Timeline Part Two (1963: No Dallas)

October 1, 1966 Lyndon Baines Johnson is killed when "Air Force Two", a DC-9, crashs south of Wemme, Oregon in low cieling, rainy weather, while on his way to a campaign stop for Robert B. Duncan against Mark Hatfield. It is the first crash of a DC-9 and the first time that a Vice-Preisdent has died in office since James Sherman under President Taft.

Nation-wide TV coverage of the funeral occurs some four days later, with Johnson's coffin lying in state in the Senate Rotunda for a day and a half. President Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy are at the side of "Lady Bird" and the Johnson daughters. There is a heart-rendering photo of little Jan-Jan hugging Lady Bird on the cover of Life magazine.

Immediately politically jockeying occurs for a replacement Vice-President. With the Congressional mid-terms ahead, and chances of Dems losing seats, Kennedy comes under pressure to find a political firebrand who will inspire the Party. His own pragmatists and moderates though want him to choose a candidate from the Senate who will help push through his agenda in the last two years of his Presidency, as well as a viable candidate for 1968.