[The Dan Smoot Report, Volume 9, December 1963 #1] Page: 1 of 32

                                
o
wwyii
tauu
fiMI
III
Vol. 9, No. 48 (Broadcast 433) December 2, 1963 Dallas, Texas F v. 'W w'
DAN SMOOT
THE ASSASSINATION
On November 21, 1963, President and Mrs. Kennedy and Vice President and Mrs. Johnson,
accompanied by Governor and Mrs. Connally and other Texas political figures, aides, and mem-
bers of the press, began a tour of Texas.
Governor Connally had opposed the Texas tour, thinking it politically unwise.(1) The Demo-
crat Party in Texas was in great turmoil, torn by internal dissension. A recent special election
had revealed astonishing Republican Party strength in Dallas. Factions and personalities of the
Democrat Party, jockeying for position and prestige, were blaming each other because Texans
generally seemed to be in a mood to repudiate new frontierism at the polls in the next elections.
Neither the growing strength of conservatism nor the factional strife among liberals in the
Democrat Party created any special danger for the President in Texas. There was no extraordi-
nary anxiety about his safety, but Governor Connally did feel that a Kennedy visit at this time
would create more and deeper cleavages in the ranks of the Democrat Party.'1'
President Kennedy, however, decided to come to Texas as a "peacemaker" for his own politi-
cal party.<2)
The tour began in San Antonio. The crowds were large, friendly and orderly. It was the same
in Houston and in Fort Worth. The presidential entourage arrived at Love Field, Dallas, at 11:37
a.m., Friday, November 22, greeted by a large, friendly gathering of Dallasites. The President and
the Governor, and their wives, got into an open limousine for a parade through Dallas. The Presi-
dent and Mrs. Kennedy sat in the rear seat, the President on the right side. On jump seats in front
of them were Governor and Mrs. Connally, the Governor directly in front of the President.
The motorcade formed with the presidential car immediately behind the lead car, the Vice
President and other dignitaries and members of the press following. It made a 12-mile drive in-
to and through downtown Dallas, along a route which had been widely publicized for days —
O
THE DAN SMOOT REPORT, a magazine published every week by The Dan Smoot Report, Inc., mailing
address P. O. Box 9538, Lakewood Station, Dallas, Texas 75214; Telephone TAylor 1-2303 (office address
6441 Gaston Avenue). Subscription rates: $10.00 a year, $6.00 for 6 months, $18.00 for two years. For first
class mail $12.50 a year; by airmail (including APO and FPO) $14.50 a year. Reprints of specific issues: 1
copy for 25^; 6 for $1.00; 50 for $5.50; 100 for $10.00 — each price for bulk mailing to one person. Add
2% sales tax on all orders originating in Texas for Texas delivery.
Copyright by Dan Smoot, 1963. Second class mail privilege authorized at Dallas, Texas.
No reproductions permitted.
Page 377
mg^ ~ . •• - A
M- 7 2
DATE Z I 5X
initials .3