President Kennedy traveled to Texas to reconcile various factions of the Democratic party in that state.

At 12:30 p.m. on November 22nd, Kennedy was traveling from Dallas' Love Field into the city. Shots rang out, and the president was mortally wounded, having been shot in the head. He died one-half hour later at Dallas Memorial Hospital.

Lee Harvey Oswald was captured by the police and killed two days later in the garage of the Dallas police station by Jack Ruby.

A special presidential commission, called the Warren Commission, was appointed to investigate the matter. The commission concluded that Oswald had acted alone. Many disagreed and a controversy rages to this day over who was truly responsible for the murder of John F. Kennedy.