David Powers

David Francis Powers (April 25, 1912 – March 27, 1998) was Special Assistant and assistant Appointments Secretary to President of the United States John F. Kennedy. Powers served as Museum Curator of the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum from 1964 until his retirement in May 1994. Powers was a military veteran who had served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II from 1942 to 1945. Powers was also a very close, personal friend of John F. Kennedy.

The son of Irish immigrants, Powers was born in the Charlestown section of Boston. His father died when he was two-years old.

During the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Powers and Kenneth P. O'Donnell were riding in the Secret Service follow-up car directly behind the presidential limousine and are seen in the famous Zapruder film. In 1996, the Assassination Records Review Board released three-minutes of film footage captured by Powers in Dallas prior to the assassination. Powers said he began filming when the motorcade left Love Field but ran out of film at 12:17 p.m before reaching Dealey Plaza.

Powers and Kenneth O'Donnell co-authored "Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye": Memories of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1972).

Powers' granddaughter, Jenny Powers, gained fame as a Broadway actress and performer. An ardent Democrat like her grandfather, she was asked to sing the National Anthem at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

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