Today commemorates the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s tragic assassination, a pivotal moment in U.S. history that took place during a motorcade in Dallas.
This historical event has inspired numerous television shows, documentaries and film re-creations, exploring the events leading up to the 35th president’s shooting and its aftermath.
Movies such as PT 109 delved into Kennedy’s service as an officer in the Pacific War during World War II. Later came Oliver Stone’s gritty courtroom drama JFK, starring Kevin Costner as New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, which took a deeper look at the assassination.
Scroll down for the best selection of television shows and films to watch.
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JFK: One Day in America, 2023
Three-part National Geographic Channel docuseries takes a deep dive into the JFK assassination and its aftermath. One episode focuses on the killing, another on the manhunt and a third on the events that followed.
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FK: What the Doctors Saw, 2023
Image Credit: Jacque Lueth /© Paramount+ /Everett Collection the film reveals startling medical observations about JFK’s wounds when seven doctors who were in the Parkland Hospital ER reunite to discuss a day none of them can forget. In never-before-seen footage from this reunion, the doctors share in vivid detail their indelible memories of what they did and saw in Trauma Room 1.
(L-R) (positions at Parkland Hospital, 1963): Dr. Joe D. Goldstrich (4th Year Medical Student), Dr. Lawrence Klein (3rd Year Med Student), Dr. Ronald Jones (Chief Resident), Dr. Donald Seldin (Chief of Medicine), Dr. Robert McClelland (Assistant Professor of Surgery), Dr. Kenneth Salyer (1st year resident), and Dr. Peter Loeb (3rd year med student)
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Kennedy, 2023
Image Credit: History Channel ‘Kennedy’ is an eight-part History Channel documentary series chronicling the life and legacy of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States. Ashton Gleckman takes an intimate look at JFK’s early years, time in the war, journey onto the political scene, and his thousand-day presidency
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All the Way, 2016
Image Credit: HBO Lyndon B. Johnson (Bryan Cranston) becomes the President of the United States in the chaotic aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination and spends his first year in office fighting to pass the Civil Rights Act.
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Jackie, 2016
Image Credit: William Gray/Fox Searchlight Pictures/Everett Collection Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (Caspar Phillipso), First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (Natalie Portman) fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children and define her husband’s historic legacy.
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11.22.63, 2016
Image Credit: Hulu/Alex Dukay Hulu miniseries based on Stephen King’s book follows Jake Epping (James Franco), a teacher who gets the chance to travel back in time to avert the death of John F. Kennedy. However, history’s aversion to alteration and his love for the era and a woman endanger him.
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Parkland, 2013
Image Credit: Claire Folger/©Exclusive Media Group/courtesy Everett Collection A recounting of the chaotic events that occurred at Dallas’ Parkland Memorial Hospital on the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, starring Marcia Gay Harden, Zac Efron & Aidan Sullivan.
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The Kennedys, 2011
Image Credit: Reelz The triumphs and tragedies of the most popular political family in American history, starring Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy and Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy. Aired on Reelz Channel.
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An American Affair, 2008
Image Credit: Screen Media Ventures/Courtesy Everett Collection In 1963, during the swirl of glamour and intrigue that turned President John F. Kennedy’s Washington into Camelot, a lonely 13-year-old Catholic school boy comes of age. Gretchen Mol was among the stars.
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Thirteen Days, 2000
Image Credit: New Line Cinema/courtesy Everett Collection In October 1962, the Kennedy administration struggles to contain the Cuban Missile Crisis. The film stars Kevin Costner, Lucinda Jenney and Bruce Greenwood star.
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Fatal Deception, 1993
Image Credit: Everett Collection The story of the widow of Lee Harvey Oswald (Frank Whaley), the man accused of shooting President Kennedy. Via flashbacks, the story traces Marina Oswald’s (Helena Bonham Carter) life from her days in Russia, the turmoil following the assassination, raising her family and coming to grips with the fact that she too may have been a pawn in a grand conspiracy
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In The Line of Fire, 1993
Image Credit: Everett Collection Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood) couldn’t save Kennedy, but he’s determined not to let a clever assassin take out the current U.S. president. John Malkovich does a creepy turn as a would-be assassin.
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Ruby, 1992
Image Credit: Triumph Releasing Corporation/courtesy Everett An exploration of certain conspiracy theories surrounding the JFK assassination from the perspective of Jack Ruby (Danny Aiello), who shot Lee Harvey Oswald to death.
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JFK, 1991
Image Credit: Warner Bros./ Courtesy: Everett Collection New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) discovers there’s more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story. It was nominated for eight Oscars including Best Picture and won two.
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Kennedy, 1983
Image Credit: NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection NBC mniseries about the 1961-63 Presidency of John F. Kennedy starring Martin Sheen and Blair Brown. It covers the momentous presidential years and the lives, loves and triumphs of one of the most controversial families of the 20th century.
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PT 109, 1963
Image Credit: Everett Collection President John F. Kennedy (Cliff Robertson) kept a unique inauguration gift on his desk: a plastic-encased coconut. The tale of that coconut is the heroic story of PT 109 during his service as an officer during the Pacific War in World War II.
