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

Genesis of the ‘Welcome Mr. Kennedy’ Advertisement

The November 22 “Welcome Mr. Kennedy” advertisement was a paid full-page black-bordered piece in the Dallas Morning News, purportedly sponsored by the fictitious “American Fact-Finding Committee,” with Bernard Weissman listed as chairman and a Dallas PO box as the only contact address. The ad was created by four men: Bernard Weissman, William Burley III, Larrie Schmidt, and Joseph Grinnan. Weissman, Burley, and Schmidt had served together in the U.S. Army in Munich, Germany in 1962, where they devised plans to build a conservative political organization (CUSA) and business entity (AMBUS) by infiltrating existing right-wing groups to seize their leadership. Schmidt moved to Dallas in October 1962, became active in local conservative politics, and repeatedly urged Weissman and Burley to join him to capitalize on publicity from upcoming protests, including the Stevenson demonstration and Kennedy’s planned visit. After the Stevenson demonstration made a physical protest of Kennedy’s visit unfeasible, the four men decided to place the advertisement to boost conservative morale in Dallas, adapting a pamphlet of 50 critical questions about U.S. policy for the ad’s content. Grinnan raised the $1,465 ad cost from three wealthy Dallas businessmen, at least one of whom required a suggested question be included. Weissman believed the ad was a John Birch Society initiative, though Schmidt and Grinnan maintained they acted solely as private individuals. The ad received 50-60 responses: mail postmarked before the assassination was favorable, post-assassination mail was hostile and threatening, and mail postmarked weeks later was again favorable. The four men denied any prior connection to Oswald or Jack Ruby, and the Commission found no evidence linking any of them to Oswald, Ruby, or the assassination conspiracy. An unsubstantiated allegation that Weissman met with Ruby and Patrolman J.D. Tippit at Ruby’s Carousel Club on November 14, 1963, was made by attorney Mark Lane, who declined to name his informant or provide supporting evidence; Commission investigation found no evidence such a meeting occurred.

Origins of the ‘Wanted for Treason’ Handbill

The “Wanted for Treason” handbill, distributed in Dallas 1-2 days before President Kennedy’s arrival, featured front and profile photos of Kennedy alongside a series of inflammatory charges against him. Robert A. Surrey, a 38-year-old printing salesman for Dallas’s Johnson Printing Co., was identified as the handbill’s author. Surrey had long been associated with General Edwin Walker in political and business activities, served as president of American Eagle Publishing Co. (a partnership with Walker) that used Johnson Printing Co.’s PO box, and stored Walker’s political and promotional materials at Walker’s headquarters.

KAPITEL VIII. She did not then know Oswald’s address in Dallas.[C6-367]

The chapter details the production and investigation of the “Wanted for Treason” handbills circulated around the time of the John F. Kennedy assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald’s September 1963 trip to Mexico City and his contacts with Cuban and Soviet embassies there, the process and results of his visa applications at those embassies, testimony from Cuban Embassy employee Senora Silvia Duran regarding Oswald’s visits, verification of Duran’s testimony and the full details of Oswald’s Mexico trip, and the Commission’s investigation of allegations of a conspiracy between Oswald and the Cuban government.

Production of “Wanted for Treason” Handbills

Production of “Wanted for Treason” Handbills Surrey prepared the handbill’s text and used Johnson Printing Co. facilities to produce a proof. He then enlisted Klause, a Lettercraft Printing Co. of Dallas salesman he had met while both worked at Johnson Printing, to print the handbills “on the side.” Klause stated Surrey first contacted him roughly 2 to 2.5 weeks before November 22, 1963, and delivered two slick paper magazine prints of front and profile photographs of President Kennedy alongside the textual proof approximately one week before the assassination. Unable to create the photographic negative needed for the printing plate, Klause had the work completed at a local shop, then arranged the Kennedy halftone images at the top of the text to mimic a police “man wanted” placard, and produced a photographic printing plate of the combined image. Overnight, Klause and his wife surreptitiously printed approximately 5,000 copies on Lettercraft’s offset printing equipment without their employer’s knowledge, and delivered the finished handbills to Surrey the following day for a total charge of $60 including expenses.