William vanden Heuvel Oral History

As the Museum's Oral Historian at the time, I vividly recall this videotaped session with Ambassador vanden Heuvel -- one of three back-to-back oral histories that I recorded on the morning of the fortieth anniversary of the assassination, November 22, 2003. Immediately prior to interviewing Ambassador vanden Heuvel, I had the honor of recording George Stevens Jr., chief of the U.S. Information Agency's motion picture division in the 1960s and producer of the landmark documentary, John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums, followed by Texas political leader and longtime John Connally press aide Julian Read.

Ambassador vanden Heuvel, who sat down with me shortly before noon that day, was in a rush to be part of the traditional moment of silence in Dealey Plaza at 12:30PM. He was generous with his time, though in retrospect I wish we had had at least another hour to discuss his memories of John and Robert Kennedy. Nevertheless, it was my pleasure to escort him outside and into Dealey Plaza just a few moments before that 12:30PM observation. Unbeknownst to me, a coworker snapped a photograph of Ambassador vanden Heuvel and myself at that exact moment. It was an image that I would later include and write about at some length in the introduction of my book, Assassination and Commemoration (2013). For that reason, this too-short oral history remains especially memorable for me.

Ambassador vanden Heuvel passed away on June 15, 2021. - Stephen Fagin, Curator