Typed notes from Love Field by Dallas Times Herald reporter

In these notes, reporter Jim Lehrer makes reference to the plexiglass bubbletop sometimes used for the presidential limousine in inclement weather. Contrary to popular belief at the time, the bubbletop was not bullet proof or even bullet resistant. Nevertheless, some have argued over the years that use of the bubbletop in Dallas on November 22, 1963 could have changed history. For example, the bubbletop may have briefly obscured a gunman's line of fire, slightly deflected a bullet or convinced a would-be assassin to stand down if he incorrectly assumed that the top was bulletproof. As a result of this speculation, Jim Lehrer's questioning of the Secret Service about the potential use of the bubbletop at Dallas Love Field haunted him for the rest of his life.

As he explained in his 2013 oral history with the Museum, Lehrer asked an agent about the bubbletop, which prompted that agent to radio downtown Dallas to see if it was still raining. Upon learning that the skies over downtown had cleared, the agent determined not to use the bubbletop. Later that night, at Dallas police headquarters in the aftermath of the assassination, Lehrer encountered the same Secret Service agent. According to Lehrer, the agent said, "Jim, if I just hadn't taken off the bubbletop." Lehrer then thought to himself, "Oh my God, if I just hadn't of asked the question." Fifty years after the assassination, the story of the presidential bubbletop inspired Jim Lehrer's 2013 novel, Top Down. In the book, a young Dallas journalist modeled after Lehrer details the post-traumatic stress suffered by a fictional Secret Service agent who ordered the bubbletop be removed from the limousine that morning. Partnering with the distraught agent's daughter some five years after the shooting, the reporter in the novel helps to stage a ballistics reenactment to determine whether the bubbletop would have impacted the assassination. - Stephen Fagin, Curator

Mr. Lehrer recorded an oral history interview with the Museum in November 2013, which may be accessed in the Museum’s online collections database here: Jim Lehrer Oral History – Works – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

More objects related to Jim Lehrer may be found here: Thesaurus – Vocabularies – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. - Riley Harris, Collections Cataloger