BW - EP145—013: November 1963 With Jean Shepherd And JFK—A Subdued Christmas Eve With Shep

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

On the morning of Tuesday November 26th, 1963 all regularly scheduled TV and radio programming resumed in the U.S. President Johnson issued NSAM 273, a modification of the American policy in Vietnam. Included in President Kennedy’s original memo, was Johnson adding the word “win” to the U.S. objective. At the same time, The American satellite Explorer 18 was launched to study the magnetic field around the Moon. Jack Ruby was indicted for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. He was found guilty on March 14th, 1964. Although a court demanded a retrial in 1966, Ruby died of lung cancer on January 3rd, 1967. The Federal Reserve Bank began the removal of silver certificates from circulation, starting with the discontinuation of one dollar notes. Big Butte School, in Butte, Montana, became the first of almost one-thousand schools to be renamed in honor of President Kennedy. And on Wednesday November 27th, Lyndon Johnson gave his first speech as President of the United States. It has since become known as “Let Us Continue.” The next day, November 28th, was Thanksgiving. President Johnson issued an Executive Order renaming Cape Canaveral in Florida, to Cape Kennedy. The holiday season, albeit the most subdued one the people of the U.S. had since 1944, had begun. On the November 25th broadcast of The Jean Shepherd Show, Shep wondered how people would still be feeling thirty days after the assassination. Well, Tuesday December 24th was Christmas Eve. On that day the New York International Airport, commonly referred to as "Idlewild", was officially renamed as John F. Kennedy International Airport, popularly referred to as "JFK." That night, Jean Shepherd took to the air telling a story about a Christmas season in the days of yore.