Debunking the security-related issues author Paul Brandus mentions in the 2023 book Countdown to Dallas: The Incredible Coincidences, Routines, and Blind "Luck" that Brought John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald Together on November 22, 1963
Conspiracy authors are often accused of cherry picking. Well, Brandus is a master at it, conveniently ignoring all I demonstrate in my five books1 and numerous online videos (see especially this one2). He also has a knack for what I call sins of omission (or perhaps he just didn’t know certain things). One thing is for certain: one still and static photo cannot always demonstrate all the security variables at play: the speed of the cars, security measures not seen or appreciated in still photos, etc.
First, let’s look at the photo section:
March 4, 1933- Inaugural parade for FDR with President Hoover in an open vehicle. Brandus, as he would do again and again, overlooks the fact that this was a Washington, D.C. motorcade and that all building rooftops were guarded and there was a heavy police, Secret Service and military presence in the crowds themselves and along the route. The press photographers were close by in front of and behind the limousine.
June 1945, Portland, Oregon- Motorcade for President Truman. All multi-story building rooftops were guarded and there was a heavy police and military presence in the crowds themselves and along the route. The press photographers were close by in front of and behind the limousine.
August 15, 1946, Washington, D.C.- No argument here: President Truman walks with future Secret Service Chief Rowley (and, not seen, a handful of trailing agents). This practice was stopped after the assassination attempt on Truman’s life by two Puerto Rican nationalists (a conspiracy) on November 1, 1950.
June 18, 1960, Taipei, Taiwan- President Eisenhower stands in an open vehicle motorcade (as a side note, as I have noted in the past, former Secret Service agent Gerald Blaine stated categorically that Ike rode in closed vehicles, while former Secret Service agent Clint Hill-to the very same co-author a few years later- said the opposite. Hill was correct: I have scores of photos of Ike riding in an open car). What Brandus does not note (probably because, quite frankly, he does not know) is the fact that there was a heavy police and military presence in the crowds themselves and along the motorcade route. On pages 46-53, when discussing a few random motorcades for Truman and Eisenhower, Brandus commits the same errors of omission. He also omits the fact that the press photographers were close by in front of and behind the limousine.
August 17, 1962, Pueblo, Colorado- President Kennedy rides in an open vehicle motorcade, yet the photo (and others Brandus does not publish) clearly shows a heavy police and military presence lining the street and facing the crowd. Building rooftops were also guarded. The press photographers were close by in front of and behind the limousine. I have used these photos in my research and videos.
March 27, 1963, Washington, D.C.- President Kennedy rides in an open vehicle motorcade, yet all building rooftops were guarded and there was a heavy police, Secret Service and military presence in the crowds themselves and along the route. Again: Washington, D.C. motorcade; very safe in the capital. A military aide rode in the front seat and the press photographers were close by in front of and behind the limousine. I have used these photos and films in my research and videos.
May 18, 1963, Nashville, Tennessee (see also text, page 176) - President Kennedy rides in an open vehicle motorcade, yet all building rooftops were guarded (including the use of a police helicopter) and there was a heavy police, Secret Service and military presence in the crowds themselves and along the route. The press photographers were close by in front of and behind the limousine. I have used these photos and news articles in my research and videos.
And now- from the text:
Page 122- March 23, 1962, Berkeley, California- President Kennedy rides in an open vehicle motorcade, yet all building rooftops were guarded and there was a heavy police and military presence in the crowds themselves and along the route. The press photographers were close by in front of and behind the limousine.
Page 156- December 7, 1962, Los Alamos, New Mexico- President Kennedy rides in a short open vehicle motorcade, yet all building rooftops were guarded and there was a heavy police and military presence in the crowds themselves and along the route. As with military bases, this visit to the Los Alamos National Laboratory was on totally safe ground, similar to Washington, D.C. and, one could argue, any motorcade where police, military and even agents are guarding the crowds along the route. The press photographers were close by in front of and behind the limousine.
Pages 179-180: June 5, 1963, El Paso, Texas- President Kennedy rides in a short open vehicle motorcade, yet all multi-story building rooftops were guarded and there was a heavy police presence in the crowds themselves and along the route. The press photographers were close by in front of and behind the limousine.
Page 180: June 6, 1963, San Diego, California- A video of this motorcade is a favorite for a couple potential “debunkers”, yet it doesn’t depict what they hope for. While agents did not ride on the rear of the vehicle, there was quite a heavy Marine presence lining the street and facing the crowd (not to mention the usual guarding of multi-story building rooftops and plainclothes police throughout the crowds themselves). The video of this motorcade duly notes the Marine presence and one can see two flatbed trucks filled with still and motion photographers in front of the presidential limousine, including the live television news feed that made this video possible in the first place. I have used the photos and video in my research and personal videos.
Pages 183-184: June 23-26, 1963: President Kennedy’s motorcades in Germany - Brandus comical attempts to label JFK’s protection as lax is a wonder to behold. Again, military bases were and are very safe territories, while agents rode on the rear of the limo, a military aide rode in the front seat, there was a heavy flanking motorcycle presence, military and police lined the streets and faced the crowds, a heavy plainclothes police presence was in force throughout, and the Ike bubbletop was even used on one leg of the journey. In addition, helicopters were used along the route and the press photographers were close by in front of and behind the limousine. I have used these photos and films in my research and videos.
Pages 184-185: June 26-27, 1963: President Kennedy’s motorcades in Ireland. See what I wrote above for Germany.
Pages 186-187: July 1-2, 1963: President Kennedy’s motorcades in Italy. Again, see what I wrote above for Germany.
Page 207: September 24, 1963: President Kennedy’s visit to the Pinchot Estate in Milford, PA- Brandus notes the fact that no agents rode on the rear of the limo (as if that is the only protection afforded the president on motorcades), yet this was not a formal motorcade but a visit to an estate.
Pages 209-211 plus page 214: September 25, 1963: President Kennedy’s trips to Grand Forks, North Dakota, Laramie, Wyoming, Billings, Montana, Great Falls, Montana, Salt Lake City, Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada (on September 28)- Again, Brandus is fixated on the lack of agents on the limousine (who ever claimed they were always on the back of the car? Not I), yet there are photos of the agents jogging beside the limo in North Dakota and no mention is made of the use of police and military lining the streets, facing the crowds, being in the crowds themselves or the use of at least multi-story building rooftops being guarded.
Page 223: October 20, 1963: President Kennedy’s trip to Boston, Massachusetts- Contrary to Brandus claim, as photos prove, agents did indeed ride on the rear of the limo for at least part of the motorcade and, once again, no mention is made of the use of police and military lining the streets, facing the crowds, being in the crowds themselves or the use of at least multi-story building rooftops being guarded. In addition, a military aide rode in the front seat.
Pages 232-233 and 235-236: November 8-9 and 14-15, 1963: President Kennedy’s two separate trips to New York, New York- President Kennedy did not use formal motorcades for these trips (and the first trip was very low key), yet Brandus totally misconstrues the value of an OTR (off the record) trip: this was most advantageous to the SECRET SERVICE, not a potential assassin, precisely BECAUSE it was not publicly known exactly when and where the president would stop and visit. The bubble top was used on the first trip, while it was duly noted in major newspaper articles that the Secret Service was boss and could overrule even the president when it came to security matters, despite any alleged presidential wishes, real or figments of author’s imaginations.
Pages 238 and 242: November 18, 1963: President Kennedy’s trips to Miami and Tampa, Florida- as these are models of excellent and heavy security, Brandus leaves Miami security alone, while whistling past the graveyard with regard to Tampa, as agents rode on the rear of the limo, many motorcycles flanked the limousine in good number, a military aide rode in the front seat, all multi story building rooftops were guarded, police and military lined the streets and faced the crowds, as well as being in the crowds themselves. In addition, the press photographers were close by in front of and behind the limousine.
Pages 254-256 and various: November 21-22: President Kennedy’s trips to San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth, Texas: Brandus does not note that, as the HSCA observed (in stark contrast to Dallas), many motorcycles flanked JFK’s limousine. In addition, as I discovered in 2013 via newly discovered color film, a police helicopter shadowed the motorcade in San Antonio and even filmed the motorcade! Also, as Secret Service agent Mike Howard later confirmed, building rooftops were guarded in Fort Worth (and there’s no reason to suspect that this did not also occur in Houston, as there are numerous sources confirming that building rooftops were indeed guarded for Presidents FDR-JFK during motorcades). This, of course, did not happen in Dallas.
Also, on pages 267-268, Brandus appears to downplay the infamous drinking incident involving the agents, where nine agents stayed out late and drank against regulations, including four with critical duties on the follow-up car.
On pages 293-294, Brandus predictably downplays agent Don Lawton being recalled by fellow agent Emory Roberts at Love Field (in a video I discovered/popularized in 1991), yet Lawton himself told a colleague “I should have been there” (on the back of the car), as he rode there in Chicago on 3/23/63 and in Tampa on 11/18/63. Lawton also told me in 1995: “You always have regrets, remorse. Who knows- if only they had left guys on the back of the car.” And, as I have demonstrated time and time again, JFK did not order the agents off his limo. Even Clint Hill admitted in 2010 during his Sixth Floor Museum oral history (with Gerald Blaine by his side) that, even if Kennedy ever said anything, they “did what they felt was best anyway.”
So much for Brandus, who studiously avoids any mention of my five books, numerous articles, massive internet presence or my name, yet he contacted me several times while writing his book.
Gee, I wonder why I was left unnamed?
THE CONTRAST BETWEEN TAMPA, FLORIDA (the major trip before) AND DALLAS, TEXAS:
Agents on the rear of the limo (other than Clint Hill, briefly, 4 times before they got to Dealey Plaza. Hill later admitted that he should have been there and that JFK did not order the agents off the car and they would have overridden his desires even if stated)
Military aide in front seat between driver and agent in charge (McHugh was asked, for the first time in Dallas, not to ride there!)
Press photographer's flatbed truck in front of limo (canceled at last minute at Love Field)
Fast speed of cars (slow in Dallas)
ASAIC Floyd Boring, the number 2 agent, on trip riding in limousine (SAIC Gerald Behn, the number 1 agent, and Boring always accompanied JFK in motorcades. A third-stringer, Roy Kellerman, goes in their place)
Multi story rooftops guarded (officially, no buildings were guarded in Dallas. Eyewitnesses Arnold and Barbara Rowland did see a man with a rifle in the Texas School Book Depository building before the motorcade reached the eventual site of the assassination and, tellingly, thought the man was a Secret Service agent.3 Rowland later testified to the Warren Commission on his thought process at the time: “I must honestly say my opinion was based on movies I have seen, on the attempted assassination of Theo dore Roosevelt where they had Secret Service men up in the building such as that with rifles watching the crowds, and another one concerned with attempted assassination of the other one, Franklin Roosevelt, and both of these had Secret Service men up in windows or on top of buildings with rifles, and this is how my opinion was based and why it didn’t alarm me.”4)
Multiple motorcycles running next to JFK in a wedge formation (they repeated this coverage 11/18-11/22/63 [morning in Fort Worth] until Dallas, when the Secret Service reduced the coverage and had the few motorcycles that were remaining drop back from the rear wheels of JFK’s limo, rendering them ineffective or, as the HSCA stated, “uniquely insecure”)
White House Press Photographer Cecil Stoughton riding in follow-up car taking photos (he did 11/18-11/21/63 until they got to Dallas. No satisfactory answer has ever been given as to why Stoughton was not there on 11/22/63)
Pierre Salinger on trip (Assistant Malcolm Kilduff makes his first trip on his own to Texas; Salinger said he missed only “one or two trips” with JFK...Texas was one of them!)
Dr Burkley close to JFK (Burkley protested being placed far away from JFK in Dallas, for this was the only time, save in Rome, this ever happened to him)
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KETyYfoowU&t=483s
3.
Arnold Rowland’s and Barbara Rowland’s (separate) statements to the Sheriff’s office 11/22/63 (as also dramatized in the 1991 movie JFK and mentioned in many JFK assassination books).
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