JFK Assassination Poignant Archive of Reactions to the Event

JOHN F. KENNEDY. Archive of nine items related to John F. Kennedy’s assassination, ca. 1990-1995. All in very good condition, housed in a protective sleeve.

In 1990, Roy Hensel (b. 1950) of Paducah, Kentucky, sent letters to many members of John F. Kennedy’s administration to learn of their responses to Kennedy’s assassination. The responses he received are remarkable. Hensel graduated from Murray State University and become an elementary school teacher. He was a finalist to be the teacher aboard the Challenger Space Shuttle flight that ended in tragedy in January 1986. Hensel retired in 2017, after 44 years of teaching.

Items and Excerpts

Signed Photograph of Officer M. Nick McDonald, who captured Lee Harvey Oswald, in uniform and holding Oswald’s pistol, [dated November 22, 1963, but likely 1990s]. 1 photograph, 8? x 10?.

After shooting President John F. Kennedy at 12:30 p.m., Lee Harvey Oswald left the Texas School Book Depository before police sealed it off. He rode a city bus for a few blocks then took a taxi to his rooming house. At approximately 1:15 p.m., Dallas Patrolman J. D. Tippit encountered Oswald walking along the street. After exchanging words with Oswald, Tippit got out of his patrol car, and Oswald shot Tippit four times, killing him. A shoe store manager saw Oswald slip into a movie theater without paying and alerted police. Office M. Nick McDonald (1928-2005) was the first to reach Oswald, who said “Well, it’s all over now,” but pointed his pistol at McDonald and pulled the trigger. The pistol did not fire because the hammer struck Oswald’s hand in the struggle. Oswald struck McDonald, who struck back, disarmed Oswald, and took him into custody.

Douglas Dillon, Typed Letter Signed, to Roy Hensel, January 8, 1990 [1991?], New York, New York. 1 p., 6.25? x 9?.

“In answer to your letter the news of President Kennedy’s assassination reached me in an Air Force plane half way between Honolulu and Tokyo. I and a number of other Cabinet officers were on our way to meet with our counterparts in the Japanese government.... As the plane’s wing dipped to reverse course, a feeling of unutterable sadness gripped me. I had lost all at once a new found and treasured friend and a great inspiring leader. His loss created an irreplaceable void. Although I continued in the government for another 16 months to fill out the four years I had agreed to serve, the spirit was gone, never to return.”

C. Douglas Dillon (1909-2003) was the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1965.

Robert S. McNamara, Autograph Endorsement Signed, January 8, 1991, on Roy Hensel, Autograph Letter Signed, to Robert McNamara, December 10, 1990, Paducah, Kentucky. 1 p., 8.5? x 13.25?.

“Men do make a difference—Jack Kennedy did. Had he lived the events of the past quarter century would have looked differently. / Robert S. McNamara.”

Hensel: “I am a Senior in high school preparing to work on my history term paper which will be due in February.... The paper is about famous Americans’ memories and personal reactions to an event which shocked and changed America: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.”

Robert S. McNamara (1916-2009) was theU.S. Secretary ofDefense under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnsonfrom 1961to 1968.

Orville L. Freeman, TypedLetter Signedto Roy Hensel, February7,1991, Washington, D.C.2pp.,8.5? x11?.

“Mrs.FreemanandI and five othermembers of thePresident’s cabinet their wivesand some ofthe President’s staff were enrouteto Japan four hours out of Hawaii for a meeting with the Japanese cabinet when we received news that the President had been shot. Needless to say, it was a great shock.... About an hour after we got the first word, we regained communications. Dean Rusk announced over the plane’s loudspeaker, ‘the President is dead. God bless our Country.’ Needless to say, all of us were overwhelmed.... I was much better acquainted with the then Vice President, Lyndon Johnson, than any others aboard the plane. On the long trip home, almost everyone came individually to ask me questions about the new President and what kind of President he would make. I told them I thought he would be a great President and he was.”

“During the very difficult period as Lyndon Johnson took over the responsibilities of the Presidency many of us traveled around the country speaking and reassuring the public that our government was in good hands. Frequently in that process I would open my remarks by saying that President Kennedy had been a great ‘architect’ that he had drafted a tremendous structure, a great plan and direction for the nation, and that now a skilled, resourceful, and determined ‘contractor’ was taking the lead to build that structure. Indeed that is what President Johnson did. He carried forward the program that President Kennedy had outlined to the American people with great skill and determination.”

Orville L. Freeman (1918-2003) was U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1969.

L. C. Graves, Autograph Letter Signed, to Roy Hensel, February 15, 1991. 1 p., 6? x 9.5?.

“Just a note to let you know I have not forgotten you.... If it’s not too late after I have time to dig out my stuff I will definitely write you an account of the assn. for your students.”

L. C. Graves (1918-1995) was the Dallas Police detective who wrestled the gun from Jack Ruby, with which Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald.

Mike Mansfield, Typed Letter Signed, to Roy Hensel, January 3, 1992, Washington, D.C. 1 p., 7.25? x 9.875?; with envelope.

“I found out about President Kennedy’s death from the press. I did inform his brother, Senator Edward Kennedy, and my reaction was one of shock and sadness. I do not recall what I said to Senator Kennedy. As far as ‘how well’ I knew President Kennedy, I can only say that I knew him very well, that I served with him in the House of Representatives, that we were seatmates in the Senate and that I became Majority Leader only because he asked me to assume that responsibility.”

Michael Joseph Mansfield (1903-2001) was a U.S. Senator from Montana from 1953 to 1977 and served as the Senate Majority Leader from 1961 to 1977.

Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr., Typed Letter Signed, to Travis Alan, February 4, 1992, Boston, Massachusetts. 1 p., 8.5? x 11?; with envelope.

“I was in my Boston office when my secretary, Cathy O’Brien, came running in screaming and crying, ‘They shot the president, they shot the president. He’s dead!’ Immediately, I reached for the telephone to call Bob Healy at the Boston Globe. The receptionist recognized my voice and said, ‘It’s true, it’s true; the president’s dead!’ Well, needless to say, I was stunned. We all left the office and went up the hill to Arch Street Shrine where hundreds of people had already gathered and all were in tears.”

“I happened to be speaking with President Kennedy just prior to his trip to Dallas. In our conversation he mentioned that he would be bringing our boys home from Vietnam. Of course, he did not return from Dallas. However, that conversation caused me to re-think my position on the Vietnam War and shortly thereafter I became one of the very first Democrats to break with President Johnson on the war in Vietnam. Thus, it was in fact a turning point in my life and career.”

Tip O’Neill (1912-1994) was a U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts from 1953 to 1987, succeeding John F. Kennedy. From 1977 to 1987, he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Dean Rusk, Typed Letter Signed, to Todd Mueller, August 26, 1993, Athens, Georgia. 2 pp., 8.375? x 11.5?.

“On November 22, 1963, six members of President Kennedy’s Cabinet and other high official of his Administration were on a plane on our way to Tokyo for a joint Japan-U.S. Cabinet meeting which President Kennedy and the Japanese Prime Minister had set in motion.... Before we landed in Hawaii, we got the further news that President Kennedy was dead. I got on the loud speaker and shared both items of information with other occupants of the plane.”

“After we received the news of President Kennedy’s death, we took about twenty minutes of private thought as each of us reflected on that terrible tragedy. I have never tried to describe my feelings about that awful event because words are simply inadequate to the task.”

Dean Rusk (1909-1994) was U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1969.

Jean Hill, Typed Letter Signed, to Roy Hensel, February 12, 1995. 1 p., 8.5? x 11?; with business card (“Jean Hill / ‘The Lady in Red’ / JFK The Last Dissenting Witness”).

“Thank you so much for your interest in me and my book. The search for the truth must go on if we are to regain faith in our government.”

Norma Jean Lollis Hill (1931-2000) was a teacher and an eyewitness to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. She insisted that there was a second gunman in addition to Lee Harvey Oswald and that after the gunshots, she saw a man running away toward the railroad tracks. She believed it was Jack Ruby, the killer of Lee Harvey Oswald.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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