Video: 'January 14, 1964 - The making of ''Jacqueline Kennedy thanks the nation'''

(Tuesday, January 14, 1964) — Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, today told of her grief and of the comfort she gained from the thousands of messages after her husband’s assassination on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas.

“Whenever I can bear to, I read them” she said her eyes shining with tears “All his bright light gone from the world.”

Mrs. Kennedy expressed the thanks of herself and her children for the 800,000 messages of tribute and condolence in a statement broadcast on radio and television from the office of her brother-in-law, U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

Video: 'January 14, 1964 - More clips from The making of ''Jacqueline Kennedy thanks the nation'''

Clad in black and sitting before a blazing fireplace, Mrs. Kennedy said the “knowledge of the affection in which my husband was held by all of you has sustained me and the warmth of these tributes is something I shall never forget.”

In a voice so low it was barely audible to those around her, the President’s 34-year-old widow declared that “all of you who have written to me know how much we all loved him and that he returned that love in full measure.”

And she said it is her greatest wish to acknowledge all the letters even though “it will take a long time.”