The Chairman. They may be admitted.
(The items marked Commission Exhibits Nos. 697 and 698 were received in evidence.)
Mr. Specter. What was the relative height of the jump seats, Governor, with respect to the seat of the President and Mrs. Kennedy immediately to your rear?
Governor Connally. They were somewhat lower. The back seat of that particular Lincoln limousine, which is a specially designed and built automobile, as you know, for the President of the United States, has an adjustable back seat. It can be lowered or raised. I would say the back seat was approximately 6 inches higher than the jump seats on which Mrs. Connally and I sat.
Mr. Specter. Do you know for certain whether or not the movable back seat was elevated at the time?
Governor Connally. No; I could not be sure of it, although I know there were—there was a time or two when he did elevate it, and I think beyond question on most of the ride in San Antonio, Fort Worth, Houston, and Dallas, it was elevated. For a while—the reason I know is—I sat on the back seat with him during part of the ride, particularly in San Antonio, not in Dallas, but in San Antonio. The wind was blowing, and we were traveling fairly fast, and Mrs. Kennedy preferred to sit on the jump seat, and I was sitting on the back seat part of the time, and the seat was elevated, and I think it was on substantially all the trip.
Mr. Specter. Was the portion elevated, that where only the President sat?
Governor Connally. No; the entire back seat.
Mr. Specter. Describe in a general way the size and reaction of the crowd on the motorcade route, if you would, please, Governor?
Governor Connally. When we got into Dallas, there was quite a large crowd at the airport to greet their President, I would say several thousand people.