William Greer: Difference between revisions
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Greer took a role close to Kennedy, and can be seen in several pictures with the Kennedy family. He chauffeured the president on many occasions, including the day of the assassination. Like all agents involved, he has been the target of much speculation and criticism for his actions on that day. Greer, along with Secret Service agents [[Roy Kellerman]], [[Clint Hill (Secret Service)|Clint Hill]], and [[Rufus Youngblood]], provided testimony to the [[Warren Commission]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] on March 9, 1964.<ref name="WCR-HII">{{cite book |title=Hearings Before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Volume II |url=http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?absPageId=15601 |year=1964 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=61, 112–132 |chapter=Testimony Of William Robert Greer, Special Agent, Secret Service |chapterurl=http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?absPageId=15720 |ref={{harvid|Hearings Before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Volume II|1964}}}}</ref> |
Greer took a role close to Kennedy, and can be seen in several pictures with the Kennedy family. He chauffeured the president on many occasions, including the day of the assassination. Like all agents involved, he has been the target of much speculation and criticism for his actions on that day. Greer, along with Secret Service agents [[Roy Kellerman]], [[Clint Hill (Secret Service)|Clint Hill]], and [[Rufus Youngblood]], provided testimony to the [[Warren Commission]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] on March 9, 1964.<ref name="WCR-HII">{{cite book |title=Hearings Before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Volume II |url=http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?absPageId=15601 |year=1964 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=61, 112–132 |chapter=Testimony Of William Robert Greer, Special Agent, Secret Service |chapterurl=http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?absPageId=15720 |ref={{harvid|Hearings Before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Volume II|1964}}}}</ref> |
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Greer retired on disability from the Secret Service in 1966 due to a stomach [[peptic ulcer|ulcer]] that grew worse following the Kennedy assassination.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kennedy Death Car Driver Is Retiring With His Memories|first=Alfred E.|last=Lewis|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=July 2, 1966|page=A5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Article 1–No Title|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 28, 1985|page=C6}}</ref> In 1973 he relocated to [[Waynesville, North Carolina]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wbtv.com/story/24015463/secret-service-agent-limo-driver-on-kennedy-assassination |title=Secret Service agent: I was in the front seat when Kennedy was assassinated |first=Steve |last=Ohnesorge |date=2013 |accessdate=January 1, 2018 |publisher=Raycom Media |website=[[WBTV]]}}</ref> where he |
Greer retired on disability from the Secret Service in 1966 due to a stomach [[peptic ulcer|ulcer]] that grew worse following the Kennedy assassination.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kennedy Death Car Driver Is Retiring With His Memories|first=Alfred E.|last=Lewis|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=July 2, 1966|page=A5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Article 1–No Title|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 28, 1985|page=C6}}</ref> In 1973 he relocated to [[Waynesville, North Carolina]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wbtv.com/story/24015463/secret-service-agent-limo-driver-on-kennedy-assassination |title=Secret Service agent: I was in the front seat when Kennedy was assassinated |first=Steve |last=Ohnesorge |date=2013 |accessdate=January 1, 2018 |publisher=Raycom Media |website=[[WBTV]]}}</ref> where he died of cancer. |
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==Analysis and criticism== |
==Analysis and criticism== |
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Revision as of 09:09, 25 December 2019
William Greer | |
|---|---|
 The Presidential limousine shortly before Kennedy's assassination. Greer is in the driver seat. Agent Roy Kellerman is in the front passenger seat. | |
| Born | William Robert Greer September 22, 1909 Stewartstown, County Tyrone, Ireland |
| Died | February 23, 1985 (aged 75) Waynesville, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Resting place | Green Hill Cemetery, Waynesville |
William Robert Greer (September 22, 1909 – February 23, 1985) was an agent of the U.S. Secret Service, best known as being the driver of President John F. Kennedy's presidential limousine in the motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas on November 22, 1963, when the president was assassinated.
History
Greer was born on a farm in Stewartstown, County Tyrone, Ireland, and emigrated to the United States in 1929.[1] After working for over a decade as a chauffeur and servant to several wealthy families in the Boston and New York areas, including the Lodge family and several years with Franklin Q. Brown of Dobbs Ferry, NY (the 1940 census has him as a live-in servant of Franklin Brown of Dobbs Ferry and in Greer's Warren Commission testimony he said that he worked for a "private family" in Dobbs Ferry for "13 years" before enlisting into the Navy in 1942), Greer enlisted in the U.S. Navy in World War II, was assigned to the presidential yacht in May, 1944, was discharged on September 18, 1945 and then joined the United States Secret Service on October 1, 1945.
Greer took a role close to Kennedy, and can be seen in several pictures with the Kennedy family. He chauffeured the president on many occasions, including the day of the assassination. Like all agents involved, he has been the target of much speculation and criticism for his actions on that day. Greer, along with Secret Service agents Roy Kellerman, Clint Hill, and Rufus Youngblood, provided testimony to the Warren Commission in Washington, D.C. on March 9, 1964.[2]
Greer retired on disability from the Secret Service in 1966 due to a stomach ulcer that grew worse following the Kennedy assassination.[3][4] In 1973 he relocated to Waynesville, North Carolina,[5] where he died of cancer.
Analysis and criticism
Secret Service procedures in place at the time did not allow Greer to take action without orders from senior agent Roy Kellerman, who sat to Greer's right. Kellerman has stated that he shouted, "Let's get out of line, we've been hit," but that Greer apparently turned to look at Kennedy, initiating a fatal delay, before accelerating the car out of the danger zone.[6] As Roy Kellerman told author William Manchester, "Greer then looked in the back of the car. Maybe he didn't believe me."[7]
No agents were reprimanded or disciplined for their actions during the shooting, but privately, Jackie Kennedy was bitterly critical of the agents' performance, Greer's in particular, comparing his efforts to those of "Maud Shaw" (the Kennedy children's nanny).[8] Greer later apologized to her.[9]
References
- ^ "Did Stewartstown native kill JFK?". Tyrone Times. Dungannon, Northern Ireland. July 17, 2008. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
- ^ "Testimony Of William Robert Greer, Special Agent, Secret Service". Hearings Before the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Volume II. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. 1964. pp. 61, 112–132.
{{cite book}}: External link in|chapterurl=|chapterurl=ignored (|chapter-url=suggested) (help) - ^ Lewis, Alfred E. (July 2, 1966). "Kennedy Death Car Driver Is Retiring With His Memories". The Washington Post. p. A5.
- ^ "Article 1–No Title". The Washington Post. February 28, 1985. p. C6.
- ^ Ohnesorge, Steve (2013). "Secret Service agent: I was in the front seat when Kennedy was assassinated". WBTV. Raycom Media. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
- ^ Philip H. Melanson, with Peter F. Stevens, The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency, (Carroll & Graf, 2002), p. 74.
- ^ The Death of a President by William Manchester (Perennial Edition, 1988), page 160.
- ^ Mary Gallagher, My Life With Jacqueline Kennedy, McKay, 1969, pp. 343, 351
- ^ William Manchester, The Death of a President, Harper & Row, 1967, p. 290.