Robert Nelson McClelland (November 20, 1929 – September 10, 2019) was an American surgeon. On November 22, 1963, he worked unsuccessfully to save the life of U.S. President John F. Kennedy after he was fatally shot. Two days later, he also worked unsuccessfully to save the life of Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.

Early life and education

Robert Nelson McClelland was born on November 20, 1929, in Gilmer, Texas. His father, Robert, was a butcher. His mother, Verna McClelland, was born as Nelson and worked for a federal relief agency. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1950 and from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1954.

Career

McClelland worked as a medical officer in the United States Air Force for two years and was stationed in Germany for a time. After finishing his training at Parkland Memorial Hospital, he became a teacher at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. His area of expertise was surgery involving the liver, pancreas, and biliary tract.

In 1974, McClelland created and edited the book Selected Readings in General Surgery, which shared the most important articles from medical journals for students and surgeons. The book is now published by the American College of Surgeons. After working at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for 45 years, McClelland retired in August 2007. In September 2007, he was named Professor Emeritus of Surgery at the UT Southwestern Medical Center and continued to help teach medical students.

On November 22, 1963, McClelland was working at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, when President John F. Kennedy was brought to the hospital with serious injuries. Three surgeons, including McClelland, Malcolm Perry, and Charles R. Baxter, tried to save his life, but Kennedy died shortly after arriving. McClelland believed that Kennedy was shot from the front, which supported the idea that there was a second shooter. McClelland gave a statement to the Warren Commission and described the "back part of the skull" as "extremely blasted." He explained that the wound was so severe that "you could look down into the skull cavity and see probably a third or so of the brain tissue."

In 1988, McClelland appeared in the documentary The Men Who Killed Kennedy. He was also interviewed for the 1992 documentary The JFK Assassination: The Jim Garrison Tapes and for the 2023 documentary JFK: What the Doctors Saw. He was portrayed by Joseph Nadell in the film JFK (1991).

Two days after Kennedy’s death, McClelland saw on the news that Kennedy’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, had been shot. McClelland returned to the hospital and worked with Tom Shires to try to save Oswald’s life. Oswald died two hours after being shot. McClelland kept his blood-stained shirt from the attempt to save President Kennedy for the rest of his life.

Personal life and death

McClelland married Connie Logan in May 1958. She worked as a head nurse at Parkland Memorial Hospital, and the couple attended the same church. They had two daughters and one son. McClelland liked to read and made sure there was a bookcase in every room of his home.

McClelland died from kidney failure on September 10, 2019, at an assisted living facility in Dallas. He was 89 years old.

Honors

In 1990, Robert N. McClelland was honored with a lectureship named after him by the Parkland Surgical Society.