Four Days: The Historical Record of the Death of President Kennedy

by United Press International (Compilers), Bruce Catton (introduction)

An account of the death of President Kennedy. Told through words and photographs. Compiled by the United Press International and the American Heritage Magazine.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, American History, Politics

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book on my grandmother's book shelf when we were cleaning out her house after she died. I brought it home, along with several others, as they looked interesting.

Now, with the 50th Anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy almost here, I decided to read this, as Kennedy was killed before I was born. Being a 50 year old book, the old book musty smell my copy had instantly made this seem historical.

The book was published in almost immediately after the assassination, and contains historical photos of the day in Dallas, the arrest and killing of Lee Harvey Oswald, and the funeral of the President. The text of the book is UPI news articles published at that time, as well as copies of speeches and eulogies given.

The grief of Mrs. Kennedy is palpable. Seeing her covered in her dead husband's blood, while the Vice President is sworn into the Presidency is heart breaking. Then her stoicism throughout the following days, visiting her husband's casket while it was on display, and walking in the funeral procession, makes me realize what a strong, amazing woman she was.

This book is just a historical record. There are no conspiracy theories here. There is no mud slinging, or politics. This is just a document of four days of a nation's grief. And it is a worthwhile read.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

My grandma gave me her copy of this a few years ago (published just one raw year after Kennedy's assassination) and I have pulled it out to read again after finishing Stephen King's 11/22/63. Four Days is "The Historical Record of the Death of President Kennedy" and it is a reverent, heart-wrenching factual account told with photos, eye-witness accounts, selections of official documents, public statements, private messages, etc. It does an amazing job of making me feel like I was there and grieving along with the rest of the world, though I had not even been born at the time. It is not the kind of book I would ever buy for myself, and I am thankful Grandma gave it to me, because it is a piece of history. The immediacy of the publish date makes this a fresh tragedy for whomever opens the book, in whatever year that may be.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friday Nov 22, 1963 President Kennedy was assassinated. Monday Nov 25 he was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. This is a powerful book. It feels printed within a very short time after all these events. There is no second guessing, or political discussions here. These are the facts.

Shot 1 hit Kennedy. Shot 2 struck (but did not kill) Governor Connally. A third shot also hit Kennedy.

House Speaker John McCormack exclaimed:
My God, what are we coming to?

There are a couple pages of eyewitness accounts that are humbling to read.

Dallas patrolman J.D. Tippit was murdered within 45 minutes of the President's assassination. Tippit spotted a man of the right description just two miles from the scene. He was shot three times as he stepped from his patrol car, by Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was apprehended soon afterwards in a movie theater.

This raw black and white set of photographs and fundamental text is actually very moving to read. I don't hear an 'author' - it feels like I'm reading pure news.

Day 2, Saturday Nov 23, 1963
The shock to the nation and the world sets in.

Roy Kinnear:
When Kennedy was elected three years ago, it was as if we'd all been given some gigantic miraculous present. Suddenly over there in Washington was this amazing man who seemed so utterly right for the job in very way that we took him completely for granted. Whenever we thought about the world, we had that warm image at the back of our minds of a man who would keep everything on the rails.

William Rushton:
When Kennedy was picked to be the Democratic candidate for the Presidency in 1960, the general opinion was that Kennedy was too perfect, too good to be true, a sort of public relations officer's ideal American: the film-star image, the beautiful wife, the great speeches with easy quotations from Burke and Shakespeare, the ice-cold efficiency, respect for the facts.

Day 3 Sunday, Nov 24, 1963
Over 250,000 people filed into the Capitol Rotunda in DC to pay their respects. In Dallas, as Oswald was being escorted out of the prison, local strip-tease owner Jack Ruby stuck a gun in Oswald's ribs and fired one shot. Oswald was dead.

Day 4 Monday, Nov 25, 1963
This was little John-John’s third birthday. But he would salute his father’s body as the President was taken to Arlington National Cemetery and laid to rest.

The appendices here contain:
- The eulogies in the rotunda
- Resolutions of the Congress
- Comments in the world press
- Personal statements from: Harold Macmillan, former prime minister of Great Britain; Richard M Nixon; Charles de Gaulle, and several more.
- Words to remember, spoken by eloquent Kennedy
- Reflections
- Order of the Funeral March
- List of foreign dignitaries who attended the funeral
- Funeral eulogy
- Prayer at the grave

I was lucky to find this used book. It is not very long, but SO MUCH happened in these four days. Where would the world be today if this would have never happened? So incredibly sad.

[PageTner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was 11 years old and my neighbor had this book and a book by Whitehouse photographer Mark Shaw during the Kennedy administration. This book floored me. I don't even remember if I knew anything about the Kennedy assassination before this. The pictures of President Kennedy and Jackie were amazing. The pictures of the assassination were chilling. Jackie on Air Force One, The funeral, all amazing.

After reading this book and many others I believed all the conspiracy theories. In recent years, I have changed that position and think that it was Oswald and Oswald alone, although I do find some of the points brought out by conspiracy theorists to be very interesting.

[Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My grandma gave me a first edition of this amazing account of the four days surrounding the Kennedy Assassination when I was 8 years old, and fascinated with U.S. History. I've misplaced it over the years, however I just ordered another First Edition, and am anxiously awaiting its arrival. I hope that it has that musty, old book smell just as the one I had when I was younger did. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in U.S. History.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Four days about the Kennedy assassination and the Kennedy Funeral. I really enjoyed the first-hand accounts by UPI and that back of the book the funeral line up and some of the various reflections from people and some of the speeches he gave during his short time in office. There were also a few details I did not know for example I did not know that Jackie & Bobby went back to the capitol late at night in disguise and parked down the street so no one would know that it was them and paid their respects again. I was also was reminded of the movie A woman named Jackie where they actual footage and funeral service one of the people giving eulogy said “so she took a ring for her finger and placed in his hand this is repeated a few times throughout this eulogy.
The pictures were also life like in this and very detailed. This was a very enjoyable read if you are a Kennedy fan.

[Jeffrey Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given his book when I was young but had never read it. At the time I was a big JFK fan and intrigued by the assassination but the book was beyond my young mind to get into. I had recently come across it and resolved to finally read it with the 60th anniversary coming up. I read each of the four days on the actual date and finished with the afterwards today. I also read this at the same time as Clint Hill's book called Five Days In November.

This is a really good book, slightly outdated, but a good look at an early account of the days that JFK was shot and the immediate aftermath and funeral. It has some great details of each day and a good afterwards section of quotes from Kennedy and other world leaders.

It was a really good look into that time soon after it happened, and I highly recommend this to any Kennedy fan of both himself and the assassination.

[Dan Ream · Rating 5 out of 5]

My father brought this book home when it was new in 1964 and I read it countless times in the following years. It is profusely illustrated and my reading of this book was mostly reading the photo captions of the assassination, the mourning, and the funeral, plus the shocking photos of Oswald’s murder on live television. Having recently read Robert Caro’s biography of Lyndon Johnson, with its focus on Johnson’s transition to the presidency after the assassination , I wanted to re-read this book in full. Having now read it in full, I can say it is excellent -with first hand detailed accounts by reporters on the scene of each of the four days from Kennedy’s assassination to his funeral.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very fortunate to acquire this commemorative and rare item at a Dealey Plaza U.K. book auction for the ridiculous sum of just £10.
'Four Days' was published in 1964 as a historical record of the death of President Kennedy by United Press International and American Heritage Magazine.
I can happily ignore some of the factual errors in the text and treasure this hard backed memento, that is in great condition, to add to my JFK collection.

[Sa Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brings a tear to your face to read about it even today.

Wish we could have experienced more from him in our nation. He could have made some great strides and differences and maybe we could have avoided a few things in the 60s and 70s that were tumultuous.

Rest in peace JFK.

[Clio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read contemporaneous accounts of the events surrounding his assassination. A nice window on how media framed things at the time and an interesting glimpse of norms & culture of the time.

[Kavanaugh Kohls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Particularly compelling are the images of people from all walks of life, all over the world, learning the news and morning the death of President Kennedy

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

my assistant principal brought this in for a display i did on the 50th anniversary of the assassination. what is remarkable about this book is that it came out a year after the event and it has some amazing photos, a list of all the dignitaries from around the world who were at the ceremony, some of the notes and thoughts from around the world and some of the addresses that were given. an immediate spotlight on the whole affair - not something written years and years later.

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the guys in my Public Speaking class because his wife wanted to get rid of most of his Kennedy books. I found out this book is a treasure when I looked at the date it was published. It's a little worn, but I'll take good care of it. To have something like this is a rare treat. Even though I wasn't born until 96, the Kennedys still intrigue me.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

My father was a journalist, too, and obtained this book through his newspaper, so it was in our home for several years before I was even born. Before I could even read, I'd look at the pictures. No wonder I became fascinated with Kennedy's assassination.