20 Years in the Secret Service: My Life with Five Presidents by Rufus W. Youngblood

Author:Rufus W. Youngblood [Youngblood, Rufus W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fideli Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2018-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

After boarding the plane, one of the first things LBJ did was to decline the use of the presidential quarters. My orders were clear: “I want this kept strictly for the use of Mrs. Kennedy, Rufus. See to that.”

Forward of this suite aboard the plane was a stateroom that served as an office and sitting room for the president. It was the width of the plane and contained a chair, desk, a large worktable, sofas, and a television set. I walked into the crowded compartment with Johnson, a simple act that would have caused no stir whatever if it had taken place the previous day. He had been vice president then; close friends did not hesitate to call him Lyndon. The difference now was almost palpable. As crowded as the compartment was, no one remained sitting when he came in. It was a dramatic moment. As Johnson later wrote: “It was at that moment that I realized nothing would ever be the same again. A wall—high, forbidding, historic—separated us now, a wall that derives from the Office of the Presidency of the United States. No one but my family would ever penetrate it, as long as I held the office.”

He put everyone at ease, and someone turned the sound up on the television. The familiar face of Walter Cronkite was on the screen, telling of the shooting in Dallas, and suddenly, he was interrupted by the local station for the bulletin Malcolm Kilduff had just issued to the press at Parkland.

“President John F. Kennedy died at approximately one o’clock, Central Standard Time, today, here in Dallas. He died of a gunshot wound in the brain. There are no other details at this time regarding the assassination of the president.”

Johnson began to confer with key people concerning the administering of the oath of office. For the sake of national security, I felt that we should not remain parked at Love Field any longer than was absolutely necessary. If it was felt that the oath was an immediate necessity, and not something we could attend to when we reached Washington, there were people aboard the plane who were empowered to administer it—among them, every Secret Service agent. My own feeling was that this was a formality that could be taken care of later.

However, we already were faced with a delay that no one questioned. The plane would not leave Dallas until Jacqueline Kennedy and the late President Kennedy’s body were aboard. Those who favored swearing Johnson in immediately pointed out that it might be done while the plane was waiting. Other reasons were put forward to strengthen the argument. “Suppose we were to run into bad weather?” one of the congressmen suggested. “It could take three or four hours to get to Washington. I don’t think it’s fair to the country to delay. The world must know that we do not have a break in leadership.”

Continuity was the key word. There was a real basis for fear, other than the possibility of a conspiracy.

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