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| Above, the 1961 Lincoln Continental limousine during the Kennedy years. |
Here's a little bit of historical trivia for you.
In September 1972, President Richard Nixon was running for re-election. On September 27, Nixon was scheduled to give a fundraising speech at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
I was fortunate to be able to attend the welcoming of the President at the Century Plaza. (I covered this story a while ago on this blog.) Those of us with the Young Voters for the President were bused to the Century Plaza and were herded into roped-off areas in the parking lot for President Nixon's arrival via his Marine One helicopter.
After the Nixons exited Marine One, they were led to a presidential limousine which would then drive along the crowd, allowing them to shake hands with the throngs.
Until last night, it never occurred on me that the limousine Nixon was riding that day was the 1961 Lincoln Continental that President John F. Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated in Dallas. That is, until I looked at a contact sheet of photos from the National Archives of that day in 1972 and compared them to photos of the car today at the Henry Ford Museum in Greenfield Village in Detroit.
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| Above, the 1961 Lincoln Presidential limousine at the Henry Ford Museum. Note the changes to the top. |
After the assassination, the Lincoln was re-fit with armor and had the top modified with a permanent one so that it was no longer a convertible. The 1961 Lincoln, during the Kennedy years, had previously been modified with a 1962 Lincoln Continental grille. The car was equipped with a removable "bubble top" that wasn't used in Dallas. President Lyndon Johnson rarely used the car during his White House years. It was retired during the Carter Administration.
While the 1962 grille is still on the car, the front bumper on the car during the Nixon Administration and today is a different one. Also, the limousine had been repainted black. It was a dark blue during the Kennedy years.
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| Above, President and Mrs. Nixon greet the crowd in the Century Plaza Hotel's parking lot on September 27, 1972. |
Below, the Limousine in front of the crowd at the Century Plaza Hotel. I am at the arrow.
When Nixon was first inaugurated as president in 1969, a new presidential Lincoln limousine awaited him. It went into service in the waning months of the Johnson Administration.
It is interesting that the limousine I saw President and Mrs. Nixon riding in was the same one that President Kennedy was killed in. The limousine had the Secret Service code designation of SS 100 X.
UPDATE (10/18/09): A friend, attorney Tom Cotrel, sent me this photo link of the limousine's display sign:
http://www.geocities.com/tcotrel/im000511.jpg
5 comments:
Great story and photos. My dad was there, working security as a policeman. Do you have any more photos of Nixon's visit?
Do you happen to know where he was that day? I have a few photos on a contact sheet.
I, too, was there that day. I was in 8th grade and not yet old enough to vote. I stood in the front of the ropeline. Just as the limo approached, it veered away from the ropeline and slowed to a stop. The doors opened on both sides. Pat Nixon got out of the limo on the far side and the president got out on the side closest to the ropeline. The president walked toward me. The crowd surged behind me and I pushed with all my might to keep from being thrown forward. My school friend standing next to me was thrown to the ground. President Nixon motioned for the surrounding crowd to move back as he helped my friend to his feet. With a ceiling of arms outstretched above my head extended to shake the president's hand, I spotted that his left hand was open. Quickly, I thrust my left hand into his and shook! Later, I made my way down to the hall to hear President Nixon, introduced by Governor Ronald Reagan, speak.
I have been a George Reeves Superman fan since I was very young in the late 50's and was heart broken when George was "killed".(I am 61 years old now)
I later went into the U.S. Secret Service at age 21 in 1974 which was just after Nixon left office. August 1974.I came on 9-3-74..and attended special FLETC training and USSS training and was allowed to see the actual limousine that JFK was killed in.Modifications were supposedly made after LBJ(suspect) came into office, but the top was not installed in the Secret Service garage at the time in 1974. I saw and touched the inside of the vehicle. It was already cleaned up. The USSS has a fleet of vehicle to use but on a few were specially "armored".
There are many ironic facts surrounding this assassination on JFK. (LBJ supposedly had the car fixed and repaired before it was used days later cause the windshield and dash had shrapnel and bullet fragments all over from the front, etc...(There was no lone gunman)
Even back then in 1974 SS recruits were told the Warren Commission Report was the official agency answer.I protected Presidents Ford and Carter at the White house as well as Ambassadors in Wash.D.C.
Ford was apart of the JFK investigation and interviewed Jack Ruby in Dallas with Earl Warren.
I still live by the Superman ideals of Truth, Justice and The American Way.I miss Superman George Reeves.
Anybody know where I can get some of those "original" 50's Superman's "S" shirts?? john.a.carman@gmail.com
John, contact Charlie Rose at charliecrose@gmail.com. All shirts he has available can be seen here: http://armandsrancho.blogspot.com/2014/08/superman-t-shirts.html
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