And what were the considerations behind the decision on having a motorcade through Dallas?
Mr. O'DONNELL. Well, we had a motorcade wherever we went. Particularly when we went to a large city, the purpose of going there was to give the President as much exposure to the people of Dallas and vice versa, the people of Dallas to the President, as possible.
The speaking engagement was a luncheon which was rather limited. And the President would not want to leave Dallas feeling that the only ones that were able to see him were a rather select group. So it would be automatic, and we would not even proceed with instructions, that the advance man and the Secret Service would, within the time allotted to them--would bring the President into Dallas, through an area which exposes him to the greatest number of people.

Mr. Specter.

When was a decision made, if you recall, as to the precise route that the motorcade would follow through Dallas?
Mr. O'DONNELL. I don't recall. I would think it would be perhaps a week before the final decision was made. The President would not involve himself in anything like this. Once we agreed on where he would go, that was my responsibility to work it out. The normal course of events--they would say to me, "Do you want a motorcade in Dallas?" I would say, "Yes; this is how much time you have got." They would work out a motorcade. The Secret Service would time the route. Once they had worked out this point, they would come back to me and say, "We have accomplished the purpose you want." The Secret Service would say it takes so much time, the Governor would say "You have to be here at a certain time." Once all those are put together, the route is laid out and accepted.

Mr. Specter.

Do you recall how long after the determination of the motorcade route that that information was transmitted to the press in Dallas?
Mr. O'DONNELL. I don't. I would think on the transmission to the press that that would not come from here anyway. That would come from down there. I would think the Governor's office would probably put that out. We would under normal circumstances inform through Mr. Salinger's office, I would inform him of the trip, and then I would give him a schedule that is given to me by the Secret Service, which would give the times, but no routes--times and locations, and would go along that he would arrive at 12 o'clock, address such and such a group at 1 o'clock. So we would not normally be privy--they could be saying to me, "We are going down 12th Street"--it would not mean anything to me. So I would think that our advance man and the Governor's advance man would make a decision on when they were going to announce the route.
I would think that was almost normal. You might say you wanted to do it 4 days ahead of time in New York, and the local fellow would really determine-- "Down here we do it this way."

Mr. Specter.

Would the route be disclosed to the press as a matter of normal procedure in general as soon as it was ascertained?
Mr. O'DONNELL. Yes.

Mr. Specter.

Were there any factors peculiar to Dallas which delayed the determination of the motorcade route?
Mr. O'DONNELL. The only factor that really did hold up a final decision was we had not been able to finally agree on where he would end up and where he would deliver the speech. There was a controversy between the Governor, and between some of the local democratic figures, and between our people, as to whether the place finally selected was the best place for the President to give the address. The Governor felt very strongly on it. And we finally acquiesced to his views. But I would think that came rather late in the game, and it would have altered the route quite dramatically.

Mr. Specter.

Would you tell us if there was any consideration at all given to omitting Dallas as a stop on the trip in Texas?
Mr. O'DONNELL. I don't think so; no. I would think that the President would

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