The news rang out across airwaves, through telephone lines, and by word of mouth, plunging the country into shock and sorrow. It's hard to imagine how the last fifty years would have unfolded if the Kennedy assassination hadn't happened. Would Vietnam have dragged on until 1974? Would Nixon have come to power? It's difficult to say--but, combining evocative archival footage with the unique, first-person stories of those who lived through that terrible moment, "Where Were You?" says what the history books can't, offering a fresh look at what was, what is, and what might have been since that fateful day in November 1963.
In the two-hour NBC documentary event that this book accompanies, NBC Special Correspondent Tom Brokaw asked heads of state, politicians, authors, journalists, performers, musicians, and everyday people five simple questions: Where were you? What was your initial reaction? Did it change your view of America? Do you still hold that view? What would be different if Kennedy had lived?
Participants include Joe Biden, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Don DeLillo, Robert DeNiro, Bob Dylan, Jane Fonda, Jay Leno, Chris Matthews, Paul McCartney, Dan Rather, Mort Sahl, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Rose Styron, Brian Wilson, Pete Yarrow, and more.
Brokaw also spoke with those involved in the event itself: Clint Hill, a Secret Service agent in the limo with JFK; Robert Oswald, Lee's brother; and Marie Tippit, widow of the Dallas police officer whom Oswald shot while fleeing and who has never spoken publically about what happened until now.
Together, their answers paint a moving picture of a hopeful nation torn asunder by grief. It stands as a solemn remembrance of a harrowing time in American history for all those who lived it, and it bears witness for all those who follow.
