Governor CONNALLY. It could have been up on my chest, it could have
been suspended in the air, it could have been down on my leg, it could
have been anywhere. I just don't remember.
I obviously, I suppose, like anyone else, wound up the next day
realizing I was hit in three places, and I was not conscious of having
been hit but by one bullet, so I tried to reconstruct how I could have
been hit in three places by the same bullet, and I merely, I know it
penetrated from the back through the chest first.
I assumed that I had turned as I described a moment ago, placing my
right hand on my left leg, that it hit my wrist, went out the center of
the wrist, the underside, and then into my leg, but it might not have
happened that way at all.
Mr. SPECTER. Were your knees higher on the jump seat than they would be
on a normal chair such as you are sitting on?
Governor CONNALLY. I would say it was not unlike this, with the
exception the knees might be slightly higher, perhaps a half an inch to
an inch higher.
Mr. DULLES. In this photograph you happen to have your right arm on
the side of the car. I don't know whether you recall that. That is
Commission Exhibit 698. That just happened to be one pose at one
particular time?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes; I don't think there is any question, Mr.
Dulles, at various times we were turned in every direction. We had arms
extended out of the car, on the side.
Mr. DULLES. That was taken earlier, I believe. Was that on Main Street?
Where was that taken?
Representative BOGGS. I wonder if I might ask a question?
The CHAIRMAN. Go right ahead.
Representative BOGGS. This is a little bit off the subject, but it
is pretty well established that the Governor was shot and he has
recovered. Do you have any reason to believe there was any conspiracy
afoot for somebody to assassinate you?
Governor CONNALLY. None whatever.
Representative BOGGS. Had you ever received any threat from Lee Harvey
Oswald of any kind?
Governor CONNALLY. No.
Representative BOGGS. Did you know him?
Governor CONNALLY. No.
Representative BOGGS. Had you ever seen him?
Governor CONNALLY. No.
Representative BOGGS. Have you ever had any belief of, subsequent to
the assassination of President Kennedy and your own injury, that there
was a conspiracy here of any kind?
Governor CONNALLY. None whatever.
Representative BOGGS. What is your theory about what happened?
Governor CONNALLY. Well, it is pure theory based on nothing more
than what information is available to everyone, and probably less is
available to me, certainly less than is available to you here on this
Commission.
But I think you had an individual here with a completely warped,
demented mind who, for whatever reason, wanted to do two things: First,
to vent his anger, his hate, against many people and many things in
a dramatic fashion that would carve for him, in however infamous a
fashion, a niche in the history books of this country. And I think he
deliberately set out to do just what he did, and that is the only thing
that I can think of.
You ask me my theory, and that is my theory, and certainly not
substantiated by any facts.
Representative BOGGS. Going on again, Governor, and again using the
word "theory," do you have any reason to believe that there was any
connection between Oswald and Ruby?
Governor CONNALLY. I have no reason to believe that there was; no,
Congressman. By the same token, if you ask me do I have any reason not
to believe it, I would have to answer the same, I don't know.
Representative BOGGS. Yes.
Governor CONNALLY. I just don't have any knowledge or any information
about the background of either, and I am just not in a position to
say.
Mr. DULLES. You recall your correspondence with Oswald in connection
with Marine matters, when he thought you were still Secretary of the
Navy?
Governor CONNALLY. After this was all over, I do, Mr. Dulles. As I
recall, he wrote me a letter asking that his dishonorable discharge be
corrected. But at the time he wrote the letter, if he had any reason
about it at all, or shortly thereafter, he would have recognized that I
had resigned as Secretary of the Navy a month before I got the letter,
so it would really take a peculiar mind, it seems to me, to harbor any
grudge as a result of that when I had resigned as Secretary prior to
the receipt of the letter.
Mr. DULLES. I think I can say without violating any confidence, that
there is nothing in the record to indicate that there was--in fact,
Marina, the wife, testified, in fact, to the contrary. There was no
animus against you on the part of Oswald, as you----
Governor CONNALLY. I have wondered, of course, in my own mind as
to whether or not there could have conceivably been anything, and
the only--I suppose like any person at that particular moment, I
represented authority to him. Perhaps he was in a rebellious spirit
enough to where I was as much a target as anyone else. But that is the
only conceivable basis on which I can assume that he was deliberately
trying to hit me.
Representative BOGGS. You have no doubt about the fact that he was
deliberately trying to hit you?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, I do; I do have doubt, Congressman. I am not
at all sure he was shooting at me. I think I could with some logic
argue either way. The logic in favor of him, of the position that he
was shooting at me, is simply borne out by the fact that the man fired
three shots, and he hit each of the three times he fired. He obviously
was a pretty good marksman, so you have to assume to some extent at
least that he was hitting what he was shooting at.
On the other hand, I think I could argue with equal logic that
obviously his prime target, and I think really his sole target, was
President Kennedy. His first shot, at least to him, he could not have
but known the effect that it might have on the President. His second
shot showed that he had clearly missed the President, and his result to
him, as the result of the first shot, the President slumped and changed
his position in the back seat just enough to expose my back. I haven't
seen all of the various positions, but again I think from where he was
shooting I was in the direct line of fire immediately in front of the
President, so any movement on the part of the President would expose me.
The CHAIRMAN. Have you seen the moving pictures, Governor?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, sir; I have, Mr. Chief Justice.
Mr. SPECTER. Was there any point of exit on your thigh wound?
Governor CONNALLY. No.
Mr. SPECTER. (to Dr. Gregory.) Would you give the precise condition of
the right wrist, and cover the thigh, too?
Dr. GREGORY. The present state of the wound on his wrist indicates that
the linear scar made in the course of the excision is well healed; that
its upper limb is about----
Governor CONNALLY. I thinks he wants you to describe the position of it.
Mr. SPECTER. Yes; the position.
Dr. GREGORY. I was about to do that. The upper limb of it is about 5
centimeters above the wrist joint, and curves around toward the thumb
distally to about a centimeter above the wrist joint.
Mr. SPECTER. What is the total length of that?
Dr. GREGORY. The length of that excisional scar is about 4 centimeters,
an inch and a half.
Mr. SPECTER. What is the wound appearing to be on the palmer side?
Dr. GREGORY. The wound on the palmer side of the wrist is now converted
to a well-healed linear scar approximately one-half inch in length, and
located about three-quarters of an inch above the distal flexion crease.
Representative BOGGS. What is the prognosis for complete return of
function there?
Dr. GREGORY. Very good, Congressman; very good.
Mr. SPECTER. Governor Connally, I now show you the black jacket and ask
you if you can identify what that jacket is, whose it is?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, sir; that is mine.
Mr. SPECTER. When did you last wear that jacket?
Governor CONNALLY. On November 22 I was wearing this, the day of the
shooting.
Mr. SPECTER. I show you Commission Exhibit 683 and ask you if that is a
photograph of the front side of the jacket, as it appears at the moment?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes; it is.
Mr. SPECTER. I show you Exhibit 684, and ask if that is a photograph of
the rear side of the jacket?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, sir; it is.
Mr. SPECTER. I now show you a shirt and ask you if you can identify
this as having been the shirt you wore on the day of the assassination?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, sir; that is the shirt I had on.
Mr. SPECTER. I show you Exhibit 685 and ask if that is a picture of the
rear side of the shirt?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes; it is.
Mr. SPECTER. Exhibit 686 is shown to you, and I ask you if that is a
photograph of the front side of the shirt?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, sir; it is.
Mr. SPECTER. I show you a pair of black trousers and ask you if you can
identify them?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, sir; these are the trousers to the coat we
looked at a moment ago. They were the trousers I was wearing on the day
of the shooting.
Mr. SPECTER. I show you a photograph and ask you, which is Exhibit 687,
if that is a photograph of the front of the trousers?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, sir; it is.
Mr. SPECTER. I show you Exhibit 688 and ask you if that depicts the
rear of the trousers?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, sir; it does.
Mr. SPECTER. I show you a tie, and ask you if you can identify that?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, sir; that is the tie I was wearing on the day
of the shooting.
Mr. SPECTER. I now show you a photograph marked Commission Exhibit 700
and ask if that is a picture of the tie?
Governor CONNALLY. Yes, sir; it is.
Mr. SPECTER. What is the permanent home of these clothes at the present
time when they are not on Commission business?
Governor CONNALLY. They, the Archives of the State of Texas, asked for
the clothing, and I have given the clothing to them. That is where they
were sent from, I believe, here, to this Commission.
Mr. SPECTER. At this juncture, Mr. Chief Justice, I move for the
admission in evidence of Commission Exhibits 699 and 700.
The CHAIRMAN. They may be admitted.
(The items marked Commission Exhibits 699 and 700 for identification
were received in evidence.)
Mr. SPECTER. Governor Connally, in 1963 we were informed that Lee
Harvey Oswald paid a visit to Austin. Tex., and is supposed to also
have visited your office. Do you have any knowledge of such a visit?
Governor CONNALLY. No, sir.
Mr. DULLES. What date did you give?
Mr. SPECTER. 1963.
Representative BOGGS. What date in 1963?
Mr. SPECTER. We do not have the exact date on that.
Representative BOGGS. Excuse me just a minute. Would your office
records indicate such a visit?