Arrival at Love Field

In Dallas the rain had stopped, and by midmorning a gloomy overcast sky had given way to the bright sunshine that greeted the Presidential party when Air Force One touched down at Love Field at 11:40 a.m., c.s.t. Governor and Mrs. Connally and Senator Ralph W. Yarborough had come with the President from Fort Worth. Vice President Johnson’s airplane, Air Force Two, had arrived at Love Field at approximately 11:35 a.m., and the Vice President and Mrs. Johnson were in the receiving line to greet President and Mrs. Kennedy.

After a welcome from the Dallas reception committee, President and Mrs. Kennedy walked along a chain-link fence at the reception area greeting a large crowd of spectators that had gathered behind it. Secret Service agents formed a cordon to keep the press and photographers from impeding their passage and scanned the crowd for threatening movements. Dallas police stood at intervals along the fence and Dallas plainclothesmen mixed in the crowd. Vice President and Mrs. Johnson followed along the fence, guarded by four members of the Vice-Presidential detail. Approximately 10 minutes after the arrival at Love Field, the President and Mrs. Kennedy went to the Presidential automobile to begin the motorcade.