On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was visiting Dallas, Texas. He was riding in a convertible during a motorcade through Dallas when he was shot in the head. His apparent assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was located in the Texas Book Depository and fled the scene but was captured in a movie theater and brought to jail. Oswald was shot and killed two days later by Jack Ruby before he could stand trial.

Kennedy and Lincoln buffs have noted odd coincidences between the two assassinations. For example, each of them was succeeded by a president whose last name was Johnson; both were shot on a Friday, in the head, in the presence of their wives; both assassins were killed before they came to trial; and Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and ran to a warehouse, while Oswald did the opposite with Kennedy.

So many controversies and theories surrounded Kennedy's assassination that the Warren Commission was called to investigate his death. After ten months of investigation, the committee found that Oswald had acted alone to kill Kennedy. Many argued, however, that there was more than one gunman, a theory that was upheld by a 1979 House Committee investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and a 1982 study disagreed. Speculation continues to this day about the truth behind the assassination.

While Kennedy was president, the hit musical Camelot was playing on Broadway. It happened to have been a favorite of the president. The play told the story of King Arthur and its title song was a huge success. When Jackie Kennedy was interviewed a few days after her husband's assassination, she brought this up, linking the play and the song with Kennedy's time in office. She stated: “There'll be great presidents again … but there'll never be another Camelot.”