May 14, 1963 - President Kennedy (pictured in November with Secret Service agents Roy Kellerman, Gerald A. Behn, and John Campion) has abandoned plans to travel in a motorcade Saturday through Alabama north of riot-scarred Birmingham, it was revealed today. When he visits the state for the 30th anniversary of the Tennessee Valley Authority, he will travel between Muscle Shoals and Florence by helicopter instead. Yesterday, Press Secretary Pierre Salinger had announced a plan to travel by motorcade. But Secret Service sources said today they were not going to possibly endanger the President’s life by letting him ride in the open through an area where emotions are so intense. So, the plan was changed. The President also ruled out a meeting with Governor George Wallace of Alabama during the trip. Governor Wallace has bitterly attacked the dispatch of troops to the vicinity of Birmingham. Mr. Wallace was invited by TVA officials to take part in the ceremonies but refused to attend unless personally invited by President Kennedy.
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