A few minutes later, I heard women shrieking, and a thunderous applause. President Kennedy had just walked outside the hotel.
I remained at the security post, just outside the entrance to the suite, giving Mrs. Kennedy as much privacy as possible. Mary Gallagher was already inside packing Mrs. Kennedy’s bags and helping her get ready.
At 9:10 A.M. the security phone at the entrance to the presidential suite rang. It was agent Bill Duncan, the advance agent, calling from the breakfast being held downstairs.
“Clint, the president wants you to bring Mrs. Kennedy down to the breakfast—
“Okay,” I said, “we’ll be right there.”
I checked Mrs. Kennedy’s schedule and where it listed the breakfast there was a red check mark and a red- penciled footnote in her handwriting:
I walked into the suite and said, “Mrs. Kennedy, the president wants you down at the breakfast. Are you ready?”
“Come on in, Mr. Hill,” she answered, not noting the urgency in my voice. I walked into her bedroom, where Mary was hurriedly packing Mrs. Kennedy’s suitcase.
Mrs. Kennedy was dressed in her pink suit, the one with the navy collar. But I could tell she wasn’t completely ready. She hadn’t planned on going to the breakfast.
“Good morning, I hope you slept well,” she said cheerfully.
“We’ve got another long day ahead,” I said, trying to subdue my urgent attitude.
“Yes, I never realized how tiring campaigning could be,” she said. “I guess I didn’t do too much of it the last time.”
“Mrs. Kennedy, did you know that the president is waiting for you at the breakfast?”
“I wasn’t planning on going to the breakfast,” she said.
“I know, Mrs. Kennedy, but the president wants you down at the breakfast right now.”
She looked in the mirror and said, “Okay, I just need to put on my hat.”
There was a matching pink pillbox hat laid out on the dresser next to some gloves. She put it on, looked in the mirror to adjust it, and then asked Mary to help her with the buttons on her wrist-length gloves.
Now she was ready. I opened the door and we walked out of the suite, toward the elevators.
Paul Landis had received the message and was waiting in the hall near the elevators.
“Good morning, Mr. Landis,” she said with a smile.
“Good morning, Mrs. Kennedy, another busy day ahead for you.”
“Yes, we will all be ready to relax tonight, won’t we?”
The three of us got into the elevator and began the descent to the mezzanine level.
I led the way, walking briskly, with Mrs. Kennedy following, and Paul behind her. As we entered the Grand Ballroom, the place erupted with applause. The room was packed with people sitting at long tables. They had utilized every square foot of space available and about two thousand people were in attendance.
I could hear people commenting as she walked by: “Oh, isn’t she lovely?” “Oh my goodness, she’s even prettier in person!”
I led her to the dais and she was guided to her seat at the head table.
President Kennedy stepped up to the podium and said, “Two years ago, I introduced myself in Paris by saying that I was the man who had accompanied Mrs. Kennedy to Paris. I am getting somewhat that same sensation as I travel around Texas.”
He paused, as the entire audience laughed.
Then, he added, glancing at Mrs. Kennedy, “Nobody wonders what Lyndon and I wear.”
Mrs. Kennedy blushed and displayed that girlhood smile of innocence she had perfected. The president, in his inimitable way, had hidden what I knew was his displeasure with her lateness, turned the situation into a compliment of his wife, added a dose of humor, and the crowd loved it.
The breakfast concluded with gifts to both the president and Mrs. Kennedy, and we escorted them back to the suite. They had about a half an hour to relax before we headed to Dallas.
IT HAD BEEN raining lightly that morning in Fort Worth, so ASAIC Kellerman called Agent Win Lawson, the advance agent in Dallas, to check on the weather. It hadn’t yet been determined whether SS-100-X would have the Plexiglas bubbletop on or off. It took some time to attach the bubbletop, and Sam Kinney, the driver agent in charge of the vehicles, would need to know as soon as possible.
Lawson reported it was clearing up and should be nice.
ASAIC Kellerman said, “Tell Sam, top off.”
That was the standard motorcade situation during the Kennedy administration. It was the same whether he was in Berlin, Dublin, Honolulu, Tampa, San Antonio, or San Jose, Costa Rica. Unless it was raining or there were other adverse weather conditions, the president wanted the top off during parade-type motorcades. He wanted maximum exposure with no evidence there was anything between him and the people. People felt a connection to President Kennedy when they saw him in person. That’s what had gotten him elected, and now he needed to get reelected.
AT 10:40 A.M. we left the Hotel Texas and headed for Carswell Air Force Base, where Air Force One, the vice president’s plane, and the backup plane were ready to go. We used standard Lincoln convertibles again, but it had stopped raining, so the tops were off.
There were large crowds all along the thirty-minute route back to Carswell, and again a large crowd was waiting at the air force base. More shaking hands, and finally it was time to go.
The president’s Secret Service detail had changed shifts at 8:00 A.M. I boarded Air Force One with ASAIC Kellerman and the 8:00–4:00 shift agents, while Paul Landis rode with the 4:00–midnight shift agents in the backup plane. The vice president’s plane and the backup plane would arrive a few minutes before Air Force One, and we’d go through the same routine as we had the day before, with Vice President and Mrs. Johnson waiting at the bottom of the steps to greet President and Mrs. Kennedy as they came off Air Force One. Meanwhile, the midnight shift was already on its way to Austin to prepare for the arrival and overnight at LBJ’s ranch.
With everyone on board, Air Force One was wheels up for Love Field in Dallas, and fifteen minutes later we were there.
There was a large crowd waiting behind a chain-link fence as Air Force One pulled up to its arrival point at Love Field. I checked my watch and noted the arrival time in the little black datebook I always carried: 11:40 A.M. Central Standard Time.
President and Mrs. Kennedy exited the plane, USAF 26000, through the rear doors and as they walked down the stairs, the crowd was delirious. Flags were waving, people were applauding and calling out—it was another exuberant welcome in yet another Texas city. At the bottom of the steps, Vice President and Mrs. Johnson and Dallas mayor Earle Cabell and his wife were there to greet President and Mrs. Kennedy. I stood an arm’s length away as Mrs. Cabell presented Mrs. Kennedy with a large bouquet of red roses.
It seemed strange to have the vice president and his wife continually greet the Kennedys at each arrival point in Texas. In this case they had just seen each other a few minutes earlier in Fort Worth. But this was the beginning of a campaign and strange things are done strictly for the photo opportunity. Our destination in Dallas was the Trade Mart, where 2,600 people had paid to have lunch with President and Mrs. Kennedy, and to hear him speak. It would have been much quicker to drive direct from Fort Worth to the Trade Mart in Dallas. Instead we drove from the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth to Carswell Air Force Base, boarded Air Force One, flew to Love Field in Dallas, then drove to the speech site. All of this to get a photo of President and Mrs. Kennedy coming off Air Force One in Dallas and to have a motorcade for maximum exposure. It seemed like a waste of time and money to me, but then politics and security really don’t mix well. Kind of like oil and water.
As soon as they had gone through the receiving line, the president looked toward the crowd.
Without hesitating, the president headed straight for them. I waited for Mrs. Kennedy’s reaction, and with her red roses in her arms, off she went behind him to greet the public. Paul and I stayed as close to Mrs. Kennedy as possible, looking into the crowd for any telltale sign of trouble. She and the president moved along the fence line
