Jim Lehrer on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy

News anchor Jim Lehrer was working as a newspaper reporter for the Dallas Times-Herald, covering President John F. Kennedy's visit to Dallas on November 22, 1963. While waiting at Love Field airport for Air Force One to arrive, he asked a Secret Service agent if the bubble top would be kept up on the limousine during the parade - a decision that seemed inconsequential at the time:

"And the bubble top was on the car. I saw the Secret Service agent who was in charge of the Dallas office... and I said, 'Are you going to keep the bubble top on or off?'... He looked up to the sky – I’ll never forget this – he looked up at the sky and he said, 'Well, this rain has stopped,' and he hollered at another agent who had a two-way radio, and he said, 'Is it raining downtown?' And the guy comes back and says, 'No, it’s clear.' So, he then says, 'Take off the bubble top.'"

Watch Jim Lehrer’s full interview to hear about his long career as a journalist and news anchor at PBS.

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