On November 22 , 1963 , MacNeil was covering President John F. Kennedy 's visit to Dallas for NBC News . After shots rang out in Dealey Plaza , MacNeil , who was with the presidential motorcade , followed crowds running onto the Grassy Knoll ( he appears in a photo taken just moments after the assassination ) . He then headed towards the nearest building and encountered a man leaving the Texas School Book Depository . He asked the man where the nearest telephone was and the man pointed and went on his way . MacNeil later learned the man he encountered at about 12:33 p.m. CST might have been Lee Harvey Oswald . This conclusion was made by historian William Manchester in his book '' The Death of a President '' ( 1967 ) , who believed that Oswald , recounting the day 's events to the Dallas Police , mistook MacNeil as a Secret Service agent because of his suit , blond crew cut , and press badge ( which Oswald apparently mistook for government identification )
President John F. Kennedy 's visit to Dallas
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Robert MacNeil