PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S LAST DAY: OFFICIAL SCHEDULE ANNOTATED BY SPECIAL ASSISTANT DAVE POWERS WITH ...

PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S LAST DAY: OFFICIAL SCHEDULE ANNOTATED BY SPECIAL ASSISTANT DAVE POWERS WITH A MINUTE-BY-MINUTE DETAIL OF THE DAY'S ACTIONS. Mimeographed Manuscript with Annotations, signed ('Dave Powers'), 'SCHEDULE / THURSDAY—November 21, 1963 ... FRIDAY—November 22, 1963,' 3 pp recto and verso, 4to, [Washington, D.C., November 21, 1963], some creasing and soiling. Provenance: estate of Dave Powers; sold McInnis Auctions, Presidential Sale, February 17, 2013, lot 482. DAVE POWERS' REAL-TIME RECORD OF JFK'S LAST DAY: '1:00 MY PRESIDENT IS DEAD.' David Powers (1912-1998) served in the Kennedy Administration as Special Assistant and assistant Appointments Secretary to President John F. Kennedy. Powers grew up in the Charlestown section of Boston and first met JFK when the latter was running for Congress. Powers soon became a member of the 'Irish Mafia' and remained close to JFK throughout his political career. According to historian Robert Dallek, Powers responsibilities were to tend to the President's needs: he 'was always with him on trips around the country and abroad. He usually was the first to see the President in the morning, and the last to see him at night. He was less a political adviser than simply a friend with whom Kennedy could relax. They would swim together in the White House pool, where Powers would use a breaststroke in order to keep up a steady chatter of amusing conversation that Kennedy enjoyed' (Dallek 2013, p 109). Powers was part of the retinue that accompanied Kennedy to Dallas on November 21-22, 1963, and this lot features the detailed notes he took about the day's activities on the official White House itinerary distributed to staffers. The primary document here is the official White House schedule for JFK's trip to Texas, which begins with a 10:45 am departure from the White House by helicopter and an 11 am departure from Andrews Air Force Base. The Kennedy party stopped first at San Antonio before heading on to Houston for a drop in at the League of United Latin American Citizens event and at a dinner for Congressman Albert Thomas before heading on to Fort Worth for the night. The itinerary for the 22nd begins with a breakfast sponsored by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce before the drive to Carswell AFB and the flight to Dallas, Love Field before the fateful motorcade to the Trade Mart luncheon. Over the original schedule, Powers has added in blue ink his detailed notes about what actually happened, adding for instance that at the LULAC dinner, 'Jackie spoke in Spanish (they loved her),' and that on the morning of the 22, JFK 'spoke to crowd outside hotel in rain (5000).' He corrects the actual time of the Love Field arrival and departure in the motorcade, and then adds in manuscript the events of the assassination: '12:30 3 shots ; 12:36 Carried my President on stretcher—raced to operation room (TRAUMA); 12:52 PARKLAND HOSPITAL emergency operating room #1 / 1:00 My President is dead.' The list continues on p 1 as Powers left Hospital for Love Field and accompanied the casket aboard Air Force One at 2:15. '2:58 L.B.J. took oath of office as 36th President on the #' Jet on the runway at LOVE FIELD. / Sworn in by Federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes.' Powers was on the plane as it returned to D.C. and was back at the White House at 4:22 a.m. On the back of page 1 of the schedule, Powers has rewritten the events of November 22 from 8 a.m. when he went to the Kennedy Suite at 8 a.m. This page is a very detailed list of Powers' observations for the day, including the color of JFK's suit and what he ate for breakfast. He fleshes out the original information, adding that when the retinue arrived at Love Field, 'JFK and Jackie looked like Mr. & Mrs. America / Someone presented Jackie with a bouquet of red roses.' A few lines later, he details the assassination: '12:30 J.F.K. shot (car sped to Parkland Hospital) / 12: 35 I lifted J.F.K. on stretcher and raced to Emergency Room One [star] Trama Room #1 / 10 x 15 ft / 12:50 Father Oscar L. Huber pastor of Holy Trinity Church administered the Last Rites of the Church. / 1:00 My President pronounced dead by Dr. William Clark 1:10 Ken told LBJ / 1:30 Undertaker—Vernon B. O'Neal 1:26 LBJ left Hospital / 2:05 Removed J.F.K. from hospital / 2:20 Helped carry casket aboard Air Force One / 2:38 L.B.J. took oath of office as 36th President on Air Force One on the runway at Love Field....' We don't know the date of Powers' notes, but given the detail, they have to have been made in the hours or days after the assassination. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing