JFK Assassination - The Correct Conclusion Regarding William Greer

On November 22nd, 1963, Secret Service Agent William Greer was the driver of the Presidential Lincoln Continental convertible as it made its way through downtown Dallas, Texas. In the car, of course, was President Kennedy, his wife Jackie, Texas Governor John Connally, his wife Nellie and SA Roy Kellerman, who was sitting next to the driver, William Greer. For nearly 50 years, Greer has been unfairly maligned in many articles and books over his actions (or lack thereof) as the driver of the Presidential limousine.

With SA William Greer at the wheel, the limousine makes its fateful turn onto Elm Street.

Here is a list of the major incorrect conclusions made over the years about SA Greer:

• He panicked and hit the brakes instead of the accelerator
• He was staring at Kennedy waiting for the kill shot and then he sped away
• He shot Kennedy with a revolver.

This last theory has been debunked. It is inconceivable that the Connallys would not have noticed a bullet whizzing past them from the driver's seat, or that Greer would assume that all of the witnesses to the assassination would have missed him firing a gun at the President. The other theory presupposes that Greer was part of an "inside job" as he turns around after the first shot(s) and seems to be staring at Kennedy, waiting for the kill shot before accelerating the limousine. Below are three relevant frames from the infamous Zapruder film of the assassination.

Zapruder frame #278, approximately two seconds before the fatal head shot(s). Zapruder's camera exposed 18 frames every 1 second - frame #313 was the head shot(s). As the angle of the car to the camera changes, we can see that Greer is looking well behind him, as is SA Roy Kellerman, sitting to Greer's right.

Zapruder frame #288, Greer can be seen looking back, Kellerman is turning back to the front.

Zapruder frame #312, one frame before the head shot(s), Greer has turned around a second time to look in the back. Kellerman is picking up the radio phone receiver.

Not only do we see on this film that Greer looks back twice at Kennedy, the second time he looks back, he stares at Kennedy before the fatal head shot. Why look back twice? Did he not believe what his eyes were seeing the first time? Perhaps. However, in his testimony before the Warren Commission, Greer says he looked back twice but doesn't say how far he twisted his head to look. He claims only to have seen Governor Connally. He also told the Commission that he tamped on the accelerator right after the first shot(s) he heard, which we don't see yet in the film.

Lastly, critics have used the "Greer panicked" conclusion. To buttress their arguments, they point out how many witnesses and films (including Zapruder's) show the limousine obviously slowing down to a near stop. Indeed, right after the head shot, the limousine brakes so hard that Greer, Kellerman and Mrs. Connally pitch violently forward. Governor Connally's head literally bounces off the bar in front of him! Here is a stabilized, slowed down version of the Zapruder film prepared by Edward Bishop with TrineDay Press.

Taking this evidence, plus relevant testimony from SA Kellerman before the Warren Commission, I believe the conclusions made about SA Greer are incorrect. Here is what I believe is the correct conclusion:
It is clear from the Zapruder film that SA Greer turned around after the first shot(s) were fired. It was at this time that Kellerman told him to get out of the line of fire. For whatever reason (and I do not believe it to be sinister, i.e., he was part of an "inside job"), Greer looked behind him again and moments after he did he must have seen the right side of Kennedy's head blown off. Greer's sudden braking of the car is a classic maneuver if he felt the shots were coming from in front of the limousine. Kellerman then said to get them to a hospital and gave instructions over the radio phone. It was at this point, as plainly seen in the Zapruder film, that Greer accelerated the limousine down the street. SA Clint Hill, the one agent from the follow up car to truly react, barely was able to hang unto the handhold on the back of limousine as it sped off.

I would imagine that for the sake of the country and the lone assassin conclusion reached by the Warren Commission that Greer, and other members of the Secret Service detail that day, kept quiet about what they believed was a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. My conclusion certainly puts a different light on the quote attributed to William Greer that appears in William Manchester's book, The Death Of A President. At Parkland Hospital, Greer said to Jackie Kennedy, "Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, oh my God, oh my God. I didn't mean to do it, I didn't hear, I should have swerved the car, I couldn't help it. Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, as soon as I saw it I swerved. If only I'd seen it in time!"