The Presidential Limousine
The limousine used by President Kennedy in Dallas was a convertible with a detachable, rigid plastic “bubble” top that was neither bulletproof nor bullet resistant. The last Presidential vehicle with any protection against small-arms fire had left the White House in 1953, and it was not replaced because the state of the art did not permit development of a bulletproof top of sufficiently light weight to permit removal when the President wished to ride in an open car. The Secret Service believed it doubtful that any President would ride regularly in a vehicle with a fixed top, even though transparent. Since the assassination, the Secret Service, with the assistance of other Federal agencies and private industry, has developed a vehicle for the better protection of the President.
Access to Passenger Compartment of Presidential Car
On occasion the Secret Service has been permitted to have an agent riding in the passenger compartment with the President, but Presidents have made it clear they did not favor any arrangement that interferes with their privacy; the Secret Service has therefore suggested this practice only on extraordinary occasions. The Presidential vehicle in use in Dallas had no special design or equipment permitting the Secret Service agent in the driver’s compartment to move into the passenger section without hindrance or delay; a metal bar some 15 inches above the back of the front seat and passengers in the jump seats interfered with such access. In contrast, the Vice Presidential vehicle, although not specially designed for that purpose, had no passenger in a jump seat between Agent Youngblood and Vice President Johnson to interfere with Youngblood’s ability to take a protective position before the third shot was fired. The assassination suggests it would have been of prime importance for the Presidential car to permit immediate access to the President by a Secret Service agent at the first sign of danger. Analysis of the Zapruder film reveals that Agent Clinton J. Hill first placed his hand on the Presidential car at frame 343, approximately 1.6 seconds after the President was shot in the head, and had both feet on the car about 3.7 seconds after the fatal wound.
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