The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, has inspired hundreds of books about a seminal event that, almost 60 years later, remains mired in a toxic quicksand of controversy and misinformation.the tragedy occurred in his new book,Advertisement
Cloward started out with a “sample chapter” that soon evolved into a three-volume project — with volumes two and three earmarked for the future, about the aftermath of the assassination and how it shaped the psyche of the city. Cover image of the forthcoming book, "The City that Killed the President: A Cultural History of Dallas & the Assassination." The author is Tim Cloward.
“There was really this shaming of Dallas,” Cloward says, “that came from the outside, the nation and the world.” Kennedy’s brother, Robert, was assassinated in Los Angeles, but no one thinks “that’s where Bobby Kennedy was killed” when someone utters the name “Los Angeles.” “The problem with Dallas was, we were already a city disgraced,” he says, pointing out the ugly incident during the 1960 presidential campaign when JFK’s running mate, Texan Lyndon B. Johnson, and his wife, Lady Bird, were spat on by a right-wing mob while crossing a downtown street. And then, of course, there was the moment in October 1963 when Adlai Stevenson, Kennedy’s ambassador to the United Nations, was heckled during a Dallas speech and hit over the head with a placard.