JFK's Final Days: November 17, 1963
Sunday, November 17, 1963 (50 years ago today) marked the beginning of the week that, for President John F. Kennedy, would be his last. He spent the day in Palm Beach, Florida, where he had watched the Chicago Bears play the Green Bay Packers. Both teams had a record of 8-1 going into the game, which was played at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Kennedy bet on the Bears and he won his wager. The Bears won the game by a score of 26-7.
According to author Thurston Clarke in his recent book entitled JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President, at page 310, Kennedy had the following conversation with his friend and former college roommate Torby Macdonald:
The weekend reminded Macdonald of the months before the Second World War, "when there was nothing of moment on anybody's mind." The only jarring note came when he and Kennedy were swimming together and began discussing how they both feared being incapacitated by a stroke, as their fathers had been. Macdonald asked Kennedy how he would like to die. "Oh, a gun," he said. "You never know what hit you. A gunshot is the perfect way."
According to author Thurston Clarke in his recent book entitled JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President, at page 310, Kennedy had the following conversation with his friend and former college roommate Torby Macdonald:
The weekend reminded Macdonald of the months before the Second World War, "when there was nothing of moment on anybody's mind." The only jarring note came when he and Kennedy were swimming together and began discussing how they both feared being incapacitated by a stroke, as their fathers had been. Macdonald asked Kennedy how he would like to die. "Oh, a gun," he said. "You never know what hit you. A gunshot is the perfect way."