The basic decision to visit Texas was made by the President, the Vice-
President Lyndon Johnson and John B. Connally Jr. The Governor of
Texas on JUNE 5, 1963, at the Cortez Hotel in El Paso, Texas. (p.28
WR)
Dallas Before the Visit
" The two Dallas newspapers provided their readers with a steady
stream of information and speculation about the trip, beginning on
September 13, when the Times-Herald announced in a front page article
that President Kennedy was planning a brief 1-day tour of four cities-
Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston. Both Dallas papers cited
White House sources on September 26 as confirming the President's
intention to visit Texas on November 21 and 22, with Dallas scheduled
as one of the stops. (p. 40 WR )
Even though an APRIL article (CE 1972) was the first public
announcement for a fall visit, explicit details were not resolved. The
Commission believed that it would be unreasonable to believe that the
eventual events of Nov. 22 could have been planned as early as April
since the location of the luncheon was not decided until Nov. 14. It
would have been impossible for Oswald, or any other conspirators to
plan the ambush on Dealey Plaza. The Commission concluded that Lee's
job at the TSBD was a coincidence and his recent employment (Oct 16 )
in the building had nothing to do with the assassination.
The Secret Service examined three potential sights for the luncheon.
One building, Market Hall was not available for Nov. 22; the second,
the Woman's Building, at the State Fair Grounds was not selected
because it lacked food handling facilities and had other
disadvantages. The Trade Mart was decided on and the parade route was
selected and agreed on November 14.
The luncheon site was not an issue in the final results because the
Trade Mart and Market Hall were in the same section of Dallas. The
motorcade route would not have changed if Market Hall had been the
choice.
On NOV. 8, the decision was made to allot 45 minutes to the parade
from Love Field to the luncheon site. The route selected measured 10
miles and could be covered in the 45 minutes. From the Trade Mart,
back to the air****t, was only four miles, by the most direct route.
The route selected impressed the agents as a natural and desirable
one. Franklin Roosevelt had used almost the same route in 1936. It had
wide streets and guaranteed that the largest crowds would be afforded
the op****tunity to see the President."
WR
There were charges that the route was changed to take the President
past the TSBD . This is absurd. Anyone living in Dallas knows that the
only direct access to the Trade Mart or Market Hall was via Houston
Street from Main Street to the Stemmons Feeeway.
Guaranteed, if the luncheon was going to be held on the runway of Love
Field, there would have been a parade down Main Street and in front of
the TSBD at 12;30 pm on November 22, 1963.
Even Gerald Posner got it all wrong. He said that " While Oswald was
on a twenty hour bus ride that consumed all of September 26, a White
House spokesman made the FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT that President Kennedy
would make a brief trip to Texas in November..." (P. 172 )
Posner did have the assassination date right in his book but not much
else.
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