Rare video of Kennedy's last day

A rare film of US President John F. Kennedy on the day of his assassination has been released to the public for the first time.

The Sixth Floor Museum, which chronicles the assassination and legacy of Kennedy, released the clip on the President's Day holiday on Monday. (AP Image)

The film shows the President and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy arriving on Air Force One at Love Field airport in Dallas, Texas on that fateful day on November 22, 1963.

It was shot on 8mm film by William Ward Warren, then a 15-year-old student, who, like all other students in Dallas, was given the day off for the presidential visit and decided to take his camera to Love Field.

At the time of President Kennedy's arrival, local television stations were broadcasting live coverage primarily using only black and white footage. That means the majority of the colour images of President Kennedy in Dallas were made by amateurs filming their personal views of the First Family.(AP Image)

The footage mainly shows Air Force One and Air Force Two arriving, and briefly features the Kennedys making their way through the crowd at the airport.

The final few seconds of the three-minute film show JFK passing through the crowd, smiling at cameras.

Jacqueline Kennedy follows, carrying a bouquet of red roses given to her by local officials.

She's walking alongside Lyndon Baines Johnson, the vice president at the time. A smiling Lady Bird Johnson appears briefly. She's followed by Governor John Connally, who was wounded in the shooting later in the day.

Warren, now the 61-year-old owner of a freight brokerage business, tells the museum in an oral history that Kennedy came so close he couldn't decide whether to keep filming or stop to shake his hand. It was a short time later, that Warren found out about the assassination.

Warren held onto his clip for 46 years not realising the importance that it carried. That is, until he handed it into to the Sixth Floor Museum last year.