Reactions to the assassination of John F. Kennedy: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:24, 27 November 2004

Revision as of 04:25, 27 November 2004

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Monday, [[November 25]] was to become known as the "Day of Drums," because it was the day of the funeral.

The "day of drums" began just before 11:00 EST (16:00 [[UTC]]) in the morning, when the coffin was carried out of the rotunda and placed on the caisson, which then made its way to the White House and then onto St. Matthew's Cathedral. As the procession, led by the widow, holding her two children, and the president's brothers, Attorney General [[Robert F. Kennedy]] and Senator [[Edward M. Kennedy]], and the rest of the president's family (except for his ill father) made its way from the White House to the cathedral, the foreign dignitaries walked behind the caisson. The 220 foreign dignitaries who gathered included 19 heads of state and government and members of royal families, and were from 92 countries including the [[Soviet Union]] (but not [[Cuba]], nor [[China]], nor [[Albania]]). This was the largest gathering of statesmen at a funeral since that of [[King Edward VII]] in London in 1910. Leading the dignitaries were Ethiopian Emperor [[Haile Selassie]], and French President [[Charles de Gaulle]]. The gathering of statesmen at the funeral was, and remains, the largest gathering of world statesmen at a funeral for any American president.

[[Image:JFK_grave.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The grave of President Kennedy at [[Arlington National Cemetery]].]]

At the steps of the cathedral, the widow, still holding her two children, one in each hand, Caroline on her left, and John Jr., whose third birthday came on the day of his father's funeral, on her right, led the procession up the steps. The funeral, televised worldwide, at St. Matthew's Cathedral was officiated by the archbishop of Boston [[Richard James Cushing|Richard Cardinal Cushing]], a very close and dear friend of the Kennedy's. At the start of the service, silence fell for five minutes. Then, Cardinal Cushing, who married John and Jacqueline Kennedy, baptized their two children, presided over the president's inauguration, and the funeral of their son, Patrick, (who died two days following his premature birth three months earlier), intoned the requiem mass. There was no eulogy, but the auxiliary archbishop of Washington, the Most Reverend Philip Hannan, read passages from the president's speeches.