The Kennedy half dollar was created to honor America's 35th President, John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. The design of the coin was finalized just weeks after President Kennedy's untimely death, and the necessary legislation authorizing the new half dollar breezed through Congress. Regular-issue production of the new coins was under way by the end of January 1964, a mere two months after that fateful day in Dallas.
