John W. Morris
On 22 November 1963, I was in my car with a couple of people from the district, looking at the
Keystone project area. We went into a little restaurant in Cleveland, Oklahoma, and everybody
was crying. We were laughing and joking, and one of the waitresses said, "Why are you all so
happy? I guess you haven't heard the news."
We said, "What news?" They then told us that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.
of President [Lyndon] Johnson in the Southwest after the assassination was
The
in Tulsa District to dedicate Eufaula Dam. Earlier, President [John F.] Kennedy had dedicated
Greers Ferry Dam in Arkansas. I attended and observed the arrangements made for that event. We
used the Greers Ferry scenario as a guide to dedicate Eufaula. Security was a big issue, of course.
We arranged a plan, which to me was quite safe, and everything was all set when the advance
team came. Jack Valenti was in charge. He's now president of the Motion Picture Association.
He said, "We can't do it this way." This was only a few days before the event. President Johnson
wanted to meet and shake hands and be close to the people and so forth. So we had to change
everything.
Jack Valenti also asked, "How many people are you going to have?" The Eufaula Dam was really
out in the country. When I indicated 30,000 or 40,000, he said, "Where in the world are they
coming from?"
I said, "They'll be here from Tulsa, McAllister, and other places." Valenti couldn't believe we
could get 30,000 people for the president.
The event started at 9 o'clock in the morning. We had Indian dancing and continuous events, plus
food, refreshments, et cetera. The people started coming. I never saw so many people in
Oklahoma at one place. I'm telling you, it was a lot of people.
Governor Henry
came and started the program at
noon. The president was coming
from some other event and was behind schedule. So we did everything on the schedule up to
Governor Bellmon's introduction of the president. Then we stopped, took a break. When the
president came, we picked it up again. I met the president as his motorcade came into the area.
We had it fenced off with only a little avenue to get up to the bleachers. On the left side there was
a full-sized roadside billboard titled, "War on Poverty: The Arkansas River Project." The map
of the project had all the dams and cities on it for the entire 435 miles.
He got out of the car, and I introduced myself as the district engineer and asked him for a minute
so I could tell him about the project. He indicated he didn't have much time because all those
people were going to want to say hello. I indicated I wanted him to look at the map of the project,
which is a centerpiece in
War on Poverty." That got me two minutes, which is all I wanted.
Then he shook hands all around and he went onto the platform. Fred Harris was running against
Bud Wilkinson for the U.S. Senate. Wilkinson was a great football coach and everybody loved
him in Oklahoma. President Johnson put his arms around Fred Harris, shook his hand, made a big
to-do out of it. He walked by Bud Wilkinson, never even looked at him. Cool as ice, as if he
wasn't even there.
The president gave his speech, and we prepared for his departure. The last thing I was told by the
Secret Service was, "When you come back, Colonel, don't get in the wrong car. Don't get in Mrs.
[Lady Bird] Johnson's car." Well, I did. They had to get me out of there. That was a little
embarrassing.
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