King Assassination

Former Governor Harold Hughes (1922-1996) describes learning about the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968.

I can tell you exactly where I was when Martin Luther King was assassinated. I was in a black church on the east side in a meeting with black Baptist bishops and ministers. We had just finished eating dinner in the church, here in Des Moines, and a lady came and told me, ‘There is a very urgent call for you from the Associated Press. And they said it is so urgent that they insist on you coming to the phone…’ So I went to the phone, and they said ‘Governor, we are extremely sorry to have to interrupt your meeting, but it's our sad duty to inform you that Martin Luther King has just been assassinated in Memphis.