World leaders reacted to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 with shock, sorrow, and revulsion. Some of the leaders addressed their countrymen about the assassination on radio and television. In countries around the world, state premiers and governors and mayors also issued messages expressing shock over the assassination. Governments ordered flags lowered to half-staff and days of mourning. Many of them wondered if the new president, Lyndon Johnson, would carry on Kennedy's policies or not.

In the United States

Presidents

• Lyndon Johnson, the new president: "This is a sad time for all people. We have suffered a loss that cannot be weighed..."
• Former presidents:
  • Herbert Hoover: "He loved America and has given his life for his country."
  • Harry Truman: "I am shocked beyond words at the tragedy that has happened to our country and to President Kennedy's family today."
  • General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower: "I share the sense of shock and dismay that the entire nation must feel at the despicable act that took the life of the nation's president."

In Congress

• House Speaker John W. McCormack, who was already occupying the position which LBJ held in relation to Kennedy when vice-president, next-in-line, in terms of succession: "My God, my God! What are we coming to?"
• Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater: "The president's death is a profound loss to the nation and the free world."
• Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield: "I consider it a deep personal and tragic national loss of a man who has done so much and should have gotten so much more in return."
• Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, the president's brother, was presiding over the Senate when word came to Washington. An aide informed him and he rushed from the Senate chamber.
• Oregon Senator Wayne Morse: "If there was ever an hour when all Americans should pray, this is the hour."

Governors and mayors

• New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller: "This is a shocking and terrible tragedy for the nation and the world."
• Alabama Governor George Wallace said that whoever fired the shots "must be filled with universal malice toward all...It is hard to believe that anyone would shoot at the president of the United States."
• New Mexico Governor Jack Campbell , upon hearing the reports. "Oh Dear God. This is a very tragic and cruel thing. I know that the people of New Mexico and the country will pray for his family and for the country, too."
• Former New York Governor Herbert H. Lehman called the president's death the "greatest catastrophe our nation has suffered since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln."
• Rhode Island Governor John H. Chafee: "It is a terrible thing. I know I speak for everybody in Rhode Island when I say to all the family of the president how terribly sorry we are. It is a great loss not only to his family but to our country and the whole world."
• Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton: "The heart of every Pennsylvanian is with Jacqueline Kennedy."
• Nevada Governor Grant Sawyer: "A great president is dead. His bold and courageous leadership in the social problems of our time has cost him his life."
• Boston Mayor John F. Collins postponed the opening of the city's annual Christmas festival and called upon the whole nation to join in prayer for the president and Texas Governor John Connally, who was wounded in the assassination.

Around the world

In many countries, their radio and television networks, after breaking the news, either went off the air except for funeral music or broke schedules to carry uninterrupted news of the assassination, and if Kennedy made a visit to that country, recalled that visit.

At U.S. embassies and consulates around the world, switchboards lit up and were flooded with phone calls. At many of them, shocked personnel often let telephones go unanswered. They also opened up books of condolences for people to sign.

At the United Nations

• Secretary General U Thant: "As secretary general of the United Nations, I would like to express profound sorrow at this tragic event and to be associated in the condolences to Mrs. Kennedy, to the members of the bereaved family, and to the government and people of the United States."
• Ambassador Adlai Stevenson: "The tragedy of this day is beyond any instant comprehension. All of us who knew him will bear the grief of his death until the day of ours, and all men everywhere who love freedom and peace will bow their heads."

Europe

In the United Kingdom:

• Queen Elizabeth II expressed "sincere and heartfelt sympathy" in a message to Jacqueline Kennedy and told President Johnson that she was "shocked and horrified" by the news. She ordered the royal court into a week of mourning.
• Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home: "The prime minister had learned with the most profound shock and horror of the death by assassination of the president of the United States." In a nationally televised tribute, he said that Kennedy left "an indelible mark" on the entire world. "There are times in life when the mind and heart stand still and one such is now. He was young and brave and a great statesman. The loss is a deep and sad one because he was the most loyal and faithful of allies."
• Opposition Leader Harold Wilson on television: "I am sure that I'm speaking for everyone in this country when I express our deep horror at this evil act. I pay tribute to one who has been a good friend of this country, a great world statesman, and a great fighter for peace. His great struggle for racial equality in the United States is something that will in memory long outlive his life."
• From former prime ministers:
  • Harold Macmillan: "When the news came, the whole world was stunned. It seemed impossible, incredible. It is impossible to weigh the consequences. Jack Kennedy was a great president. But he was more than that; he was a great world inspiration. For him, the peace and progress of the world was not just a phrase but a living and burning faith."
  • Sir Winston Churchill: "This monstrous act has taken from us a great statesman and a wise and valiant man. The loss to the United States and world is incalculable. Those who come after Mr. Kennedy must strive the more to achieve the ideals of world peace and human happiness and dignity to which his presidency was dedicated."

In France:

• President General Charles de Gaulle, who turned 73 the day of the assassination and himself target of assassination attempts: "President Kennedy died like a soldier, under fire, for his duty, and in the service of his country. In the name of the French people, a friend always of the American people, I salute this great example and this great memory."
• Prime Minister Georges Pompidou: "It is atrocious. It is frightful. I'm overwhelmed."

In West Germany:

• Chancellor Ludwig Erhard: "The news fills the German people with deep grief. We all have lost John F. Kennedy. In this hour, words cannot express the pain and sorrow we feel."
• Former chancellor Konrad Adenauer: "President Kennedy's work will live in history. He has given his life for freedom and peace."
• West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt: "With the death of the first citizen of the free world, Berlin has lost its best friend. A flame went out for all those who had hoped for a just peace and a better life." He also asked that the people in West Berlin put candles in their windows the following night in memory of the president. However, the first candles appeared in the windows after his remarks. Many more in West Germany would do the same afterward. 60,000 citizens of West Berlin held a midnight memorial march through the streets of the city which Kennedy traveled on when he visited the city five months earlier. The citizens, marching with torchlights, ended the march at the city hall, where Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech.

In Italy:

• President Antonio Segni: "A very grave loss for all humanity."
• Prime Minister-Designate Aldo Moro: "The reason for which he was struck in a mad way raises President Kennedy even more on a moral plane as a great defender of men's dignity and equality."
• In the Vatican City, Pope Paul VI prayed for the president's soul. He also said that he was "profoundly stricken" by the assassination, and expressed hope that the assassination "will not cause harm to the American people, but will strengthen its moral and civil sense and reinforce its sentiments of nobility and concord..." He also mentioned the fact that Kennedy was the only Catholic to be elected president of the United States. Bishops there for the Ecumenical Council were shocked by the assassination.

In the Soviet Union:

• Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko phoned U.S. Ambassador Foy D. Kohler at midnight to "express his shock and greatest sympathy to the American people." He said that official condolences would be conveyed later at the "highest level," indicating that there be a message from Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
• Khrushchev cut short a tour of Ukraine and returned to Moscow by train. He then went to Spasso House, the residence of the U.S. ambassador. There, he signed a book of condolences and met with Ambassador Kohler. He called the assassination "a heavy blow to all people who hold dear the cause of peace and Soviet-American cooperation." He then designated that his first deputy, Anastas Mikoyan, represent the Russians at the funeral.

In East Berlin, Communist Leader Walter Ulbricht learned the news with "sadness and deep indignation."

Austrian President Adolf Schärf: "I am profoundly distressed by the tragic death of President Kennedy."

Dutch Prime Minister Victor Marijnen: called the assassination "disastrous. His death will undoubtedly have serious consequences for world politics. The murder fills me with the deepest indignation."

Belgian Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak in a sobbing voice: "What can I say about this hideous news, except that I am stunned, and that a terrible frightening thing has happened. I cannot speak tonight."

Spanish Generalissimo Francisco Franco: "The assassination fills all Spanish hearts with grief."

Norwegian Prime Minister Elnar Gerhardsen said that his countrymen "had a peculiar feeling of security" and believed in President Kennedy's "will to create peace and justice in the world."

Danish Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag: "What we have heard is inconceivable. It is an evil deed, another dark spot on the history of our time."

Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander called Kennedy a great American statesman who gave his life in a battle for ideals.

Swiss President Willy Spühler said the people in Switzerland learned the news of the president's "particularly tragic" death "with consternation."

Turkish President Cemal Gursel described President Kennedy as a "pioneer in the great struggle of humanity, a determined fighter for peace, and a firm friend of the Turkish nation. Every Turkish family feels a personal grief at this horrible crime."

Canada

Prime Minister Lester Pearson broke the news to the House of Commons, after learning the news from a parliamentary page, saying in a choked voice: "I have just been informed that President Kennedy is dead." He then told Commons: "Heartbreaking tragedy has occurred. The world can ill afford at this time in our history to lose a man of his courage, which he displayed in war and peace; it can ill afford to lose a man of his wisdom; his determination to advance the cause of freedom in his own country and in the world. This is a tragedy not only for the president's family and his people; it is a tragedy for all of us. No people outside the United States will share more deeply in this tragedy than the people of Canada, the neighbor of the United States." After Pearson spoke, the opposition party leaders expressed their sorrow and Commons adjourned "as an indication of our desire to share in the grief of the American people."

Latin America

Venezuelan President Romulo Bentacourt was speechless when informed. He cabled condolences to Washington, then later tried to read the message to newsmen. He broke into tears, unable to speak.

Peruvian President Fernando Belaunde halted a cabinet meeting to rise in a minute of silent tribute. He then telephoned U.S. Ambassador J. Wesley Jones and told him that he was "deeply shocked."

Argentine President Arturo Illia suspended trading on the stock exchange. When the news became known, sirens on the buildings of the newspapers in Buenos Aires, the nation's capital, La Nacion and La Prensa sounded.

Brazilian President João Goulart ordered three days of mourning.

Chilean President Jorge Alessandri was deeply moved and expressed his sorrow to the U.S. ambassador.

Colombian President Guillermo Leon Valencia told his countrymen in a broadcast that the assassination "constitutes a disastrous setback for the entire world, especially for the free world, and above all, for the American continent."

Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro accused President Kennedy for carrying the world "to the brink of nuclear war." He deplored Kennedy for his "hostile policies towards us," but said that the assassination was "...grave and bad. People feel repugnance to such a slaying because we should not consider this method a correct form of battle. We Cubans must react as conscientious revolutionaries and not confuse systems with the individual. We fight against systems not the man." Castro said that the administrations of both Kennedy and Eisenhower, "were characterized by hostile and implacable policies toward us. Cuba was a victim of attacks of all kinds that cost blood."

Mexican President Adolfo Lopez Mateos expressed "sorrow and consternation" at the news of the assassination and expressed hope that the assassination of "such an illustrious personage would not affect world peace."

Costa Rican President Francisco Orlich ordered 5 days of national mourning.

Africa

Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser: "It is a painful tragedy."

Asia

News of the assassination reached Asia during the early morning hours of November 23, 1963, because of the time difference, as people there were sleeping. People woke up that morning to shock over the assassination.

In Japan, Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda and Emperor Hirohito sent condolences to the White House. There was also a similar message from Foreign Minister Masayoshi Ohira.

In India:

• President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was "deeply shocked to hear of the brutal attack on President Kennedy, a man of great courage and conscience."
• Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru "already had enough shocks for one day," referring to the helicopter crash the day before that killed five Indian general officers. Because of this, aides decided not to wake him up until 6:00 in the morning. He said that the assassination was "terrible, shocking, and stunning. This sudden end of a great man was not only painful personally, but of large consequence to international affairs."

Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal said that the assassination of the president was an "incalculable loss to the United States and a blow to democracy." He said that Kennedy "put new firmness in the struggle against Communism."

Pakistani President Ayub Khan called the assassination "a dastardly act" that came to him as "a profound shock."

Australia

In Australia, which was into the final week of an election campaign, the first government reaction came from External Affairs Minister Sir Garfield Barwick, who said, "I am deeply shocked that this young and vigorous president should be assassinated." In his first comment on the assassination, Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies said that "the loss of a man with such capacity will for a time, at least, increase the dangers of world tension."