WASHINGTON — In the six decades since President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, the United States has had 11 presidents. If any of them visited Dealey Plaza or even drove through the triple underpass, there’s no record of it.
For whatever reasons — be it superstition or coincidence — every presidential motorcade since Nov. 22, 1963, has steered clear of the site where a sniper ended Kennedy’s life.
Presidents have made dozens of visits to Dallas in the past 60 years. Many got very close to Dealey Plaza without driving through it.
“It seems to me it would have gotten some attention,” said Dallas historian Darwin Payne.
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No such headlines exist.
Gerald Ford led a parade in an open-top car barely a quarter-mile away, flanked by nervous Secret Service agents.
Barack Obama came within 1,000 feet, heading for the Omni hotel the night before the George W. Bush library opened in 2013. That motorcade exited the freeway onto Commerce St. but turned right and circled around the Hyatt Reunion rather than continuing through the triple underpass.
Bill Clinton watched a basketball game at Reunion Arena, and Ronald Reagan addressed a prayer breakfast there. Donald Trump held a campaign rally at the American Airlines Center. He, Reagan and others appeared at the Municipal Auditorium near City Hall.
There’s no record of any of them driving past the assassination site.
“I don’t know of any taboo per se unless it’s among the presidents themselves,” Payne said. But he’s nearly certain “no president has gone through Dealey Plaza since then.”
The Secret Service and Dallas Police Department did not respond to inquiries about any post-1963 policies related to dignitaries and Dealey Plaza.
No thanks
Kennedy’s successors haven’t lacked the opportunity to visit.
Just in time for the 30th…
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