JFK VISITS TAMPA, SECRET SERVICE HAS CONCERNS ABOUT CUBANS
Tampa, Florida (JFK+50) On November 18, 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited Tampa. The Chief Executive arrived at Al Lopez Field and then embarked on the longest motorcade of his White House years, 28 miles, to the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory. At the airport, JFK said...
"I am proud to come back to this city which...has borne a heavy burden in...keep(ing) this country and the rest of Latin America free."
Thurston Clarke writes that the Secret Service had concerns about the Tampa trip because of the large number of Cubans in the city, of both pro and anti-Castro sentiments, and because of information they had obtained about the presence of a "right wing fanatic" named Joseph Milteer*.
Clarke says that Agent Floyd Boring talked with the President about the situation on Air Force One before landing...
Mr. Boring said...
"We have a very long motorcade, so we're going to have to stick to a tight time schedule. Two people have made threats against your life and even though we have them in custody, you might want to keep your stops during the motorcade to a minimum."
JFK responded...
"Floyd, this is a political trip. If I don't mingle with the people, I couldn't get elected dog catcher."
*Joseph Adams Milteer (1902-1974) was born in Quitman, Georgia. JAM has been alleged by some JFK researchers to have been involved in the assassination of the President.
SOURCES
"JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President," by Thurston Clarke, The Penguin Press, New York, 2013.
"Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963," United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1964.
Tampa, Florida (JFK+50) On November 18, 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited Tampa. The Chief Executive arrived at Al Lopez Field and then embarked on the longest motorcade of his White House years, 28 miles, to the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory. At the airport, JFK said...
"I am proud to come back to this city which...has borne a heavy burden in...keep(ing) this country and the rest of Latin America free."
Thurston Clarke writes that the Secret Service had concerns about the Tampa trip because of the large number of Cubans in the city, of both pro and anti-Castro sentiments, and because of information they had obtained about the presence of a "right wing fanatic" named Joseph Milteer*.
Clarke says that Agent Floyd Boring talked with the President about the situation on Air Force One before landing...
Mr. Boring said...
"We have a very long motorcade, so we're going to have to stick to a tight time schedule. Two people have made threats against your life and even though we have them in custody, you might want to keep your stops during the motorcade to a minimum."
JFK responded...
"Floyd, this is a political trip. If I don't mingle with the people, I couldn't get elected dog catcher."
*Joseph Adams Milteer (1902-1974) was born in Quitman, Georgia. JAM has been alleged by some JFK researchers to have been involved in the assassination of the President.
SOURCES
"JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President," by Thurston Clarke, The Penguin Press, New York, 2013.
"Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963," United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1964.
Statue of John F. Kennedy
Plant Park, University of Tampa
Photo by DanTD (2016)
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