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Passenger manifest from Air Force One for the Kennedy's 1963 trip to Texas
Passenger manifest from Air Force One for the Kennedy's 1963 trip to Texas

Passenger manifest from Air Force One for the Kennedy's 1963 trip to Texas

Object number2017.065.0002
Date11/21/1963 - 11/23/1963
ClassificationsDocuments
ObjectDocument
Credit LineThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection
MediumPaper; Ink, Pen
Dimensions10 1/2 × 8 in. (26.7 × 20.3 cm)
Collections
DescriptionOriginal 6-page passenger manifest from Air Force One for President Kennedy's 1963 trip to Texas. The first page identifies the plane as "VC-137C-2600" and is stamped "For Official Use Only." The first page consists of the passenger list for the flight from Andrews Air Force Base to San Antonio on 11/21/1963. This list was evidently used as a checklist to make sure everyone made it aboard. Page two is for their next flight later that day, from San Antonio to Houston. The third page is the passenger list flying from Houston to Fort Worth, set to take off at 10:30 p.m. and land 45 minutes later. The fourth page is the passenger list for the flight from Fort Worth to Dallas Love Field on the morning of 11/22/1963, set to take off at 11:15am and landing 20 minutes later. Despite two more schedule flights to Austin and then back to Dulles, this was the last flight President Kennedy would ever take. Had the trip gone as planned, Kennedy would have left Dallas for Austin at 2:35 p.m., stayed the night, and flown to Dulles International the following day at 2:15pm.
Curatorial Commentary

The handwritten notations on this official passenger manifest document additions and changes to the Trip to Texas right up to the day of departure. On five of the six pages, Frank Cormier's name has been crossed out, and "Mr. Bell" has been written in his place. Frank Cormier was the White House Correspondent for the Associated Press at the time. He began covering the White House in 1962 and ultimately covered five presidents, retiring in 1980 and passing away in 1994. While Cormier did cover the assassination story from Dallas, his seat aboard Air Force One for the Trip to Texas was given at the last minute, for unknown reasons, to his Associated Press colleague, Jack Bell. Bell joined the Associated Press in 1937 and eventually became the AP Chief Political Writer. Bell rode in the Dallas motorcade in the national press pool car, which was five vehicles behind the presidential limousine in the procession. His United Press International rival, White House Correspondent Merriman Smith, famously commandeered the car's radio telephone immediately after shots were fired in Dealey Plaza. This prevented Bell from contacting the AP with the breaking news of the assassination until their car arrived at Parkland Memorial Hospital six minutes after the shooting. Livid, Bell screamed at Smith and reportedly hit him several times on the back while trying to pry the phone from Smith's hand as the press car followed the presidential limousine to the hospital. Merriman Smith would go on to receive a Pulitzer Prize in 1964 for his coverage of the Kennedy assassination. Jack Bell retired from the Associated Press in 1969 and passed away in 1975.

The only handwritten addition to this manifest, who apparently traveled aboard Air Force One only from Andrews Air Force Base to San Antonio and then from San Antonio to Houston on November 21, was Donald Barnes. Barnes was a U.S. State Department interpreter. It is possible that Barnes was added to the trip after the presidential party decided to stop by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) dinner at the Rice Hotel in Houston. This would explain why Barnes did not continue traveling aboard Air Force One after the Houston visit and likely flew separately back to Washington, D.C. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator

Object featured in special exhibition, Two Days in Texas, November 8, 2023 through September 28, 2024.

While the majority of the names listed on the different pages of this Air Force One passenger manifest remained the same from city to city, there were individuals who only joined the presidential party for specific legs of the trip, including members of Congress, Secret Service agents and various representatives of the news media. 

The following individuals appear on one or more pages of the Air Force One passenger manifest for the November 1963 trip to Texas:  

  • John F. Kennedy, President of the United States
  • Jacqueline Kennedy, First Lady of the United States
  • John Connally, Governor of Texas
  • Nellie Connally, First Lady of Texas
  • Kenneth P. O'Donnell, Special Assistant to the President
  • Larry O'Brien, Special Assistant to the President
  • David F. Powers, Special Assistant and assistant Appointments Secretary to the President
  • Ralph Yarborough, U.S. Senator (Texas)
  • Henry Gonzalez, U.S. Representative (San Antonio)
  • John Young, U.S. Representative (Galveston)
  • Joe Kilgore, U.S. Representative (South Texas)
  • Albert Thomas, U.S. Representative (Houston)
  • George H. Mahon, U.S. Representative (Lubbock, Abilene)
  • Olin Teague, U.S. Representative (Ellis/Tarrant County)
  • Jack Brooks, U.S. Representative (Harris County)
  • Jim Wright, U.S. Representative (Fort Worth)
  • Graham B. Purcell, Jr., U.S. Representative (Amarillo/Gainesville)
  • Walter Rogers, U.S. Representative (Houston)
  • Herbert Ray Roberts, U.S. Representative (Northeast Texas)
  • Lindley Beckworth, U.S. Representative (Collin County)
  • Wright Putnam, U.S. Representative (East Texas)
  • Homer Thornberry, U.S. Representative (Austin)
  • Malcolm Kilduff, Assistant White House Press Secretary
  • Chris Camp, Assistant White House Press Secretary
  • Chester V. Clinton, Brigadier General, U.S. Army aide to the President
  • Godfrey T. McHugh, U.S. Air Force general, Military aide to the President
  • Joseph Giordano, U.S. Army sergeant, White House Communications and Transportation
  • Ira D. Gearhart, Chief Warrant Officer (bagman), White House Communications Agency
  • George Burkley, U.S. Navy vice admiral, Physician to the President
  • Ellis Hendrix, Master Chief Hospital Corpsman in White House Physician's Office
  • Evelyn Lincoln, Personal Secretary to the President
  • Pamela Turnure, Press Secretary to the First Lady
  • Mary Gallagher, Personal Secretary to the First Lady
  • George Thomas, Valet to the President
  • Roy Kellerman, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • Clint Hill, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • John J. O'Leary, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • Emory P. Roberts, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • John Ready, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • Donald Lawton, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • William T. McIntyre, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • Henry Rybka, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • William R. Greer, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • Stewart Stout, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • Sam Sulliman, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • Richard E. Johnsen, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • Ernest Olsson, U.S. Secret Service agent
  • Merriman Smith, White House Correspondent, United Press International
  • Jack Bell, Political writer, Associated Press
  • Bill Costello, White House Correspondent, Mutual Broadcasting System
  • Sid Davis, White House Correspondent, Westinghouse Broadcasting
  • Jim Mathis, White House Correspondent, Newhouse Advance News Service
  • Maryanne Means, White House Correspondent, Hearst newspapers
  • Felton West, Washington, D.C. bureau chief, Houston Post
  • William MacKay, White House Correspondent, Houston Chronicle
  • Robert Baskin, Washington, D.C. bureau chief, The Dallas Morning News
  • Robert Pierpoint, White House Correspondent, CBS News
  • Robert MacNeil, White House Correspondent, NBC News
  • Bob Clark, White House Correspondent, ABC News
  • Donald Barnes, Interpreter, U.S. State Department

--Stephen Fagin, Curator