Another Connally lie about JFK Texas trip

[Gil Jesus]

In his testimony in Volume 4 of the Warren Commission Hearings, Governor John B. Connally of Texas, who rode in the limo with JFK, tells the Commission that JFK wanted no more than one fundraising dinner and that he was in agreement with that.

Governor CONNALLY. "...some thought was being given to having four fundraising dinners. His attitude on that was he wouldn't prefer that. He felt that the appearances would not be too good, that he would much prefer to have one if we were going to have any. I told him this was entirely consistent with my own thoughts. We ought not to have more than one fundraising dinner. "

( 4 H 130 )

But in this 1996 video, he tells a completely different story, that JFK wanted FIVE fundraising dinners and that he and Johnson were opposed to that many.

When it comes to the details of the JFK Texas trip, Gov. Connally doesn't seem to be able to get his story straight.

[David Lifton]

Gil,

I have seen many of your videos--and they are always interesting and informative. You have made a major contribution to this case, in educating the public, by assembling and promulgating much valuable data. Fairly recently, I saw your video containing a clip of an LBJ interview at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles in July, 1960, when LBJ was asked whether he would take the Vice Presidency. No words I can post can capture the wonderful quality of that clip, or LBJ's demeanor, in his responses. I thought to myself: now there's some great film research, to unearth such a news interview, and present it as you did.

Turning now to your post, and focusing just on the question of fundraising dinners--who many, who wanted them, etc.: Connally's very detailed narrative, written personally by him and presenting his version of how the Texas trip came to pass, was published (as a cover story) in the November 24, 1967 Life magazine (the same one that published, for the first time, frames from the Bell film, the Bond Slides, etc.). The cover features a picture of Governor Connally holding a cowboy hat, and bearing a soulful look and carries the title of an essay he wrote of some 6700 words in length. That essay is titled "WHY KENNEDY WENT TO TEXAS". In studying the genesis of the Texas trip, I have found it essential to read that essay and then to compare (and contrast) these four records (at least):

1) The journalistic record published prior to 11/22/63, which one can find in various Texas newspapers

2) What Connally said after 11/22/63, to the Warren Commission (in his April 1964 testimony)

3) Connally's detailed essay in the November 24, 1967 Life Magazine (as just mentioned, and further discussed, below)

4) Connally's September, 1978 HSCA testimony.

And, of course, there is still more--because Connally is quoted in the major bio "LONE STAR" (by Reston, Jr., etc.); and no doubt he has made statements on various other occasions, one of which is quoted in your post. But, in my post right here, I am primarily focusing on these four records, and particularly Connally's own essay as published in the November 24, 1967 issue of LIFE MAGAZINE.

QUOTING THE OPENING PARAGRAPH (of his essay, published in the 11/24/67 Life Magazine, "Why Kennedy Went to Texas"):

I might as well be blunt about this. I was not anxious for President Kennedy to come to Texas. For a year and a half he had sought the trip that ended so savagely on the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963. The national pain and trauma that followed his death have produced the Kennedy legend, and I suppose it is natural that, in the growth of the legend, the real purposes and circumstances of his trip have been largely obscured. Now I want to set the record straight. UNQUOTE

The issue of whether Connally wanted JFK to make the trip to Texas is a very important one. There are those who believe that Connally was involved in "luring" JFK to Texas; I'm not at all sure that was the case. (But that is another matter). Anyway, after that opening, Connally's essay then goes on a long side trip which contains a lot of interesting information about Texas politics--why LBJ took the Vice Presidency, the divided Democratic party in Texas, Connally's version of the genesis of the Texas trip, etc. Then, many paragraphs into the article, we come to the June, 1963, El Paso meeting with JFK, LBJ, Connally (See Clifton Carter Affidavit [Vol 7, p. 474]--a meeting which the Warren Report cites as the genesis for the trip (though I'm not sure that is true, either). But in any event, Connally, describing the back and forth at that meeting, then states the following, and now we are dealing with the number of fundraising events that (says Connally) JFK wanted:

QUOTE:

The President nodded and said that he had been thinking about four fund-raising dinners or meetings in Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Dallas. I was still gulping at the idea of four dinners when he went on blithely to say that he thought Mr. Johnson’s birthday, Aug. 27, might provide a logical date and reason for the trip. I’m sure Mr. Johnson appreciated as well as I did the futility of the early date, but I think lie was prepared to let me carry the ball for a while.

“Well, Mr. President,” I said, “you know my feelings for Vice President Johnson, but I must tell you that the very people you will want to reach are likely not to be here—Texas gets mighty hot in August.”

“If you don’t like that date, what date do you like?” the President asked.

I wasn’t prepared to offer an immediate alternative and the President said, still in a friendly but definitely businesslike fashion, “Well, let’s get on with it. We’ve been talking about this for a year and a half or more. Let’s get an agreement about what we are going to do and get together and start making our plans.”

For some time thereafter, I gave a great deal of thought to the President’s visit. UNQUOTE

I cannot capture all the details in this brief post, but --as you probably know--Connally then went back to Austin, engaged in some planning, and then went to Washington and had a meeting (alone) with JFK on October 4, 1963.

When Connally left that meeting (and that meeting is also described in the essay), there was at least one news person with a camera, and I remember seeing a brief exchange with Connally, right there, at the White House.

It would be great if --through your contacts and research--you could locate the very brief film clip of Connally when he exited the Oval Office after his October 4, 1963 meeting with JFK, since, just minutes before, they have just discussed the forthcoming Texas trip and, as I recall, Connally's demeanor was decidedly uneasy (at least, that was my impression). Now I am relying here on my own recollection, and this goes back some 40 years, to around 1972. But I seem to recall seeing that clip when, back in 1972, I was the "researcher" on the movie Executive Action (released in 1973). I don't know which NYC film library the clip came from, but I do remember that clip.

Anyway, I wish you well in your research, and hope you can find footage which clarifies the issue of whether Connally was in fact using the occassion of his October 4, 1963 meeting with JFK, to attempt to persuade JFK NOT to make the trip (even though that would have been against the wishes of his original political mentor, LBJ). Keep in mind: Connally's was "Lyndon's boy." There is little question in my mind that LBJ was promoting the trip (even though he later said he was not); but whether Connally really wanted JFK to come to Texas is an entirely different matter.

My best,

DSL

4/11/10; 5:50 PM PDT

Los Angeles, CA

PS: I wish I could lay my hands on a color copy of that Life Magazine cover (the 11/24/67 issue) because Connally's look is so sorrowful. At the time, I was attending Liebeler's UCLA twice-weekly Law School seminar on the Warren Commission. I remember cutting out the Life cover, and putting a big balloon in Connally's mouth, and inside it I wrote: "I'm sorry I was hit by a separate bullet." Liebeler got a huge laugh out of that one. DSL

PPS: I attempted to upload the Life cover; now I notice someone else has done it. Thanks much. DSL

Edited April 12, 2010 by David Lifton

[Michael Hogan]

Gil,

I have seen many of your videos--and they are always interesting and informative. You have made a major contribution to this case, in educating the public, by assembling and promulgating much valuable data. Fairly recently, I saw your video containing a clip of an LBJ interview at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles in July, 1960, when LBJ was asked whether he would take the Vice Presidency. No words I can post can capture the wonderful quality of that clip, or LBJ's demeanor, in his responses. I thought to myself: now there's some great film research, to unearth such a news interview, and present it as you did.

Turning now to your post, and focusing just on the question of fundraising dinners--who many, who wanted them, etc.: Connally's very detailed narrative, written personally by him and presenting his version of how the Texas trip came to pass, was published (as a cover story) in the November 22, 1967 Life magazine (the same one that published, for the first time, frames from the Bell film, the Bond Slides, etc.). The cover features a picture of Governor Connally holding a cowboy hat, and bearing a soulful look and carries the title of an essay he wrote of some 6700 words in length. That essay is titled "WHY KENNEDY WENT TO TEXAS". In studying the genesis of the Texas trip, I have found it essential to read that essay and then to compare (and contrast) these four records (at least):

1) The journalistic record published prior to 11/22/63, which one can find in various Texas newspapers

2) What Connally said after 11/22/63, to the Warren Commission (in his April 1964 testimony)

3) Connally's detailed essay in the November 22, 1967 Life Magazine (as just mentioned, and further discussed, below)

4) Connally's September, 1978 HSCA testimony.

And, of course, there is still more--because Connally is quoted in the major bio "LONE STAR" (by Reston, Jr., etc.); and no doubt he has made statements on various other occasions, one of which is quoted in your post. But, in my post right here, I am primarily focusing on these four records, and particularly Connally's own essay as published in the November 22, 1967 issue of LIFE MAGAZINE.

QUOTING THE OPENING PARAGRAPH (of his essay, published in the 11/22/67 Life Magazine, "Why Kennedy Went to Texas"):

I might as well be blunt about this. I was not anxious for President Kennedy to come to Texas. For a year and a half he had sought the trip that ended so savagely on the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963. The national pain and trauma that followed his death have produced the Kennedy legend, and I suppose it is natural that, in the growth of the legend, the real purposes and circumstances of his trip have been largely obscured. Now I want to set the record straight. UNQUOTE

The issue of whether Connally wanted JFK to make the trip to Texas is a very important one. There are those who believe that Connally was involved in "luring" JFK to Texas; I'm not at all sure that was the case. (But that is another matter). Anyway, after that opening, Connally's essay then goes on a long side trip which contains a lot of interesting information about Texas politics--why LBJ took the Vice Presidency, the divided Democratic party in Texas, Connally's version of the genesis of the Texas trip, etc. Then, many paragraphs into the article, we come to the June, 1963, El Paso meeting with JFK, LBJ, Connally (See Clifton Carter Affidavit [Vol 7, p. 474]--a meeting which the Warren Report cites as the genesis for the trip (though I'm not sure that is true, either). But in any event, Connally, describing the back and forth at that meeting, then states the following, and now we are dealing with the number of fundraising events that (says Connally) JFK wanted:

QUOTE:

The President nodded and said that he had been thinking about four fund-raising dinners or meetings in Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Dallas. I was still gulping at the idea of four dinners when he went on blithely to say that he thought Mr. Johnson’s birthday, Aug. 27, might provide a logical date and reason for the trip. I’m sure Mr. Johnson appreciated as well as I did the futility of the early date, but I think lie was prepared to let me carry the ball for a while.

“Well, Mr. President,” I said, “you know my feelings for Vice President Johnson, but I must tell you that the very people you will want to reach are likely not to be here—Texas gets mighty hot in August.”

“If you don’t like that date, what date do you like?” the President asked.

I wasn’t prepared to offer an immediate alternative and the President said, still in a friendly but definitely businesslike fashion, “Well, let’s get on with it. We’ve been talking about this for a year and a half or more. Let’s get an agreement about what we are going to do and get together and start making our plans.”

For some time thereafter, I gave a great deal of thought to the President’s visit. UNQUOTE

I cannot capture all the details in this brief post, but --as you probably know--Connally then went back to Austin, engaged in some planning, and then went to Washington and had a meeting (alone) with JFK on October 4, 1963.

When Connally left that meeting (and that meeting is also described in the essay), there was at least one news person with a camera, and I remember seeing a brief exchange with Connally, right there, at the White House.

It would be great if --through your contacts and research--you could locate the very brief film clip of Connally when he exited the Oval Office after his October 4, 1963 meeting with JFK, since, just minutes before, they have just discussed the forthcoming Texas trip and, as I recall, Connally's demeanor was decidedly uneasy (at least, that was my impression). Now I am relying here on my own recollection, and this goes back some 40 years, to around 1972. But I seem to recall seeing that clip when, back in 1972, I was the "researcher" on the movie Executive Action (released in 1973). I don't know which NYC film library the clip came from, but I do remember that clip.

Anyway, I wish you well in your research, and hope you can find footage which clarifies the issue of whether Connally was in fact using the occassion of his October 4, 1963 meeting with JFK, to attempt to persuade JFK NOT to make the trip (even though that would have been against the wishes of his original political mentor, LBJ). Keep in mind: Connally's was "Lyndon's boy." There is little question in my mind that LBJ was promoting the trip (even though he later said he was not); but whether Connally really wanted JFK to come to Texas is an entirely different matter.

My best,

DSL

4/11/10; 5:50 PM PDT

Los Angeles, CA

PS: I wish I could lay my hands on a color copy of that Life Magazine cover (the 11/22/67 issue) because Connally's look is so sorrowful. At the time, I was attending Liebeler's UCLA twice-weekly Law School seminar on the Warren Commission. I remember cutting out the Life cover, and putting a big balloon in Connally's mouth, and inside it I wrote: "I'm sorry I was hit by a separate bullet." Liebeler got a huge laugh out of that one. DSL

http://www.life.com/image/50686047

[Guest Tom Scully]

David,

The 1967 issue of Life Magazine is available online, here.:

http://books.google.com/books?id=eEkEAAAAM...%9D&f=false

[Michael Hogan]

When it comes to the details of the JFK Texas trip, Gov. Connally doesn't seem to be able to get his story straight.

From Inside The ARRB, Volume V by Doug Horne:

Governor John Connally Repeatedly Lied About, and Misrepresented,

the Origins of the Texas Trip After President Kennedy's Assassination.

The above is a sub-heading at the top of page 1385. Horne discusses some of the same issues raised by David Lifton.

In fact, he credits Lifton for many of the newspaper leads and some other important information on Congressman Al Thomas.

Much has been made of Horne's research into the medical evidence. Volume V deals with "The Setup -- Planning the Texas Trip

and the Dallas Motorcade" and "Inconvenient Truths," a detailed study of the running battle President Kennedy had with key figures

in the Military and Intelligence agencies over Cold War foreign policy. Horne borrows heavily from other researchers in making

his case for a military-inspired coup.

Both Lifton and Horne's understanding of President Kennedy's murder extend well beyond the medical evidence coverup.

[Karl Kinaski]

When it comes to the details of the JFK Texas trip, Gov. Connally doesn't seem to be able to get his story straight.

From Inside The ARRB, Volume V by Doug Horne:

Governor John Connally Repeatedly Lied About, and Misrepresented,

the Origins of the Texas Trip After President Kennedy's Assassination.

The above is a sub-heading at the top of page 1385. Horne discusses some of the same issues raised by David Lifton.

In fact, he credits Lifton for many of the newspaper leads and some other important information on Congressman Al Thomas.

Much has been made of Horne's research into the medical evidence. Volume V deals with "The Setup -- Planning the Texas Trip

and the Dallas Motorcade" and "Inconvenient Truths," a detailed study of the running battle President Kennedy had with key figures

in the Military and Intelligence agencies over Cold War foreign policy. Horne borrows heavily from other researchers in making

his case for a military-inspired coup.

Both Lifton and Horne's understanding of President Kennedy's murder extend well beyond the medical evidence coverup.

Despite his blurred memory about the circumstances of the Texas Trip, Connally remains the main anti-single-bullet-theory-witness. It was his TV-interview in the summer of 1964 which leads to the discord within the WC, and the famous phone call Russell-LBJ, (Sep. 64) in which both men admit, that they do not believe in the SBT.

KK