The testimony of Lawrence F. O'Brien was taken at 11 a.m., on May 26,
1964, at the White House Office, Washington, DC., by Mr. Francis W. H.
Adams, assistant counsel of the President's Commission.
Mr. ADAMS. Raise your right hand, please.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you shall give in this
deposition proceeding before the President's Commission on the
Assassination of President Kennedy will be the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. O'BRIEN. I do.
Mr. ADAMS. Mr. O'Brien, the purpose of this deposition is to get from
you your knowledge of the facts surrounding the assassination of
President Kennedy on November 22, 1963.
I would like to start way back, if I may, at the point of the
conception of the trip, the origin of the trip. How far back was that
before November 22?
Mr. O'BRIEN. My recollection is the contemplation of the trip to Texas
was back some, perhaps, months before the actual trip.
However, I should quickly add that many discussions took place about
potential trips to all parts of the country at some future time, to
some degree in the political context. The President, No. 1, enjoyed
getting out to meet the people; and, secondly, over a period of time we
had anticipated the President would travel rather extensively when the
opportunity presented itself. But the difficulty in pinning anything
like that down specifically in advance is the obvious difficulty of
scheduling any travel by the President, because of the duties of the
office and the obvious day to day changes in the problem.
Mr. ADAMS. But you, yourself, were concerned and involved in
discussions looking towards this?
Mr. O'BRIEN. Yes; Mr. O'Donnell was responsible for the handling of the
specifics of trips. He would engage in discussions with the President
and projections of possible trips of one sort or another. In his role
as Appointments Secretary, of course, he was constantly discussing with
the President invitations of all kinds that came across his desk.
The Vice President had expressed an interest for some time in a
possible trip to Texas.
Mr. ADAMS. Had he expressed that interest to you?
Mr. O'BRIEN. I don't recall specifically. It became generally
understood in our discussions that he was interested, the President
was interested, Mr. O'Donnell was charged with the responsibility of
maintaining a day to day relationship in this area.
Mr. ADAMS. At that time, what was your official title?
Mr. O'BRIEN. Special Assistant to the President for Congressional
Relations.