To Orwell Today,
re: LBJ SWORE ON JFK'S BIBLE

I read with interest your article on the photographs taken of the LBJ swear-in aboard Air Force One. I am aware of several versions of the chosen photo, one with a man's face obscured by Johnson's raised hand, another in which the man's eye is seen to the left of the hand. Could you tell me which photo was released to the national press that day?

I understand that the photos were developed and sent out from "The Dallas News." Would you know the earliest time (hour) when the chosen photo would have appeared in a US newspaper after the photo had appeared on the wire?

This would help a lot for a school paper I'm doing.

Thank you,
Duane

Greetings Duane,

You may recall that the photographer, Cecil Stoughton, took sixteen shots of the swearing-in ceremony and left the airplane immediately afterwards to develop his film. Air Force One's engines were already revving up and it lifted off at 2:47 p.m. Dallas time (3:47 Eastern time) for the 1,300-mile flight.

By the time Air Force One landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington two hours and twenty minutes later (at 6:05 Eastern time) the swearing-in photos (with sound from the tape made with JFK's dictaphone machine) were being broadcast on television worldwide.

One of the photos probably appeared in the evening editions of most newspapers that Friday as well, although which one was chosen I do not know. I don't think the sixteen photos would have varied much as the photographer didn't have any room to maneouver. The stateroom where the swearing-in was performed was 15' by 17' and contained 26 human beings each giving off the heat of a 100-watt light bulb.

The photographer was standing on the sofa as he took the pictures. See photo above for its location.

I can't name any of the people in the photo by heart as most of them were LBJ's aides and supporters. The only representative of JFK's entourage visible in the photo is Jackie.

All the best with your school paper,
Jackie Jura

PS - As in all major catastrophes some news articles slip through the censors before they can be squashed and this was the case with the first news bulletins appearing after JFK's assassination. For example, "less than an hour after JFK had been pronounced dead the Associated Press declared that he had been shot 'in the front of the head.' This report became one of the chief sources for the conviction of millions that all subsequent investigtions of the tragedy were fraudulent." [from Death of a President by William Manchester, page 354]

LBJ OATH-SWEARING WITNESSES