86972 (Pierre Salinger), the White House, and WHSR (Oliver Hallett) on 22 November 1963


Transcript

Edited by Max Holland, with David Shreve, Ashley Havard High, and Patricia Dunn

See the daily introduction for 1963-11-22  [from the Norton edition]

Approximately 35,000 feet above the ocean and 900 miles west of Honolulu, SAM 86972 received a garbled but alarming bulletin over the United Press International (UPI) teletype. At Dean Rusk’s instruction, Press Secretary Pierre Salinger called the White House Situation Room (WHSR) to confirm the news about shots being fired at the President’s motorcade in Dallas. Established in 1961, the Situation Room was the communications nerve center for the White House, especially when the President was not in residence. Navy Commander Oliver Hallett took the inquiry from Salinger, who could not remember any code names but his own. Hallett struggled to deliver the blood-curdling confirmation dispassionately, though misstatements and Hallett’s tone betrayed his own shock at the news.[note 1] Manchester, Death, pp. 193–94.

Unidentified

[Several unclear voices are heard in the background.]

Unidentified

Oh, LIBERTY? [Pause.] LIBERTY?

86972

Roger. White House Situation Room, SAM [86972]. You got 86972. How [do you] read [me]? Over.

Unidentified

Don’t copy anything but a signal, Andy [Andrews].

86972

[anxiously] White House . . . SAM 8-6-9-7-2. Do you read? Over. [Pause.] White House?

White House

White House [is] on.

Unidentified

OK. Sergeant Wurtzer, I’m on.[note 2] Name spelled as heard; probably a radio communications specialist on duty.

Unidentified

Stand by.

86972

White House, this is SAM 86972. How [do you] read [me]? Over.

White House

[amid other voices] 86972. I read you loud and clear. Loud and clear.

86972

Roger. Stand by one, please. We have another phone patch going on with CINCPAC, but we do have traffic for you so hold on one moment, please.

White House

Roger, Roger, 86972.

Pierre Salinger

[tone of anxiety] White House Situation Room, this is WAYSIDE. Do you read me? Over.

White House

This is White House; this is White House. I read you loud and clear, WAYSIDE.

Salinger

Can you give me latest information on President? Over.

White House

Do you want the Situation Room; is that a Roger?

Salinger

Repeat that transmission, please.

White House

This is, ah, [unclear] this is CROWN, this is CROWN. Do you want the Situation Room?

Salinger

I want the Situation Room; that’s affirmative.

White House

Roger, Roger. Getting them now. Stand by, please. [Pause.]

WAYSIDE, WAYSIDE, this is CROWN. Situation is Room—Room is on. Go ahead.[note 3] The Presidential Recordings Program revised the following section of text in 2021 for inclusion in The LBJ Telephone Tapes, a project produced by the Miller Center in partnership with the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library to commemorate the library's 50th anniversary.

Salinger

Situation Room, this is WAYSIDE. Do you read me? Over.

Oliver Hallett

This is the Situation Room. I read you. Go ahead.

Salinger

Give me all available information on President [John F. "Jack" Kennedy]. Over.

Hallett

All available information on President follows: Connally—John—he and [draws deep breath] Governor [John B.] Connally of Texas have been hit in the car in which they were riding. We do not know how serious the situation is. We have no information. Mr. Bromley [K.] Smith is back here in the Situation Room now. We are getting our information over the tickers. Over.

Salinger

That is affirmative, affirmative. Please keep us advised out here. This plane, on which [the] Secretary of State [and] other Cabinet ministers [were] headed for Japan, [is] turning around, returning to Honolulu [Hawaii] Will arrive there [in] approximately two hours. Over.[note 4] End of 2021 revisions.

Hallett

This is—WAYSIDE, understand those departing Honolulu are turning around and will be back there in about two hours. Is that correct? Over.

Salinger

That is affirmative, affirmative. We’ll send you—we’ll need all information to decide whether some of party should go directly to Dallas. Over.

Hallett

Ah, this is the Situation Room. Say again your last, please.

Salinger

We’ll need to be kept advised so [we] can determine whether some members of this party should go directly to Dallas. Over.

Hallett

Ah, Roger. You wish information as to whether some members of that party should go to Dallas. I [unclear]—

Salinger

That is affirmative, affirmative.[note 5] The Presidential Recordings Program revised the following section of text in 2021 for inclusion in The LBJ Telephone Tapes, a project produced by the Miller Center in partnership with the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library to commemorate the library's 50th anniversary.

Hallett

Do you have anything else, WAYSIDE?

Salinger

No. Any other information, get ahold of [us] as rapidly as possible.

Hallett

All right. The Associated Press [AP] is coming out now with a bulletin to the effect that they believe the President was hit in the head. That just came in. Over.

Salinger

The President was hit in the head. Over. [Leaves line.]

Hallett

Roger. We will pass on any additional information we get from here to you.[note 6] End of 2021 revisions.

86972

Ah, Roger. We’ll be standing by for your call.

Hallett

All right. Where are you, WAYSIDE?

86972

Ah, WAYSIDE is off the line. This is the radio operator, sir, and we are returning to Honolulu and should be back to Honolulu in about two hours. We’ll be in the air for about two hours into Honolulu, and you [can] contact us on the ground there then later.

Hallett

I understand.[note 7] The Presidential Recordings Program revised the following section of text in 2021 for inclusion in The LBJ Telephone Tapes, a project produced by the Miller Center in partnership with the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library to commemorate the library's 50th anniversary. Ah, this is . . . Oh. Hold on the line there, WAYSIDE [sic]. We have some more information coming up.

86972

He’ll be right back.

Hallett

WAYSIDE, WAYSIDE, this is the Situation Room. I read from the AP bulletin: “Kennedy apparently shot in head. He fell face down in back seat of his car. Blood was on his head. Mrs. [Jacqueline B. “Jackie”] Kennedy cried, ‘Oh no,’ and tried to hold up his head. Connally remained half-seated, slumped to the left. There was blood on his face and forehead. The President and the Governor were rushed to Parkland Hospital near the Dallas Trade Mart where Kennedy was to have made a speech.” Over.

Salinger

I read that. Over.

Hallett

This is [the] Situation Room. I have nothing further for you now. I will contact you if we get more.

Salinger

WAYSIDE is Roger and out.[note 8] End of 2021 revisions.

Cite as

“86972 (Pierre Salinger), the White House, and WHSR (Oliver Hallett) on 22 November 1963,” Sound Recording Tape 0-969-1, Presidential Recordings Digital Edition [The Kennedy Assassination and the Transfer of Power, vol. 1, ed. Max Holland] (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2014–). URL: http://prde.upress.virginia.edu/conversations/9010005

Originally published in

Lyndon B. Johnson: The Kennedy Assassination and the Transfer of Power, November 1963–January 1964, ed. Max Holland, vol. 1 of The Presidential Recordings (New York and London: W. W. Norton and Company, 2005).