William Greer
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 Irish-born 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. He worked for over a decade as a chauffeur and servant to several wealthy families, including the Lodge family in Boston and a family in Dobbs Ferry, New York. During World War II, Greer enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was assigned to the presidential yacht in May, 1944. After his discharge in 1945, he joined the United States Secret Service on October 1 of that year.[1] In 2013 it was publicly discovered that while in Ireland he had been a member of the Drumbonaway lodge of the Orange Order.[2]
Greer's duties brought him into close contact with Kennedy, and he can be seen in several pictures with the Kennedy family. He chauffeured the president on many occasions, including in Dallas. As with all agents involved, there has much speculation about, and criticism of, his actions on that day. Greer testified before the Warren Commission on March 9, 1964.[3] Greer testified that he heard three shots, the first he thought was the backfire of a motorcycle and so did not react. About three or four seconds later he heard a second shot which prompted him to turn around and as he did so he noticed Governor Connally was wounded. He describes the second and third shots as occurring "simultaneously, one behind the other".[4] According to Greer's nephew, Ken Torrens, when he asked Greer if he thought Oswald was guilty he replied "No comment".[2]
Greer retired on disability from the Secret Service in 1966 due to a stomach ulcer that grew worse following the Kennedy assassination.[5][6] In 1973 he relocated to Waynesville, North Carolina,[7] where he later 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 before accelerating the car.[8][9]
No agents were disciplined for their performance during the shooting, but privately, Jackie Kennedy was bitterly critical of the agents' performance, Greer's in particular, comparing him to the Kennedy children's nanny.[10] Greer later "apologized" to her, in a distinctly menacing fashion, as William Manchester recounted in his semi-authorized account of the assassination: "Bill Greer, his face streaked with tears, took her head between his hands and squeezed until she thought he was going to squeeze her skull flat. He cried, 'Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, oh my God, oh my God. I didn’t mean to do it, I didn’t hear, I should have swerved (sic) the car, I couldn’t help it. Oh, Mrs. Kennedy, as soon as I saw it I swerved. If only I’d seen in time! Oh!' Then he released her head and put his arms around her and wept on her shoulder."[11]
References
- ^ "Did Stewartstown native kill JFK?". Tyrone Times. Dungannon, Northern Ireland. July 17, 2008. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
- ^ a b Rainey, Mark (November 23, 2013). "JFK's driver Bill Greer 'harboured no anti-Catholic sentiments'". Belfast Newsletter.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Warren Commission Hearings, Volume II, pp. 117-8
- ^ 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.