EPISODE 63: The Secret Service (Part 2)

Matt Crumpton

Mar 1218 min read

The Secret Service White House Detail failed to perform their primary function on November 22, 1963 – protecting the President. But once you get past that basic failure, there are a lot of secondary questions that come into play. As we attempt to reconstruct how these important Secret Service decisions were made – ones that independently could have saved President Kennedy’s life – it’s important to continually ask the question: Is this how it was done in other cities in 1963 or is there something unique about November 22nd?

In this episode, we revisit the presidential motorcade in Dallas. But, this time, we’ll zoom in to the motorcade itself, as opposed to what was seen by Secret Service in the motorcade as we previously discussed in Episode 11.

Why did the motorcade travel the route it did? Who planned the details of that route? And were there any last minute changes to the motorcade lineup?

Luncheon Planning

The story of the decisions behind President Kennedy’s motorcade route on November 22nd begins with the planning of the location for the president’s luncheon speech that day.[1]

There were ultimately two potential candidates: the Dallas Trade Mart and the Women’s Building at the Fair Grounds. The Trade Mart meant going through Dealey Plaza. Whereas, the Women’s Building would have required a different route that didn’t go through Dealey Plaza. As the House Select Committee on Assassinations said, QUOTE “The extraordinarily intense conflict about the choice of a speech site seems to indicate at the very least that the possibility of influencing the speech site selection requires close scrutiny.”[2]It’s also notable that there were no similar controversies about event locations on any of the other four stops on the Texas trip. It only happened in Dallas.[3]

Here’s the back story: On October 30th, President Kennedy’s political advance man, Jerry Bruno, went to Dallas to evaluate the first choice for the luncheon venue: the Statler Hilton Hotel ballroom.[4]

A quick sidebar is necessary here: According to Statler Hilton employee Laura Layfield, a man who she saidlooked like Oswald, but had a deeper voice, applied for a job at the Statler Hilton Hotel on October 31st. Layfield told the FBI that around lunch time that day, this man came in and said his name was Oswald. She remembered him because he wrote that he spoke Russian on the application. When Layfield asked the man where he learned Russian he said it was none of her business. He also mentioned that he had a Russian wife. Oswald worked at the Schoolbook Depository at this time, which was about fourteen blocks from the Statler Hilton.[5] So, it is theoretically possible that Oswald himself walked there on his lunch break. If not, we have to add this to the list of Oswald impersonations. Either way, what are the chances that Oswald would just happen to apply for a job at the first choice for the presidential speech luncheon? Quite a coincidence.

Back to the planning of the President’s luncheon: When Jerry Bruno was told that the Statler Hotel had already been booked for a Pepsi Bottler’s convention, the Dallas Trade Mart was suggested instead by Eric Jonsson (one of the owners of Texas Instruments) and by Robert Cullum (founder of Tom Thumb food stores). Jonsson and Cullum were in a position to make recommendations because they were in charge of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and the Dallas Citizens Council respectively.[6]

When White House advance man Bruno visited the Trade Mart he had safety concerns about it because of the catwalks that would be above the president.[7] He was especially worried about the president’s safety in Dallas in light of the Adlai Stevenson incident.[8]

With the safety concerns about the Trade Mart, Bruno looked for other locations. When Bruno found out that Governor Connally was unhappy with the decision to not use the Trade Mart, Bruno decided to reconsider it out of deference to the Governor.[9] When Bruno returned from Dallas to Washington, the location of the luncheon was not confirmed.[10]

On November 4th, the Secret Service got involved in the Dallas advance work for the first time. On that day, the top man at the Secret Service responsible for the White House security detail, Gerald Behn, contacted Forrest Sorrels, the agent in charge of the Dallas Secret Service office. Behn told Sorrels that there were two options for the luncheon site: the Trade Mart, which would require extra manpower to secure due to the catwalks and numerous entrances and exits – and the Women’s Building at the fair grounds.

On the same day (November 4th) Local agent Sorrels went to visit the two potential locations. Sorrels told the Warren Commission that the Trade Mart would require more security than the Women’s Building – and that the Women’s Building QUOTE “wasn’t a very nice place to take the president” because the ceilings were too low and the air conditioning was exposed. Although, the security situation at the Women’s Building was good.[11]

On the other hand, in Sorrels November 30th, 1963 report he said that Agent Gerald Behn, head of the White House Detail, told him that QUOTE “the Trade Mart had been suggested for the luncheon place, but that it was apparently not as good as the Women’s building.”[12] This written statement from Behn which Sorrels did not mention to the Commission somewhat undercuts Sorrels’ testimony about the Women’s Building not being a nice place.

In that same report, Sorrels said that after he visited the Trade Mart and the Women’s Building on November 4th, he QUOTE “returned to the office and telephoned SAIC Behn and informed him that the Trade Mart didpose security problems…[and] the women’s building offered no problems as to security.”[13] Indeed, the Trade Mart had 4 internal balconies and 58 doors to protect according to what Governor Connally told the Dallas Times Herald.[14]

The same day that Sorrels visited the Trade Mart and the Women’s Building, November 4th, Agent Winston Lawson was assigned as the lead advance agent for Dallas.[15] On November 5th, Gerald Behn, the lead agent for the White House Detail, told political advance man Jerry Bruno that Behn preferred the Women’s Building as the luncheon site.[16] Bruno had the impression that this decision to use the Women’s Building was final when he heard it from Behn.[17]

Advance Agent Lawson made his first visit to Dallas as the Secret Service advance lead on November 13th. On that day Lawson, Dallas Agent Sorrels and Jack Puterbaugh, from the Democratic National Committee, among others, visited both the Trade Mart and the Women’s Building.[18]

As of the next day, November 14th, a final decision had not been made on the luncheon venue. It was still up in the air between the Women’s Building and the Trade Mart. We know this because Dallas Police Captain MW Stevenson put it in his written report of November 30, 1963.[19]

On November 15th, a story ran in the Dallas Times Herald that said that the Trade Mart had been selected for the luncheon. The article said QUOTE “word of the selection came from Washington to Dallas sponsors of the event.”[20] This implies that the decision was made from Washington. However, it is possible that the decision was made in Dallas and was merely leaked from Washington.

Later the same day, the Secret Service scheduled a meeting with Dallas Police at the Trade Mart for November 19th. But there was no scheduled visit to the Women’s Building with the Secret Service and the Dallas police together.[21] So, it appears that the decision to use the Trade Mart had, in fact, been made by November 15th when only the Trade Mart security follow up visit was scheduled.

Who Decided On the Trade Mart?

The big question that remains is ‘who exactly made the final decision to use the Trade Mart over the Women’s Building?’ The answer to that question is all over the place - and it depends on who you ask.

Some say it was White House aide Kenny O’Donnell. The chief of Secret Service, James Rowley, told the Warren Commission that O’Donnell chose the Trade Mart site.[22] Rowley added that Jack Puterbaugh told advance agent Lawson about the Trade Mart decision. However, Puterbaugh denied ever having that conversation with Lawson.[23]

According to the HSCA, the decision to use the Trade Mart was made by the White House through O’Donnell and Bruno because Governor Connally insisted on it.[24] Governor Connally also said that Kenny O’Donnell chose the Trade Mart.[25]

Agent Behn told the HSCA that O’Donnell told him that the Trade Mart was the final choice sometime between November 5th and November 9th.[26] However, as we just discussed, there were meetings held between November 13th and November 15th where Secret Service and police still did not know where the luncheon was going to be held. So, if the decision was made earlier, it was not relayed to Dallas at that time.

On the other side of the coin, Jerry Bruno, the White House advance man undercuts what Rowley, Connally and Behn said. He told HSCA investigators that Agent Behn, Kenny O’Donnell, and Jerry Bruno all favored the Women’s Building.[27] If O’Donnell thought the Women’s Building was the better choice, then it is not very likely that he would have selected the Trade Mart. The HSCA didn’t get a chance to ask O’Donnell because he died in September of 1977 from complications related to alcohol.[28]

The lead advance agent for Dallas, Winston Lawson, claimed that, in addition to Jack Puterbaugh supporting the Trade Mart, it was Jerry Bruno’s decision to use the Trade Mart, which as we have seen, Bruno expressly denied.[29] According to Jerry Bruno, local Secret Service agents in Dallas, which probably means Forrest Sorrels, recommended the Trade Mart, even though the top ranking agent over the White House Detail – Gerald Behn, wanted the Women’s Building. As noted by the HSCA, QUOTE “if any local agent did in fact make such recommendations despite Behn’s prior decision on November 6 favoring the Women’s Building, this would have presented a clear case of a subordinate agent contradicting the Special Agent In Charge of the White House Detail.”[30]

So, the witness statements seem to indicate that either Kenny O’Donnell or Jerry Bruno were the ones who made the decision. But, remember, that neither O’Donnell nor Bruno were in the Secret Service. They were just political guys.

Advance Agent Lawson said that the Trade Mart decision was made by someone in Washington after Lawson reported back to Behn about both sites. Lawson said that he provided the information to either Roy Kellerman or Floyd Boring, who reported to Behn.[31] Kellerman was not involved in the Dallas advance planning until November 8th and did not receive his assignment to be in Dallas until November 17th.[32] However, Floyd Boring, who was the #2 man in charge of advance planning at the Secret Service under Behn, was involved in the Dallas advance planning. So, most likely, Lawson spoke to Floyd Boring.

Motorcade Route Itself

So, we have disputed testimony about who made the final call for the luncheon destination, which dictated the route of the motorcade. But what do we know about the planning of the motorcade route itself?

On November 14th – a week and a day before the assassination - there was a meeting between local Secret Service Agent Forrest Sorrels, advance agent, Winston Lawson, Dallas police Chief Jesse Curry, and assistant Chief Charles Batchelor. At that time, the police were told that neither the motorcade route nor the luncheon destination was final. However, the tentative route that was communicated to the police by the Secret Service on November 14th was the exact same route as the one ultimately used on November 22nd – but with one major difference. The last street Agent Lawson mentioned in the November 14th meeting was Main Street. There was no reference to the sharp turn from Main to Houston to Elm.[33]

This dog leg left turn required the motorcade to materially slow down, which would have made it an easier target. The turn was at a 120 degree angle, which was against Secret Service protocol.[34] It was this turn that took the president right next to the Schoolbook Depository Building instead of through the center of Dealey Plaza down Main Street.

To be fair, to make it on the Stemmons Freeway to get to the Trade Mart, the easiest way was to go down Elm Street. This is because there was a divider in the road that made it very difficult to get on the Freeway from Main St. Even still, Dallas police Sargeant Samuel Bellah told author Vince Palamara in a letter that the night before the assassination the planned route was to drive through the center of Dealey Plaza on Main Street and then stop traffic to cross over the barrier. Sargeant Bellah said QUOTE

“My Captain, PW Lawrence came by my house in Dallas, it was getting late in the evening on November 21st. He wanted me to go with him to the Triple Underpass and show me the new route for the escort. The new route was Main Street, cross Houston St at the Triple Underpass, go forward under the railroad, turn right, cross Elm Street to the entrance to the Expressway and stop traffic at that location for the President’s Escort. As you know this route was changed from Main St to Houston St, right on Houston St, to Elm St, then left on Elm to the service road that approaches the Freeway. There was never an answer as to why the sudden change.”[35]

Another very similar route was available that would not have required driving over a concrete divider. The motorcade could have continued down Main Street through the middle of Dealey Plaza, and then turned right on Industrial Boulevard (now known as Riverside Drive). This route was discussed, but ultimately ruled against because, according to assistant police chief George Lumpkin, it was QUOTE “filled with winos and broken pavement” and because the president wanted exposure to crowds, which would not have been on Industrial Boulevard.[36] But this does not appear to be a credible reason for not taking Industrial Boulevard since Agent Paul Landis noted that much of the ride from Love Field was QUOTE “car lots, junk dealers, and auto part stores.”[37]

According to the Warren Commission, the motorcade route was selected by advance agent Lawson.[38] But, local agent Sorrels told the Commission that Lawson asked him for advice on the best route from Love Field to the Trade Mart. Sorrels said QUOTE “Lawson and I drove what I thought would be the best route and the most direct route to the Trade Mart, bearing in mind that there would be a parade through the downtown section. So, we drove that route. And then later we had the police go with us and we went over the same route.”

Agent Lawson confirmed that he and Agent Sorrels drove over the final route with two police officers, but he denied to the HSCA that he drove over the route earlier with Agent Sorrels on November 14th.[39] Lawson also told the HSCA that he could not identify the person who approved the fateful turn from Main to Houston to Elm.[40]

The HSCA ultimately determined – contrary to the Warren Commission – that Advance Agent Lawson did not have control over the final determination of the route.[41]

Police Chief Curry told the Commission that he was not consulted about the motorcade route.[42] Curry learned about the route on the day before the President’s visit from Agents Lawson and Sorrels.[43] Gerald Behn, the agent in charge of the White House Detail told author Vince Palamara QUOTE “I know [the motorcade route] was changed but why – I’ve forgotten completely – I don’t know.”[44]

Dallas Police Captain Orville Jones also said the decision for the final motorcade route was made just a few hours before the shooting.[45] Motorcycle officer Bobby Joe Dale said there were three possible motorcade routes that had been discussed and that the police did not know what route had been selected until it came over the radio as they were leaving Love Field.[46]

Despite this testimony that the route had been changed, it is true that the motorcade route was published in the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times Herald on Tuesday, November 19th. JFK aide Kenny O’Donnell refused to give the press the motorcade route based on concerns he had about security in Dallas after the Adlai Stevenson incident.[47] Despite O’Donnell’s concerns, the motorcade route was provided to the press by Betsy Harris, who worked for Bill Moyers, an aide to Vice President Johnson. Moyers told the HSCA that he wanted the route published in advance so that the president would be seen by the crowds. He claimed to have permission from a Secret Service agent to publish the information, but he could not remember the name of the agent.[48] It was not at that time the practice of the Secret Service to publish the route of the president in advance.[49]

The Warren Commission found no issues with the route selected by Agent Lawson with the input of Agent Sorrels.[50] Agent Sorrels told the Commission that the route taken by JFK was the same one as the route President Franklin Roosevelt had taken when he came to Dallas. But, that’s not exactly true. Roosevelt did go through Dealey Plaza. But, his route went through the center of the Plaza down Main Street instead of making the series of turns that resulted in the motorcade being on Elm Street.[51]

Motorcade Lineup Changes

In addition to the confusion about exactly who approved the 120 degree turn from Houston to Elm Street, there were several notable changes in the order of vehicles and passengers in the motorcade as compared to the standard protocol.

First, the Vice President did not normally travel in the same motorcade as the president for obvious reasons. The whole purpose of the office was to succeed the president if he died. But, in Dallas, Vice President Johnson was present in the motorcade. This was the only time President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson were in the same motorcade.[52]

Second, Admiral George Burkley, President Kennedy’s personal physician, typically was a passenger in either the presidential limo or the Secret Service follow up car. The only motorcades where Burkley was somewhere else were Rome and Dallas. For the Dallas motorcade, Burkley was placed in a bus at the very end of the motorcade – nowhere near the president.[53] This deviation from standard protocol in Dallas stands out even more because Burkley was in the follow up car in the Fort Worth motorcade just hours before the Dallas motorcade.[54]

The third anomaly with the motorcade lineup involved General Godfrey McHugh, President Kennedy’s loyal military aide. Typically, General McHugh rode between the driver of the presidential limo and the Secret Service agent in charge of the trip. But, for the first time ever, in Dallas he was asked to ride in a car at the back of the motorcade.[55] According to a radio interview with General McHugh in 1978, he was told that the reason for moving him this time was QUOTE “to give the president full exposure. They told me it would be helpful politically to the president.”[56]

Fourth, as noted by the HSCA, there were several changes with the order of the motorcade on November 22nd as compared to the plan on November 19th.[57] Each of the vehicles had a number taped to the outside of the windshield. For example, the presidential limo was number 7, but it was set up in the 5th position in the motorcade. The Congressional cars were labeled as numbers 2 and 3. But, they were instead put in positions 16 and 18. Mayor Earl Cabell, whose brother was Charles Cabell, the #2 man at the CIA who was fired by President Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs, was also in the motorcade. Mayor Cabell’s car was supposed to be #1 according to the number on the windshield. But, instead, it was in 5th place.[58]

The fifth unique difference with the Dallas motorcade was that White House photographer Cecil Stoughton typically rode in the Secret Service follow up car. He was in that car for all motorcades from July 1963 through November 21st, 1963.[59] On November 22nd, Stoughton was instead replaced by Kennedy aide, Dave Powers, in the follow up car.[60]

And, finally, the sixth deviation from the standard motorcade procedure in Dallas was the elimination of the press truck. As noted by Secret Service agent Clint Hill in his book, it was typical for the lead vehicle in the motorcade to be a press truck – an open flatbed truck with rails around the outside – filled with about a dozen photographers. This was especially true when large crowds were expected along a motorcade route.[61]

In Dallas, the press truck was called off at the last minute, according to reporter Tom Dillard of the Dallas Morning News. Dillard told the Warren Commission QUOTE “We lost our position at the airport. I understood we were to have been quite a bit closer. We were assigned as the prime photographic car which, as you probably know, normally, a truck precedes the President on [motorcades] and certain representatives of the photographic press ride with the truck. In this case, as you know, we didn’t have any…”[62] Stoughton told C-Span in 1993 that the press flatbed truck was QUOTE “canceled at the last minute” and the photographers were put in Chevy convertibles which Stoughton said QUOTE “totally put us out of the picture.”[63] The press truck was used for local photographers in Florida just a few days earlier for the motorcade through downtown Tampa.[64]

Instead of having a press truck in front of the presidential limousine and having Cecil Stoughton, the official White House photographer, either in front of the limo or in the follow up car behind it, all of the press and Stoughton were moved to positions further back in the motorcade, which were out of sight of the president’s car.[65]

So, we have at least 6 independent anomalies with the order of the motorcade. Whether these deviations were innocent or sinister, someone had to be responsible for making the changes. What does the record say about who changed the motorcade order?

Winston Lawson, the Secret Service agent responsible for advance planning in Dallas, told the Assassination Records Review Board in 1992 that he was the one who was responsible for handling the car numbers at Love Field.[66] The same sentiment was echoed to the Warren Commission when Lawson said that he was in charge of the “car numbers for the windows” at Love Field.[67]

However, Lawson told the HSCA that Jack Puterbaugh, the advance man from the Democratic National Committee was QUOTE “also in charge of the protocol of the motorcade [and] the arranging of seating and vehicle sequence for Congressmen and other dignitaries…”[68] Puterbaugh, however, did not mention having any such responsibilities when he spoke to researcher Larry Haapanen in 1970.[69]

Agent Roger Warner confirmed Lawson’s role in being responsible for the motorcade order. His written report to the Warren Commission says that he assisted Special Agent Lawson QUOTE “in lining up cars for the motorcade, passing out numbers for the automobiles, and other general duties.”[70]

Regarding the question of why the press cars were moved, Lawson told the HSCA that he was QUOTE “not sure whether the deployment of the wire service car and press cars was done by the ‘local press man’ in charge of press cars or by him.”[71]

We don’t know why Lawson moved the vehicles. But, the HSCA did confirm in their interview with Lawson that QUOTE “the intended sequence of vehicles on November 19 was changed for November 22nd.”[72]

NEXT TIME ON SOLVING JFK: We continue to look at the Secret Service’s role in the assassination of President Kennedy. Did they follow the same security protocols that they followed in other cities when it came to the speed of the limo and rooftop protection? And why were agents removed from the back of the presidential limo at Love Field?

[1] https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/dallas-tx-trade-mart-undelivered-19631122

[2] RIF # 180-10093-10320, 5/31/77 Memorandum from HSCA’s Belford Lawson to HSCA members Gary Cornwell and Ken Klein.

[3] Id.

[4] https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/gjbpp-006-015#?image_identifier=GJBPP-006-015-p0001

[5] https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10672#relPageId=495&search=tyra ; There is also an FBI report that Oswald applied for a job at the Adolphus Hotel - https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10489#relPageId=268&search=tyra

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_John_F._Kennedy_assassination

[7] Id.

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Id.

[11] Warren Commission Testimony of Forrest Sorrels. https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/pdf/WH7_Sorrels.pdf

[12] 21 H 546

[13] Id.

[14] 11 HSCA 519

[15] Warren Commission Testimony of Winston Lawson. https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0164a.htm

[16] https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol11/pdf/HSCA_Vol11_Motorcade.pdf, at 517.

[17] https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol11/pdf/HSCA_Vol11_Motorcade.pdf, at 517. (Bruno’s 11/7/63 Dallas itinerary says unequivocally the women’s building was the destination for 11/22/63! Warren commission CD 3 has the tentative secret service schedule for 11/22/63, which says “Arrive Trade Mart or Fair Grounds [women’s building]. Next line days “Leave fair grounds.” Palamara at 98.)

[18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_John_F._Kennedy_assassination ; Agent Behn told the HSCA that Lawson advised him that QUOTE “in matters of security, there would not be much difference between the Women’s Building and the Trade Mart. This was a significant departure from what Sorrels had said regarding the level of security required for the Trade Mart. HSCA Interview with Gerald Behn, 1/30/1978

[19] https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/html/WH_Vol21_0294a.htm

[20] 11 HSCA 518, CD Exhibit 3

[21] Vince Palamara, Survivor’s Guilt, at 96.

[22] https://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh22/html/WH_Vol22_0322a.htm, at 613

[23] Palamara at 99.

[24] https://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/report/html/HSCA_Report_0107a.htm at 183

[25] James Reston, Jr.; The Lone Star; the Life of John Connally, at 255.

[26] HSCA Interview with Behn, 1/30/78; RIF #180-10104-10481.

[27] HSCA Memo of 12/13/77, 11 HSCA 515-516, Palamara at 98.

[28]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_O%27Donnell#:~:text=Kenneth%20Patrick%20O'Donnell%20(March,Kennedy's%20assassination%20in%20November%201963 .

[29] Samuel Stern and John Ely, Memorandum of Interview with Lawson, 3/31/64, p 2; Palamara at 99.

[30] https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol11/pdf/HSCA_Vol11_Motorcade.pdf