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JFK
President John F. Kennedy's assassination is an unforgettable part of Dallas' history.Nearly 54 years later, scholars and enthusiasts alike are still processing details from that fateful drive through Dealey Plaza now that the remaining investigation files have been unsealed. For the 50th anniversary in 2013, KERA produced special stories and reports from the commemoration:The 50th: Remembering John F. Kennedy was KERA's live, two-hour special covering the official commemoration event at Dealey Plaza in Dallas on Nov. 22, 2013. Hosted by Krys Boyd and Shelley Kofler, the special includes reports from KERA reporters before the ceremony begins. Listen to the special here.Bells tolled across the city, and the event featured historian David McCullough, who read from Kennedy’s presidential speeches; Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings; religious leaders; the U.S. Naval Academy Men’s Glee Club; and a moment of silence. Read highlights from the event from KERA's live blog from that day.Throughout the month, KERA posted an online series called 22 Days In November, which takes a closer look at that fateful day, what it meant to the country and how it affected Dallas.We shared stories and memories in a series called “JFK Voices.” Explore our archives below.

CBS Legend Bob Schieffer On Journalism, Donald Trump And Driving Mrs. Oswald

Bob Schieffer, the TCU grad and longtime CBS newsman, talks with KERA's Rick Holter at the school's Bob Schieffer College of Communication.

Stunned. That's how Bob Schieffer, the retired CBS newsman with deep Texas roots, reacted on Election Night. He, like much of America, didn't think Donald Trump had much of a chance against Hillary Clinton. He, like much of America, was wrong.

In a Friday Conversation with KERA at the TCU College of Communication that bears his name, Schieffer talks about the plight (and promise) of journalists during the Trump era. He compares this moment in America to 1968, when the Democratic National Convention was rocked by violence.

And he remembers his first job at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, when Marguerite Oswald called the paper, looking for a ride. The date was Nov. 22, 1963 — and he agreed to drive the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald to Dallas, where her son was being held for the murder of John F. Kennedy.

Interview Highlights: Bob Schieffer on...

...the election and its aftermath: "This was not only the worst campaign, but also the weirdest, the strangest ... and it goes on! So now we're into this thing where Donald Trump wins the election, OK? And then somebody else says 'I want a recount,' and he starts berating them. If this were a baseball game, he slides into home plate and the umpire says, 'Safe!' And he jumps up and starts arguing and says, 'I'm even safer!'"

...what he tells young would-be journalists: "I tell them, 'We still need you.' I tell them, 'You may not  work at a newspaper, like where I started out [at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram], but there will always be a need for journalists — for the simple reason that you can't have the kind of democracy that we have unless citizens have independently gathered information that they can compare to the government's version of events."

...on complaints about how the media covered the campaign: "We're always going to get the blame. Quite frankly, when Donald Trump said it was all our fault there toward the end of the campaign, I felt very good about that. I felt very good about that. I felt, "Well, we're finally back in our traditional place: It's all our fault.' ... And what we came to understand is that his core supporters — and maybe we didn't understand this in the beginning — they took him seriously but not literally; we took him literally, but sometimes not seriously."

...on how journalists should treat Trump now:  "We have to give him a chance. We can't just make up our minds that he's gonna fail and everything he's gonna do is wrong. He won the election...But, by the same token, I think we have to keep asking questions. We have to question when things do not seem right. I think we just keep acting like reporters. That's what reporters do: You ask people questions."

...on the state of the body politic: "I think our electoral system has collapsed. I think it's in worse shape than our roads and bridges. The system has become so odious, the process of running for office so overwhelmed by money, that more and more we're seeing serious, good people turning away from the process."

...on how he met Marguerite Oswald in 1963: "I was on the city desk at the Star-Telegram on that awful day, and the phone rang, and a woman said, 'Is there anyone there who could give me a ride to Dallas?' And I was about to hang up the phone. I said, 'Lady, y'know we don't run a taxi here, and besides, the president's been shot.' Whereupon she said, 'Yes, I heard that on the radio. I think my son is the one they've arrested.'"

Rick Holter was KERA's vice president of news. He oversaw news coverage on all of KERA's platforms – radio, digital and television. Under his leadership, KERA News earned more than 200 local, regional and national awards, including the station's first two national Edward R. Murrow Awards. He and the KERA News staff were also part of NPR's Ebola-coverage team that won a George Foster Peabody Award, broadcasting's highest honor.