LBJ's Resident Intellectual

[Phil Nelson]

Because, he said, there is no way that Bobby Kennedy would have not pursued the real killers to "the ends of the earth", The article, in the January 12, 1968 edition of TIME, was entitled: "The Assassination: Inconceivable Connivance"

One scholar who has never given much credence to the theory that a conspiracy was behind John F. Kennedy's assassination is John P. Roche, former Brandeis dean, ex-national chairman of the Americans for Democratic Action, and currently Lyndon Johnson's "intellectual-in-residence." For the benefit of those who accept the theory, he cites Roche's law: "Those who can conspire haven't got the time; those who do conspire haven't got the talent." Last week, in a letter to the London Times Literary Supplement congratulating Oxford Don John Sparrow for his incisive, 18,000-word defense of the Warren Commission Report (TIME, Dec. 22), Roche raised a point that has been overlooked—or ignored—by the report's myriad critics.

"Every one of the plot theories," wrote Roche, "must necessarily rely on the inconceivable connivance of one key man: Robert F. Kennedy, then Attorney General of the U.S. Any fair analysis of Senator Robert Kennedy's abilities, his character, and of the resources at his disposal, would indicate that if there was a conspiracy, he would have pursued its protagonists to the ends of the earth."

Though the conspiracy theory may be gospel to "a priesthood of marginal paranoids," said Roche, it is also "an assault on the sanity of American society, and I believe in its fundamental sanity." He concludes: "I don't mind people being paranoiac, but don't make me carry their luggage."

Here we have a great example of how LBJ's house "Intellectual" (he believed in having a specialist who could focus exclusively on one issue or mission assigned to certain things-ref. Mac Wallace and Cliff Carter, for example) rationalized that situation perhaps too early, "jumped the gun, so to speak". And that prognostication was probably something that earned him his entire salary that year.

Ironically, this article was published in Time magazine about four months before Bobby attended his victory celebration about having just won the California primary, on his way to (IMHO) a certain victory in his quest to become president. It has been written, by others besides myself, that the only reason that he did not pursue it more vigorously after the assassination (besides the fact that he had been "cut off" in his position of A.G. from above by Johnson and below by Hoover) was that he knew that the only possible way to find out the truth was to become president. Hmmm....Go Figure.

Edited February 17, 2011 by Phil Nelson

[Guest Robert Morrow]

I wonder if Professor Roche had so much as seen the Zapruder Film

John P. Roche died in 1994 at age 70:

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/07/obituaries/john-p-roche-70-scholar-and-counselor-to-presidents.html

John P. Roche, 70, Scholar And Counselor to Presidents

By WOLFGANG SAXON

Published: May 07, 1994

John P. Roche, a political scientist, counselor to Presidents and emeritus professor at Tufts University, died yesterday at Youville Hospital in Cambridge, Mass. A resident of Weston, Mass., he was 70.

The cause was complications after a stroke, a Tufts announcement said. He had taught at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts since 1973.

He reached emeritus status as the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of American Civilization and Foreign Affairs last August, but he continued to teach into this year. His main areas of scholarship were political theory, constitutional law and the formative era of the American Republic.

Professor Roche was a prolific author of books and articles. He was also a syndicated columnist, and once described his politics as "Social Democrat." He was a consultant to John F. Kennedy when Kennedy was a Senator and later when he was President. He was also a special adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968.

John Pearson Roche, a native of Brooklyn, graduated from Hofstra College in 1943 and earned a Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1949, which he attended on the G.I. Bill. He had served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, reaching the rank of staff sergeant.

In the 1950's he was active in the civil-rights movement. He was a cofounder of Americans for Democratic Action and served as its president from 1962 to 1965. In the 1960's, he also wrote speeches for Hubert H. Humphrey, beginning when Humphrey was a Senator and later Vice President.

Professor Roche's governmental positions included service on the Eisenhower Commission on International Radio Broadcasting, the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, and, most recently, the President's Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament.

His academic career started at Haverford College in 1949. In 1956, he joined the faculty of Brandeis University as Christian Herter Professor of Politics and History. He established the university's Department of Government and served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1958 to 1961.

Over the years, he was a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Aix-en-Provence, France, and was also a visiting professor at Swarthmore College, Cornell University, Columbia University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago.

At Tufts, besides teaching, he was at times academic dean, acting dean and dean ad interim. Years as Columnist

After his White House service under President Johnson, Professor Roche wrote a syndicated column titled "A Word Edgewise" for 14 years. It drew readers not only from among liberals but also conservatives, who strongly disagreed with him. He also shared writing duties with Patrick J. Buchanan and Kevin Phillips, among others, for the "Newswatch" column in TV Guide, and his articles appeared in many other publications.

Professor Roche's best known academic work was "The Founding Fathers, a Reform Caucus in Action," which was printed by the American Political Science Review. Among his books were "Courts and Rights" (1961), "The Quest for the Dream: Civil Liberties in Modern America" (1963), "Shadow and Substance: Studies in the Theory and Structure of Politics" (1964), and "Sentenced to Life: Reflections on Politics, Education and Law" (1974).

He was a past Fellow of the Hudson Institute, a member of the National Council on the Humanities, a trustee of the Smithsonian Institution's Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a trustee of the Dubinsky Foundation and a director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute.

Professor Roche is survived by his wife of 47 years, Constance Ludwig Roche; a daughter, Joanna Roche of Weston; a brother, Robert, of Wynnewood, Pa., and a granddaughter.

[Robert Howard]

I wonder if Professor Roche had so much as seen the Zapruder Film

John P. Roche died in 1994 at age 70:

http://www.nytimes.c...presidents.html

John P. Roche, 70, Scholar And Counselor to Presidents

By WOLFGANG SAXON

Published: May 07, 1994

John P. Roche, a political scientist, counselor to Presidents and emeritus professor at Tufts University, died yesterday at Youville Hospital in Cambridge, Mass. A resident of Weston, Mass., he was 70.

The cause was complications after a stroke, a Tufts announcement said. He had taught at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts since 1973.

He reached emeritus status as the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of American Civilization and Foreign Affairs last August, but he continued to teach into this year. His main areas of scholarship were political theory, constitutional law and the formative era of the American Republic.

Professor Roche was a prolific author of books and articles. He was also a syndicated columnist, and once described his politics as "Social Democrat." He was a consultant to John F. Kennedy when Kennedy was a Senator and later when he was President. He was also a special adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968.

John Pearson Roche, a native of Brooklyn, graduated from Hofstra College in 1943 and earned a Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1949, which he attended on the G.I. Bill. He had served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, reaching the rank of staff sergeant.

In the 1950's he was active in the civil-rights movement. He was a cofounder of Americans for Democratic Action and served as its president from 1962 to 1965. In the 1960's, he also wrote speeches for Hubert H. Humphrey, beginning when Humphrey was a Senator and later Vice President.

Professor Roche's governmental positions included service on the Eisenhower Commission on International Radio Broadcasting, the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, and, most recently, the President's Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament.

His academic career started at Haverford College in 1949. In 1956, he joined the faculty of Brandeis University as Christian Herter Professor of Politics and History. He established the university's Department of Government and served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1958 to 1961.

Over the years, he was a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Aix-en-Provence, France, and was also a visiting professor at Swarthmore College, Cornell University, Columbia University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago.

At Tufts, besides teaching, he was at times academic dean, acting dean and dean ad interim. Years as Columnist

After his White House service under President Johnson, Professor Roche wrote a syndicated column titled "A Word Edgewise" for 14 years. It drew readers not only from among liberals but also conservatives, who strongly disagreed with him. He also shared writing duties with Patrick J. Buchanan and Kevin Phillips, among others, for the "Newswatch" column in TV Guide, and his articles appeared in many other publications.

Professor Roche's best known academic work was "The Founding Fathers, a Reform Caucus in Action," which was printed by the American Political Science Review. Among his books were "Courts and Rights" (1961), "The Quest for the Dream: Civil Liberties in Modern America" (1963), "Shadow and Substance: Studies in the Theory and Structure of Politics" (1964), and "Sentenced to Life: Reflections on Politics, Education and Law" (1974).

He was a past Fellow of the Hudson Institute, a member of the National Council on the Humanities, a trustee of the Smithsonian Institution's Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a trustee of the Dubinsky Foundation and a director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute.

Professor Roche is survived by his wife of 47 years, Constance Ludwig Roche; a daughter, Joanna Roche of Weston; a brother, Robert, of Wynnewood, Pa., and a granddaughter.

Well, I have no other agenda than discovering the truth about what really happened on November 22, 1963, so in some ways being's how there are still very important unresolved issues, I am not eager to pin the tail on anyone's donkey.

But I will share a factoid, and you can verify all on your very own.

Assertion 1

When Mac Wallace died in 1971, the ostensible Death Certificate states his residence

was 610 TENNISON MEMORIAL RD.....

It also states his father was A.J. Wallace

http://www.findagrav...d=10404&df=all

Fact 1 on page 820 of the 1964 Greater Dallas Residential White Pages

in glorious black and white

there is the following listing

WALLACE A.J.

610 Tenison Memorial Dr. DA 7-1728

That's pretty interesting to me........

Edited March 10, 2011 by Robert Howard