{"id":64489,"date":"2016-11-22T17:09:22","date_gmt":"2016-11-22T17:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489///wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489//oglethorpe.edu/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489//news/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489//reporting-jfk-assassination-remembering-pulitzer-prize-winner-merriman-smith-36/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489//"},"modified":"2024-08-23T09:59:59","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T09:59:59","slug":"reporting-jfk-assassination-remembering-pulitzer-prize-winner-merriman-smith-36","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489///wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489//oglethorpe.edu/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489//news/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489//reporting-jfk-assassination-remembering-pulitzer-prize-winner-merriman-smith-36/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489//","title":{"rendered":"“Reporting the JFK Assassination”: Remembering Pulitzer Prize-Winner Merriman Smith ’36"},"content":{"rendered":"

/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/"1920px-kennedyb1/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/"“Please listen.”/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

A/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u00a0highly distinguished journalist, Oglethorpe alumnus Merriman Smith /wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201936, /wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201964H delivered that timeless piece of advice to the Oglethorpe graduating class of 1964 — just months after his swiftly dispatched report heard around the world:/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201cThe world into which this group of graduates moves today is complicated/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2014and as I said at the start/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2014messy. A number of voices/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2014in fact, millions of hitherto unheard voices/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2014want to be heard. I conclude with one bit of profundity:/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u00a0Please listen./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201d – Merriman Smith at Oglethorpe’s 1964 commencement/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

DALLAS. NOV. 22 (UPI) — THREE SHOTS WERE FIRED AT PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S MOTORCADE IN DOWNTOWN DALLAS./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

The White House Correspondent and United Press International (UPI) journalist was the first to break the news that fateful day in 1963, only four minutes after President Kennedy was shot. Although Smith did not see the bullets/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2019 ultimate destination, he observed the chaos of the moment/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2014the sound of gunshots, the crowd in a panic, the motorcade racing away/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2014and quickly drew his conclusion./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

Smith sprang to action, beating the other reporters to the wire with the shocking news. He then rushed to the hospital to find the president in his motorcade, his bleeding head resting on the First Lady/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2019s lap, dead. Again, Smith speedily dictated the latest tragic news, only 11 minutes after the assassination./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

But, Smith wasn/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2019t done making history that day. Smith was later the only wire reporter on the scene to witness and cover President Johnson/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2019s oath of office on Air Force One./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/"per_lbj1122_94950a_8col1/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/"
Lyndon Johnson is sworn in as President of the United States on Air Force One following the assassination of President Kennedy. Merriman Smith ’36 was the only wire reporter to witness the historic moment./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

For his coverage of JFK/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2019s assassination, Smith took the stage in 1964 to receive The Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

In the years following, the journalist and Oglethorpe alumnus continued to be recognized for his excellence in reporting and was famous for his role in reporting the assassination, appearing regularly on “Merv Griffin” and/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u00a0“The Tonight Show”./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

According to Pennsylvania’s/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u00a0The Reading Eagle,/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u00a0/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201che was the master of a very special skill/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2014the ability to rush away from a news conference or meeting with only his notes and a document or two and dictate a clear, accurate story to the nearest UPI bureau with scarcely a pause,/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201d/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

“The day Kennedy was killed required perception, accuracy, speed and judgment that Smith displayed while relishing the fire of competition.” – Former UPI journalist Patrick J. Sloyan, 1997/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

Smith/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2019s competitive edge and rapier wit fueled his drive to consistently reach the telephone first in the age of wire reporting. His /wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201cspecial skill/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201d defined his impressive performance at UPI for 30 years, earning him various accolades and garnering respect among news reporters and even presidents. Author of/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u00a0the UPI column /wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201cBackstairs at the White House,/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201d Smith established a strong report with the six Commanders in Chief who served during his time as White House correspondent, from FDR to Nixon./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Merriman Smith. President Richard Nixon called him /wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201cone of the greatest reporters of our time/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201d and/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u00a0when Smith died in 1970, Nixon held a moment of silence in his honor. To this day, the White House Correspondents’ Association annually recognizes the reporter/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u2019s legacy by presenting the Merriman Smith Award./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/"51f7aty6tdl-_sx331_bo1204203200_1/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/"Smith’s story lives on in other ways. Bulletins from Dallas: Reporting the JFK Assassination/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u00a0is a recently released book/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u00a0by Bill Sanderson about the iconic journalist./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u00a0Oglethorpe library and communications staff provided archival information to assist in the author’s research./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u00a0The book coincides with the Pulitzer Prize’s Centennial Celebration of the Pulitzer Prize, commemorated throughout 2016. As part of the celebration, Sanderson penned an article about Smith for the Pulitzer Prize website./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

Indeed, as Sanderson shared, /wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201cthey believe his story stands out among Pulitzer winners./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/u201d/wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n

Read Merriman Smith’s riveting account of November 22, 1963, in his own words./wp-json/wp/v2/news/64489/n