next (and last?) volume for whom hardcore fans have patiently waited.
Kudos, Mr. Caro for this wonderful teaser. I am eagerly waiting to see what else you have for your fans, whenever that book sees the light of day!
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
Robert A. Caro is the preeminent Lyndon Johnson biographer, with his massive Years of Lyndon Johnson collection awaiting its fifth (and final?) volume. To this point, Caro has taken much of Johnson's life into account leading up to his ascension to the White House, but no further. In this short piece of non-fiction, Caro takes the most talked-about 'where were you?' day in US history up to that point and turns the narrative onto Lyndon Johnson's actions. How he was snubbed in his home state, rumoured to be dropped from the ticket in '64, and the congressional investigation into one of his aides back in Washington. Caro expounds on the happenings of November 22, 1963 and shows the role Johnson played in it, as well as the actions he undertook in light of the tragedy. Powerfully written, just like the rest of the series, Caro places emphasis on Johnson's reactions and sentiments on the day he rose to become POTUS, and its immediate aftermath.
Caro is a master, no doubt about that. That he's crafted this short historical single-day biography only goes to show how well Caro captures the untold stories. While something of this length would never be kept from the editor's pen in a full-length biography, it is a telling snapshot of the goings-on and sentiments of those closest to Lyndon Johnson. A perfect addition for fans of Caro's multi-volume biography, this is both a telling historical set of events and a wonderful teaser for the next (and last?) volume for whom hardcore fans have patiently waited.
Kudos, Mr. Caro for this wonderful teaser. I am eagerly waiting to see what else you have for your fans, whenever that book sees the light of day!
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
January 1, 2026
When I picked up this book I expecting a tight historical account of that dreadful day in Dallas. I thought I already understood what happened that day. What I got instead was something far more unsettling and, honestly, more impressive. Caro does not just tell you what happened. He puts you inside the fog of that day, when almost nothing was clear, information was fragmentary, and decisions had to be made before anyone knew what story they were actually living through.
When we look back on moments of crisis in history, we are often a little stunned by the bad decisions and seemingly clueless choices people made. We shake our heads and think, how could they have been so foolish. What Caro reminds us, very gently and very effectively, is that we have a luxury they did not. We know how the story turns out.
We know which rumors were nonsense, which fears were justified, and which dangers were imagined. The people living through November 22, 1963 did not have that clarity. They were moving through a thick fog of war that most of us underestimate until we see it laid out so vividly.
The most compelling part of the book for me was watching just how unsure everyone was about what was actually happening after Kennedy was shot. Was this a lone assassin? Was it the opening act of a broader coup? Was the government itself under attack? What makes this uncertainty even more gripping is how haunted the entire situation was by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln nearly a century earlier. Caro shows how deeply that earlier trauma shaped the thinking of officials in Dallas and Washington.
Lincoln’s murder had not been a simple act of one man with a gun. It was an attempt to decapitate the government. Booth and his collaborators aimed to kill the president, the vice president, and key figures in the line of succession to throw the country into chaos. On November 22, 1963, no one knew that this was not happening again.
That uncertainty explains so much of what followed, including the missteps. I found it fascinating to see the decisions people made based on assumptions that later proved incorrect. Caro does not mock these mistakes or smooth them over. He lets them stand as evidence of how human and fallible even very capable leaders are when operating under extreme pressure.
One of the most striking threads in the book is Lyndon Johnson’s transformation in real time. Today we see Johnson as a towering, commanding presidential figure. In the hours after Kennedy’s death, many people still saw him as that country hick from Texas, a man distrusted by the Kennedys and viewed with suspicion by much of Washington. Caro captures just how fragile Johnson’s legitimacy was in those first moments.
What amazed me was Johnson’s instinctive understanding of what the nation needed. While many around him were understandably panicked, Johnson stayed cool under fire. He moved decisively to assume the presidency and, just as importantly, to signal continuity and stability.
Caro’s account of Johnson orchestrating the oath of office on Air Force One is riveting. The decision to have Jacqueline Kennedy standing beside him was not accidental. It was a visual message that the Kennedy family approved. Calling Robert Kennedy to confirm that the new president should immediately take the oath of office was another masterstroke. Johnson could have bypassed the former president’s brother, but he knew that the tacit blessing of the Kennedys was essential to reassuring the country.
Caro shows Johnson not as a saint, but as an extraordinarily strategic and intelligent political actor who rose to the moment. The book makes a strong case that Johnson’s calm leadership in those hours helped shepherd America through a terrifying transition and into a new era of progressive politics.
This book left me with a deeper appreciation for how fragile history feels when you are living inside it, and for the skilled, imperfect people who managed to steer the country through one of its darkest hours.
When we look back on moments of crisis in history, we are often a little stunned by the bad decisions and seemingly clueless choices people made. We shake our heads and think, how could they have been so foolish. What Caro reminds us, very gently and very effectively, is that we have a luxury they did not. We know how the story turns out.
We know which rumors were nonsense, which fears were justified, and which dangers were imagined. The people living through November 22, 1963 did not have that clarity. They were moving through a thick fog of war that most of us underestimate until we see it laid out so vividly.
The most compelling part of the book for me was watching just how unsure everyone was about what was actually happening after Kennedy was shot. Was this a lone assassin? Was it the opening act of a broader coup? Was the government itself under attack? What makes this uncertainty even more gripping is how haunted the entire situation was by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln nearly a century earlier. Caro shows how deeply that earlier trauma shaped the thinking of officials in Dallas and Washington.
Lincoln’s murder had not been a simple act of one man with a gun. It was an attempt to decapitate the government. Booth and his collaborators aimed to kill the president, the vice president, and key figures in the line of succession to throw the country into chaos. On November 22, 1963, no one knew that this was not happening again.
That uncertainty explains so much of what followed, including the missteps. I found it fascinating to see the decisions people made based on assumptions that later proved incorrect. Caro does not mock these mistakes or smooth them over. He lets them stand as evidence of how human and fallible even very capable leaders are when operating under extreme pressure.
One of the most striking threads in the book is Lyndon Johnson’s transformation in real time. Today we see Johnson as a towering, commanding presidential figure. In the hours after Kennedy’s death, many people still saw him as that country hick from Texas, a man distrusted by the Kennedys and viewed with suspicion by much of Washington. Caro captures just how fragile Johnson’s legitimacy was in those first moments.
What amazed me was Johnson’s instinctive understanding of what the nation needed. While many around him were understandably panicked, Johnson stayed cool under fire. He moved decisively to assume the presidency and, just as importantly, to signal continuity and stability.
Caro’s account of Johnson orchestrating the oath of office on Air Force One is riveting. The decision to have Jacqueline Kennedy standing beside him was not accidental. It was a visual message that the Kennedy family approved. Calling Robert Kennedy to confirm that the new president should immediately take the oath of office was another masterstroke. Johnson could have bypassed the former president’s brother, but he knew that the tacit blessing of the Kennedys was essential to reassuring the country.
Caro shows Johnson not as a saint, but as an extraordinarily strategic and intelligent political actor who rose to the moment. The book makes a strong case that Johnson’s calm leadership in those hours helped shepherd America through a terrifying transition and into a new era of progressive politics.
This book left me with a deeper appreciation for how fragile history feels when you are living inside it, and for the skilled, imperfect people who managed to steer the country through one of its darkest hours.
June 23, 2014
The great setup
Caro lacks the knowledge of what transpired the night before at Clint Murchison's home, even though LBJ's behavior on Air Force One was indicative of someone involved with JFK's assassination. He had abided his time since January 20, 1961 as an emasculated politician to conspire over a three year period with the likes of J. Edgar Hoover, Clint Murchison, Richard Nixon, Allen Dulles, Cord Myer et al to get what he had desired all his criminal life. This came right at the brink of his criminal activities coming to the public light, which would have led to his resignation, and subsequent indictment and conviction. Caro, like most historians, paints LBJ as a natural leader in the face of national bereavement and disaster, when point of fact is he plotted JFK's murder, and suffered his last days trying to control his demons over his murderous decisions.
Caro lacks the knowledge of what transpired the night before at Clint Murchison's home, even though LBJ's behavior on Air Force One was indicative of someone involved with JFK's assassination. He had abided his time since January 20, 1961 as an emasculated politician to conspire over a three year period with the likes of J. Edgar Hoover, Clint Murchison, Richard Nixon, Allen Dulles, Cord Myer et al to get what he had desired all his criminal life. This came right at the brink of his criminal activities coming to the public light, which would have led to his resignation, and subsequent indictment and conviction. Caro, like most historians, paints LBJ as a natural leader in the face of national bereavement and disaster, when point of fact is he plotted JFK's murder, and suffered his last days trying to control his demons over his murderous decisions.
December 10, 2016
This short book is excerpted from The Passage of Power by Robert Caro. It tells the story of the assassination of JFK from the perspective of LBJ. The book begins with the morning newspaper reports on Friday, November 22, 1963 and follows the motorcade through Dallas and the shooting of JFK. The books ends with LBJ taking the oath of office as the new President. This short book is a great introduction to the writing of Robert Caro and the four biographies he wrote about LBJ. The book inspired me enough to want to read the full four volume biography.
The question that my generation always asks: "Where were you when JFK was shot." I was in study hall during my freshman year in high school.
I highly recommend this short read to anyone who loves history and biographies.
The question that my generation always asks: "Where were you when JFK was shot." I was in study hall during my freshman year in high school.
I highly recommend this short read to anyone who loves history and biographies.
January 11, 2014
I am very nearly speechless with admiration for Mr. Caro. Over the years, I have read dozens and dozens of books written about the Kennedy assassination. None can hold a candle to the detailed eloquence of this masterpiece!
Aside from the brilliance of the writing, this is the detailed depiction of Lyndon Johnson's reaction and response from the moment the first shot rang out through the oath of office--taken on Air Force One with engines running, on the ground at Love Field in Dallas.
Aside from the brilliance of the writing, this is the detailed depiction of Lyndon Johnson's reaction and response from the moment the first shot rang out through the oath of office--taken on Air Force One with engines running, on the ground at Love Field in Dallas.
August 14, 2016
Writer succeeded in putting me on Air Force One on November 22, 1963. He gave you the opportunity to read the situation and want to read more of his writings concerning Lyndon B. Johnson. They say this kind of writing skill, leaving your audience wanting more, is a talent for writing. I guess Caro is a master. I am searching for another book now.
February 3, 2022
This is a great book. It's told from Lyndon Johnson's perspective of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. This 32-page book begins and ends all on that historic day. But to be clear, this is an excerpt, according to the publisher, "in slightly different form, originally appeared in The New Yorker and subsequently as Chapters 11 and 12 in The Passage of Power." Robert A. Caro, as many of you know, has written a series of four biographies on Johnson, with the fifth and final book of the series still being worked on.
The book puts you in Johnson's hotel room that November morning, sharing his fears and insecurities as JFK's vice president. Caro also puts you in all the prominent places: Love Field Airport when LBJ and the president arrive in Dallas, LBJ's car during the motorcade trip through downtown Dallas, Parkland Hospital where LBJ learns of JFK's death, and Air Force One for the swearing with Jackie Kennedy looking on. Each scene just drips with details.
This short excerpt tempts you to read Caro's four lengthy biographies on LBJ -- three which extend past 700 pages (including one over 1,100 pages).
For 32 pages, this is well worth the read.
The book puts you in Johnson's hotel room that November morning, sharing his fears and insecurities as JFK's vice president. Caro also puts you in all the prominent places: Love Field Airport when LBJ and the president arrive in Dallas, LBJ's car during the motorcade trip through downtown Dallas, Parkland Hospital where LBJ learns of JFK's death, and Air Force One for the swearing with Jackie Kennedy looking on. Each scene just drips with details.
This short excerpt tempts you to read Caro's four lengthy biographies on LBJ -- three which extend past 700 pages (including one over 1,100 pages).
For 32 pages, this is well worth the read.
September 21, 2020
Great read. I had hoped that this account would provide more detail than found in the same author's book four. However, nothing new was learned. Still, I must give this a five star rating. Mr Caro's account of the events in Dallas on that fateful day of the Kennedy assassination was nothing short of brilliant.
January 28, 2021
Going in, I didn’t realize this was a selection from one of Caro’s LBJ books. It turns out to a perfect encapsulation of everything great about how he writes. You can tell it is meticulously researched, and it’s masterfully narrated. I’d say this is a good, small taste to help figure out if you’d enjoy taking on “The Years of Lyndon Johnson.”
January 13, 2022
Impresionante. Hay que leer el libro completo.
June 19, 2023
Couldn’t put this down.
January 5, 2026
I couldn’t put it down — and at just 60 pages, I didn’t.
January 22, 2016
Assasination
A well written account of JFK assassination thru the lens of Lyndon Johnson. We all know the facts but this adds a bit different slant.
A well written account of JFK assassination thru the lens of Lyndon Johnson. We all know the facts but this adds a bit different slant.
October 27, 2024
Let me start by noting that I am as far as anyone can get from being a fan of Lyndon Johnson. I always despised the man, which continues to this day. I blame Johnson for starting and prolonging The Vietnam War (which is well documented by Robert Caro among others). Defence contractors cleaned up on LBJ’s war. Hmmm. I also believe that one day evidence will magically appear proving that Lyndon Johnson was, at a minimum, aware of the assassination plot to kill JFK. I was not a JFK fan either, but he had decided to de-escalate U.S. presence in Vietnam, which Johnson reversed. I have read many books about both the assassination and Lyndon Johnson, including the four great Robert A. Caro biographies of LBJ.
While I eagerly await the 5th and final Johnson book in the series, I bumped into this Caro short book. As the title indicates, it covers in dramatic detail ‘DALLAS November 22, 1963’ and only that day. Caro is far more than a distinguished biographer. Each of the four Johnson books took Caro 8 to 10 years to research and publish. Book five, the final LBJ biography is pushing around 12 years so far. I expect it to contain more of the good, bad and ugly. The Boston Globe has said about Caro "Не has become, in many ways, the standard by which his fellows are measured." And Nicholas von Hoffman wrote: "Caro has changed the art of political biography." Amen to that.
If you have any interest in the minute by minute events surrounding the Kennedy assassination and the passage of power written by a real pro, this short book is a must read. I rate it a 10 on a scale of 1 to 5.
While I eagerly await the 5th and final Johnson book in the series, I bumped into this Caro short book. As the title indicates, it covers in dramatic detail ‘DALLAS November 22, 1963’ and only that day. Caro is far more than a distinguished biographer. Each of the four Johnson books took Caro 8 to 10 years to research and publish. Book five, the final LBJ biography is pushing around 12 years so far. I expect it to contain more of the good, bad and ugly. The Boston Globe has said about Caro "Не has become, in many ways, the standard by which his fellows are measured." And Nicholas von Hoffman wrote: "Caro has changed the art of political biography." Amen to that.
If you have any interest in the minute by minute events surrounding the Kennedy assassination and the passage of power written by a real pro, this short book is a must read. I rate it a 10 on a scale of 1 to 5.
January 31, 2019
Very short book. Apparently, Caro has written multiple books about LBJ, none of which I'm familiar with. This account of the Kennedy assassination was not a "who-done-it" conspiracy book. It was factual and related events of that day with LBJ as the central character. It was a different view than I've read before, and I found it interesting.
March 26, 2023
This is a useful taster for those who have not embarked from the great multi-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson that Caro has yet to compolete. If you like this, and you will, you will inevitably want to read the the fuill thing
November 12, 2017
Short passage of history from Lyndon Johnson's perspective ( as viewed from the author's account).
March 24, 2018
Very brief, interesting profile piece of 11/22,
December 31, 2016
Caro is the master
Caro spent his life soul mining LBJ. This account adds credible depth to the overall picture of the assassination story, and provides an important bridge between it, and LBJ's own path to power.
Caro spent his life soul mining LBJ. This account adds credible depth to the overall picture of the assassination story, and provides an important bridge between it, and LBJ's own path to power.
November 8, 2013
Very, very much about Johnson on November 22. Interesting perspective and well written.
July 4, 2014
Told from the Vice President's perspective. Very brief and similar to a newspaper story. Interesting.
January 5, 2018
This was a quick read. It tells the story of the day of the JFK assassination from Johnson’s perspective, one I hadn’t considered. If you enjoy the short documentary type this is for you.
May 5, 2019
Only reason it's not five stars is because it's just one chapter from the inevitable 5 star whole.
August 13, 2019
Caro can write; it was a really interesting story, and one I didn't really get as much of as one might expect, considering my background.
February 9, 2021
Detailed and well researched accounting of the events of this chaotic day.
Classical Caro!
Well done!
Classical Caro!
Well done!
May 25, 2024
New discovery
I just started reading the first book in Caro’s LBJ series, and I don’t know if I’m worthy. This man is a master writer. He creates pictures.
I just started reading the first book in Caro’s LBJ series, and I don’t know if I’m worthy. This man is a master writer. He creates pictures.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews