The Presidency: The Government Still Lives

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A Time for Mourning. Politically, Kennedy's death turned both parties topsy-turvy. Only nine months remain before the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City, but Johnson will have the prestige and power of the White House working for him if he wants the nomination—and few doubt that he does. As a moderately conservative Southerner, his chief worry is the party's Northern liberal wing.

The G.O.P. is even more wide open and more hopeful about '64. With Kennedy in the White House, Republican politicians were willing to think about gambling with Arizona's Senator Barry Goldwater as a dramatic alternative. But now 1964 is anybody's race, and the G.O.P. may well enlist a middle-of-the-roader to challenge Johnson—Nelson Rockefeller, Richard Nixon, even Pennsylvania's Governor William Scranton or Michigan's Governor George Romney. Those who had been shunning the race because they figured it was a lost cause anyway may now be entertaining second thoughts. The tip-off should come when the early-bird New Hampshire primary is held in March, for the G.O.P. nominee is likely to be one who enters and wins several primaries.

But for the time being, at least, this was not a time for overt politicking. The night of the assassination, Lyndon Johnson stepped uncertainly into the Oval Office of the President, then went to the three-room suite in the nearby Executive Office Building that he had used as Vice President. Across the street, he could see the lights beginning to go out in the White House.

Just before dawn, an ambulance drew up to the White House portico, and U.S. servicemen carried Kennedy's casket into the East Room. On a blackshrouded catafalque, John F. Kennedy lay in state. His sleepless wife viewed him for the last time, and then the bier was sealed.

A Last Trip Home. This week Cardinal Gushing would celebrate the Requiem Mass in Washington's St. Matthew's Cathedral. France's De Gaulle would be there, along with Britain's Prince Philip and Prime Minister Douglas-Home, Greece's Queen Frederika, Japan's Crown Prince Akihito, Belgium's King Baudouin, Russia's Deputy Premier Mikoyan, Ireland's President De Valera, Canada's Prime Minister Pearson, Germany's Chancellor Erhard, the Philippines' President Macapagal, and many more.

Then, at the family's request, John Kennedy would be buried amid the wooded hills of Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac. It would be on his son's third birthday.