Joe Biden Recalls 'Deep Trauma' After Kennedy’s Assassination in 1963: "Not An Easy Thing to Live With"
It's been six decades, yet the assassination of President John F. Kennedy still haunts his Secret Service Agent, Clint Hill. The 46th President Joe Biden also reflected on the "deep trauma" marking the 60th anniversary of JFK's death, which happened on November 22, 1963. Hill, the agent who leaped onto the deceased president's limousine, still has regrets.
The agent was appointed to protect the former First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy. Hill was following the president's limo in a follow-on car when the gunshots were fired at JFK across Dealey Plaza in Dallas. The 91-year-old recalled in an interview with NPR on the president's 60th death anniversary, "Before Dallas, I was known as just Clint Hill."
He also discussed how his identity changed after one fateful incident, "After that, I've been known as the man who climbed onto the president's car," adding, "That six-second period in Dallas, it's not an easy thing to live with." The media captured his image of leaping into the car to save his beloved Kennedy.
He's among the handful of surviving witnesses who lived the horrifying assassination. Hill narrated his own experience from that day, "I didn't think at first it was a gunshot," he explained. "I thought it was a firecracker or something. But when I saw the president's reaction, I knew that was not normal. I mean, he threw his hands to his throat and started to fall to his left."
Instinctively, the Secret agent shielded the First Lady Jacqueline, assuming the killer might harm her as well. However, he still lives with the guilt of not being able to do "enough" to prevent the death of the president. But one thing was clear to him that he [Kennedy] wouldn't have recovered from the shot.
"I thought, This wound is not survivable," said Hill. "I didn't think he had a chance." The 91-year-old further revealed, "We received no counseling at all. There was no PTSD in those days." He finished his stint with Jacqueline Kennedy in 1964, and after serving three more presidents, he was told to retire at 43.
The 60th anniversary was a rewind for other witnesses like Peggy Simpson, the Associated Press reporter, on the scene. Now 84 years old, Simpson said, "A tangible link to the past is going to be lost when the last voices from that time period are gone," referring to many people who have passed away in the last ten years, per ABC News.
Although not a witness in a literal sense, President Biden was a college student turning 21 when he heard about the assassination. The now 81-year-old recalled the day in a lengthy White House statement, "I was in college and had just left class, joining other students glued to the news in silence along with the entire country," per Daily Mail.
Biden recalled, "The weeks and months that followed awakened a generation. President Kennedy had been a war hero, senator, and statesman." He continued, "He led with calm resolve through the most dangerous moments of the Cold War," adding, "Like millions, I deeply felt his conviction and dreams for America."
"In life and in death, President Kennedy changed the way we saw ourselves – a country full of youthful hopes and ambition," he said. "May God continue to bless President John F. Kennedy," the Democrat concluded.
