November 22, 1963. A policeman's wife was fetching their sick child from
school. A young shoe store manager had no idea what lay in wait for him
that day. A future president was tending to his farm. A future vice
president was standing on the steps of his college library. A Georgetown
student was looking forward to playing the piano for the president when
he returned to Washington, DC, that evening. A future movie star was
attending his second-grade art class. Then the news rang out across
airwaves, through telephone lines, and by word of mouth, plunging the
country into shock and sorrow. It's hard to imagine how the last fifty
years would have unfolded if President John F. Kennedy had lived. Would
Vietnam have dragged on until 1974? Would Nixon have come into power?
It's difficult to say--but, combining evocative archival images with the
unique, first-person stories of those who lived through it, Where Were
You? says what the history books can't and offers a fresh look at what
was, what is, and what might have been since that fateful day. In the
two-hour NBC documentary event that this volume accompanies, special
correspondent Tom Brokaw interviewed people close to the tragedy as well
as former heads of state, politicians, authors, journalists, performers,
musicians, and more. He asked them five simple questions, starting with:
Where were you? Together, their words paint a rich and moving picture of
a hopeful nation torn asunder by grief. It will remind those who lived
it of a pivotal moment in American history, and it bears witness for all
who follow.
