Jump to content
The Education Forum

Lyndon Johnson and the Assassination of JFK


Recommended Posts

A side note per the JFK investigation. My brother Alfie was a crack pool player who hung at the Cotton Bowling Palace in Dallas. It was a hub of nightlife and frequented by Jack Ruby. Alfie figured the feds would swoop down on the Cotton Bowling Palace and investigate all the known Ruby associates. No fed ever showed. It was as if an investigation was not necessary and they already knew everything they needed to know.

I knew throwing away my radio was a good thing.”

George Taylor

Postscript from George:

“I was heading east...the ranch to my left to the north.. The Lincoln was heading southeast at an angle and we made eye contact as he pulled in front of me. If he [Lyndon Johnson] was not high [drunk] he was doing a great W C Fields impersonation. GT”

Robert, I just want to say how much I appreciate your work.

Then I'd like you to explain how Ruby used to go to the Cotton Bowling Palace and Alfie was afraid the Feds were going to raid them. What did Alfie know about the Feds and Ruby? This can only be before he shot LHO. I know he was a drug runner and weapons runner, but how did Alfie know this?

Kathy C

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 80
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

In searching for the sources of the available information of L. Robert Castorr, I came

upon this book. Isn't it odd that no "snippets" are available on google books, and

that the scan has so many garbled words and wierd symbols. One could almost

suspect that this work is reluctantly made available....I said almost!

It was a chore to extract this sample of Joesten's wrting, but I was impressed by what

Joesten has to offer and I've read that John Simkin was, also.

My question to this learned group is whether any of the following leads have been well documented

as misleading or inaccurate. I am aware that Tim Gratz seemed as convinced that Joesten was a commie

plant as he was that Ronald Reagan was not mostly acting the part of US president.

I found six pages of search results of past posts, displaying the term, "Joesten", and I read

through most of them before posting here. Pardon me, please if the excerpts below have been posted before.

http://books.google.com/books?q=But+the+CI...nG=Search+Books

The case against Lyndon B. Johnson in the assassination of President Kennedy‎

by Joachim Joesten - 1967 - 160 pages

Page 20

Talking to a confidant, he vowed to smash the CIA and scatter its bits to the

winds.

But the CIA, which has its oyes and ears everywhere, was quicker on the draw.

Not only did the CIA hate Kennedy, but it loved Lyndon B. Johnson.

There iias a miш who who had alwaya stood up for "free enterprise,"

meaning tho oil interests and big business in general.

А man secretly pledged to escalating the war in Vietnam as soon as he got into the

the driver's seat and to make Latin America safe for military dictatorship.

А man who could be relied upon to dispose of Sukarno end restore Indonesia to oil

company control. A aan who would lot the Invisible Government run tho country visibly.

Por all the hush-hush atmosphere that surrounds this nefarious organisation,

the doninant role played by the CIA in the assassination of President Kennedy is

self-evident. It is apparent at all levels of the drana- Lea Harvey Oswald was,

without a shadow of doubt, on operative of the CIA.

His vtothor, Mrs. Marguerite Oswald, has foriiclly stated net jast her belief,

but her knowledge that her son had been in

the employ of the US Governmsnt as an undorcover agent. More importantly still,

every pharc of Oswald's etay in the Soviet Union, overy lino of his correspondence with

American authorities, every action of his aftor his repatriation (in particular, of course,

the dazzling speed with which he obtained a new passport ia New Orleans)

clearly bespeak auch a relationship. All this is described in abundant detail in нy

book farina Osnyald ar.d noed not be recapitulated hero. The ovidonco is overwhelming

that Oswald was recruited by the CIA while he was in the Marine Corps; that he tried hard

to ploass hie taskmasters, but bungled every assignment given to hi.vu \ and that, for that reason,

ho was sacrificed in tho eaá whoa a scapegoat was needed to take the blene for the assassination

of President Kennedy- Jack Ruby, too, worked for the CIA, evon though to hin this wr.a ouly a sideline,

for he was first and foremost on authentic nobster on tho Mafie. payroll.

(Row nany of its low-level operatives tho CIA rocruits

from tho dregs of the undorworld has also been strikingly

demonstrated by the Garrison investigation in New Orleans).

Ruby's connection with the CIA, especially rs paymaster for underground

opеrations against Castro, has been expo s 3d wit я. dazzling clarity by

the deposition of Nancy Perrin Rich beforo tho V/arron CoMmiasion -

which promptly suppressed every word of it,

at any rate as far as the Iteport 1л concerned.

This mat tar has been fully dealt with by mэ in Oa^J.djjrhe

JTruth and again, therefore, needs not to be roc-?pitulate:l hero. One point o"f "interest,

hoiraver, should bs Added. In her testimony before the Cotar.ission, Il.rs.

Rich described in graphic detail a semi-clandestine meeting in Dallas, not long

before tho assassination, st which arrangements

were discussed for smuggling cans and ammunition into Cuba and taking rsf^

gcos our from that country. To this ond, £l Nancy's former husband,

Page 21

Robert Perrin, was to pilot a snall boat

between Miami and .the Cuban coast and he гсas to receive & l0,000 for hia

servicec Thoro was some argument about the price (Nancy wanted ¿Í 25000)

and then allof a sudden, Ruby walked in with e. big wallet bulging in his

breastpocket. Nancy knew Huby well, for she had boon working at one of

his clubs as a bartender and "E-girl." It was clear to the witness that the operation was

planned that the operation was planned and financed by a colonel whoa she was able to

describo but whose namе she did not know. The witness also gathered ESE

from remarhs made at the meeting that the military supplies that iiere to be run into

Cuba were being secretly taken from Army stocka Cthis fits in

neatly with similar in formation obtained later by Garrison's; investigators).

The whole thins, thus, smells CIA operation a mil o away.

Now, one of the many correspondents personally unknown to ne who wrote to me aftav

the publication of Oswald .: ^Assassin ,_oг_ Fall Guy? to volunteer

additional inforr.ation has boen able to identify this

myatorious colonel. He is Col. Robert L. Castorr,

formerly of Dallas, and a close friend of General Edwin A. Walker.

In the period immediately preceding the assassination,

Castorr and iYolker held paveral neetings with Cuban. refugee groups

in the Dallas area at which inflamnatory speeches

against the Kennedy Administration were made. After the assassination, Col.

Castor:: moved to Washington whore ho is now enployed by tho

"IJational Federation of Independent Businesses." His hone is at 451l 33rd Street,

Worth Arlington, Virginia. It is to be hoped that District Attorney Garrison

7/Îll do something the Warren Conuiiasion should have done but, cls usual, failed to do:

subpoena Colonel Colonel Castorr and grill him relentlessly about his

and General 'Volker 's role in the events that led up to the assassination.

A final word, about Nancy's fir et husband, Robert Forrin.

Lilvo Ruby, ho was aliving link be two en tho Mafia and the CIA. Perrin, like Ruby,

was a dope smuggler and white slaver for the Mafia (Jack

Dragna, Mickey Cohen otc.) on one hand, and a gun-runner for the CIA on tho other.

Soon after the assassination of President Kennedy, Perrin died in Hew Orleans, of all placei?

http://books.google.com/books?q=voluminous...nG=Search+Books

The case against Lyndon B. Johnson in the assassination of President Kennedy‎

by Joachim Joesten - 1967 - 160 pages

In the voluminous fan uail which I received after the publication of Oswald^

Assassin^ or Fall Gujy? there siso сanе a curious pamphlet entitled "L3J~^ ~\ Political Biography.

Published by "Liberty Lobby, " a notorious right-wing outfit, this pamphlet

would not normally have retained my attention, except for the eye-catching

unsigned note attached to it. This note read: "If you wish to broaden your

speculations on GUI БСfЮ? - Read this! "

So I read the pamphlet which turned out to be an extract from the book

» А Те у an looks at Lyndon , " by J. Evetts Haley. I lost no time getting

hold of a copy of the complete book which is sub-titled:

A STUDY IN ILLEGITIMATE POUEii. Although it was written by an

arch-Conservative and, curiously enough, a pal of the ultra-Right leader,

General Edwin A. Walkev, I found this book, published in semi-clandestinity

by the author himself (Th o Palo lu.ro Press

, Canyon, Texas) utterly absorbing, Haley, a 66-year-old rancher, hi. s toran

and politician (^grgn3uccessfully ran fov Governor of Texas in l956)

kno'.-.-sa great desl about the antecedents, background and character of his fallow

countryman from Texas, Lyr.dc n В- Johnson, than ever transpirsd into public knowledge.

His unfle. ....

That was one tough read. Either his typing is poor or he's dyslexic. No wonder it's self-published.

Kathy C

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Robert Morrow

Question: If Vice President Lyndon Johnson was a "facilitator" in the JFK assassination, isn't he *by definition* also a "sponsor" of the JFK assassination?

I mean, the vice-presidency ain't exactly beanbag is it? And if Lyndon Johnson was not a sponsor of the JFK assassination; then *who* would be? Name names, folks. Feel free to speculate - after years, decades of reserch you have earned that right.

Charles Drago:

"Let me set the record straight: My friend and mentor George Michael Evica correctly understood and thoroughly documented LBJ's criminal role in the assassination conspiracy to be that of Facilitator. He properly identified LBJ as a FALSE Sponsor of the assassination.

Further, George Michael was among the vanguard of deep political scientists who at an early date understood and documented the fact that far from pulling deep political strings, the occupants of the Oval Office were in fact among the puppets whose strings were being pulled by forces who operated behind and above the painted backdrops of Cold War differences.

With the exception, that is, of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Hence the need for his removal."

Robert Morrow's reply: If Lyndon Johnson, as Vice President, was a "facilitator" in the JFK assassination, then by defintion LBJ was one of the key, core, inner circle plotters of JFK's murder. The new president Lyndon Johnson would be critical to the cover up of the JFK assassination and the plotters were fully aware of this. LBJ could not have been a "backbencher," he had to have been one of the "star players" of the JFK assassination.

I have no doubt that Lyndon Johnson was urging on his fellow Cold Warriors behind the scenes to eliminate John Kennedy; and he was probably using the cause of "national security" in that effort.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Question: If Vice President Lyndon Johnson was a "facilitator" in the JFK assassination, isn't he *by definition* also a "sponsor" of the JFK assassination?

I mean, the vice-presidency ain't exactly beanbag is it? And if Lyndon Johnson was not a sponsor of the JFK assassination; then *who* would be? Name names, folks. Feel free to speculate - after years, decades of reserch you have earned that right.

Charles Drago:

"Let me set the record straight: My friend and mentor George Michael Evica correctly understood and thoroughly documented LBJ's criminal role in the assassination conspiracy to be that of Facilitator. He properly identified LBJ as a FALSE Sponsor of the assassination.

Further, George Michael was among the vanguard of deep political scientists who at an early date understood and documented the fact that far from pulling deep political strings, the occupants of the Oval Office were in fact among the puppets whose strings were being pulled by forces who operated behind and above the painted backdrops of Cold War differences.

With the exception, that is, of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Hence the need for his removal."

Robert Morrow's reply: If Lyndon Johnson, as Vice President, was a "facilitator" in the JFK assassination, then by defintion LBJ was one of the key, core, inner circle plotters of JFK's murder. The new president Lyndon Johnson would be critical to the cover up of the JFK assassination and the plotters were fully aware of this. LBJ could not have been a "backbencher," he had to have been one of the "star players" of the JFK assassination.

I have no doubt that Lyndon Johnson was urging on his fellow Cold Warriors behind the scenes to eliminate John Kennedy; and he was probably using the cause of "national security" in that effort.

Robert...

My jury is still out on LBJ's exact role yet one has to accept he benefitted and was just the right person for the job...

YET,

Couldn't his awareness of "something in the works" just led him to plan to take full and complete advantage of the situation when/if the time arose?

The people in charge didn't necessarily WANT LBJ... they simply DIDN'T want JFK to interfere any longer. Evil usually recognizes Evil... which could by why LBJ went along and hoped to gain favor with a force that even he recognized was well behond his reach. LBJ behaves the same way post assassination whether he planned it or not... His own planning of it and control of it could not be near as complete as the CFR backed conspirators... nor would LBJ be worried or concerned about his being taken out if it was his doing...

It wasn't... Not to the extent you would have us accept - at least not yet for me. It's much more plausible that LBJ realizes how little power as POTUS he would really have, yet how much more he would have if he cooperated...

He KNEW something bigger was involved, something that for the first time he would not be able to control, murder or intimidate - and that scared the piss out of him.

So he did what he was told - primarily by Bundy.... got his war, got his wealth, and saw first hand how he was no longer the big bully on the block.

Just today's POV on LBJ. I don't see how a cadre of elite international bankers would give LBJ a second's thought other than to use, as they use any other resource.

Cheers Robert

DJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Robert Morrow

This is not at all what Drago means.

And its one reason Morrow is not at DPF today.

What Drago-Evica meant is that LBJ's arrival at the White House meant he could now go ahead and do what he could to ensure a cover up. Most people agree this is what happened.

It does not mean what Morrow, or Phil Nelson, were saying. Facilitating the cover up is not masterminding the plot. Huge difference.

The reason I am not at DFP is because Drago banned me because I kept saying Courtenay Lynda Valenti was the biological daughter of Lyndon Johnson and that her mother Mary Margaret Valenti (nee Wiley) was a key mistress/confidante of Lyndon Johnson. Well, that has been confirmed by the secondary literature as well as people who personally knew Mary Margaret and LBJ. (I cannot give out their names; I wish I could. One reason I put my phone/email contact out on the internet is occassionally I get some golden phone calls.)

Mary Margaret Valenti, age 79, is alive today. She has already given oral history; but I really think it is critical that she be asked to give another round of it. She is holding back, and there is much, much more relevant history that she knows.

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=16617

It gets old dealing with people who think that just because they have never heard something, then it just *can't possibly* be true. Drago is the hilarious DPF moderator who violates DPF forum rules (namecalling, bad behavior) with abandon and then gets his power jollies by deleting posts or banning anyone who disagrees with him.

Ditto with my Hillary-Webb Hubbell-Chelsea theory. People think just because they have never *heard* of something, then it can't possibly be true... My approach is I don't know a lot, please tell me more. Tell me something I don't know; even better if a lot of other people don't know yet.

Back to the question: LBJ plotter or facilitator? Can't one be a "facilitator" of the JFK plot AHEAD of time as opposed to merely being a "facilitator" of the cover up POST assassination (a la Arlen Specter and Gerald Ford).

And if LBJ were a facilitator of the JFK plot ahead of time, surely then he would have to be one of the key plotters just by the fact he was vice president.

Edited by Robert Morrow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Robert Morrow

One of the great breaks in JFK assassination research was finding the links between George DeMohrenschildt (Oswald's best friend) and George Herbert Walker Bush. We can thank JFK researcher Bruce Campbell Adamson for that.

Bruce, like me, believes that both GHW Bush and Lyndon Johnson were involved in the JFK assassination.

Adamson has done some tremendous research and I highly recommend it. Here is his web site: http://www.ciajfk.com/jfkbooks.html

Many people (now) know that GHW Bush and George DeMohrenschildt were associates, friends, acquaitances. But what they don't know is that Lee Harvey Oswald's best friend met with Vice President Lyndon Johnson on May 20, 1963.

This is about a month after Oswald was making those seemingly incriminating backyard photos (Yes, I think Oswald did make those photos as part of his sheepdipping operations; they were later used to frame him. In fact, he may have been set up at that time by the CIA.)

From a friend:

"Texan George Brown of Brown and Root was LBJ's chief financial sponsor. He also employed, 1958-1963, George DeMohrenschildt, Oswald's "closest friend" for the CIA in Dallas. Previously, DeMohrenschildt had worked for LBJ backer John Mecom. Oil barons Mecom, Murchison, Sid Richardson [Richardson died in 1959] and H.L. Hunt were all described as his close friends, as well as then-oilman George Bush. These men met at the Dallas Petroleum Club and other private gathering spots. Among their associates were Harold Byrd (owner of the Texas School Book Depository), Dallas Mayor Cabell, Ted Dealey (publisher of the Dallas Morning News), and Abraham Zapruder, who filmed the assassination.

DeMohrenschildt wrote to Vice President Johnson on April 17,1963. LBJ aide Walter Jenkins replied April 18! On April 23, LBJ's military aide Col. Howard Burris wrote to Jenkins suggesting that LBJ be kept "informed to the maximum extent possible in as many areas as possible...that he be more nearly prepared to assume the reins of government in case he is called upon to do so." Three days later, Burris (and possibly LBJ) met with DeMohrenschildt in Washington. On May 20, LBJ and DeMohrenschildt definitely met."

People ask, did Lyndon Johnson know Oswald? The answer is I don't know. But he sure knew his best friend in Dallas, the CIA associated George DeMohrenshildt and he met with him on May 20, 1963. Do you know how hard it is to get a meeting with the Vice President? Col. Howard Burris was Air Force. Just like Gen. Curtis LeMay, a notorious JFK-hater was Air Force. And just as CIA Gen Edward Lansdale, who was photographed at Dealey Plaza, was Air Force.

I think Lyndon Johnson was planning the JFK assassination in that time period. In fact LBJ may have been planning it for years, but kicking it up into high gear in 1963.

Read this essay by Martin Shackleford for the LBJ-DeMohrenschildt connection - 4th paragraph up from the bottom:

http://www.assassinationweb.com/shack3g.htm

Edited by Robert Morrow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Robert Morrow

Lyndon Johnson told Robert Novak in summer,1962, that the Kennedys were losing the cold war against the Soviet Union, losing to conservatives in Congress and that Robert Kennedy was planning to dump him off the 1964 Democratic ticket.

Robert Novak later married Geraldine, an aide to LBJ. Notice how Johnson is telling Novak in the summer of 1962 how the Kennedy Administration was "losing" the cold war to the Russians. This is before the fall, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. I imagine Johnson was using these same arguments with the generals, the Texas oil men and the military intelligence in the lead up to the JFK assassination.

Robert Novak:

"After a Texas-style cookout, LBJ reclined, nearly prone, by the swimming pool. It was just the two of us drinking Scotch, and he spoke with a candor he never bestowed on me before or after. He felt the Kennedy administration was in serious trouble, losing the cold war to the Soviet Union and losing the legislative war to conservatives in Congress. He said that he had done everything the Kennedys had wanted, including foreign missions that only guaranteed him bad publicity.

He was repaid with insults and humiliation, especially from the attorney general. Johnson was sure Bobby Kennedy was plotting to dump him in 1964. "But I'm going to fool them," he said. "I'm going to pack it in after the term ends and go home to Texas." That would have been a huge scoop, but I knew Johnson was just blowing off steam.

As for going back to Texas, the political environment there was hardly more congenial for LBJ than it was in Washington. Johnson's protege, John B. Connally, had just won the Democratic nomination for governor of Texas, which still all but guaranteed election in Texas. As secretary of the Navy, Connally had been the highest Kennedy administration official bearing the LBJ brand.

But campaigning for governor, Connally removed the brand. With JFK and LBJ both unpopular in Texas, Connally ran against the administration he had just left, and won. Talking about Big John in that summer evening in 1962 led Johnson into self-pity. "John has turned my picture to the wall," LBJ told me. "You know I would never turn his picture to the wall.""

[Robert Novak, "The Prince of Darkness," p. 90-91]

Edited by Robert Morrow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Robert Morrow

Lyndon Johnson told Liz and Leslie Carpenter in fall, 1963, that he was get off the 1964 Democratic ticket before the Kennedys could kick him off of it.

(Bobby Baker had resigned as Secretary of the Senate on 10/7/63.)

Notice that LBJ had told the same thing to Robert Novak a year before in summer, 1962 - that he LBJ was going to quit. Lyndon Johnson was fully aware by the fall of 1963 that the Kennedys were moving to execute his political and personal destruction.

Johnson would take this as a death threat and respond accordingly.

And by 11/22/63, Robert Kennedy was within days of making this happen both with a LIFE Magazine expose of Johnson's corruption and with a Senate Rules Committee investigation into LBJ.

Author Randall Woods:

"But denying any intent to dump Johnson was good politics. There is no doubt that if scandal sank the vice president, not a tear would have been shed in the White House. More important, Johnson believed the Kennedys wanted him off the ticket. Shortly after the Baker scandal broke, Johnson had dinner with friends, including Liz and Leslie Carpenter. Johnson's car took the couple home and Johnson rode with them. "Park in the driveway and let's talk a few minutes," Johnson said. "I think I'm going to announce that I'm not going to run again for vice president so that I can get off that ticket before they try to knock me off. What I would like to do is go back to Texas and be president of Southwest Texas State Teachers College.""

[Randall Woods, "LBJ: Architect of American Ambition, p. 414, Leslie Carpenter oral history]

Edited by Robert Morrow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Robert Morrow

Mack White in the 1970's was hired to type up oral histories for the LBJ Museum in Austin, TX. Here is his story on what he learned from those oral histories and what a psychopath Lyndon Johnson was.

http://mackwhite.com/lbj.html

MACK WHITE:

The first time I was in the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum was 1977, shortly after I moved to Austin. I was 25, a full-time student at the University of Texas and a part-time employee of a typing service. One day, the typing service got a contract to transcribe oral history tapes in the LBJ Library. I was one of the typists chosen to do the work.

Every day after classes I would walk across campus to the tall white library. The first thing you would hear as you entered was the voice of Lyndon B. Johnson himself. It emanated from two kiosks on the second level where videos of his speeches played continuously. If you were inside one of the kiosks, or nearby, you could understand what he was saying. But, if you were anywhere else in the building, you would hear the sounds from both sources at once, mixing together and echoing—Johnson's voice familiar, but the words and phrases themselves mostly unintelligible, surreal, as if you were trapped inside Johnson's brain, listening to his dream talk.

I worked on the top floor where this weird sonic jumble did not reach. But that did not mean it was safe from Johnson's voice. As soon as you stepped off the elevator, you would hear him again, this time coming from the Oval Office replica down the hall.

The replica had been built to serve as Johnson's office at the library. To make him feel more at home, he wanted it to be exactly like the Oval Office, with all the furniture, paintings, and bric-a-brac from the original office installed in the replica. Johnson did not use the office long. Two years after the library's opening, he died, after which the office became an exhibit, open to the public. Visitors could push a button by the door that started an audio tape of Johnson describing each object in the room and its meaning to him, as well as offering his thoughts on the majesty of the office, the loneliness of the office, and so forth.

It was a long tape that tested one’s attention span, with the result that most visitors would walk away before it ended, leaving Johnson to drone on for long stretches of time with no audience to benefit from his wisdom.

One night, after I had been working in this environment for several months, I had one of those dreams you have when you first fall asleep—short, but vividly realistic. In the dream, I was walking down the hall towards the Oval Office replica. As usual, I could hear Johnson's voice droning on and on. Also, as usual, there was no audience. But one thing was different. When I walked up to the office door, I saw the rotting corpse of Lyndon Johnson seated at his desk.

I awoke bolt upright in bed, and ever afterwards whenever I was at the library walking down that hallway—especially if I was alone—I would avert my eyes as I passed the office and quicken my step.

I worked at the library for about a year. It was easy work, and interesting. I would cue up the tapes on a reel-to-reel player, put on a pair of headphones, and, working a foot pedal to rewind, pause and fast-forward, transcribe interviews that had been conducted with people who had known Johnson at different times of his life.

Most of the interviewees spoke glowingly of him. Even those who were critical of him—Kennedy staffers, most notably—went to some pains to soften their criticism and try to find something nice to say. And yet, despite everyone's best efforts, what emerged from this Citizen Kane-style composite of interviews was not pretty. It was not said in so many words—in fact, was left entirely unsaid—but nothing could obscure the picture: Lyndon Johnson was an overbearing, coarse, ruthless, sociopathic, low-life, power-mad monster. Yes, he was a consummate politician, therefore could charm people when he had to, but the mask could easily slip, and often did. Nowhere is this more vividly documented than in a photo taken during the 1960 Kennedy-Johnson campaign. Here we see an out-of-control Johnson angrily reacting to a heckler while Kennedy tries to restrain him.

Johnson lacked the very rudiments of couth. For instance, time and again, in the interviews I transcribed, people would describe him as a "fast eater" who, if you were unlucky enough to be seated next to him at dinner, would finish his plate before you had so much as lifted your fork and with a quick “you-don’t-want-that-do-you?” begin working on yours. In fact, no place at the table was safe from him. His long arms would be reaching all over the table, leaving many a person hungry.

Another bad habit of his was to dictate letters and conduct meetings while seated on the toilet. Also, if he happened to be near the White House swimming pool, he would suddenly strip naked, no matter who was present, and jump in. His apologists defend these behaviors as harmless eccentricities, a charming earthiness in his character. This earthiness, however, would also cause him to do things less charming, such as fondle women in front of other people, including his wife, Lady Bird.

And these weren't even his worst traits. He was also a bully. In one of the oral histories, I recall a reporter describing an incident in which a drunken Vice President Johnson followed him around at a Washington party all evening, angrily haranguing him about something he had written. The harangue only ended when the man fled the party.

And everyone had stories to tell about Johnson's famous techniques of persuasion: his big face only inches from his victim's, talking, begging, pleading, imploring, threatening, while his hands worked constantly, grabbing an arm, grabbing a lapel, jabbing the chest, grabbing and jabbing and moving ever closer with no regard for social distance, until the victim agreed to whatever Johnson wanted.

These are animal behaviors. Animals defecate in public, for instance, and mate in public, without the least concern for who might see. Also, alpha males of many species engage in various behaviors to assert their dominance. The ape showing its genitals, for instance, has its human counterpart in Johnson stripping in front of everyone for an impromptu skinny-dip. His haranguing the reporter or shouting and gesturing at the heckler also correspond to primate aggression displays. Apes also assert their dominance by mounting their fellow apes, a behavior different only by degree from Johnson's violation of social distance and grabbing and jabbing.

Once, during one of his early congressional campaigns, Johnson and three aides drove through a blinding Texas blizzard to the home of a wealthy rancher they hoped would contribute to the campaign. They spent the night with the rancher who like many old-time Texas country folk kept his house unheated on winter nights, causing it to be very cold in the morning.

Before daylight, Johnson's aides were awake, dressed, and ready for another long drive to the next appointment. But there was a problem with Johnson: he wouldn’t get out of bed.

"It's too cold," he said. "I cain't get up."

Very unlike Johnson, who usually was up before anyone else.

His aides began trying to persuade him to get up. It was important, they told him, that they get on the road as soon as possible to keep the next appointment. But he would not budge.

Finally, he said, "I need body warmth."

What he meant by this was that one of his aides should climb under the covers with him to provide the body warmth. This was immediately done. The chosen aide sheepishly shucked off his shoes and got into bed. Johnson then wrapped himself around the aide and rubbed against him until he felt warm enough to get out of bed.

This is a true story, straight from one of the oral histories I transcribed—a story which I have often wondered about. It is possible, of course, that Johnson really needed body warmth and might have died for lack of it. But, given his animalistic urge to dominate, I have to wonder if something more was going on.

These are not the only bad habits of Lyndon Johnson. There is another, and it is the ugliest of all. As a young man, he is known to have tortured and killed a dog, on another occasion a mule—incidents described in Blood, Power, and Money, the book written by Johnson's lawyer, Barr McClellan, who points out that, though the information is readily available to researchers in the LBJ Library, it has for some reason been ignored by scholars—even by the critically acclaimed, usually meticulous Johnson biographer Robert Caro. This omission is unfortunate, as it obscures the one most essential thing to know about Johnson—that he was a killer.

It is a fact of criminal psychology that children who torture and kill animals for recreation do not respect life in general and frequently grow up to kill human beings. This was Johnson's destiny. However, as an adult, Johnson did not have to dirty his own hands with these killings; he could send his own personal hit man Mac Wallace to do the job.

One of Johnson and Wallace's earliest victims was Department of Agriculture inspector Henry Marshall, who in the early 1960s was investigating Billy Sol Estes' cotton allotment schemes. This investigation was leading straight to Estes' partner in crime, then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson, when Marshall suddenly died.

The death was ruled a suicide, albeit an unusual one. According to the evidence, Marshall first beat himself unconscious, then attached a hose to the exhaust pipe of his pickup, stuck the other end in his mouth, asphyxiating himself, then crawled away, picked up his rifle, and fired several shots into his own dead body. Most remarkable, but not true.

In 1984, the true story emerged. In grand jury testimony for which he had been granted immunity, Estes described a 1961 meeting between himself, Johnson, Cliff Carter, and Mac Wallace, during which the Marshall problem was discussed. Johnson concluded the meeting by telling Wallace, "Get rid of him."

As a result of Estes' 1984 testimony, Marshall's death certificate was changed to read, "Cause of death—murder by gunshot."

Estes detailed other Johnson murders carried out by Wallace. One victim was Johnson's sister, Josefa, whose involvement in late-night sex orgies in Austin's Zilker Park had long worried Johnson. It was just a matter of time, Johnson feared, before the vice squad raided the park and a scandal erupted that would destroy his career. He solved the problem by sending Wallace to murder the hosts of these sex parties. Josefa continued to be a problem, however, leading to her own murder years later.

Another Johnson victim, according to Estes, was President John F. Kennedy.

In Blood, Power, and Money, McClellan presents evidence linking Johnson to the Kennedy assassination. Mac Wallace's fingerprints, for instance, were found on a box on the sixth floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository. McClellan also traces the money trail from Texas oil barons Clint Murchison and H. L. Hunt, who financed the assassination, to Johnson lawyer Ed Clark, who organized it.

The assassination, it seems, was necessary to save Johnson's political career. The federal investigations of the criminal activities of Billy Sol Estes and Bobby Baker were leading straight to Johnson, with growing speculation that Johnson would be dropped from the 1964 presidential ticket, and even worse, face indictment and prison. His only hope of escaping this disaster was to kill Kennedy and assume the office of the presidency. As president, he would have the power to stop these investigations—which is exactly what happened.

On the day of the assassination, Don Reynolds, a Bobby Baker associate, gave sworn testimony to the Senate Rules Committee describing a $100,000 payoff to Johnson for his role in securing a $7 billion defense contract for General Dynamics to develop the TFX fighter plane. The moment news of Kennedy’s shooting was announced, Reynolds’ testimony was terminated and never resumed. Also, one of Johnson's first acts as president was to halt further investigations into the l Estes matter. Attorney General Robert Kennedy's investigation of Mob figures such as Carlos Marcello, another Johnson crony believed to have been involved in the assassination, came to an end as well.

It would, however, be an over-simplification to say that the killing of Kennedy was solely Johnson's idea, or that its sole purpose was to save his political career. Other men besides Johnson had much to lose by the continuation of Kennedy's presidency, and much to gain by his death.

Kennedy had eliminated the oil depletion allowance, signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, begun withdrawing troops from Vietnam, refused to go along with Pentagon projects such as Operation Northwoods, made known his intention to destroy the CIA, and signed Executive Order 11110, ending the power of the Federal Reserve to loan money to the government at interest. With each new transgression against the power structure, Kennedy was costing too many men too much money, and greatly curtailing their power. As a result, there began to be talk within the military-industrial complex and among international bankers that Kennedy should be eliminated and replaced by their man, Johnson.

Johnson owed his entire career to his biggest supporter, the Austin-based construction company Brown and Root. In return for the company’s support, he always looked out for its interests, securing it lucrative federal contracts over the years. With the Vietnam War on the horizon, Brown and Root and other military-industrial contractors stood to make huge profits—all of which was threatened by the direction the Kennedy administration was going. With the Kennedys pushing the investigations of Johnson behind the scenes and preparing to dump him in '64, it was clear what the future held for these companies if they did not act in Johnson's interests. His interests were theirs.

So Kennedy was killed, Johnson became president, the war in Vietnam went on as planned, and today the LBJ Library looms over the University of Texas campus as a sort of monument to the assassination.

I worked at the library for about a year. After that, I went back once to take my daughter there for a school assignment, but otherwise never went inside again, though I live in Austin and drive past often.

Then one day a few years ago, I went there to see a special exhibit on Lewis and Clark. My daughter, now grown, was with me. Before touring the exhibit, we went into the main hall to look at the Johnson exhibits. There we found none other than Johnson's daughter Luci Baines conducting a tour for a group of church ladies. They had just reached the display dealing with the Kennedy years.

We attached ourselves to the group and listened. Luci Baines described her father's relationship with President Kennedy. "It's true they had their disagreements," she said, "but my father always had the highest respect for John F. Kennedy. Theirs was a great friendship, and a great working relationship."

"Except for the time he had Kennedy killed," I whispered to my daughter.

We left Luci Baines to see the Lewis and Clark exhibit. On the way we passed one of the kiosks where the Johnson speech videos used to play. There was a sign that read "The Humor of LBJ."

"Let's look at that," I said.

We stepped inside the kiosk, but to my surprise, the video screens were gone and in their place was a life-size mannequin of Lyndon Johnson, dressed in a cowboy outfit and leaning on a wooden fence holding a lasso, sort of Will Rogers-like.

It appeared to be some kind of Disneyland-style robot, or audio-animatronic as they’re called, but it was perfectly still and not saying anything.

Was it broke? Or was there a button to turn it on? I looked, but didn’t see a button. Then I noticed two empty chairs facing the robot. As an experiment, I sat down in one of them. It worked! The moment my buttocks hit the chair, a spotlight lit up LBJ and he came alive. My daughter sat down beside me and we began experiencing the Humor of LBJ.

The robot began lip-syncing to audio tapes of the real LBJ telling funny stories, the kind of anecdotes that are told at after-dinner speeches. The mouth movements were accompanied by robotic hand gestures. Sometimes the head would turn, too, causing the LBJ robot to look you right in the eye for a moment, with creepy effect. The intent, no doubt, was to simulate life-like movement, but the stiffness and unnaturalness of these movements instead only made it seem more robotic. It also had a dead look, reminding me of my dream from decades earlier—the one in which I saw Johnson's corpse in the Oval Office replica upstairs. I shuddered.

The Humor of LBJ went on. And on. And on. And on and on. The robot seemed to have an endless supply of anecdotes. He might have gone on telling them for hours, but we decided to give him a rest.

We stood up. The spotlight went off. The robot froze and fell silent in mid-sentence.

"If only it had been that easy to shut him up in the Sixties," I said.

Edited by Robert Morrow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Robert Morrow

The passage below from Noel Twyman's "Bloody Treason" illustrates how worried and concerned President Johnson was on Feb. 4, 1964 over the Bobby Baker scandal and its possibilities of destroying LBJ both politically and personally.

How do you imagine how Vice President Johnson, a powerless eunuch, felt in October and November of 1963 Robert Kennedy was feeding both LIFE magazine and the Senate Rules Committee damaging material on LBJ? RFK was out to destroy Lyndon Johnson both politically and personally.

[Noel Twyman, "Bloody Treason: the Assassination of John F. Kennedy," pp. 807-808.]

Noel Twyman:

"Illustrating Johnson's fear of revelation of the Bobby Baker scandal, David Scheim wrote:

The hush on Baker may be explained by a conversation between Johnson and House Speaker John McCormack as reported in The Washington Payoff by ex-Washington lobbyist Robert Winter-Berger. On February 4, 1964, Winter-Berger was discussing public relations with McCormack in McCormack's Washington office. President Johnson then barged in and began ranting hysterically, Winter-Berger reported, oblivious to the lobbyist's presence. During his long tirade, Johnson said:

"John, that son of a bitch [bobby Baker] is going to ruin me. If that ________ talks, I'm gonna land in jail....I practically raised that ________, and now he's gonna make me the first President of the United States to spend the last days of his life behind bars."

When Johnson finally noticed Winter-Berger's presence, McCormack explained that the visiting lobbyist was a close friend of Nat Voloshen, who was a Mob fixer of enormous influence. Johnson then became enthusiastic, exclaiming, "Nat can get to Bobby. They're friends. Have Nat get to Bobby." When Winter-Berger volunteered that he had an appointment with Voloshen the next day, Johnson told Winter-Berger:

"Tell Nat that I want him to get in touch with Bobby Baker as soon as possible- tomorrow if he can. Tell Nat to tell Bobby that I will give him a million dollars if he takes this rap. Bobby must not talk. I'll see to it that he gets a million-dollar settlement."

Given a subsequent scandal involving intercessions for Mobsters from McCormack's office at Voloshen's behest, the recounted tirade would hardly have been exceptional in that office ..."

[Noel Twyman, "Bloody Treason: the Assassination of John F. Kennedy," pp. 807-808. Also Robert N. Winter-Berger, "The Washington Payoff: An Insider's View of Corruption in Government," pp. 61-68]

Here is a link to the book: "The Washington Pay-Off: An Insider's View of Corruption in Government " by Robert Winter-Berger. http://www.amazon.com/The-Washington-Pay-Off-Corruption-Government/dp/B000GUBQ6Q/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1334878650&sr=1-2-catcorr

Edited by Robert Morrow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Robert Morrow

Lyndon Johnson was the classic sociopath and psychopath. So what is the difference between them? Often the psychopath has better social skills which he can use to climb to the top of an organization.

Whereas a sociopath might be an alcoholic, embittered homeless man slashing car tires at night as he lashes out at society...

A psychopath might be a president who who commits all sorts of crimes in the dark (murders, sex crimes, embezzlements, bribes), but can pull it together enough and is clever enough not be be caught or convicted for any of them. One of LBJ's traits was that NEVER apologized for anything. Anything he did he felt was justified, no matter how criminal or awful it was.

http://www.wisegeek....a-sociopath.htm

What is the Difference Between a Psychopath and a Sociopath?

The difference between a psychopath and a sociopath is somewhat blurred, at least according to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The DSM-IV lists both definitions together under the heading of Antisocial Personalities because they share some common traits. Many use the terms sociopathy, psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder (APD) interchangeably. Professionals not only dispute whether there is a difference between a sociopath and a psychopath, but among those that believe there is a difference, there is dispute over what those differences are.

Even those professionals that identify a difference note that the traits of the psychopath and sociopath are largely similar. Both psychopaths and sociopaths have a complete disregard for the feelings and rights of others. This often surfaces by age 15 and may be accompanied by cruelty to animals. These traits are distinct and repetitive, creating a pattern of misbehavior that goes beyond normal adolescent mischief.

Both the psychopath and sociopath fail to feel remorse or guilt. They appear to lack a conscience and are completely self-serving. They routinely disregard rules, social mores and laws, unmindful of putting themselves or others at risk.

Of the more distinguishing traits, some argue the sociopath to be less organized in his or her demeanor, nervous and easily agitated – someone likely living on the fringes of society, without solid or consistent economic support. A sociopath is more likely to spontaneously act out in inappropriate ways without thinking through the consequences.

Conversely, some argue that the psychopath tends to be extremely organized, secretive and manipulative. The outer personality is often charismatic and charming, hiding the real person beneath. Though psychopaths do not feel for others, they can mimic behaviors that make them appear normal. Upon meeting, one would have more of a tendency to trust a psychopath than a sociopath. Because both of these conditions are listed as anti-social personality disorders, there is a lot of overlap; some sociopaths are extremely organized and some psychopaths are impulsive and easily agitated.

Because of the organized personality of the psychopath, he or she might have a tendency to be better educated than the average sociopath, who probably lacks the attentive skills to excel in school. While psychopaths can fly under the radar of society, many maintaining families and steady work, a sociopath more often lacks the skills and drive for mimicking normal behavior, making “seemingly healthy” relationships and a stable home less likely. From a criminal standpoint, a sociopath’s crimes are typically disorganized and spontaneous, while the psychopath’s crimes are well planned out. For this reason, psychopaths are harder to catch than sociopaths, as the sociopath is more apt to leave ample evidence in his or her explosions of violence.

Hence, while similar psychological traits might fall under the antisocial personality heading, from a social and criminalist point of view, the differences between a psychopath and a sociopath may be significant. According to experts, persons with a non-criminal history can also display lesser or varying degrees of either personality type.

Edited by Robert Morrow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Robert Morrow said:

"How do you imagine how Vice President Johnson, a powerless eunuch, felt in October and November of 1963 Robert Kennedy was feeding both LIFE magazine and the Senate Rules Committee damaging material on LBJ? RFK was out to destroy Lyndon Johnson both politically and personally."

Robert,

Please cite your source and/or provide PROOF that RFK was "feeding both LIFE magazine and the Senate Rules Committee damaging material on LBJ." -- Robert? Do it now. Cite your source or offer proof that this is true.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Robert Morrow
Robert Morrow said:

"How do you imagine how Vice President Johnson, a powerless eunuch, felt in October and November of 1963 Robert Kennedy was feeding both LIFE magazine and the Senate Rules Committee damaging material on LBJ? RFK was out to destroy Lyndon Johnson both politically and personally."

Robert,

Please cite your source and/or provide PROOF that RFK was "feeding both LIFE magazine and the Senate Rules Committee damaging material on LBJ." -- Robert? Do it now. Cite your source or offer proof that this is true.

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=14966&st=0

James Wagenvoord to John Simkin (in November, 2009):

“I've been reading through you web site and believe that I can add one of the final jigsaw puzzle pieces that affect the timing of JFK's Dallas trip and the nervousness of LBJ during the weeks preceding the killing. At the time I was the 27 year old Editorial business manager and assistant to Life Magazines Executive Editor. Beginning in later summer 1963 the magazine, based upon information fed from Bobby Kennedy and the Justice Department, had been developing a major newsbreak piece concerning Johnson and Bobby Baker. On publication Johnson would have been finished and off the '64 ticket (reason the material was fed to us) and would probably have been facing prison time. At the time LIFE magazine was arguably the most important general news source in the US. The top management of Time Inc. was closely allied with the USA's various intelligence agencies and we were used after by the Kennedy Justice Department as a conduit to the public. Life's coverage of the Hoffa prosecution, and involvement in paying off Justice Department Memphis witnesses was a case in point.

The LBJ/Baker piece was in the final editing stages and was scheduled to break in the issue of the magazine due out the week of November 24 (the magazine would have made it to the newsstands on Nov.26th or 27th). It had been prepared in relative secrecy by a small special editorial team. On Kennedy's death research files and all numbered copies of the nearly print-ready draft were gathered up by my boss (he had been the top editor on the team) and shredded. The issue that was to expose LBJ instead featured the

Zapruder film. Based upon our success in syndicating the Zapruder film I became Chief of Time/LIFE editorial services and remained in that job until 1968.”

Biography of James Wagenvoord: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKwagenvoord.htm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...