BULLETINS FROM DALLAS
Reporting the JFK Assassination
by
BILL SANDERSON
Genre: Biography / Journalism
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Thanks to one reporter’s skill, we can fix the exact moment on November 22, 1963 when the world stopped and held its breath: At 12:34 p.m. Central Time, UPI White House reporter Merriman Smith broke the news that shots had been fired at President Kennedy's motorcade. Most people think Walter Cronkite was the first to tell America about the assassination. But when Cronkite broke the news on TV, he read from one of Smith’s dispatches. At Parkland Hospital, Smith saw President Kennedy’s blood-soaked body in the back of his limousine before the emergency room attendants arrived. Two hours later, he was one of three journalists to witness President Johnson’s swearing-in aboard Air Force One. Smith rightly won a Pulitzer Prize for the vivid story he wrote for the next day’s morning newspapers.
Smith’s scoop is journalism legend. But the full story of how he pulled off the most amazing reportorial coup has never been told. As the top White House reporter of his time, Smith was a bona fide celebrity and even a regular on late-night TV. But he has never been the subject of a biography.
With access to a trove of Smith’s personal letters and papers and through interviews with Smith’s family and colleagues, veteran news reporter Bill Sanderson will crack open the legend. Bulletins from Dallas tells for the first time how Smith beat his competition on the story, and shows how the biggest scoop of his career foreshadowed his personal downfall.
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PRAISE FOR BULLETINS FROM DALLAS:
“So much of what we know about any story depends on how reporters do their work. Bill Sanderson takes us through every heartbreaking minute of one of the biggest stories of our lifetime, with sharp detail and powerful observations. As you read the book, you’ll feel all the pressure and adrenaline rush of a reporter on deadline.” --Neal Shapiro, former president of NBC News, current president of WNET
“The life and work of a noted White House reporter…. Focusing on [Merriman] Smith’s reporting of the Kennedy assassination, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize, Sanderson conveys the tension and confusion after the event, as Smith and other newsmen scrambled to ascertain facts.” --Kirkus Reviews
“To read Bulletins from Dallas is to touch the fabric of history, through Sanderson’s artful weave of many voices, from presidents across the decades to the last words uttered by J.F.K. Swept back through the corridors of time, we hear the urgent bells and clatter of the teletype machine: Merriman Smith’s first report to the world, ‘Three shots fired at President Kennedy’s motorcade today in Downtown Dallas.’ This compelling narrative takes us to that moment when our whole nation cried, and, even now, to tears of primal sympathy that never seem to end.” --Allen Childs, author of We Were There: Revelations from the Dallas Doctors Who Attended to JFK on November 22, 1963
Just before reading Bulletins from Dallas: Reporting the JFK Assassination, I had a big discussion with my son about John F Kennedy, only to find my son knew more than I did. I have always been fascinated by this most tragic event that happened to President Kennedy. I thought I knew just about all I could know, but I was sorely mistaken. I learned far more than expected while reading this book.
Among the many new bits of information I learned, I discovered that Albert Merriman Smith, aka Smitty was the actual first person to learn of the assassination of JFK. Smith lied about his age to get in the news department. Smith even was buried with the incorrect birthday on his tombstone. Jacqueline Kennedy only trusted info and news from Smitty. The whole state of mind of Smitty as he headed to Texas with President Kennedy was very distraught. With problems at home and financial problems, Smitty was in distress, which left him angry and bitter. A month before Kennedy was to appear in Dallas, the White House received information of a protester spreading a disturbing message. Kennedy's people did not want him to go Dallas due to safety issues. Of course, I knew Jackie Kennedy was loved and respected dearly.
Smith chose to report only information that was not intrusive in the President's life, and not matters like his sexual affairs and his health. I respect Smith for his news ethics during his time. Reading about this tragic event again through the eyes Smith as an up- close news reporter. This is a touching and unnerving story. If you are interested in history, or the truth behind the news reports of this very devastating moment, then this is the book for you.
I give this 4 stars and and I am grateful for the opportunity. Thank you to LSLL for for including me on this book blog tour and for the opportunity to read and review this fascinating book.
CLICK TO PURCHASE * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Indiebound *
Among the many new bits of information I learned, I discovered that Albert Merriman Smith, aka Smitty was the actual first person to learn of the assassination of JFK. Smith lied about his age to get in the news department. Smith even was buried with the incorrect birthday on his tombstone. Jacqueline Kennedy only trusted info and news from Smitty. The whole state of mind of Smitty as he headed to Texas with President Kennedy was very distraught. With problems at home and financial problems, Smitty was in distress, which left him angry and bitter. A month before Kennedy was to appear in Dallas, the White House received information of a protester spreading a disturbing message. Kennedy's people did not want him to go Dallas due to safety issues. Of course, I knew Jackie Kennedy was loved and respected dearly.
Smith chose to report only information that was not intrusive in the President's life, and not matters like his sexual affairs and his health. I respect Smith for his news ethics during his time. Reading about this tragic event again through the eyes Smith as an up- close news reporter. This is a touching and unnerving story. If you are interested in history, or the truth behind the news reports of this very devastating moment, then this is the book for you.
I give this 4 stars and and I am grateful for the opportunity. Thank you to LSLL for for including me on this book blog tour and for the opportunity to read and review this fascinating book.
CLICK TO PURCHASE * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Indiebound *
Bill Sanderson spent almost two decades as a reporter and editor at the New York Post. His work has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Observer, and the Washington Post. Sanderson lives in New York City. Connect with Bill:
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