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 it—"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 not have—once he had agreed to go to three or four other cities, that he could not possibly go to Texas and avoid Dallas. It would cause more controversy—and it would not accomplish for us what really was the long-range purpose of the visit.
Mr. Specter. And the long-range purpose was what, sir?
Mr. O'Donnell. Was to attempt to in some way bridge the gap between the two political groups in Texas who were at odds, and to assist the President and prepare for the 1964 campaign as best he could at this period of time.