Reply #77: I posted this above about LBJ's involvement that day...

[FedUpWithIt All]

I didn't want it to get lost in the body of the thread. It is pretty interesting and concerning stuff.



The winking man's name is Albert Thomas. If it had not been for this winking man Kennedy would NOT have been in Dallas that day. He moved up a visit to coincide with Thomas' retirement dinner.

He and LBJ had a long history.

This is from an interview with Thomas' wife...

M: Were you involved with this trip when John F. Kennedy came to Texas in November of
1963 when he was killed in Dallas? Were you involved in any of that?
T: I sat by him that night at the dinner.
M: This was the one in Houston?
T: Yes.
M: Is it correct that both Lyndon Johnson as Vice President and John F. Kennedy were here in
Houston for a testimonial-type dinner for you and your husband? Is that right?
T: Yes, it came about--a group of people--Albert had been saying he was going to retire. As a
matter of fact, he had made that announcement, so President Kennedy asked him to
reconsider; that he was needed very much; and would he consent to stay on. Of course, he
was ill at that time, but he was certainly able to carry on his work. So then my husband's
friends got up this dinner for him, and they asked my husband what did he think about
asking President Kennedy to come. He said, "Fine," he thought it would be a wonderful
gesture, but after all, he was so busy that he would certainly understand if he did not come.
Much to our surprise he did call my husband one day and said, "I'm coming to the dinner. I
had planned to go to Texas but not at this particular time. Since your dinner is going to be
then, I think I will come." Well, immediately of course word got out and then all the people
began to make these plans. First, he'd go to San Antonio, then he'd come here, then he'd go
to Fort Worth, then he'd go to Dallas, then he'd go to Austin. Well, it became very
involved.
About a week or ten days later he had accepted and the people had begun to make
their definite plans here. President Kennedy called my husband and said, "Jackie wants to
come also." She had never been on a tour with him just exactly like this so she expressed a
desire to come. Well, when that happened we had to get a larger place because the flood of
people wanting to come then became so great that they had to open it up from the hotels and
other areas and put it in the Coliseum. That's how it happened to be. My husband wanted
to open it up to the public--so everybody could come. But then we didn't have any other
large place. Too, of course, the Secret Service had a say. All along the time my husband
kept saying, "Oh, I hope nothing happens while he's here in Houston at my dinner." I
remember very well when we were driving in. We had a Secret Service man in the car-M:
Was this in the motorcade?
T: Motorcade coming in that afternoon. And he would say, "Do you see anything along the
road?" And he kept looking that afternoon, I remember very well.

Tell me, does the picture of the winking man LOOK like an image of one distressed because his great fear of harm to the president had come true? While all this smiling and winking was going on, Jackie was still covered in her husband's blood.

M: Mr. Thomas was a witness to the swearing-in ceremony of Lyndon Johnson on the plane?
T: Yes, that one picture went around the world because Albert then showed the strain of his
illness and the shock of--. I think it is very pronounced in his expression.

my husband was asked to get back on the plane--I don't know just
how it did happen--but anyway, he was the one that said to President Johnson, "You can't
take off until you are sworn in as President of the United States."
That's how he happened to be right there in front. husband was the first to address Lyndon Johnson as "Mr. President."

More on Thomas and LBJ's activities.

M: Is it correct that the appointment to the Appropriations Committee was the most important?
T: Yes, it was, and that was our first sort of politics within politics.
M: What do you mean by that?
T: Well, President Johnson wanted it also.
M: I see. When was this appointment made? Was this after Johnson was President?
T: Oh, no. That was when he was a member in the House

M: I think one of the most famous projects that your husband was in on was the placing of the
Manned Spacecraft Center.
T: I think he gave about five years of his life on that, because he was so afraid that he wouldn't
get it. It was a terrific thing because there were so many people that were trying to
influence President Kennedy. And, of course, President Kennedy had a terrific decision to
make even against his own state, because MIT wanted it, you see, and California, where
they had the biggest electoral vote of any state almost. So he certainly did favor my
husband and all of Texas, of course, especially Houston.
M: What kind of work did Mr. Thomas have to do to persuade the officials to place the Center
here?
T: Well, I don't know that there was anything other than what was actually here. If anyone
could have seen the area that was selected, you couldn't believe it possible as you see it
now.
M: The land was barren then?
T: Yes. And the Nassau Bay residential area just across from the land was a ranch, it was the
Raymond Pearson Ranch. And this other land was just there.
M: Was that land owned by Humble Oil?
T: Yes, I think part of it was and different people--I'm not familiar with who owned all of it at
the time, but I knew that Humble did and they made it possible that they could purchase it-part
of their area.

M: Where does Brown and Root fit into all of this? Brown and Root apparently built much of
the Manned Spacecraft Center.
T: Well, I'm not familiar with that. I know that there were many people, many construction
companies, connected with it, too; not only Brown & Root, but many others and they
continue to be.
M: Did Mr. Thomas travel down here with the NASA people to inspect the site?
T: Oh, yes, he came at different times. They operated pretty much on their own, and certainly
didn't divulge any of their decisions until it was all given to President Kennedy and he made
the decision.
M: Well, now, Lyndon Johnson was Vice President at the time.
T: Oh, yes.
M: Did he have anything to do with this?
T: Oh, yes, he certainly did because he was very interested that it would come to Texas. And
I'm sure he had a lot of influence in doing that.

http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/Johnson/archives.hom/oralhistory.hom/ThomasL/Thomas-L.PDF