Ralph Harris covered news conferences throughout the Truman , Eisenhower , Kennedy , Johnson , Nixon , Ford , Carter and Reagan administrations for Reuters . He was Reuters ' main reporter during the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald . Harris reported on the hostilities of the South and their support of Jack Ruby , who had killed Oswald . Harris was also Reuters ' correspondent on whether Concorde would be allowed to land in the U.S. and for the 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash . In 1979 , Harris became the first foreign president of the White House Correspondents ’ Association . Ralph Harris retired in 1986 , after 37 years of working with Reuters . He was commended by Larry Speakes as " a reporter 's reporter ... with accuracy and speed ... facts without fluff " and President Ronald Reagan described him as " a veritable institution among the Fourth Estate in Washington " . Harris died on December 24 , 2008 due to respiratory failure
1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash
1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash
Ralph Harris (journalist)