FBI Contributions to Presidential Protection
The FBI, which grew rapidly in the 1920s and beyond to become the largest U.S. government investigative agency, had an annual appropriations item for “protection of the person of the President” beginning in 1910, but the Justice Department never exercised direct responsibility for presidential protection. According to J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI provided protection to Vice President Charles Curtis during 1929-1933 at his request. The FBI’s overall contribution to presidential protection consisted primarily of referring potentially dangerous individuals to the Secret Service.
1963 Secret Service Structure and Staffing
In 1963, the Secret Service was one of several investigative agencies in the Treasury Department, with major functions including combating counterfeiting and protecting the President, his family, and other designated persons. The Chief of the Secret Service administered operations through four divisions—Investigation, Inspection, Administrative, and Security—and 65 field offices nationwide, each headed by a special agent in charge reporting directly to Washington. The Security Division supervised the White House detail, White House Police, and Treasury Guard Force. In fiscal year 1963, the Secret Service had an average strength of 513, including 351 special agents, while the White House Police had an average strength of 179.
Parkland Memorial Hospital Medical Records for President John F. Kennedy
Medical records from Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, document the treatment of President John F. Kennedy following his arrival in the Emergency Room at 12:43 p.m. on November 22, 1963. Governor Connally, in the front seat of the same limousine, was taken to room two, while the President was placed in room one. Dr. James Carrico was the first physician to see the President, noting slow, agonal respiratory efforts, a heartbeat without pulse or blood pressure, and two external wounds—a lower anterior neck wound and an occipital skull wound with extruding blood and brain tissue. Additional physicians including Dr. Malcolm Perry, Dr. Charles Baxter, Dr. Ronald Jones, Dr. M. T. Jenkins, Doctors Giesecke and Bunt, Dr. Robert McClelland, Dr. Paul Peters, Dr. Kemp Clark, and Dr. Fouad Bashour participated in the resuscitation effort, which included endotracheal intubation, a tracheostomy, chest tubes, and closed chest cardiac massage. Despite these efforts, the President’s pupils were widely dilated and fixed, no deep tendon reflexes were present, and electrical silence of the heart was observed. President Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m. by Dr. Kemp Clark, Director of Neurological Surgery. The records, including a separate statement from Dr. M. T. Jenkins, Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology, were designated as Commission Exhibit No. 392.
chapter II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the
Chapter II presents medical records from Parkland Memorial Hospital related to the treatment of President Kennedy, Governor John Connally, and Lee Harvey Oswald. The chapter is organized into five sections covering the Kennedy resuscitation report concluding with the pronouncement of death at 1300, and three operative records for Governor Connally (thoracic, wrist, and thigh procedures), followed by the operative record for Oswald’s abdominal and chest surgery.
Kennedy Resuscitation Report
Dr. M. T. Jenkins’s resuscitation report concludes the emergency treatment of President Kennedy. The intermittent positive pressure breathing apparatus was exchanged for an anesthesia machine to better control artificial ventilation. Doctors Akin and Giesecke assisted with the change from orotracheal to tracheostomy tube, while Doctors Hunt and Giesecke connected a cardioscope to assess cardiac activity. The emergency room cart was placed in Trendelenburg position, a venous cutdown was performed on the right saphenous vein, and additional IV fluids and blood were administered. By approximately 1245, external cardiac massage continued under Doctor Clark with a palpable peripheral pulse, but no electrocardiographic evidence of cardiac activity was present. Examination revealed a massive right temporal and occipital laceration with extensive skull defect, herniation and laceration of brain tissue, and protrusion of the cerebellum. Fragmented brain sections were found on the drapes. Restoration of adequate cardiac compression produced a great flow of blood from the cranial cavity, indicating severe vascular damage. Despite expeditious and efficient resuscitation efforts, the magnitude of cranial and intracranial damage proved irreversible. President Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1300.
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