THE WHITE HOUSE,
_Washington, July 16, 1964_.
The Honorable EARL WARREN,
_The Chief Justice of the United States,
Washington, D.C_.
MY DEAR MR. CHIEF JUSTICE: Mr. Lee Rankin, chief counsel to the
President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, has
advised me that the Commission would be interested to have a statement
from me concerning my recollection of the events of November 22, 1963.
Beginning on November 30, and as I found time on the following 2 days,
I dictated my recollection of that fateful and dreadful day on a small
tape recorder which I had at The Elms, where we were then living. I
did this primarily as a form of therapy--to help me over the shock and
horror of the experience of President Kennedy's assassination. I did
not intend that the tape should be used.
The quality of the tape recording is very poor, but upon considering
your Commission's request, I decided to ask that the tape relating to
November 22 be transcribed. I am sending the transcription to you with
only a few, minor corrections. Perhaps it will serve your purposes. I
hope so. In any event, it is a more faithful record of my recollection
and impressions than I could produce at this late date.
Please accept, for yourself and the members of the Commission and its
staff, my thanks and best wishes for the important task which you
have undertaken and to which all of you have so generously dedicated
yourselves.
Sincerely,
(S) Lady Bird Johnson,
Mrs. LYNDON B. JOHNSON.
[Enclosure.]
* * * * *
[Transcript from Mrs. Johnson's tapes relating to November 22, 1963]
It all began so beautifully. After a drizzle in the morning, the sun
came out bright and beautiful. We were going into Dallas. In the lead
car, President and Mrs. Kennedy, John and Nellie, and then a Secret
Service car full of men, and then our car--Lyndon and me and Senator
Yarborough. The streets were lined with people--lots and lots of
people--the children all smiling; placards, confetti; people waving
from windows. One last happy moment I had was looking up and seeing
Mary Griffith leaning out of a window waving at me. Mary for many years
had been in charge of altering the clothes which I purchased at a
Dallas store.
Then almost at the edge of town, on our way to the Trade Mart where we
were going to have the luncheon, we were rounding a curve, going down
a hill, and suddenly there was a sharp loud report--a shot. It seemed
to me to come from the right, above my shoulder, from a building. Then
a moment and then two more shots in rapid succession. There had been
such a gala air that I thought it must be firecrackers or some sort
of celebration. Then, in the lead car, the Secret Service men were
suddenly down. I heard over the radio system, "Let's get out of here,"
and our Secret Service man who was with us, Ruf Youngblood, I believe
it was, vaulted over the front seat on top of Lyndon, threw him to the
floor, and said, "Get down."
Senator Yarborough and I ducked our heads. The car accelerated
terrifically fast--faster and faster. Then suddenly they put on the
brakes so hard that I wondered if they were going to make it as we
wheeled left and went around the corner. We pulled up to a building. I
looked up and saw it said "Hospital." Only then did I believe that this
might be what it was. Yarborough kept on saying in an excited voice,
"Have they shot the President?" I said something like, "No; it can't
be."
As we ground to a halt--we were still the third car--Secret Service men
began to pull, lead, guide, and hustle us out. I cast one last look
over my shoulder and saw, in the President's car, a bundle of pink,
just like a drift of blossoms, lying on the back seat. I think it was
Mrs. Kennedy lying over the President's body. They led us to the right,
the left, and onward into a quiet room in the hospital--a very small
room. It was lined with white sheets, I believe.
People came and went--Kenny O'Donnell, Congressman Thornberry,
Congressman Jack Brooks. Always there was Ruf right there, Emory
Roberts, Jerry Kivett, Lem Johns, and Woody Taylor. There was talk
about where we would go--back to Washington, to the plane, to our
house. People spoke of how widespread this may be. Through it all,
Lyndon was remarkably calm and quiet. Every face that came in, you
searched for the answers you must know. I think the face I kept seeing
it on was the face of Kenny O'Donnell, who loved him so much.
It was Lyndon as usual who thought of it first, although I wasn't going
to leave without doing it. He said, "You had better try to see if you
can see Jackie and Nellie." We didn't know what had happened to John.
I asked the Secret Service men if I could be taken to them. They began
to lead me up one corridor, back stairs, and down another. Suddenly I
found myself face to face with Jackie in a small hall. I think it was
right outside the operating room. You always think of her--or someone
like her--as being insulated, protected; she was quite alone. I don't
think I ever saw anyone so much alone in my life. I went up to her,
put my arms around her, and said something to her. I'm sure it was
something like, "God, help us all," because my feelings for her were
too tumultuous to put into words.
And then I went in to see Nellie. There it was different because Nellie
and I have gone through so many things together since 1938. I hugged
her tight and we both cried and I said, "Nellie, it's going to be all
right." And Nellie said, "Yes; John's going to be all right." Among her
many other fine qualities, she is also tough.
Then I turned and went back to the small white room where Lyndon was.
Mr. Kilduff and Kenny O'Donnell were coming and going. I think it was
from Kenny's face and Kenny's voice that I first heard the words,
"The President is dead." Mr. Kilduff entered and said to Lyndon, "Mr.
President."
It was decided that we would go immediately to the airport. Quick plans
were made about how to get to the car, who to ride in what. It was
Lyndon who said we should go to the plane in unmarked cars. Getting out
of the hospital into the cars was one of the swiftest walks I have ever
made. We got in. Lyndon said to stop the sirens. We drove along as fast
as we could. I looked up at a building and there already was a flag at
half-mast. I think that is when the enormity of what had happened first
struck me.
When we got to the airplane, we entered airplane No. 1 for the first
time. There was a TV set on, and the commentator was saying, "Lyndon
B. Johnson, now President of the United States." They were saying they
had a suspect. They were not sure he was the assassin. The President
had been shot with a 30-30 rifle. On the plane, all the shades were
lowered. Lyndon said that we were going to wait for Mrs. Kennedy and
the coffin. There was discussion about when Lyndon should be sworn in
as President. There was a telephone call to Washington--I believe to
the Attorney General. It was decided that he should be sworn in in
Dallas as quickly as possible because of international implications,
and because we did not know how widespread this incident was as to
intended victims. Judge Sarah Hughes, a Federal judge in Dallas--and I
am glad it was she--was called to come in a hurry.
Mrs. Kennedy had arrived by this time and the coffin, and there--in the
very narrow confines of the plane with Jackie on his left with her hair
falling in her face, but very composed, and then Lyndon, and I was on
his right, Judge Hughes with the Bible in front of her and a cluster
of Secret Service people and Congressmen we had known for a long
time--Lyndon took the oath of office.
It's odd at a time like that the little things that come to your mind
and a moment of deep compassion you have for people who are really not
at the center of the tragedy. I heard a Secret Service man say in the
most desolate voice and I hurt for him, "We never lost a President in
the Service," and then Police Chief Curry, of Dallas, came on the plane
and said to Mrs. Kennedy, "Mrs. Kennedy, believe me, we did everything
we possibly could."
We all sat around the plane. We had at first been ushered into the main
private Presidential cabin on the plane--but Lyndon quickly said, "No,
no" and immediately led us out of there; we felt that is where Mrs.
Kennedy should be. The casket was in the hall. I went in to see Mrs.
Kennedy and, though it was a very hard thing to do, she made it as easy
as possible. She said things like, "Oh, Lady Bird, it's good that we've
always liked you two so much." She said, "Oh, what if I had not been
there? I'm so glad I was there." I looked at her. Mrs. Kennedy's dress
was stained with blood. Her right glove was caked--that immaculate
woman--it was caked with blood, her husband's blood. She always wore
gloves like she was used to them. I never could. Somehow that was one
of the most poignant sights--exquisitely dressed and caked in blood.
I asked her if I couldn't get someone in to help her change, and she
said, "Oh, no. Perhaps later I'll ask Mary Gallagher, but not right
now."
She said a lot of other things, like, "What if I had not been there?
Oh, I'm so glad I was there," and a lot of other things that made it
so much easier for us. "Oh, Lady Bird, we've always liked you both
so much." I tried to express something of how we felt. I said, "Oh,
Mrs. Kennedy, you know we never even wanted to be Vice President and
now, dear God, it's come to this." I would have done anything to help
her, but there was nothing I could do to help her, so rather quickly I
left and went back to the main part of the airplane where everyone was
seated.
The ride to Washington was silent, strained--each with his own
thoughts. One of mine was something I had said about Lyndon a long time
ago--that he's a good man in a tight spot. I even remember one little
thing he said in that hospital room, "Tell the children to get a Secret
Service man with them."
Finally, we got to Washington, with a cluster of people watching. Many
bright lights. The casket went off first; then Mrs. Kennedy. The family
had come to join them, and then we followed. Lyndon made a very simple,
very brief, and--I think--strong, talk to the folks there. Only about
four sentences, I think. We got in cars; we dropped him off at the
White House, and I came home.
_Tuesday, July 28, 1964_