"My President is Dead" - Original First Person Account - 21-22 Nov 1963 on Original White House Schedule
The item recently revealed in 2013 at the Dave Powers Estate Auction is a document of immense historical significance. An original White House schedule for 21-22 November 1963 that was in the possession of Special Presidential Assistant and Assistant Appointment Secretary David F. Powers. Simply titled "SCHEDULE" and subdivided into two parts, one for each day, "THURSDAY - November 21, 1963" and "FRIDAY - November 22, 1963" Powers wrote his name in the upper corner in blue ink.

There are few surviving schedules from that these two days in Dallas. A search of National Archives reveals that there are other staff schedules from that fateful day, but none of them are annotated by an official of the Presidential Party present during the events of the two days who also played a key role during the time and after the President was fatally shot. No other document records in detail the events of the day and none of them were kept by both an observer and a participant in the events of the day as Powers was in the trailing vehicle.

After President Kennedy was shot, Powers escorted the slain president to Parkland Hospital and helped to carry JFK into the emergency entrance. He also attempted to console the First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and was with her when the president died. As time allowed, Powers annotated his schedule in detail, noting corrections in the timeline and the deviation to the schedule after the assassination.

At the bottom of page one on his copy of the schedule he poignantly notes, "My President is Dead", and on the reverse of page one,"My president pronounced dead." The importance of this unique document as a Kennedy Assassination artifact cannot be overstated - it is a timeline of the events of President John F, Kennedy's last day - annotated in detail by a close personal friend, turned White House staffer.

Powers was a long time campaigner, friend and confidant of John F. Kennedy. Ever at Kennedy's side, Powers witnessed the tragedy and death, was deeply moved and for posterity recorded the events of the day with appropriate, mostly clinical sometimes emotional, annotations.

In late 1963 Attorney General Robert Kennedy, the slain president's brother, personally came to Powers and asked him to begin assembling and collecting the Kennedy memorabilia. This formed the nexus of the Kennedy Library's permanent exhibit and the nexus of the life and legacy of President Kennedy. He also became a tireless promoter and fundraiser for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum and became the first curator.

Despite his position and responsibilities he always remained a close Kennedy family friend and confidant. He retained his copy of the schedule as a personal memento. It only came to light after his death when the family decided to sell the Powers home. These two pages are poignant reminder small everyday things, often forgotten, in the tumult of great events, that can help us remember John F, Kennedy on that fateful Dallas, day.


Provenance:
* President John F. Kennedy Administration, White House, 1963.
* To Special Presidential Assistant to President JFK & Museum Curator John F. Kennedy Museum & Library David Powers, until passing in 1998.
* Thence by descent in the Powers family until 2013.
* Sold by family via John McInnis Auctions, Amesbury, MA, to the Zaricor Flag Collection, 2013
Deaccessed at auction via Bonham's, 11 February 2024, Auction #BOK24011NY, - 29456, LOT #74

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