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I have just finished reading Enemies: A History of the FBI, by Tim Weiner. Overall, I found it to be a mediocre book; a sanitized version of the history of the FBI. The best part of the book is the part that covers the formation of the FBI and the very early days of the FBI. The closer the book gets to the present day, the weaker it gets. Weiner did have access to some recently released papers from Hoover that provide an interesting insight into the early days of the FBI. One interesting thing I did learn from the book was the mutual hatred and rivalry between J. Edgar Hoover and Allen Dulles. From Enemies pages 188-189, "Hoover had made plainly evident his personal and professional contempt for the CIA's chief, Allen Dulles. He deigned to meet with Dulles no more than a half dozen times during the eight years of Eisenhower's presidency. He made sure that his aides reflected his thinking. 'How in the world can I do business with the Bureau?' Dulles had shouted at his FBI liaison in an unguarded moment. 'I try and you keep striking back.'" Enemies goes on to tell how Hoover felt that the FBI was the rightful head of US intelligence, and he resented the CIA from the start. At the FBI, Hoover had a standing non-cooperation order with the CIA. The reason I find this interesting in the context of the Coup of '63 has to do with my estimate of the internal hierarchy of the cabal behind the coup. I am of the opinion that LBJ is the prime mover in the coup, and I would rank Allen Dulles as being the second most important person in the coup. I know other people feel that the Dulles/CIA aspects of the coup are stronger than the LBJ/texan side of things. Certainly, LBJ, Hoover and Dulles were all important players in the Coup of '63. But given the animosity between Hoover and Dulles, it seems unlikely that Dulles could have easily brought Hoover into the coup. But LBJ was extremely close to Hoover, and he was well placed to involve Hoover in the coup. A model of the cabal hierarchy with LBJ at the top and both Dulles and Hoover connected to LBJ meshes with the above facts, but Dulles as the lynch-pin of the cabal conflicts with the above facts, so I consider the animosity between Hoover and Dulles to be another supporting piece of evidence for the primacy of LBJ as the prime mover of the coup.
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