Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

II. Sworn Affidavits

This section provides the rules for obtaining sworn affidavits from designated witnesses. Members of the Commission staff are authorized to obtain sworn affidavits from witnesses who have been designated in writing by the Commission, a member of the Commission, or the General Counsel as witnesses whose testimony will be obtained in this manner. A copy of the affidavit shall be provided to the affiant or his counsel.

RESOLUTION

Adopted pursuant to Executive Order No. 11130, this resolution establishes nine rules governing hearings conducted for the taking of testimony or production of evidence. The rules require: (1) the presence of at least one Commissioner at all hearings, with the Chairman designating presiding order; (2) authority for members, agents, or agencies to administer oaths and examine witnesses; (3) advance notice of at least three days for process and papers; (4) waiver of the notice period by the witness; (5) reading of a statement of the inquiry’s nature at the opening of each hearing with copies provided to witnesses; (6) the right of witnesses to be accompanied by counsel who may advise on legal rights and make brief objections, with counsel permitted to clarify testimony at its conclusion; (7) the right of every witness to make an oral statement and file a sworn statement relevant to the hearing; (8) rulings on objections or procedural questions by the presiding Commissioner; and (9) the preparation of stenographic verbatim transcripts available for inspection or purchase by the witness or counsel at prescribed rates from the official reporter.

APPENDIX VII

This appendix provides a brief history of presidential protection in the United States, documenting the assassination of four Presidents within less than 100 years and unsuccessful attempts on the lives of two other Presidents, one President-elect, and one ex-President. It chronicles the timeline of these attacks and notes the statistical frequency of such incidents.

A Brief History of Presidential Protection

The section documents attacks on American Presidents, noting that four Presidents have been assassinated since 1865, with additional attempts on two other Presidents, one President-elect, and one ex-President. The timeline of actual attempts includes: Andrew Jackson (January 30, 1835); Abraham Lincoln (April 14, 1865, died April 15, 1865); James A. Garfield (July 2, 1881, died September 19, 1881); William McKinley (September 6, 1901, died September 14, 1901); Theodore Roosevelt (October 14, 1912, wounded but recovered); Franklin D. Roosevelt (February 15, 1933); Harry S. Truman (November 1, 1950); and John F. Kennedy (November 22, 1963, died that day). The section concludes with statistical observations: attempts have been made on the lives of one of every five American Presidents, one of every nine Presidents has been killed, since 1865 attempts have been made on one of every four Presidents with one of every five successfully assassinated, and during the last three decades three attacks were made.

KAPITEL II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the

Systematic and continuous protection of the President was only instituted after the shooting of William McKinley. Before McKinley, presidential protection was intermittent and spasmodic, with the problem existing since the early days of the Republic but going unaddressed until three tragic events forced action. Examining the development of presidential protection over the years reveals both the persistent high degree of danger and the anomalous reluctance of presidents and government institutions to take necessary precautions.

BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR

In the early Republic there was remarkably little concern for presidential safety. Early presidents received threats and threatening letters similar to those faced by later chief executives but moved about freely without protective escorts. Thomas Jefferson walked alone from his boarding house to the Capitol for his inauguration, and Washington had no police authority until 1805 when a high constable and 40 deputies were appointed. John Quincy Adams was threatened in person at the White House by an Army sergeant yet continued his solitary walks and early morning swims in the Potomac. Andrew Jackson contemptuously endorsed his many threatening letters and sent them to the Washington Globe for publication; he was once assaulted by a former Navy lieutenant, Robert B. Randolph, but refused to prosecute. In January 1835, Richard Lawrence, an English-born house painter, accosted Jackson at the Capitol and fired two pistols at him, both of which misfired; Lawrence was found not guilty by reason of insanity and confined for life. The attack produced no protective action. Martin Van Buren walked to church alone and rode horseback alone in the woods near the White House. After an intoxicated painter threw rocks at President John Tyler on the White House grounds in 1842, Congress passed an act establishing an auxiliary watch of a captain and 15 men, though the measure appeared aimed more at protecting the White House building than the President.