PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY: STATE FUNERAL (TV)
Summary
Coverage of the state funeral procession and service for President John F. Kennedy follows the route from the White House to the Capitol building. The camera follows the car containing the president's widow, Jacqueline, and his brothers, Robert and Edward. The Kennedy family ascends to the Capitol Rotunda and kneels at Kennedy's casket. A military honor guard carries the casket outside and places it on the caisson, and Caroline and John F. Kennedy, Jr., ride with Jacqueline Kennedy. A riderless horse symbolizes the fallen leader. The cortege arrives at the White House, and black watch bagpipes are played. President Lyndon B. Johnson and French President Charles de Gaulle are visible in a group containing twelve members of royalty, eighteen heads of government, thirty foreign ministers, and five defense ministers.
The procession reaches St. Matthew's Cathedral; Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy greets Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston; President and Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, French Pres. Charles de Gaulle and West German Chancellor Ludwig Erhardt are among the dignitaries who follow. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Nixon enter the cathedral; Cardinal Cushing blesses the casket; the Most Rev. Philip M. Hannan, Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, D.C., speaks about Kennedy's vision; and the procession leaves St. Matthew's. Reporter Dave Dugan provides comments. Among the U.S. dignitaries present are former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman and their wives; Chief Justice Earl Warren; and President and Mrs. Johnson. This tape contains footage of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s ("John-John") salute to his father's casket.
Dave Dugan describes the scene along Constitution Avenue; Roger Mudd reports from the Lincoln Memorial. Marksmen on rooftop are seen as President Lyndon B. Johnson's car passes, flanked by Secret Service Agents. Bill Leonard reports from Arlington National Cemetery, as the caisson enters the cemetery. Jacqueline Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy are seen. U.S. Air Force Bagpipers play as the casket is borne to its grave site; military planes pass overhead. The Kennedy family and distinguished guests (including Charles de Gaulle, Haile Selassie, and others) take their graveside positions. Services begin, celebrated by Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston.
Coverage continues from the grave site on the hill below the Custis-Lee Mansion at Arlington National Cemetery. A twenty-one-gun salute is fired and members of the Kennedy family and President Lyndon B. Johnson are seen. A blessing is said by Richard Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston, who then leads the mourners in the "Lord's Prayer." Sgt. Keith Clark, bugler in the U.S. Army Band, plays "Taps." The Marine Band plays the "Navy Hymn" and "Eternal Father" as the flag draping the coffin is folded presented to Jacqueline Kennedy. The eternal flame is ignited by Jacqueline Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Edward M. Kennedy at 3:13 pm and the Kennedy family leaves.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 25, 1963 12:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T77:0302
- GENRE: News
- SUBJECT HEADING: News; Funerals; Assassination - Kennedy
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1963
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- The Marine Band … Music Group
- Keith Clark … Instrumentalist, Bugler
- Dave Dugan … Reporter
- Roger Mudd … Reporter
- Bill Leonard … Reporter
- Philip M. Hannan … Speaker
- Richard Cardinal Cushing
- Charles de Gaulle
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Caroline Kennedy
- Edward M. Kennedy
- Jacqueline Kennedy
- John F. Kennedy
- John F. Kennedy, Jr.
- Robert F. Kennedy
- Richard M. Nixon
- Tony Sargent
- Haile Selassie
- Harry S. Truman