Main Content

Guest
Luci Baines Johnson, Daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson; John Dalton, Former U.S. Secretary of the Navy; Robert McGee, member of the White House Historical Association’s National Council on White House History
Date
11/21/23
Duration
63 minutes

On November 22, 1963, the world changed forever when President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated while campaigning in Dallas, Texas. The youngest man to have been elected president was now the youngest to die in office. That was sixty years ago, and for those who were alive at the time, it is a day they will never forget. In this anniversary episode, White House Historical Association president Stewart McLaurin hears the personal experiences of several people with not only a front row seat to history, but who were a part of it: Luci Baines Johnson, the daughter of then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was in a high school class when she heard the president had been shot; former secretary of the Navy, John Dalton, marched as a midshipman with the United States Naval Academy in President Kennedy’s funeral procession; and Robert McGee, the son of a United States senator who was a friend of the president, witnessed First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and daughter Caroline pay their respects to their husband and father as he lay in state at the Capitol rotunda. This special episode reflects how the 35th president of the United States, who served barely 1000 days of his term, inspired an entire generation to reach for a new frontier - and whose death, and promise, continues to reverberate around the world.

The podcast host

Stewart McLaurin, Host

President of the White House Historical Association

As President of the White House Historical Association Stewart McLaurin leads the nonpartisan, nonprofit in its mission to preserve, protect, and provide access to White House history. As a lifelong student of history, Stewart is an avid reader, author, and storyteller. Drawing on his own experiences, relationships, and knowledge he provides listeners with a front row seat to history at the White House.