On this episode, AccuWeather Founder & Executive Chairman Dr. Joel Myers and AccuWeather Network Chief Meteorologist Bernie Rayno share the untold story behind the assassination of JFK and determine the role that the weather played in it.
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00:00Welcome to Invisible Iceberg, I'm Bernie Rainow.
00:06On today's show, Dr. Joe Myers and I share the untold story behind the assassination
00:11of President John F. Kennedy and reveal how weather may have played a major role.
00:17Plus, in our segment, What If, we look at what John Kennedy's legacy could have been
00:23if his life was not cut short in November of 1963.
00:27And we'll share how other U.S. Presidents have treated their visits to Dallas since
00:32then.
00:33It all starts now on Invisible Iceberg.
00:42Dallas, November 22, 1963.
00:46A young charismatic president, along with his glamorous first lady, was in town for
00:51what was planned as a short-hours long trip.
00:56Many overcast skies turned to a beautiful day as the motorcade wound through the city.
01:02But did a change in weather change the course of history?
01:05It's one of the fascinating stories in the book, Invisible Iceberg, When Climate and
01:10Weather Shaped History.
01:13Joining me to help delve deeper into the untold story of JFK's assassination is AccuWeather
01:19founder and executive chairman and author of the book, Invisible Iceberg, When Climate
01:24and Weather Shaped History, Dr. Joel Myers.
01:29The Kennedy assassination still, to this day, is talked about in many ways.
01:37Why is the story so fascinating, do you think?
01:40Because everyone who was alive at that time remembers where they were.
01:44Where were you?
01:45I was on the Penn State campus leaving class.
01:51And I remember walking toward the hub, the Student Union building.
01:54And it was strange.
01:55It was eerie quiet.
01:57I guess the president had been shot about 15 minutes before, but I didn't know.
02:02But I saw somebody in their car apparently listening to the radio.
02:07When I got to the Student Union building, I heard about it.
02:11And then, of course, watched TV and saw the reporting.
02:14And then about an hour later, it was reported the president had died.
02:18It's still etched in your memory, isn't it?
02:20It is, yes.
02:21And can you describe what the mood was on the Penn State campus, just what you observed
02:28at that time?
02:30Disbelief, sorrow.
02:33It was an eerie kind of feeling.
02:37Everybody was in shock.
02:38I remember John F. Kennedy was barely elected.
02:43He ran against Nixon.
02:45He wasn't decided until noon the next day when a flurry of votes showed up in West Virginia
02:51and Illinois and put him over the top.
02:53There was questions about whether he really won or not.
02:57Nixon didn't challenge it.
02:58It was different in those days.
03:00And just accepted it.
03:02But he was charismatic.
03:03It was controversial.
03:04He was the first Catholic elected, and there was concern about that.
03:09That's why he picked Lyndon Johnson as his vice president, to carry Texas and to counter
03:14that concern about, in those days, he would be taking orders from the Vatican and things
03:19like that.
03:20It was a different era.
03:21But he was charismatic.
03:22His wife, obviously, Jacqueline Kennedy, was very well-liked.
03:27And so while he barely won, he became popular, and his speeches were awesome.
03:33He was the most charismatic president one can say, certainly of the century.
03:38That's up for debate.
03:39But he really had a following, and his wife, of course.
03:42But actually, heading into the date of the assassination, his popularity was on the wane,
03:48and there were questions whether he would be reelected or not.
03:53But despite all that, when he was assassinated, it all changed, and everybody thought well
04:01of him, because it was just a shock.
04:04Why was he in Dallas on November 22, 1963?
04:08What was his reasoning to visit the state?
04:10Well, it was a question whether he could carry Texas in the 1964 election, and then
04:17without it, he may not be reelected.
04:20So he was there for a brief visit and tour, and Governor Connolly was in the motorcade,
04:26and he and his wife were with the president, Jacqueline.
04:31And he wanted to make an appearance, and he wanted to do all he could to help carry Texas.
04:36Well, let's get into the weather and climate.
04:38How did that set the stage for the JFK assassination?
04:42Well, it had rained.
04:44It was raining early.
04:46When the motorcade was about to begin, the skies had cleared.
04:50And of course, there was a bubble top to keep the rain off, but the bubble top was not bulletproof.
04:58President Kennedy said, is it raining downtown?
05:01What's the weather like there?
05:02And they came back, it's sunny here also.
05:04Of course, they didn't have the AccuWeather app in those days.
05:07That would have been very helpful.
05:08Right.
05:09The radar and minicast and all that.
05:11So since it was sunny downtown as well as at the airport, Kennedy said, lose the bubble
05:16top.
05:18And of course, he rode without any protection.
05:21We're going to introduce a little politics, just a little bit.
05:23Let's say Kennedy remained president.
05:26Would Republicans like Nixon and Reagan and the Bushes have been elected Kennedy's successors
05:31as president?
05:32Well, this is the fascinating thing for me.
05:35OK.
05:36President Kennedy was questioned whether he'd be really, if he wasn't, of course, the Republicans
05:40would win.
05:41But once he was assassinated, there was tremendous sympathy for Johnson, who was his vice president.
05:48And Johnson used that to get all kinds of legislation passed that would not have passed
05:52probably otherwise, the Civil Rights Bill, Medicaid, Medicare, all the social programs,
05:59what he called the Great Society.
06:01And by itself, it might have been OK.
06:03But he also escalated the Vietnam War.
06:06Kennedy was more of a fiscal conservative.
06:08Probably wouldn't have spent as much.
06:10And also Kennedy, since he had been burned by the Bay of Pigs, a failed invasion of Cuba,
06:16was very skeptical of the advice he was getting from the military advisers and the generals.
06:22And he did not want to escalate the Vietnam War.
06:25And Johnson's expertise was in local politics, U.S. politics on the social side, knew nothing
06:32about international, nothing about military strategy and so on.
06:37And so he took the advice of his generals and escalated the Vietnam War.
06:42And that sowed his demise.
06:44He was very popular, got all these things passed in a couple of years after the assassination.
06:48But by 1968, there was all kind of demonstrations against the Vietnam War.
06:53He could have run again because you can serve two terms of being elected.
06:58So the year and a half he was president as vice president didn't count.
07:02So he could have run in 68.
07:04But he was so unpopular by then because of the Vietnam War.
07:09He just chose not to run and died several years later.
07:14And so Nixon came back from the dead, so to speak.
07:17Nobody thought he had won the election.
07:21And if you look at it, except for Jimmy Carter, who was a one term president and only got
07:26elected probably because of the Watergate, the Republicans might have been in the White
07:32House for 24 straight years until Bill Clinton got elected.
07:36All right.
07:37Thanks, Joe.
07:38We'll talk to you in a few minutes as we go over some of the what if scenarios relating
07:43to this tragedy.
07:46President John F. Kennedy was shot from a window at the Texas School Book Depository.
07:50The six floor museum at Dealey Plaza is located there today.
07:55To give us a little more perspective on the Kennedy assassination is the museum curator
08:00Stephen Fagan.
08:02Stephen, thanks for joining us.
08:04My pleasure.
08:06There's been much discussion about the limousines bubble top if it was on.
08:12Was that bulletproof?
08:13It was not actually.
08:15It was just a plain plexiglass inclement weather top for that vehicle.
08:20It was about six sections of clear plastic that snapped together on the top of the car.
08:26And then there was an optional canvas cover that could go over that.
08:30It was not bulletproof or even bullet resistant.
08:33So it would have probably offered little protection to the president anyway.
08:39Certainly.
08:41I mean, it could have possibly deflected a bullet slightly more significantly, though.
08:47There was widespread belief really right up to the present day that it was a bulletproof
08:51cover.
08:52So if an assassin or assassins were lying in wait for the president and saw this plexiglass
08:58cover on the car, it might have influenced whether or not they even risked taking the
09:02shot if they assumed it was bulletproof.
09:05Why can't a similar tragedy occur today?
09:08These days and in recent memory, you simply don't have a presidential parade route published
09:14in the newspapers and promoted ahead of time.
09:17Now, when the president comes in and out of a city for an event, it's, you know, a bulletproof
09:22vehicle, dark windows, no announcement of the route being taken.
09:27That's closed off ahead of time.
09:29And a lot of people I know that have that have visited Dealey Plaza, they always tell
09:34me how surprised they are, how small it is.
09:37Just because of the magnitude of the event that took place here, there is this expectation
09:43that Dealey Plaza is going to be this enormous, vast environment.
09:47But really, world history can change in a small geographic spot like Dealey Plaza, just
09:53like it can at Independence Hall or at Gettysburg.
09:57There are these sites that, you know, where you can point to a spot and say world history
10:02changed right here on this site.
10:04Has any other president visited or driven through Dealey Plaza since 1963?
10:13That's a question that we actually get asked quite often.
10:16Be surprised.
10:17But to our knowledge, no.
10:18I mean, the Secret Service, they don't always reveal the routes that a president would take
10:23even after the fact, after a visit to the city.
10:26But our understanding is that no president has ever passed through Dealey Plaza since
10:321963.
10:33Whether that is simply because of the route selected or a deliberate choice, I do not
10:39know.
10:40Stephen Fagan, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, thank you again for
10:46joining us.
10:47My pleasure.
10:49Invisible Iceberg returns after a quick break.
10:56Welcome back.
11:03It's time for our segment, What If, where we look at what President Kennedy's legacy
11:08might have been if his life had not been so tragically cut short in November 1963.
11:15Joining me again is ACUEA, the founder and executive chairman and author of the book
11:19Invisible Iceberg, When Climate and Weather Shaped History, Dr. Joel Myers.
11:25This really is one of my favorite segments of this show, because when we look at these
11:30events, there's always things, one or two things that could have changed.
11:36Let's kind of delve into this.
11:38Let's say Kennedy would have remained president, and we talked about this a little bit.
11:44Would he have accelerated U.S. involvement in Vietnam the way in which Johnson did?
11:49Probably not.
11:50It's speculation.
11:51It's speculation.
11:52It's all speculation.
11:53But the evidence does point that way, doesn't it?
11:54It does.
11:55And it's up to the historians and the people who really study this and so on to have the
12:00final word, if you can.
12:02But it comes down to what really drives, is it people or is it events?
12:09This is the debate that always occurs.
12:12How much of an impact do leaders have and how much is events?
12:16But it appears Kennedy was more conservative fiscally than Johnson.
12:22Kennedy was very wary of foreign involvement.
12:26Johnson took the advice of his generals.
12:28And so, in all likelihood, it would have been a different outcome.
12:34Also, because of the assassination and the sympathy toward what Kennedy was pushing,
12:41a lot of legislation got passed.
12:44Johnson was able to get passed because he was a masterful leader in the Senate.
12:48And now he was able to use that best experience and, as president of the United States, got
12:53all kinds of legislation passed, which was expensive, but also the basis of social programs
12:58and so on, that wouldn't have gotten passed in all likelihood if Kennedy was trying to
13:03get it, even if he was reelected.
13:05So you're thinking, even though Kevin, he was so charismatic, from policies and economic
13:13legislation and the civil rights legislation, you believe that it may have not been as easy
13:20to pass if he would have been alive?
13:23I think something would have passed, but they would have been less dramatic, probably more
13:28compromised.
13:29And he was more fiscally conservative.
13:32I don't think he would have pushed for as much as Johnson got through.
13:36And, of course, the negative part of that is the inflation, which resulted from so much
13:42deficit spending, which led to high interest rates, which always follows.
13:46Interest rates went sky high.
13:49People couldn't afford mortgages and so on.
13:51So it was really a negative period that lasted for nearly two decades.
13:55Well, let's get into the economy part of this.
13:58Let's say Kennedy had not been assassinated and remained president.
14:02We talked about the deficit and the stagflation and the problems that we had.
14:06Do you think that would have any thought on if that would have still occurred if he was
14:11still president and Johnson was not?
14:14Well, it's all speculation.
14:15And it's also could the people, whoever, if it was more than just Oswald acting alone,
14:22right, if it was the CIA or if it was a foreign power, if they remember his brother was going
14:29after the unions, which were very powerful at that time.
14:34Also, there were other forces that didn't like what he was doing.
14:40And so internally and externally.
14:42So maybe there would be another attempt on his life.
14:45Who knows?
14:46And of course, the whole situation was made worse by the assassination of his brother,
14:53who might have become president in 68 after Johnson bowed out.
14:58And of course, Martin Luther King Jr. being assassinated created all kinds of turmoil,
15:03all these things happening within a matter of a few years with the Vietnam War and the
15:07protests of people going to Canada to escape the draft.
15:10And it was a period of division of families.
15:13It's likely that all that would not have happened.
15:16And with that, if he would have, of course, escaped assassination, could have been a second
15:23term.
15:24Yeah, definitely.
15:25Yeah.
15:26Yeah.
15:27Because the incumbent always has the advantage, even though his popularity has been declining
15:32in the year in 1963.
15:36It still was about 50 percent and it still was probably a little above where it was before
15:40he got elected.
15:41So in all likelihood, he would have been reelected in a narrow margin.
15:46And then there would have been even greater.
15:48What happened in the last in the decades following could have been a far different period, could
15:54have been far different, far different.
15:57In not only from the economy, but even other aspects of American life.
16:02Yes.
16:03Yeah.
16:04No, no question.
16:05Well, Nixon may not have been elected.
16:06Who would have?
16:07You know, he came out.
16:08He had been defeated by president.
16:11He was defeated by the run for the governor of California in 1962.
16:16And he comes back and becomes president.
16:19And then it was Watergate.
16:20And that was more turmoil.
16:22So it is not a good.
16:23And we went into such a pessimistic mood during that time frame.
16:28And you just wonder from a even even from a larger overall picture of American life,
16:34how much changed that day.
16:36Yes, it's incredible.
16:38And again, it begins with one one weather event that shaped the history for decades.
16:45Yeah.
16:46If it had rained of the rain, it would have been less than just what had been on Oswald
16:50may not have taken the shot.
16:52If he did, he might have missed and it would have been it could have been all very different.
16:57It could have been all very different.
16:59And as we as we look forward to even his legacy, it could have been even greater legacy than
17:06what it is now, because he's still known as one of the more popular presidents in U.S.
17:11history.
17:12Correct.
17:13Well, he was very charismatic.
17:14His wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, became, you know, one of the most popular people in the
17:18country.
17:20And a part of that results, unfortunately, from you being assassinated.
17:26That's part of that's part of the overall story.
17:29It's a fascinating story.
17:31And I can't wait to get into more stories here as we continue to delve into these stories.
17:35The more and more you read the book, the more and more you learn.
17:38And as always, weather and climate shapes a lot.
17:40It does.
17:41Thanks, Dr. Joe Myers.
17:44Many feel this tragic event is when America lost its innocence.
17:48Up next, we go a little deeper into how it also changed the course of our country, even
17:54to this day.
17:55We'll be back with more after the break.
18:04Welcome back to Invisible Iceberg.
18:06I'm Bernie Rainow.
18:07The JFK assassination was the first moment in a challenging next decade for the country.
18:12When Lyndon Johnson became president, he used JFK's legacy to get the Civil Rights Act
18:17of 1964 quickly passed.
18:20Although the new law made race-based discrimination illegal, progress proved difficult.
18:25After winning reelection in 1964, President Johnson escalated the Vietnam War dramatically,
18:31which led to mass protests and disillusionment with government.
18:35Although Johnson's general kept telling him we were on the verge of winning, the 1968
18:40Tet Offensive made it clear that we were nowhere close.
18:43In a televised speech in March of 1968, Johnson announced that he was pausing the bombing
18:49of Vietnam to allow peace talks to proceed, and then surprised the nation when he also
18:54said that he was not a candidate for another term as president.
18:58JFK's brother, Robert Kennedy, gained support after he calmed the nation following the tragic
19:03assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April.
19:07He ended the presidential race and became the frontrunner upon winning the California
19:11primary in June.
19:13Tragically, Robert Kennedy was assassinated that night, leaving Vice President Hubert
19:18Humphrey as the Democratic nominee, which then led to Richard Nixon's election.
19:24The Nixon administration would later become entangled in the Watergate scandal, eventually
19:28leading to his resignation.
19:31I want to thank Accuweather Foundry and Executive Chairman and author of the book, Invisible
19:35Iceberg, when climate and weather shaped history, Dr. Joe Myers, for joining us today.
19:40And a big thanks to all of you for watching.
19:43If you have a question or comment, send us an email at questions at accuweather.com.
19:48We look forward to seeing you next time.