November 1963

November 1963 is the month in which the narrative recalls John F. Kennedy’s killing in Dallas, using it to contrast the vulnerability of his protection with the security surrounding Charles de Gaulle. The reference places the Jackal’s assassination plan against a later event that tests the competing judgments about presidential security.

The Killing in Dallas

The account describes Kennedy as having been killed by an amateur whom it characterizes as half-crazed, while American security is described as slack. The killing appears in a retrospective passage rather than as a scene unfolding in the novel’s immediate action.

Contrast with De Gaulle’s Security

French security experts had studied the precautions used to protect Kennedy and returned disdainful of the American methods. The narrative presents Kennedy’s death as vindicating that judgment: Charles de Gaulle, protected by a system the experts considered stronger, lived on, retired in peace, and eventually died at home. November 1963 thus sharpens the contrast between an actual presidential assassination and the failed prospects of an attack on de Gaulle; it does not itself establish that security alone explains either outcome.