I remember fifty years ago hearing the original news.   I was taking a journalism class at a junior college in Pasadena, California, and the staff was notorious for playing practical jokes, some of which were rather sick.    I was walking down the hallway to class, when somebody yelled that "JFK has been shot," and all I could think was that this was even worse than their normal humor - then I heard the radio broadsast, and it sunk in.

After Ruby shot Oswald in the Dallas Police Station, a joke went all over Los Angeles.  It went like this:  

QUESTION:  What did the Dallas Police say when an elephant walked into the Dallas Police Station?

ANSWER:  Nothing.  Nobody saw it.

JFK knew very well that Dallas was the capitol of Redneck Central, and that the wackos were armed to the teeth.  He was flaunting it all when he rode in that parade.  Please understand - I am not opposed to his viewpoints, but I wish he had used better judgement.