Oliver Hallet and Pierre Salinger
At 1:33 P.M. CST, acting press secretary Malcolm Kilduff confirmed at a Dallas news conference that President Kennedy died, officially, at 1:00 P.M. CST. Within minutes the information was relayed to the Boeing 707 (known by its tail number 86972) carrying Pierre Salinger and six members of the Cabinet who had been heading toward Japan.
Date: Nov 22, 1963
Time: 13:40
Participants: Pierre Salinger, Oliver Hallet
Conversation Number: 0-969-1
Media player
70%
70%, Click to access volume slider
0:00 / 0:00Speed: 1x
(Andrews Air Force Base): ... Roger, sir. I have CROWN (codename for the executive mansion of the White House) on. Would you give him a call, sir?
(Plane 86972): CROWN, '972. Go ahead.
(Oliver Hallett): Uh... this is Situation Room. Relay following to WAYSIDE (codename for Pierre Salinger): we have report quoting Mr. Kilduff in Dallas that the President is dead, that he died about 35 minutes ago. Do you have that? Over.
(Pierre Salinger): The President is dead. Is that correct?
(Oliver Hallett): That is correct. That is correct. New subject. Front office desires plane return Washington, with no stop Dallas. Over.
(Plane 86972): That is copied. WAYSIDE copied, all okay, and we return direct to Washington without stopping in Dallas. Roger, roger.
(Oliver Hallett): All right. This is Situation Room, out.