What Truman Said When He Learned About the Kennedy Assassination

November 23rd, 1963. Independence, Missouri. The morning after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. America is in shock. The youngest elected president in American history, 43 years old, shot dead in Dallas, Texas. At the Truman Presidential Library, 79-year-old former President Harry S. Truman arrives early.

Truman is preparing to fly to Washington to pay respects to Kennedy. Before leaving, Truman agrees to make a statement to the press. The cameras roll. Truman, wearing glasses and a dark suit, sits at a desk. Truman’s voice is steady, but his grief is evident. Truman reads from prepared remarks, then answers questions.

What Truman says in those few minutes reveals his character, his view of the presidency, and his faith in American institutions, even in the darkest hour. Truman’s words delivered less than 24 hours after Kennedy’s death provide a window into how the generation that survived the Great Depression and World War II processed this national tragedy.

This is the story of what Harry Truman said the day after Kennedy’s assassination. Why Truman’s statement mattered and what Truman’s words reveal about leadership during crisis. Let’s start with the context of November 223, 1963 and where Harry Truman was in his life when Kennedy was killed. Harry Truman left the presidency on January 20th, 1953 after serving nearly 8 years.

Truman succeeded Franklin Roosevelt in April 1945 when FDR died. Truman won election in his own right in 1948 despite predictions of defeat. Truman left office unpopular. His approval rating in 1952 was around 32%, one of the lowest ever recorded for a president. By 1963, Truman’s reputation was recovering. Historians were reassessing Truman’s presidency more favorably.

Truman’s decisions, particularly dropping the atomic bomb, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, the Truman Doctrine, and firing MacArthur, were being recognized as correct, despite their controversy at the time. Truman lived quietly in Independence, Missouri with his wife, Bess. Truman walked daily around Independence, often alone, greeting neighbors and shopkeepers.

Truman worked on his memoirs and corresponded with historians. The Truman Presidential Library opened in 1957 and Truman maintained an office there. Truman was 79 years old in November 1963. Truman’s health was generally good for his age. Truman remained mentally sharp and engaged with current events. Truman read newspapers voraciously and watched television news.

Truman’s relationship with John F. Kennedy was cordial but not close. Kennedy was 43 years old, representing a new generation. Kennedy was born in 1917, the year Truman turned 33. The age gap was substantial. Kennedy could have been Truman’s son. During the 1960 campaign, Truman initially supported other Democratic candidates.

At the Democratic convention, Truman briefly questioned whether Kennedy was ready for the presidency given his youth and inexperience. Kennedy responded sharply, defending his qualifications. After Kennedy won the nomination, Truman supported him fully against Richard Nixon. After Kennedy’s inauguration in January 1961, the relationship warmed.

Kennedy invited Truman to White House events. Kennedy consulted Truman occasionally on political matters. Truman appreciated Kennedy’s performance as president. Truman particularly admired Kennedy’s handling of the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962. On November 22nd, 1963, Truman was at home in Independence.

The news broke around 12:30 p.m. Central time. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. Like millions of Americans, Truman learned about the shooting from television and radio bulletins. At 100 p.m. Central time, Walter Kronite announced on CBS that President Kennedy was dead. Truman watched the coverage. Best Truman was with him.

The Trumans were devastated. Truman immediately began receiving phone calls from friends, from reporters, from government officials. The White House called to inform Truman officially and to coordinate travel arrangements for the funeral. Truman decided to fly to Washington immediately to pay respects. The Air Force made a plane available, but first Truman wanted to make a public statement.

Truman believed that as a former president, he had a responsibility to address the nation during this crisis. On the morning of November 23rd, Truman went to the Truman Library. Truman’s staff had prepared a statement. Reporters and camera crews were waiting. At approximately 10:30 a.m. Central time, Truman sat down to read his statement.

The footage shows Truman at a desk, papers in front of him. Truman wears glasses, a dark suit, and a somber expression. Truman’s hands are steady as he reads, but his voice carries the weight of grief. I am shocked and beyond words at the tragedy that has happened to our country and to President Kennedy’s family today. This opening is significant.

Truman doesn’t just express personal grief. Truman frames Kennedy’s death as a tragedy for our country first, then for Kennedy’s family. Truman is thinking as a former president about the institutional impact, not just the personal loss. Truman continues, “The president’s death is a great personal loss to the country and to me.

” Here, Truman makes it personal to me. Truman is acknowledging his personal connection to Kennedy despite their differences in age and background. Truman is also acknowledging the personal dimension of presidential service. Presidents form a unique fraternity. Only a handful of living people understand what the presidency demands.

Kennedy’s death diminishes that small group. Truman’s next sentence is crucial. He was a great president, one the people loved and trusted. This assessment is remarkable for several reasons. First, Truman is speaking less than 24 hours after Kennedy’s death. Kennedy served only 1,036 days as president, not even 3 years. Historical judgments typically take decades.

Yet Truman is willing to call Kennedy a great president immediately. Second, Truman emphasizes that Kennedy was loved and trusted by the people. This matters to Truman. Truman’s own presidency ended with low approval ratings. Truman knows what it means to leave office unloved. Truman is acknowledging that Kennedy had something Truman lacked at the end, the people’s trust and affection.

Truman’s next sentence is crucial. He was a great president. Kennedy is no longer president. The present tense would return only for Lynden Johnson. Truman concludes his prepared statement. Mrs. Truman and I send our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Kennedy and the Kennedy family. Truman includes Bess explicitly. The Trumanss had been married since 1919.

44 years. Bess rarely made public statements, but Truman always acknowledged her. Truman also emphasizes Mrs. Kennedy. Jacqueline Kennedy, now a widow at age 34 with two young children. Truman, who had daughters and grandchildren, understood the family dimension of this tragedy. After reading the statement, Truman takes questions from reporters.

The first question isn’t audible on the recording, but Truman’s response is not yet. This suggests the reporter asked if Truman had words for the American people beyond his statement. Truman’s not yet is honest. Truman isn’t ready to offer broader commentary. The wound is too fresh.

Truman will speak when he has something meaningful to say. The next question is about travel plans. You plan to go to Washington? Well, I’m planning to go to Washington either this afternoon or first thing in the morning soon as I find out what the arrangements are. They phoned me that they had a plane ready for me. Truman’s response shows his priority getting to Washington to pay respects.

Truman doesn’t wait for a formal invitation. As a former president, Truman considers it his duty to attend. The government is making arrangements, but Truman is ready to go immediately. Then comes the most significant question. You fully realize the weight of the responsibility that President Johnson faces today, the suddeness of it.

Would you care to comment? This question matters because it addresses the transition of power. Lynden Johnson was sworn in as president aboard Air Force One in Dallas at 2:38 p.m. Central time on November 22nd, less than 2 hours after Kennedy’s death. Johnson now faces the presidency with no preparation, no transition period, and a nation in shock.

The question also matters because Truman personally experienced exactly what Johnson is experiencing. On April 12th, 1945, Harry Truman was vice president. At 5:25 p.m., Truman was summoned to the White House. Eleanor Roosevelt told Truman that Franklin Roosevelt had died. By 7:09 p.m., Truman was sworn in as president. Truman served as vice president for only 82 days.

FDR had kept Truman almost completely uninformed about major issues, including the atomic bomb. Truman was thrust into the presidency at the end of World War II with Germany on the verge of collapse and the Pacific War still raging. So when the reporter asks about Johnson facing the weight of responsibility and the suddeness of it, Truman knows exactly what Johnson is experiencing.

Truman is perhaps the only living person who fully understands Johnson’s situation. Truman’s response is immediate and confident. He’s perfectly capable of carrying out the job. Don’t worry about him. This is a remarkable statement. Truman doesn’t hedge. Truman doesn’t say I hope or I believe or we’ll see. Truman says Johnson is perfectly capable.

Not just capable, but perfectly capable. And Truman instructs the nation, don’t worry about him. This confidence matters. America in November 1963 is in shock and fear. Kennedy’s assassination raises questions. Is this a conspiracy? Are other leaders in danger? Is the government secure? Can the new president handle this? Truman, speaking from experience, provides reassurance.

Truman knows Lynden Johnson personally. Johnson served in the Senate during Truman’s presidency. Johnson became Senate Majority Leader in 1955. Johnson was Kennedy’s vice president for nearly 3 years. Truman has watched Johnson’s career for years. But more importantly, Truman knows that the presidency itself prepares men for leadership. Truman himself proved this.

Truman was considered unprepared when FDR died. Critics doubted Truman could handle the job. Truman proved them wrong. Truman is telling America Johnson will prove equal to the task just as Truman did. Truman’s statement, don’t worry about him, is also a message to Johnson himself. Truman is publicly expressing confidence in Johnson.

This matters because Johnson, like Truman in 1945, is feeling overwhelmed and inadequate to the task. Truman’s public endorsement provides Johnson with crucial support. After this exchange, the press conference ends. Truman boards an Air Force jet at 11:25 a.m. Central time. The plane takes off for Washington. Truman is scheduled to arrive at Andrews Air Force Base shortly after 2:00 p.m.

Eastern time. The flight gives Truman time to reflect. Truman is flying to Washington for the fourth time to attend a president’s funeral. Truman attended FDR’s funeral in April 1945 as the new president. Truman attended Dwight Eisenhower’s funeral in 1969. But this is different. Kennedy was young. Kennedy was murdered.

The circumstances are shocking and violent in a way that FDR’s death from illness was not. Truman arrives in Washington and goes directly to the White House. Kennedy’s body is lying in repose in the East Room. Truman pays his respects privately. Truman meets briefly with Jacqueline Kennedy and offers condolences.

On November 25th, Kennedy’s funeral is held. Truman attends the funeral mass at St. Matthews Cathedral. Truman walks in the procession from the White House to the cathedral, a distance of about 8 blocks. Truman at 79 walks the entire distance alongside other world leaders and dignitaries. After the funeral mass, Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Truman attends the burial. Then Truman returns to Independence, Missouri. In the following days, Truman makes no additional public statements about Kennedy’s assassination. Truman believes he said what needed to be said on November 23rd. Truman’s statement was brief but sufficient, an expression of grief, a recognition of Kennedy’s greatness and confidence in Johnson’s ability to lead.

Looking back at Truman’s November 23rd statement, several elements stand out. First, Truman’s brevity. Truman spoke for less than 2 minutes. Truman could have spoken longer, but Truman understood that fewer words carry more weight in moments of crisis. Truman said what mattered and stopped. Second, Truman’s focus on institutional continuity.

Truman expressed grief but immediately pivoted to confidence in Johnson. Truman was reassuring the nation that the presidency endures, that the government continues, that America will survive this tragedy. Third, Truman’s generosity toward Kennedy. Truman had no obligation to call Kennedy a great president so quickly. Truman could have offered generic condolences.

Instead, Truman gave Kennedy a historical verdict that was both generous and sincere. Fourth, Truman’s personal experience informing his perspective. Truman’s confidence in Johnson was rooted in Truman’s own experience of sudden succession. Truman knew the presidency transforms men, that responsibility clarifies priorities, that the job itself provides strength.

Truman lived another 9 years after Kennedy’s assassination. Truman died on December 26th, 1972 at age 88. In those nine years, Truman watched Johnson’s presidency unfold, the Great Society, the escalation in Vietnam. Johnson’s decision not to seek reelection in 1968. Truman’s assessment that Johnson was perfectly capable proved accurate in some ways and complicated in others.

Johnson passed landmark civil rights legislation and created Medicare and Medicaid, historic achievements. But Johnson’s Vietnam policy destroyed his presidency. Johnson left office in 1969, nearly as unpopular as Truman had been in 1953. But on November 23rd, 1963, Truman couldn’t know any of this. Truman was speaking to a nation in shock, offering reassurance based on experience and faith in American institutions.

Truman’s statement the day after Kennedy’s assassination reveals the character that made Truman a great president. Despite his unlikely path to the office, Truman was direct, honest, confident without being arrogant, and focused on the nation’s needs rather than his own feelings. When Truman said he’s perfectly capable of carrying out the job, don’t worry about him.

Truman was speaking from hard one experience. Truman had been the man thrust into the presidency during crisis. Truman had been doubted and had proven the doubters wrong. Truman was telling America, “This has happened before. The presidency survived and it will survive again.” That was the message America needed to hear on November 23rd, 1963.

And Harry Truman, drawing on his own experience 18 years earlier, delivered it with conviction and clarity. This video presents historical events based on documented footage from the Truman Presidential Library, November 23rd, 1963. transcripts of Truman’s statement, contemporary news reports, witness accounts, and verified historical documentation.

All quotations are from the recorded statement. This content is for educational purposes.

Note: Some content was generated using AI tools (ChatGPT) and edited by the author for creativity and suitability for historical illustration purposes.