SAN ANTONIO — This week marks one of the darkest days in U.S. history: Sixty years ago, on Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
The day before, he and the first lady made a stop in the Alamo City. Kennedy's last official act as president was in San Antonio, where he arrived on Nov. 21 to dedicate the School of Areospace Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base as work was underway for a new era of space travel.
"For more than three years, I've spoken of the new frontier," Kennedy said, addressing the Brooks crowd. "This is not a partisan term. It refers instead to this nation's place in history, to the fact that we do stand on the edge of a great new era."
Less than 24 hours after saying those words, the president would be dead.
'So energetic about what we can do'
On Nov. 21, 1963, crowds arrived early at San Antonio International Airport just to catch a glimpse of the president and First Lady Jackie Kennedy.
Stepping off Air Force One right behind the president was newly elected Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez. The Kennedys left the airport in a convertible, along with then-Texas Gov. John Connally and his wife.
The streets were packed. School students turned out by the hundreds to see the nation's first Catholic president.
Among them was Central Catholic senior and future San Antonio Mayor and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
"They took the entire student body four blocks to Broadway to stand along Broadway and wait for the presidential motorcade," Cisneros recalls, 60 years later. "We got a good look at him, he waved to us. I have been motivated by President Kennedy all my life."
Cisneros was so impressed by Kennedy that he still carries vivid memories of the visit and talks about the influence the young president had on his life.
"He was so positive, he was so optimistic, he was so energetic about what we can do. I have a copy of the inaugural address here on the wall in our library," said Cisneros.
The library almost serves as a small shrine to the man who had such a dramatic impact on not only Cisneros' life, but his political future. Cisneros bought a bust of JFK, the first of many presidential busts the former mayor would collect.
"I couldn't afford it. But I got it anyway and it was the start of getting the rest of these," Cisneros said.
>Watch Deborah Knapp's full interview with Cisneros below:
From Broadway, the presidential motorcade headed down Houston Street, past the Gunter Hotel and then it headed south. The president eventually arrived at Brooks, where efforts were underway to put man on the moon.
On an outdoor stage, the president spoke to the hundreds gathered.
A plaque today marks the spot where Mr. Kennedy delivered what was to be his final address.
"I have come to Texas today to salute an outstanding group of pioneers: the men who man the Brooks Aerospace Medical Center," he said. "It is fitting that San Antonio should be the site of this school, for this city has long been the home of pioneers in the air. It is a time for pathfinders and pioneers.
"This nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space and we have no choice but to follow it," he continued on that day. "With the vital help of this Aerospace Medical Center, we will climb this wall with safety and with speed, and we shall then explore the wonders on the other side."
The president and the first lady then viewed a space exploration experiment underway in the altitude chamber.
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