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]
