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honor of President Kennedy.
President Bush also issued a statement.
"John F. Kennedy has been gone nearly as long as he lived, yet the memory of him still brings pride to our nation and a feeling of loss that defies the passing of years," he said.
Perhaps because this year's anniversary was unusually warm and on a weekend, the crowd at Dealey Plaza seemed to build sooner and linger longer into the afternoon than on past anniversaries.
Before the speeches began, people lined up eight-deep around the National Historic Marker, with some people leaving flowers, flags and a sign that read, "Thank you for the gift of you, President Kennedy. We love you."
Nearby, however, the makeshift "X" in the center lane of Elm Street, which purportedly marks the exact spot where Kennedy was struck by the fatal bullet, sometimes went unnoticed. People seemingly oblivious to its significance stood atop the crossed masking tape, taking photos of the grassy knoll, the crowd and even television crews.
Among those in the crowd Saturday was a member of the Kennedy administration, George Stevens Jr., who was head of the U.S. Information Agency's motion picture division at the time Kennedy was killed, allegedly by Lee Harvey Oswald.
"You can't help calculate how random it was," Mr. Stevens said Saturday as he looked around Dealey Plaza, "how a troubled soul with no direction in life changed the world so drastically."
Mr. Stevens said he was untroubled by the controversy that had lingered over the assassination after four decades.
"The reality of John Kennedy is truer than the myth," said Mr. Stevens, who was in Dallas to speak at a Sixth Floor Museum symposium. "He's a great figure in history and a great leader who inspired a generation. That's his legacy."
Billie Sol Estes, a figure of a different sort from the 1960s, was in attendance as well.
Mr. Estes, 78, a confidant of President Lyndon B. Johnson who served prison time for mortgaging phantom fertilizer tanks, was among those leading the "Walk of Silence," sponsored by the Conspiracy Museum. Mr. Estes has recently co-written a book in which he alleges that LBJ was involved in the assassination of his predecessor.
"It sure does make my heart warm to see [hundreds of] people here," Mr. Estes said after the group placed a wreath at the plaque at Dealey Plaza. "I hope his memory lives on forever."
At the symphony
Saturday night, about 1,700 people attended a Dallas Symphony Orchestra performance of Mass, which made its debut in Dallas to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the assassination. Jacqueline Kennedy had requested Leonard Bernstein compose the piece to honor her husband and commemorate the 1971 opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Before the concert, dozens of people, including David and Alison Elmquist of Dallas, stopped by displays that recounted the story behind Mass and the president's life. The couple doesn't frequently attend the symphony, but they said this was a special occasion.
"It's an ongoing memorial," Mrs. Elmquist said of Mass. "The music is quite a nice way to be remembered."
Rodney Hutton of Fort Worth said he saw one of Mr. Bernstein's first Mass concerts at the Kennedy Center. So, he said, "this is sort of a nostalgic trip to return to this performance."
At the start of Mass, Dallas Symphony Association President Fred Bronstein read a letter from Sen. Kennedy, who wrote that his family was grateful to the city of Dallas "for not only pausing to remember what was lost, but also for focusing on what was achieved by the man we loved so much."
A second performance will be 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.
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