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

Overhaul of Secret Service Presidential Threat Detection Facilities

The Commission recommends that the Secret Service undertake a complete overhaul of its facilities for the advance detection of potential threats against the President. Three specific measures are proposed: first, the Secret Service should develop more precise criteria defining which potential threats other agencies should report, and these criteria should include prompt notice of all returned defectors; second, the Secret Service should accelerate its current plans to employ the most efficient data-processing techniques; and third, once new criteria are established, the Secret Service should enter into formal agreements with each federal agency to ensure it receives the required information.

Improvement of Presidential Motorcade Protective Measures

The Commission recommends that the Secret Service improve the protective measures employed in the planning and execution of Presidential motorcades. In particular, the Secret Service should continue its current efforts to heighten the precautionary attention given to buildings situated along the motorcade route.

Formalization of Secret Service and Local Police Department Relationships

The Commission recommends that the Secret Service continue its recent efforts to improve and formalize its working relationships with local police departments in the areas the President is scheduled to visit.

Provision of Adequate Personnel and Resources to the Secret Service

The Commission believes that once the new criteria and procedures are in place, the Secret Service will lack sufficient personnel and adequate facilities to fulfill its mission. The Commission accordingly recommends that the Secret Service be provided with the personnel and resources that the Service and the Department of the Treasury can demonstrate are necessary to carry out its important responsibilities.

Enhanced Interagency Cooperation with the Secret Service

Even with an increase in Secret Service personnel, presidential protection will continue to require the resources and cooperation of many federal agencies. The Commission recommends that these agencies, specifically the FBI, continue the practice that has developed—particularly since the assassination—of assisting the Secret Service upon request by providing personnel or other aid, and that there be a closer association and liaison between the Secret Service and all federal agencies.

Requirement for Presidential Physician Accompaniment During Travel

The Commission recommends that the President’s physician always accompany the President during his travels and occupy a position near the President so that he can be immediately available in the event of any medical emergency.

Federal Criminalization of Presidential and Vice-Presidential Assassination

The Commission recommends that Congress adopt legislation making the assassination of the President and Vice President a federal crime. The Commission observes that the absence of clearly defined federal jurisdiction to investigate the assassination of a President represents an anomalous state of affairs.

Regulations for Handling Returned Disloyal Defectors

The Commission has reviewed the Department of State’s handling of the Oswald matters and finds that it complied with the law throughout. Nevertheless, the Commission believes that the Department, in accordance with its own regulations, should in all cases exercise great care in returning to this country defectors who have evidenced disloyalty or hostility to the United States or who have expressed a desire to renounce their American citizenship. When such persons are returned, procedures should be adopted to ensure the better dissemination of information concerning them to the relevant intelligence agencies of the Government.

Establishment of Ethical Information Collection and Presentation Standards

The Commission recommends that representatives of the bar, law enforcement associations, and the news media collaborate to establish ethical standards concerning the collection and presentation of information to the public. The purpose of these standards is to prevent interference with pending criminal investigations, court proceedings, or the right of individuals to a fair trial.

KAPITEL II.

Chapter II of the report, titled “The Assassination,” describes President Kennedy’s trip to Dallas in November 1963, from its origin through planning, Secret Service preparations, the motorcade, the assassination itself, activities at Parkland Memorial Hospital, and the return of the Presidential party to Washington. The narrative is based largely on participants’ recollections, supplemented by documentary evidence. An evaluation of protective procedures and recommendations appears in chapter VIII. Chapter II of the Warren Commission report reconstructs President Kennedy’s November 22, 1963 visit to Dallas and the events leading to his assassination. It begins with the public and media lead-up to the trip in Texas, traces the President’s prior stops in San Antonio, Houston, and Fort Worth, and then details his arrival at Love Field, the organization of the motorcade, its route through Dallas, and finally the assassination on Elm Street. CHAPTER II covers the immediate events following the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963. It establishes the precise time of the shooting, calculates the speed of the Presidential limousine, recounts the experiences of occupants inside the limousine, documents the reactions of Secret Service agents, and follows the race to Parkland Memorial Hospital and the emergency medical treatment of the President. CHAPTER II covers the immediate aftermath of the November 22, 1963 assassination of President Kennedy at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, and the subsequent events leading through the swearing in of the new President, the return to Washington, and the autopsy at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Maryland.