Madeleine Brown

Linda Minor · June 28, 2011

Madeleine Duncan Brown was employed by Glenn Advertising, Inc. in its Dallas office for a number of years. Founded by Ray K. Glenn in Ada, OK, the firm moved to Dallas in 1937. Ray Glenn moved variously from Dallas to Fort Worth, then to California and back to Dallas. He died in 1957. After his death, the firm expanded even more and eventually merged with Bozell & Jacobs, by which time it was a huge operation, placing advertising ads in radio, television and other media and handling public relations work as well.

Madeleine's story revealed a great deal about how Lyndon Johnson's personal power network operated. The only private business with which he was ever associated was "Lady Bird's" broadcasting network composed of radio and television stations. LBJ, who was close to FDR, undoubtedly learned a great deal about this business from Elliott Roosevelt, who had acquired stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the 1930's (with help from Jesse Jones of Houston, who was also involved in owning both Houston newspapers at one time as well as having a broadcast station located at the top of the Rice Hotel).

The decades between the rise of radio and the Kennedy-Nixon TV debates were transitional ones that changed politics from campaigns by person-to-person stump speeches on whistle-stop train tours, printed up in local print media for literate people to read, to sound bites and image creation delivered by sophisticated ad executives, selling politics like they did soap.

It is doubtful, no matter what Madeleine believed she knew, that LBJ would have entrusted all his schemes to her. But she points the way to where to look. That is the real purpose of connecting dots--simply to give the wary ideas about where to look for the buried bodies.

Glenn Advertising is a potential grave site that pointed me to a family named Toline. While searching through the city directories for Dallas available at Ancestry.com for persons who worked at Glenn Advertising, the name Marjorie Jane Toline appeared during the years 1945-48. She had a sister named Elizabeth Anne Toline, who married attorney Robert Gerald Storey, Jr. in 1944. Storey's father headed a law firm in Dallas and was a networker par excellence, having been president or chairman of both the Texas State Bar at one time as well as the American Bar Association. He had been assigned in the post WWII years in Munich as a prosecutor in the Nuremburg Nazi trials, along with fellow Texan Leon Jaworski of Houston. Both men were called by the men who comprised the Warren Commission to sit in on Jack Ruby's questioning. No wonder Jack Ruby talked about Nazi pogroms! These men had been involved within the State Department, Justice Department and Military Tribunals which covered up those pogroms--all for the sake of international cooperation and world trade. Whether they agreed with the policy or not, they were part of what happened as a result of those trials, which led to Operation Paperclip and the importation of war criminals to the United States.

The real purpose of assassination research, in my opinion, is to help us to understand history--to discover how things went wrong and were covered up. It would be a relief if more research would just think about the clues and follow them up rather than wasting so much time criticizing others for not being perfect.

For more of the research involving Madeleine Brown's connections, see posts at my blog, Quixotic Joust:

John Dolva · June 28, 2011

Linda, This is just for a separate study but I wonder if the info is available on exactly which stations that ""Lady Bird's'' owned?

Linda Minor · June 28, 2011

Linda, This is just for a separate study but I wonder if the info is available on exactly which stations that ""Lady Bird's'' owned?

They owned KLBJ FM radio and KTBC television.

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?action=printpage;topic=76009.0

'When KTBC-FM became KLBJ, they launched an album-rock format, with dee jays who made about $450 a month. They split the audience KRMH had built, and sent that station into bankrupcy. Their jocks were making in excess of $1000, and couldn't compete. When the television allocations were made for central Texas, LBJ made sure channel 9 was reserved for the public station. That meant no other Austin station could be on VHF- all the others had to go to UHF. KTBC-TV was the only television station in Austin for more than 15 years.'

http://www.klbjam.com/station/history.aspx

Douglas Caddy · June 29, 2011

Madeleine Duncan Brown was employed by Glenn Advertising, Inc. in its Dallas office for a number of years. Founded by Ray K. Glenn in Ada, OK, the firm moved to Dallas in 1937. Ray Glenn moved variously from Dallas to Fort Worth, then to California and back to Dallas. He died in 1957. After his death, the firm expanded even more and eventually merged with Bozell & Jacobs, by which time it was a huge operation, placing advertising ads in radio, television and other media and handling public relations work as well.

Madeleine's story revealed a great deal about how Lyndon Johnson's personal power network operated. The only private business with which he was ever associated was "Lady Bird's" broadcasting network composed of radio and television stations. LBJ, who was close to FDR, undoubtedly learned a great deal about this business from Elliott Roosevelt, who had acquired stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the 1930's (with help from Jesse Jones of Houston, who was also involved in owning both Houston newspapers at one time as well as having a broadcast station located at the top of the Rice Hotel).

The decades between the rise of radio and the Kennedy-Nixon TV debates were transitional ones that changed politics from campaigns by person-to-person stump speeches on whistle-stop train tours, printed up in local print media for literate people to read, to sound bites and image creation delivered by sophisticated ad executives, selling politics like they did soap.

It is doubtful, no matter what Madeleine believed she knew, that LBJ would have entrusted all his schemes to her. But she points the way to where to look. That is the real purpose of connecting dots--simply to give the wary ideas about where to look for the buried bodies.

Glenn Advertising is a potential grave site that pointed me to a family named Toline. While searching through the city directories for Dallas available at Ancestry.com for persons who worked at Glenn Advertising, the name Marjorie Jane Toline appeared during the years 1945-48. She had a sister named Elizabeth Anne Toline, who married attorney Robert Gerald Storey, Jr. in 1944. Storey's father headed a law firm in Dallas and was a networker par excellence, having been president or chairman of both the Texas State Bar at one time as well as the American Bar Association. He had been assigned in the post WWII years in Munich as a prosecutor in the Nuremburg Nazi trials, along with fellow Texan Leon Jaworski of Houston. Both men were called by the men who comprised the Warren Commission to sit in on Jack Ruby's questioning. No wonder Jack Ruby talked about Nazi pogroms! These men had been involved within the State Department, Justice Department and Military Tribunals which covered up those pogroms--all for the sake of international cooperation and world trade. Whether they agreed with the policy or not, they were part of what happened as a result of those trials, which led to Operation Paperclip and the importation of war criminals to the United States.

The real purpose of assassination research, in my opinion, is to help us to understand history--to discover how things went wrong and were covered up. It would be a relief if more research would just think about the clues and follow them up rather than wasting so much time criticizing others for not being perfect.

For more of the research involving Madeleine Brown's connections, see posts at my blog, Quixotic Joust:

http://quixoticjoust.blogspot.com/2011/03/george-w-owen-friend-of-mads.html

http://quixoticjoust.blogspot.com/2011/03/from-candy-barr-to-maureen-dean-and.html

http://quixoticjoust.blogspot.com/2011/06/bedford-wynnes-connections-to-dallas.html

http://quixoticjoust.blogspot.com/2011/06/connection-between-robert-g-storey-jr.html

Shearn Moody once told me when I was visiting him in Galveston in the mid-1980's that LBJ had set up a secret financial empire.

Barr McClellan in his book, LBJ Killed JFK, wrote about the top floor of the office building where Barr worked in the law firm that represented LBJ being the site where the paperwork for the secret financial empire was located. Access to the top floor was, of course, tightly controlled.

John Dolva · June 29, 2011

Thank you Linda.

May 9, 2012

Lyndon Johnson would keep a room on retainer at the Driskill Hotel in Austin; mainly for his trysts with his numerous girlfriends.

Downtown Austin, TX is about an hour from the LBJ ranch by car; perhaps it was a little bit longer in those days.

The room that Lyndon Johnson told Madeleine that it was Dallas, TX oil men and "renegade intelligence bastards" behind the JFK assassination is room #254, located on the Mezzanine Level of the Driskill. Previously, it has been known as the "Blue Room" or the "Presidential suite."

Now it is known as the "LBJ suite" or the Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson Presidential Suite. I really wonder how much time Lady Bird spent in there; I think Lyndon Johnson spent a lot of time there with his girlfriends. I do know that in 1964 after LBJ won the presidential election; he celebrated his victory party at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX.

Here is the web link: http://www.driskillhotel.com/austin-texas-presidential-suite.php

A description of room #254 today reads:

"Dedicated to the President and First Lady, the Presidential Suite pays tribute to the lives of both individuals with respect and Texas flair. The suite features:

Custom knotty pine fireplace
Balcony overlooking Austin's famed Sixth Street
Transom above the double balcony doors has a leaded glass window with a hand-painted, kiln-fired rendering of a field of Texas wildflowers
Bedroom emphasizes Lady Bird Johnson's love of nature and wildflowers with silk draperies in shades of the bluebonnet, the state flower of Texas
A 10-foot, stained-glass window with bluebonnets and the Texas Lone Star in the bathroom complements the soaring ceilings, Jacuzzi tub and rain shower
iHome Docking Station"

You can go online and take a virtual tour of it.

December 3, 2012

Madeleine Brown, Lyndon Johnson & The Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX: the evening of 12/31/63. LBJ is confirmed by his presidential schedule as being at the Driskill Hotel on that night.

In my opinion, the greatest break ever in JFK research is what Lyndon Johnson told Madeleine Brown on 12/31/63: that Dallas, TX oil executives and the CIA murdered John Kennedy. The only thing LBJ did not do was add himself into the mix because he was at the epicenter of the JFK assassination. Madeleine Brown first went public about this in 1982 with a press conference in Dallas: 19 years after LBJ told her this in late 1963 and 9 years after LBJ died in 1973.

I consider Madeleine Brown to be the most important witness to truth in the entire field of the JFK assassination. This does not mean I believe everything she ever said; I do believe the vast majority of her statements. There is no question that she was inner circle LBJ for a very long time. JFK researcher Ed Tatro has confirmed that Allan Witwer, the manager of the Hotel Del Charro, and Madeleine Brown knew each other well. That means Madeleine was vacationing with LBJ at the Hotel Del Charro in the 1950's. Tatro re-united Madeleine with Allan Witwer in Massassachusetts decades later - they immediately greeted each other like long lost friends with big smiles.

Go to the LBJ Library web page. Pull up LBJ's daily schedule for 12/31/63. Scroll down to the second page on this date. It says "White House Press." Web link: http://www.lbjlibrar...aily-diary.html for LBJ's daily schedule. Enter the year "1963" - go #301-341 and pull up the date 12/31/63.

That is the "White House Press" party that was held at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX on New Year's Eve 12/31/63. Lyndon Johnson is confirmed as being at the Driskill that night. Madeleine was waiting for him upstairs in room #254, a room that LBJ kept on retainer for his trysts.

8:10 Depart LBJ Ranch via... chopper with Don Thomas, Sandy Shapiro, General

Clifton

Gerry Whittington, VM, MF To Austin

Forty Acres Club

Frank Erwin's residence

White House Press [This Press party was being held at the Driskill Hotel on 12/31/63]

Headliners Club

12:10 To LBJ via Chopper w/ A.W. Moursund, Gerry W., General Clifton, VM, MF

[A quick note: Madeleine was not LBJ's most treasured mistress. That honor would go to his secretary Mary Margaret Wiley (alive today at about age 80.) Mary Margaret Wiley was with LBJ at the peak of his power in the Senate and as VP. She married Jack Valenti on 6/1/62 in a sham marriage that later turned real. Courtenay Lynda Valenti, her first born child is the biological daughter of LBJ and was born 3 weeks before the JFK assassination and later became LBJ's baby in the White House where he continued to have sex with Mrs. Mary Margaret Valenti (nee Wiley). Mary Margaret has given 7 oral histories to the LBJ Library and I think she is keeping back huge secrets involving Lyndon Johnson and perhaps inner circle details of the JFK assassination that LBJ may have spilled to her. Two LBJ insiders have confirmed to me that Courtenay Lynda Valenti is the biological daughter of Lyndon Johnson. Mary Margaret also had two abortions by LBJ as well. See this link:

http://educationforu...showtopic=16617 or google "Courtenay Lynda Valenti Education Forum"]

Not only that, Lyndon Johnson on the morning of 11/22/63 called Madeleine Brown and told her that after today those goddamn Irish mafia bastards Kennedys will never embarrass me again - that is a promise not a threat.

Sounds just like LBJ discussing the Kennedys - and I have read extensively on what he thought about them. Johnson called Madeleine from the Texas Hotel in Fort Worth before he went outside to hear JFK's speech in the morning, or perhaps it was just before JFK's breakfast speech inside with the "Eyes of Texas" upon him.

Lyndon Johnson is confirmed by his presidential schedule at being at the Driskill Hotel for a White House "press party" on the night of 12/31/63. There is a very good interview of Madeleine Brown in "Bloody Treason" (pp. 844-862) by Noel Twymann. Harrison Livingstone in "Killing the Truth" has a good section on her on pp. 503-508. Robert Gaylon Ross makes use of Madeleine in his "The Elite Serial Killers of Lincoln, JFK, RFK, & MLK." (2001) Craig Zirbel, the author of "The Final Chapter: On the Assassination of John F. Kennedy" had numerous conversations with Madeleine Brown over the years.

I currently do not believe in the "Murchison party" of 11/21/63. If it occurred it was much smaller; Madeleine may very well have been there. I do not think all those other folks were there. LBJ was probably not there. Just my opinion. Perhaps this is an embellishment of Madeleine's. Having said that, I think the core of her story about what LBJ told her is 100% correct - he probably just told her that in the morning rather than at the party.

Madeleine Brown was an advertising executive by day.... and a call girl by night. She told JFK researcher Casey Quindlan this. And Quindlan related this to me at the 2011 JFK Lancer. That explains why she knew such rich, powerful men in the business, social and political circles of Lyndon Johnson. Madeleine spent a lot of time at Jack Ruby's Carousel Club - and she was probably meeting up with customers there.

In fall 2011 I was given a tour of Dallas by JFK researcher Ken Holmes (now deceased). He told me he knew Steven Mark Brown and Madeleine Brown. Ken Holmes told me that Steven Mark Brown looked just like Lyndon Johnson - a clone and you would not even need a DNA test to prove it. I asked Ken Holmes who he thought killed JFK; his answer: Lyndon Johnson. I agree, but LBJ had plenty of help from the Dallas oil men and from CIA/military intelligence.

In 1979 Steven Mark Brown sued the estate of Jerome Ragsdale and he claimed to be the son of Ragsdale. Steven Mark was not; he was LBJ's son. I believe that Madeleine Brown thought that Jerome Ragsdale & Jesse Kellam had made off with money that had been set aside for her income. So she and Steven were suing to get the money that Madeleine thought belonged to her to pay for her daily living expenses.

I am unsure what year Madeleine told Steven Mark that he was LBJ's son - perhaps it was in the 1980's.

Go to the LBJ Library web page. Pull up LBJ's daily schedule for 12/31/63. Scroll down to the second page on this date. It says "White House Press." Web link: http://www.lbjlibrar...aily-diary.html for LBJ's daily schedule.

That is the White House Press party being held at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX on New Year's Eve 12/31/63. Lyndon Johnson is confirmed as being at the Driskill that night. Madeleine was waiting for him upstairs in room #254, a room that LBJ kept on retainer for his trysts.

It was in that room on that night that LBJ told Madeleine that Dallas, TX oil men and "_____ renegade intelligence bastards" murdered John Kennedy. LBJ only left himself out of the mix; other than that he was spot on.

Madeleine Brown's well known book "Texas in the Morning:" http://www.amazon.co...n/dp/0941401065

Madeleine Brown and Connie Kritzberg also wrote a book: "Dallas did it!: facts about the Dallas involvement in the planning and financing of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and glimpses into the love story of President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Madeleine Duncan Brown" This is an extremely rare book; only 100 copies were produced and they were gobbled up by the JFK research community.

(Even I don't have a copy!! Connie Kritzberg, beset by medical problems, is working on a new edition.)

LBJ said it was "Texas oil and those ____ renegade intelligence bastards in Washington" [Texas in the Morning, Madeleine Brown, p.189]

from Robert Morrow political researcher Austin, TX 512-306-1510

Madeleine Duncan Brown was a mistress of Lyndon Johnson for 21 years and had a son with him named Steven Mark Brown in 1950. Madeleine mixed with the Texas elite and had many trysts with Lyndon Johnson over the years, including one at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX, on New Year's Eve 12/31/63.

Late in the evening of 12/31/63, just 6 weeks after the JFK assassination, Madeleine asked Lyndon Johnson:

"Lyndon, you know that a lot of people believe you had something to do with President Kennedy's assassination."

He shot up out of bed and began pacing and waving his arms screaming like a madman. I was scared!

"That's bullxxxx, Madeleine Brown!" he yelled. "Don't tell me you believe that crap!"

"Of course not." I answered meekly, trying to cool his temper.

"It was Texas oil and those ______ renegade intelligence bastards in Washington." [said Lyndon Johnson, the new president.] [Texas in the Morning, p. 189] [LBJ told this to Madeleine in the late night of 12/31/63 in the Driskill Hotel, Austin, TX in room #254. They spent New Year’s Eve ‘64 together here. Room #254 was the room that LBJ used to have rendevous’ with his girlfriends – today it is known as the "Blue Room" or the "Presidential room" and rents for $600-1,000/night as a Presidential suite at the Driskill; located on the Mezzanine Level.]

I read Dave Perry a long time ago. I concluded Madeleine mixed up some minor details, perhaps embellished other things, but that that core of her story was absolutely true. There could not have been a Box 13 party at that time, but there could easily have been a party at a hotel at the Adolphus that fall where Madeleine met LBJ.

YouTube "Interview With LBJ's Mistress June 30th 1997 JEFF Davis show"

1) "Texas in the Imagination" by Dave Perry: http://dperry1943.com/browns.html

2) "One-man truth squad Still Debunking JFK Conspiracy Theories" - Hugh Aynesworth, Dallas Morning News 11/17/92 about Dave Perry - http://www.dallasnew...cy-theories.ece

3) "The Case of Steven Brown Johnson Ragsdale" by Dave Perry: http://dperry1943.com/ragsdale.html

I am not a believer in the Murchison party; it probably happened yet on a much smaller scale. LBJ was probably not there. Ditto Nixon, Hoover & Tolson not there. However, I can easily believe that LBJ called her in the morning from the Texas Hotel and told her "After today those goddamn Irish mafia bastards Kennedys will never embarrass me again. That is a promise not a threat."

Sounds just like LBJ.

At her first press conference in 1982, Madeleine said Sam Rayburn helped to plot the JFK assassination. Rayburn died in November, 1961, so she was wrong about that. Remember, Lyndon Johnson is confirmed by his presidential schedule as having been at the Driskill on the night of 12/31/63. Many of LBJ's trysts with Madeleine would last only one hour or 1/2 hour or even 15 minutes. They carried on this way for over a decade having many, many trysts at the Driskill (mainly) in Austin or the Adophus in Dallas, or the Lamar Hotel in Houston or the Menger in San Antonio.

Madeleine was a call girl as she finally confided to researcher Casey Quinlan who asked her "How in the world did you know all these rich, powerful men in your early twenties?" She was an advertising executive by day and a part time call girl by night. A lot of LBJ's advertising business went to whatever firm she happened to be working at.

Gaylon Ross told me in 2012 that Madeleine told him "I have had a lot of sex in my lifetime."

Madeleine also spent a lot of time at the Carousel Club. She knew Jack Ruby very well. She was probably trying to pick up customers at that club. I think she admitted on a radio show that she had sex with Jerome Ragsdale.

Basically she was a pretty, young hooker who LBJ's guys (Jesse Kellam) set him up with. Then it was off to the races for 21 years from 1948-1969. Absolutely Steven Mark is LBJ's son.

She told Gaylon Ross (who I spoke with this year 2012) that she "had had a lot of sex" in her lifetime.

Ed Tatro is one of the greatest JFK researchers ever. He reunited Madeleine with the manager of the Del Charro, Allan Witwer, many years later in Massachusetts. They ran together smiled and hugged and acted like old friends. That is because LBJ used to take Madeleine to Hotel Del Charro to vacation in the mid 1950's. Madeleine was completely wired into the social/business/political set around LBJ. That is proof she & LBJ were an item.

Other close friends of Madeleine were Betty Windsor (alive today and at JFK Lancer this year), Connie Kritzberg (alive today). Gaylon Ross interviewed her extensively and still has many of her books. Harry Livingstone knew her well. Fetzer spoke with her at least 100 times. Walt Brown had a lot of experience with her. Casey Quinlan spoke with her 30-40 times. Robert Groden knew her. Jack White ditto and Jack White believed in her 100%.

James Tague (who was almost hit on 11-22-63) was a close friend of hers. Billie Sol Estes in her later years was a good friend with her.

Rachel Rendish knew her, too, and believes she is credible.

Then there is Madeleine's account of the her and LBJ at the Driskill Hotel on New Year's Eve 12/31/63.

Madeleine Duncan Brown is confirmed in saying Lyndon Johnson was at the Driskill Hotel, Austin, TX New Year’s Eve 12/31/63

Sam Johnson's Boy by Steinberg, has LBJ at Driskell Hotel 12/31/63, p.652:

"On New Year's Eve [12-31-63], with his first Presidential vacation almost over, Johnson paid a surprise visit to the drinking party Washington reporters away from home were holding at the Driskell Hotel in Austin. He had done handsomely for certain reporters during the vacation, and they were excited to see him now."

Here is another account of LBJ at the Driskell Hotel on 12/31/63: http://www.huffingto...s_b_405850.html

Bill Lucy writing in the Huffington Post, 12-9-09:

"Lyndon Johnson usually liked to sneak away to his ranch in Texas for the Christmas holidays, including New Year's Eve and prepare his State of the Union address.

On New Year's Eve 1964, LBJ left Lady Bird at the ranch to watch a movie, while he engaged in some party hopping; first by attending a private reception at the University of Texas in Austin; later he headed to a private club, the 40 Acres not far from the college campus. After about an hour there-he dashed off to the home of Frank Irwin, former Chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of Texas and a close friend of the president, before heading to the Driskill Hotel for a New Year's Eve bash attended by the White House press corps."

Jack White: Of all the cast of the JFK affair that I have met and talked with at length, Madeleine Brown and Jean Hill are the most credible. Neither had any reason to fabricate stories. Their stories fit facts and "ring true".

On the other hand Chauncey Holt phoned me once and wrote me three letters. I found him to be a charming con man. Holt admitedly worked for intel agencies and was "too eager" to sell me his story. Photo comparisons show Holt was not one of the tramps."

http://educationforu...?showtopic=5198

A lot of Ed Tatro's research is not on the internet. He has a lot of stuff on Madeleine Brown. Tatro should go ahead and publish his 1,300 page book title "Urgency to Kill"

1) http://educationforu...?showtopic=5198

2) http://educationforu...showtopic=16271

3) http://en.wikipedia....ne_Duncan_Brown

Manager Allan Witwer ... that is the name of manager of the Del Charro who Ed Tatro re-united with Madeleine.

4) http://educationforu...showtopic=17243

Jack White again: "I believe 100 percent the account of Madeleine Brown, having talked to her many times about it before her unfortunate death. Her details were consistent through the years. Lyndon's appearance was after midnight... only a 45-minute drive from his Fort Worth hotel, where he had arrived about 11:00."

As for me (Robert Morrow), I do not believe in the Murchison party as described by Madeleine. I absolutely believe in her account of LBJ at the Driskill on 12/31/63.

Video Interviews with Madeleine Brown:

1) You Tube - Google "Madeleine Brown Gaylon Ross Sr."

https://www.youtube....c.1.j5aMwaM4c3U

2) YouTube "Interview With LBJ's Mistress June 30th 1997 JEFF Davis show"

- Very good interview

3) You Tube: "The Men Who Killed Kennedy - Part 9 - The Guilty Men (2003)"

4) Evidence of Revision (3 of 6) LBJ, Hoover and others.What so few know even today(full movie) https://www.youtube....h?v=CPADFiUkFpA

Madeleine Brown interview is at minute 41 in Evidence of Revision - very good interview

5) Interview With LBJ's Mistress on JFK Assassination:

https://www.youtube....ayer_detailpage

81 minutes long - this is the full Gaylon Ross interview. Gaylon Ross also interviewed Cactus Pryor, an Austin radio celebrity who worked for KLBJ and Cactus remembered her well.

H.L. Hunt:

“We may have lost a battle but we are going to win a war.” H.L. Hunt to Madeleine Brown, LBJ’s girlfriend, upon Lyndon Johnson losing the Democratic nomination to John Kennedy in 1960.

H.L. Hunt: “How long are we going to let this go on? Are we goin’ to have to shoot those mafia bastards to get them out of office?” [Texas in the Morning, p. 163]

Lyndon Johnson 11/21/63 to Madeleine Brown:

“After tomorrow those goddamn Kennedys will never embarrass me again- that’s no threat- that is a promise!” [Texas in the Morning, p. 166]

Lyndon Johnson on the morning of 11/22/63 to Madeleine Brown:

“That son-of-a-bitch crazy Yarborough and that g__dd__m f____g Irish mafia bastard Kennedy, will never embarrass me again!” [Texas in the Morning, p. 167]

Lyndon Johnson on the morning of 11/22/63 to Madeleine Brown:

"His snarling voice jolted me as never before - "That son-of-a-bitch crazy Yarborough and that goddamn _____ Irish mafia bastard, Kennedy, will never embarass me again!"

I managed to say, "I'm looking forward to tonight," when he blasted out even louder, "I've got about a minute to get to the parking lot to hear that bastard!", and he slammed down the phone. I was startled ... an uneasiness gripped me over Lyndon's actions and temper." [Madeleine Duncan Brown, Texas in the Morning, p. 167]

Another interview of Madeleine Duncan Brown:

FIGARO MAGAZINE ARTICLE

JFK: Truth of a conspiracy

Madeleine Brown is barely 23 when she falls for Lyndon Johnson’s

charm. This Texan romance, filled with improvised meetings, unkept

promises and quick but intense embrace, spanned more than two decades.

But Madeleine was more than just one of the 36th president’s many

conquests. In fact, on December 27, 1950, she gives birth to Steven:

one more career secret for this ambitious politician. Johnson’s son

died in 1990. Since, Madeleine Brown, liberated from her imposed

discretion, decided to share her memories of her time spent with the

president. Without anger or need for revenge, still deeply in love

with her Lyndon but very aware of historical accuracy, she proves her

relationship by presenting passionate love notes written by Johnson as

well as the letter from a Texas lawyer confirming the continuing

financial support for Steven’s education after Lyndon’s death.

But a powerful man’s intimate portrait becomes a loaded

testimonial when she refers to the relationship between LBJ and JFK

and describes Johnson’s role in the November 1963 Kennedy

Assassination.

Madeleine Brown - It’s very moving for me to meet you here at the

Adolphus Hotel in Dallas. It’s here that, about 50 years ago, I met

Lyndon for the first time.

Figaro Magazine - I imagine that this evening is forever engraved

in you.

MB - Oh yes I was 23 and still had my baby face. At the time I

was working for the Glenn advertising agency a few steps away from the

Adolphus. At the end of September 1948, Jesse Kallen, director of KTNC

Radio in Austin, a close friend of Lyndon Johnson, invited me to a

party given in honor of all those who had contributed to his electoral

campaign. He was running for senator against Coke Stevenson.

FM - It’s the ballot 13 election, right? The one that was rigged?

MB - Yes that was the one. Ballot 13 gave Lyndon victory. It was

rapidly noticed that even the dead had voted, but it was to late.

Lyndon was already in Washington. It’s funny that Johnson made it to

Washington thanks to election fraud.

FM - So you met Lyndon that night for the first time?

MB - Yes. When LBJ walked in the room it was so intense. He was

so charismatic. The whole room gravitated towards him. I noticed him

right away and I was seduced. He was a typical Texan-both feet on the

ground, smiling, warm and terribly sexy. Jesse introduced us and I

danced with Lyndon. It was so overwhelming to be in his arms. There

was so much in the way we looked at each other. He invited me to

another party at the Driskill Hotel in Austin.

FM - Do you remember the date?

MB - Of course.. It was October 29, 1948. After two dances, he

asked me to go up and wait for him in his suite. He met up with me an

hour later and it’s that night that I became his mistress for the next

21 years.

FM - This illicit relationship with a married man must have been

hard to deal with.

MB - Our relationship was hidden, no one was to know. Jesse

Kellan, one of the advertising firm’s clients, was our cover-up. At a

moment’s notice, he would warn me of Lyndon’s arrival and of the hotel

room number where I was to meet him. I waited there to share these

short moments with the man I loved. I knew always that he would never

be mine. But these moments are not only nostalgic - our meetings were

essentially sexual. We both enjoyed it. He was a wonderful lover.

FM - What was his reaction like when he found out that you were

expecting a child?

MB - He was worried. He was so terribly ambitious and wanted to

accede to the country’s top position. He was afraid the Mafia or

someone else would find out that he was the father of my child and

that this would be used against him. He asked me to keep this a

secret. Even my own parents could never find out. He promised me that

he would give my child whatever he needed.

FM - Steven was born on December 27, 1950. For 40 years you kept

silent. Why do you choose to speak now?

MB - Lyndon is no longer alive and I lost my son in 1990. The

circumstances of his death, the rampant cancer, caused me to speak up.

I had to talk of Dallas and the power of Texas on Washington politics.

Lyndon was created by two millionaires from here, H.L.Hunt and Sid

Murchinson.

FM - You know them?

MB - Yes. You know, in the 50’s and 60’s Dallas was a small city.

You just had to be part of the right crowd. I was lucky enough to be

at the right place at the right time. For example, I saw Hunt every

morning. We parked our cars side by side in the lot.

FM - What kind of man was he?

MB - Sure of himself. He knew the power of money. He believed in

Lyndon even if he was himself an ultraconservative. The funniest thing

is that he didn’t look like a millionaire. People who didn’t know him

thought he was this poor old man.

FM - What did he think of Kennedy?

MB - He hated him. After Lyndon’s defeat in 1960 at the

democratic convention and the choice of JFK as candidate, he said that

he had lost a battle but that he was going to win the war. A few days

before JFK was to come to Dallas, Hunt put up posters against the

president in his car. He was proud of that and was afraid of no one.

FM - Did you also know Jack Ruby?

MB - Like everyone else here. It was impossible not to know him.

If you met him on the street and you didn’t know him, he would come up

to you and give you his club card. Often after work we would meet

friends there to play cards.

FM - Did Hunt go to Ruby’s club?

MB - Sometimes. Hunt was an avid poker player and Jack would set

up these great games for him. At the time, Jack could organize

anything as long as it was illegal. He was everywhere. He knew

everyone in the Dallas Police Department. He too hated Kennedy.

FM - Before November 22, 1963, did he speak of Kennedy’s visit to

Dallas?

MB - About 10 days before it was announced in the papers, Jack

came to our table. He was proud to have a map of the President’s route

through Dallas. All the while, we weren’t aware that Kennedy was even

coming to Dallas. He was always the first to know everything.

FM - What was your reaction when Ruby killed Oswald?

MB - I thought right away that he was there because someone had

asked him to and he had no choice but to do it.

FM - Coming back to Lyndon Johnson. What was his reaction like

when he was defeated in 1960?

MB - He was so disappointed. He wanted so much to become

president, not to mention that he hated the Kennedy’s with a passion.

It was a terrible set back.. Every time he spoke of John or of his

brother Bobby it was with such vehemence, calling them Irish bastards

and even worse! But honestly, the Kennedy’s made his life difficult

and hated Lyndon just as much.

FM - What was Lyndon like in 1963?

MB - He was anxious, very worried. He was involved in all kinds

of business and was convinced that Kennedy would not keep him on the

presidential ticket in 1964. He was afraid everything would stop. I

felt that every time we met, he could escape all that for a few hours.

FM - You told me you saw Lyndon on November 21, 1963. Is that

right?

MB - Perfectly. It was a surprise. I was invited to a party at

Murchison’s Dallas residence. The party was given in honor of Edgar

Hoover, the FBI’s chief. Richard Nixon was there. John McCloy, a

future member of the Warren Commission was there also. Lyndon arrived

late. I didn’t even know he was there. He, Hunt and others immediately

locked themselves in a room for a ten minute conference. When Lyndon

came out he spotted me. He seemed so angry and had a dreadful look on

his face. He came up to me and whispered: "After tomorrow, those damn

Kennedy’s will never stand in my way again. That’s not a threat, it’s

a promise". I’ve never forgotten that.

FM - What was your reaction?

MB - I didn’t really react. I couldn’t imagine that his words

would ever ring true. Lyndon was extremely angry with JFK. It was just

one more time. The next morning, four hours before the assassination,

I spoke to Lyndon on the phone at the hotel where he stayed with

Kennedy. He told me the same thing again and I told him we’d see each

other again and I would make him forget whatever plagued him.

FM - I hope you realize the impact of what you are implying.

You’re implicating the vice-president in the crime of the century..

MB - I don’t know if Lyndon was the instigator of this crime. It

could be. All I know is what he told me on the 21st and repeated on

the 22nd. About a month after, I had wanted to know for sure so I

asked him if he was involved in the Kennedy murder. He got so angry

that I regretted ever bringing it up. Then he told me (You know my

friends - they killed him.) He was talking of those millionaires.

FM - He didn’t say anything else?

MB - No and I never brought it up again. But I would like to tell

you this about Hunt. A few minutes after the assassination, he went to

Washington to give Lyndon a hand. When he came back a little before

Christmas, he was a totally different man. Like an incredible weight

was lifted off his shoulders. One day, he told me, smiling, (We’ve won

the war) I’m sure he was referring to Kennedy.

Madeleine Duncan Brown on Lyndon Johnson:

http://www.21stcentu...presidents.html

When we focus on the Kennedy Administration and sex, people automatically think of Marilyn Monroe and other glamorous lovers of JFK. Fewer are familiar, however, with Lyndon B. Johnson's long time mistress, Madeleine Duncan Brown. Last year [1997] Madeleine published her steamy memoirs of her love affair with LBJ that began in Texas long before he became president, and resulted in an illegitimate son named Steven. Murder, intrigue, treason, and lots of hot sex, it's all here in this book, Texas in the Morning: The Love Story Of Madeleine Brown And President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Madeleine did one of her first radio interviews on The Zoh Show on July 31, 1997, arranged by her publisher, Baltimorean Harrison Edward Livingstone, a Zoh Show listener. Livingstone believes Madeleine deserves our gratitude for coming forward after withstanding extreme efforts to silence her, even to the extent of imprisoning her son, and possibly causing his death. Steven died in a Naval Hospital in 1990 under mysterious circumstances.

Among Madeleine's incredible memoirs there is the night before JFK's assassination when Madeleine remembers Lyndon at a party with Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover, John J. McCloy and other rich and powerful men who she believes discussing plans to assassinate the president on November 22, 1963. Of course, Madeleine's detractors will say she's watched too many Hollywood conspiracy movies, but Madeleine Brown says she's telling the truth. If what she says is true, the United States government orchestrated a political coup like the ones we associate with rogue third world nations. According to Madeleine Brown, and in the opinion of many other people, we have not had a legitimate federal government since.

LBJ WAS RED-FACED

Madeleine describes an anxious and red-faced LBJ emerging from that party briefing. The words she remembers are: "After tomorrow those God-damned Kennedys will never embarrass me again. That's not a threat, that's a promise."

WHO IS MADELEINE DUNCAN BROWN AND WHERE DID SHE COME FROM?

"I came from a devout Christian family and I had wonderful parents and grandparents on both sides. We lived in a small community in the Bible Belt of Texas," Madeleine Brown describes her background. After I graduated from high school I went to work for the Republic National Bank for $90 a month. It was great. From there I went into advertising.... I was 23 at the time, and women weren't quite as developed, you might say, as they are today. I lived a very sheltered life."

"ALICE AND WONDERLAND TYPE PARTIES"

She recalls the first time she met Lyndon. One of the advertising firm's clients, radio station KTBC, one of Lyndon Johnson's properties,was giving a huge party, "and they invited me to come. That night I met Lyndon and he invited me to come to another party in Austin. They used to have real big parties. I'm talking about Alice in Wonderland type parties. When I went to Austin and we were dancing at the Driskill Hotel he put a key in my hand and everything followed suit."

She didn't know who he was other than one of the rich and powerful and she was "excited" at the prospect of a rendezvous. Madeleine was a young widow in her twenties at the time and remembers feeling an incredible chemistry with this intriguing man. "It was so powerful," she recalls. "Even today as I speak or think of him my body reacts to his name. It was an exciting experience for me. We had a strong sex life together."

She acknowledges that her book is "a little bit on the X-rated side."

Zoh suggested perhaps they had been lovers in a former lifetime, and Madeleine considered, "It was either that or it was just something that happens between a male and a female. I half-way believe in reincarnation. Again, our life was so beautiful together until... but of course having Steve made it worth it all."

TEXAS OIL CONTROLLED WASHINGTON

"A lot of people do not realize it, but [at that time] the oil people in Texas controlled Washington," continues Madeleine, remembering the days when she first met Lyndon. "Even starting way back in 1920 President Taft would come to Texas and this Clint Murchison, one of the big oil people, had married a girl from Tyler, Texas, and even J. Edgar Hoover came during those years. And so Clint established himself in Washington and it began to grow. And even President Roosevelt and Harry Truman all through -- you can read the book, ‘who's who of the elite’, and see how these presidents tied together. Texas had actually controlled Washington. They were very strong in our government. In 1960 when lay people thought they really had selected the candidates to run for the Presidency, they did not. Joe Kennedy, the father, had the mafia behind him and, of course, H. L. Hunt, and oil people were supporting Kennedy. And these two men met in Los Angeles, California and they decided who would run on the ticket. H. L. Hunt finally said, "We'll concede if Lyndon goes on as Vice-President." So, the two men chose the candidates for the 1960 election. Lay people don't really understand that unless they understand the policies of America."

LITTLE GIRLS SHOULDN'T HAVE BIG EARS

Madeleine remembers seeing J.Edgar Hoover while together with Lyndon on their second date together in Austin. She asked Lyndon about it, and it was the first time he warned her with the soon to be oft-repeated phrase. "He told me little girls shouldn't have big eyes and big ears and they didn't see, hear, or repeat anything. When I did ask Lyndon that's when he told me I should never see, hear, or repeat anything." Later in the book, Madeleine alleges that during their subsequent 21 year love affair, after their son, Steven, was born, J. Edgar Hoover began blackmailing Lyndon over their relationship.

John Connally once said about LBJ: "There is no adjective to describe Lyndon. He was cruel and kind, generous and greedy, sensitive and insensitive, crafty and naïve, ruthless and thoughtful, simple in many ways, yet extremely complex, caring and totally uncaring; he could overwhelm people with kindness and turn around and be cruel and petty towards those same people." Madeleine says that when she first learned she was pregnant, he asked her to have an abortion. But when she refused because of her religious beliefs, he said, "It takes two to tango and I will take care of my responsibilities." And that's what he did, continued Madeleine. "He had Jerome Ragsdale come out to the house, and of course it crushed my mother and father. In those years a woman just simply... didn't have a child out of wedlock. If they did, families would send them away and sometimes they never came back to our area. So I crushed my parents, and even today I grieve sometimes because they were such wonderful, wonderful people. But Jerome Ragsdale and my father worked out all of the financial things and that's the way it continued until 1975."

Madeleine said, "If it ever leaked out, Ragsdale would take the fall for it... Of course Lyndon had total control in Texas in the press, the media." They had it all planned for Jerome Ragsdale to come forward and say he was the father, should any scandal erupt.

THERE WERE TWO SONS

Madeleine already had a son from her earlier marriage when she gave birth to Lyndon's son Steven. She says the two boys were very close and remained so throughout their lives until the knowledge of paternity was revealed. "Steven was so close to me, and he was the best looking thing, great big ole' guy, heart as big as an ocean," said his mother. He died [of cancer] under mysterious circumstances in 1990 and since then she has made peace with her other son, Jimmy.

HOOVER BLACKMAILED LBJ ABOUT MADELEINE

"Of course, that was just J. Edgar Hoover, he did this to people," said Madeleine. "He blackmailed them." Lyndon suddenly told her that she would have to get married. "I said, 'Get married?' Another one of the White House Secretaries [had been] married off to a well known person, [but] I said 'I don't KNOW anyone to get married [to].' " But Lyndon had already arranged everything. "He said, 'You've been shooting skeet out at the Dallas Gun Club and I believe the fellow's name is Charles West', and I said, 'But I don't KNOW him', and he said, 'Well, all arrangements have been made.' ...It was called a paper marriage, in order to get some of the heat off in Washington.... it did take some heat off of Lyndon."

Madeleine was so totally devoted to Lyndon that she was willing to stand by him not only through this paper marriage, but even to the suppression of knowledge about murders of important officials. Her autobiography is like a romantic political intrigue novel. She recalls the death of U.S. Agriculture official Henry Marshall who was found dead on his farm.

Madeleine says it was well known Kennedy was going to drop Lyndon from the ticket because of Lyndon's involvement with the Bobby Baker scandal in Washington, and in Texas the agriculture people had been accused of subsidizing cotton contracts. There were a lot of scandals going on, insider trading on lucrative contracts in the cotton market for individuals in the government. Henry Marshall looked into it and he was going to go public. "Someone leaked information from the agricultural department... Henry Marshall with all of his records and things, he had to be silenced. There was a trigger man here in Texas, Malcolm E. Wallace... Anyway Henry Marshall, they first said he committed suicide. Can you believe five shots in the stomach with a .22 and [they said he] killed himself?"

Madeleine was very proud of the fact that 23 years later, one of her son's law classmates helped overturn the suicide verdict of Henry Marshall's death and turned its classification into homicide.

OUR MATE CAME UP MISSING [Lyndon Johnson gets rid of, probably murdered Madeleine’s nanny Dale Turner! … incident occurs while LBJ is Vice President.]

"Dale Turner, our mate... came up missing and I've never found her since," says Madeleine of the woman who was basically the nanny to her two children and had been with Steven since he was born. She says LBJ spotted Dale observing the two of them together at a hotel in San Antonio and it upset him. "He covered his tracks very well," says Madeleine. "He didn't want anyone to know about our relationship, so after Dale saw him he told me that I would have to tell her goodbye. I said 'I can't do that, she's been with us ten years!' And he said, 'I said you'll have to tell her goodbye.' After we were returned to Dallas she called me at work and told me that she had some very important business, and I said, 'That's fine Dale, go take care of it, just take the boys to my mother's, [who] we lived close to.' I said, 'Take all the time you want.' She lived in with us and that was very convenient... Dale never did return. We had the "color law" in Texas in those years. If you did report a [missing] black, they could care less. It's very sad and tragic, but it did happen... Through the years I have tried to find her or find out what happened." She heard 'Mack Wallace' took care of her implying LBJ's orders caused the murder of the woman who had been the nanny of the President's son.

She says she wrote the book because she felt that after Lyndon was out of office that he should have come forth and recognize Steven. "At parties, he'd call him 'son', but he never did come out and say 'this is my son' or anything like that." Madeleine says he was hurt by it, but after Steven got sick with cancer, she decided to go public with the affair in this book. She hoped to have Steven take his place along with the Johnson girls as Lyndon's only son.

JACK RUBY HAD A MAP OF THE KENNEDY DALLAS ROUTE

In her book, Madeleine describes Jack Ruby holding a map of the Kennedy Dallas route making comments about where they were going to blow his head off. She says that together with executives from the ad agency where she worked they would go to the Carousel Club and play cards. "Remember Dallas was very small," she says, "it wasn't a metropolitan city. And in the afternoon the club wasn't open, but we'd go over, some of the executives from the ad agency, we'd sit there and play cards, but we could always find out what was going on, it was kind of a place to learn all. We were playing cards there one afternoon, and it was a couple weeks, I think, prior to the assassination, and Jack Ruby came over to us. He always called us "classy guys". And he said, 'Guess what I have?' And I glanced up and I said, 'What is it?' And he said, 'When that son of a bitch comes to Texas,' he said, 'It's the map where he's going.' It kind of stunned me and I said, 'All I know, Jack, is you run with the great white fathers of Dallas, and you know what's going on.' But it stunned me that knowing who he was that he would have this kind of confidential information. Now, the map was later published in the newspaper, but Jack had it before it ever hit the newspaper. Then he commented, he said, 'Doesn't he know that he should stay out of Dallas?' Kennedy's name was mud in Dallas and he said, 'Some of these jocks will blow his head off.' I said, 'We hope not.' We kind of passed it over, but once the assassination happened, and [what I heard] at the party the night before, things went falling in place."

She intimates that Ruby knew the Dallas police department, and that Lee Harvey Oswald and Ruby were together at the Carousel Club. She talks about rumors of high level authorities changing the motorcade route, the lack of security and press in Dealey Plaza at the crucial moment, witnesses who claim the motorcade slowed or virtually stopped during the shooting and other disturbing allegations coming from one who was so close to the events as they happened.

IT WAS THE OIL PEOPLE WHO KILLED KENNEDY

"When I met Lyndon at the Driskill Hotel on New Years Eve, 'course he was President then, I asked him. I said, 'People in Dallas think you had more to gain than anyone from the assassination of John Kennedy, and I've got to know. I'm very disturbed about it.' He had one of his "Johnson fits" and said again, 'You don't see, hear, or repeat anything.' But he also said, 'It was the oil people that I knew and intelligence that had caused the assassination.' I have never disbelieved it because I knew the things that were going on in Dallas, Texas."

"...Malcolm Wallace was there in Dallas, Texas. I saw Mack Wallace out at the Dallas Gun Club practicing two or three days prior to the assassination... I have always felt that since the witnesses did hear the shots coming from the grassy knoll..."

Madeleine also remembered another incident before the assassination that gave her reason to think twice. She says that she and H. L. Hunt, one of the richest men in America used to park in the same parking lot on Jackson Street, and one day when they were walking up the same street they walked together almost every day, he said to her: "Come here, honey, I want to show you something." She looked at what he was holding and saw one of the caricature drawings of President Kennedy as a mug shot, saying "Wanted For Treason". Madeleine says she said to H.L. Hunt: "Oh my God, H.L., you can't do the President that way!" She continues, "I was so naive at the time, and he said, 'Hell I can't! I'm the richest man in the world, and I can do what I want to.' And he did. After the assassination... H.L. Hunt went to Washington and stayed three weeks with Lyndon over the oil depletion. H.L. Hunt came back to Dallas and said 'We've won the war.' The oil depletion was never mentioned again. And of course that was one of the things he hated John Kennedy over. But H.L. Hunt bragged almost all the time. He said, 'Well, we got him out of office.' That was it."

STEVEN FINDS OUT WHO HIS FATHER IS

A brush with death brought the truth out of Madeleine after a heart attack. "I told him, I wanted to go to the other side without any hurt in my heart," she says. "And so I told him where the papers were that were showing Lyndon was his father. Steven was wounded by it and he was very bitter. He felt like I had been very deceitful to him... He had a raging fit just like Lyndon did and he filed a law suit for his part of the money." Unfortunately the notoriety Steven brought upon himself by claiming his rights to the inheritance of the Johnson estate was used against him by the U.S. Navy. "Unfortunately he had served time in the Navy after graduating from A&M," says Madeleine. She begged him not to file the law suit, "I said you don't want to do that, we're okay, we're going to be okay for life." But he did it anyway. "After him being 10 years out of the Navy, they decided that -- or the Navy or someone did -- that he was a deserter from the U.S. Navy, and it brought all kinds of problems." Steven was taken from Dallas to Corpus and then to San Antonio where Lyndon's records were. And suddenly he was sick and in the hospital. They did some tests on him, and the next thing Madeleine knows is he's missing from the Brooks General Hospital. "He was gone for about two months," she says. "I exercised everything I could to locate him, hiring a detective in Washington. We tried to get his law suit postponed, but they wouldn't do anything in Dallas for him. When the case came up from court they marked on the case "Failed to Appear in Court". And then after this happened we located Steven in Bethesda, Maryland. By the time we got him back home, he was so sick he ultimately passed away."

It shows how much power these people have, she says, and how they can sculpt documentation to prove whatever they want to. "It's very heart breaking."

Many people wonder why Madeleine has not been "bumped off". "Why have I survived?" she wonders? "I actually am better off now than I've ever been." She has some real reservations about a terrible automobile accident she had in 1967, but continues to live a very cautious, secluded, quiet life.

Her book is dedicated to Steven Mark Brown, December 27, 1950 to September 28, 1990 and to his father Lyndon Baines Johnson August 17, 1908 to January 22, 1973.

Zoh noted the unifying factor of fidelity and infidelity so prominent in Madeleine's life. Faith and contract and partnerships between mates and lovers, or ourselves and our federal government, often you can find a pattern of extreme infidelities alongside fierce loyalties in all relationships. Madeleine claims Lyndon's loyalty to her was a special kind of fidelity. The resulting infidelity this implies of his relationship to his wife, Lady Bird, can be compared to his infidelity to the community as has been demonstrated in his highly criticized methods of handling the Vietnam War.

IF LYNDON WERE HERE TODAY

If Lyndon were here today, Madeleine supposes he would demand a night full of sex and in the morning he would throw open the windows and yell "Goddamn, I love Texas in the morning!" as he did so many times before. "I'd tell him, since he didn't take a step forward -- I did. And he'd say, 'You don't see, hear or repeat anything.' I'd say, I hear YOU Lyndon."

Edited December 3, 2012 by Robert Morrow

Bernice Moore · December 3, 2012

fwiw...click on photos to enlarge...

http://www.reformati...on-johnson.html b

Edited December 3, 2012 by Bernice Moore

Tom Hume · December 4, 2012

Robert, Linda, Bernice, or others,

I’m having trouble coming up with information on Madeleine Brown’s “paper” husband, Charles G. West (the timing and circumstances of his suicide, his function at the Dallas Gun Club, etc.).

Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Tom

December 4, 2012

Robert, Linda, Bernice, or others,

I’m having trouble coming up with information on Madeleine Brown’s “paper” husband, Charles G. West (the timing and circumstances of his suicide, his function at the Dallas Gun Club, etc.).

Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Tom

Here is what Connie Kritzberg, one of Madeleine's closest friends says when I asked her today (12/4/12):

"Madeleine claims she got a divorce from the paper marriage to Charles West. She had put up with it as long as she wanted to. Then she went to the courthouse and took some steps to get a divorce. She implies that it was some time later that Charles West committed suicide."

By the way, at around this time LBJ's fave mistress and secretary Mary Margaret Wiley was entering into a sham marriage with Jack Valenti on 6/1/62. Valenti was a beard and he let her keep sleeping with (having sex with) Vice President Lyndon Johnson. The marriage later developed into a real one, but not before Mary Margaret Valenti (nee Wiley) had a biological daughter by Lyndon Johnson: Courtenay Lynda Valenti who I think was born on about 10/31/63 - 3 weeks before the JFK assassination. Two LBJ insiders have confirmed to me that Courtenay Lynda Valenti is indeed the daughter of LBJ and that before that Mary Margaret had two abortions.

Basically, LBJ was getting all his top mistresses to enter into sham marriages. And LBJ continued to see Mary Margaret after he became president (see author Traphes Bryant for that).

Edited December 6, 2012 by Robert Morrow

February 11, 2013

1987 People Magazine interview with Madeleine Brown:

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20199578,00.html

People – Aug. 3, 1987 – Vol. 28, #5

Was LBJ's Final Secret a Son?
By Montgomery Brower
Madeleine Brown Says She Bore Lyndon Johnson a Child; Now That Boy Is a Man, and He's Demanding His Birthright

Out behind her time-worn home in the once fashionable Oak Cliff section of Dallas, Madeleine Brown sits in a wrought-iron chair amid a garden decked with blue and white periwinkles that "just keep blooming their little hearts out," she says. Madeleine is 62, and while that is no great age, she's content these days to smell the flowers and let her mind drift back to a wild time when she was a beautiful girl caught up in a world of passion, politics and closely guarded secrets. "I look back and I know we really had something," she says. "Not marriage. But we had some special feelings. We had to."

The man in Madeleine Brown's memories is President Lyndon Baines Johnson. For 21 years, she claims, she was his mistress. In the days before Gary Hart, the days when journalists winked at the philandering of public men, Johnson's prodigious extramarital romantic life was safe from scrutiny, and Madeleine Brown's picaresque tale shows just how very safe it apparently was. She readily admits that she has no neatly bundled love letters from LBJ, and the handful of people who she says knew of the relationship are dead, yet her account comports with Johnson's reputation among his friends and aides as an incurable womanizer—a reputation known even to his wife, Lady Bird. "My husband loved people," she once said. "He loved all people. Now, half the people in the world are women. You don't think I could have kept my husband away from half the people in the world, do you?" In an arrangement carefully hidden from Lady Bird and his two daughters, Lynda and Luci, Madeleine says she was set up with a two-bedroom home, a new car every two years, a live-in maid and all the charge cards she needed. She also claims to have borne an illegitimate son whom she asserts is Lyndon Johnson's only male heir. She has gone public about the identity of her son's real father, she says, because Steven, now 36 years old, has decided to claim his presidential patrimony in court. In June he filed a $10.5 million suit against Lady Bird Johnson, alleging he has been deprived of his birthright. "In a public forum, sooner or later the truth comes out," says Steven. "That's what's important to me. I want my last name changed to Johnson, the way it ought to be."

It was not until five months ago that Steven learned who his true father was, he says. Before that, he was wracked by uncertainty. His birth certificate had listed his mother's first husband, but Steven had come to suspect a lawyer friend of the family was actually his father. But last February Madeleine was hospitalized after a heart attack and called her son to her bedside. "I wanted to get everything ready so I could go to the other side peacefully," she says. "[i told him], 'Steven, I know there are things you have worried about and I feel I have done you a great injustice. I want to ask your forgiveness for allowing something like this to happen.' "

Steven flew into a rage when he learned his mother had deceived him. "I suppose after all those years the shock of what my mother told me boggled my mind," he says. "I think I inherited LBJ's temper, and I try to control it, but I think I must have gone a little wild for a while." But he doesn't blame LBJ for failing to acknowledge him. "I realize he had to think about his position and the girls and his legal wife," he says. "I think there was no other course open to him under the conditions that he was in. Sure, if he had acknowledged me during the period when I wondered why I didn't have a normal family life, it probably would have kept me from the fears and anxieties I had as a child."

A strapping 6'4", Steven has dark hair with the familiar LBJ hairline. For the last four years he has battled lymphatic cancer, and his dark beard hides the scars from surgery in 1983. Doctors have told him his future is uncertain. Steven now makes a modest living working as a manager and general repairman on the rental properties that Madeleine acquired during the years her living expenses were paid by LBJ. Though ill health and poor management have drained her finances, Madeleine has taken on the care of her 73-year-old sister, Neta, as well as her grandsons, Christopher, 14, and Jeffrey, 11, the children of her divorced older son, Jimmy, soon to be 39. Steven says his main reason for wanting money from Lady Bird is to provide for his nephews. He has recently broken off an engagement but hadn't planned to have children of his own in any case.

So far, Mrs. Johnson has not been served with the papers in the lawsuit, which may not come to trial for many years. An Austin spokesperson for Lady Bird has said there will be no comment on Steven's petition, and a press secretary for the Johnson family has said that no close friends of the family have ever heard of Madeleine Brown or her son. But Madeleine believes that Lady Bird suspected the affair in the early 1960s.

The only supporting evidence Steven has to show so far is a letter from Jerome T. Ragsdale, a lawyer who acted, Madeleine says, as the financial conduit for her payments from LBJ. She swears the letter was sent to her after Lyndon's death, to reassure her that the money would keep coming. (Nonetheless, the payments stopped two years after Johnson's death in 1973.) It is the only written communication she ever received from Ragsdale, and Steven believes he understands why. A canny operator like LBJ, he supposes, was not a man to leave tracks. "I know Lyndon Johnson took all sorts of precautions in making these arrangements, but somebody knows," Steven insists. "Somewhere there's a trace."

As Madeleine reminisces about "the love of my life," her story begins in 1948, the year she met the then Congressman Johnson, a tall, swaggering Texan. The daughter of a utility company supervisor and a housewife, she was raised in Dallas and recalls her middle-class Catholic upbringing as dreary and sexually repressed. At 19 she married the neighborhood soda jerk, James Brown, mostly to get away from home. When he was institutionalized for "chronic paranoid schizophrenia," she was pregnant with their first child, Jimmy. After moving back in with her parents, she eventually landed a job with a Dallas advertising agency and was soon promoted to media buyer, with responsibility for purchasing radio advertising time. The job carried the pretty and impressionable Madeleine into a whirl of receptions and social functions.

She was just 23 when she first laid eyes on the mesmerizing Johnson at a reception held by Austin radio station KTBC, which was then owned by the Johnson family. Jesse Kellam, a Johnson family confidant who managed the station, introduced them. Seventeen years her senior, Lyndon turned his charms on the vivacious Madeleine and she was dazzled. Kellam immediately asked her if she would come to another KTBC reception in Austin three weeks later. Eager for the business, Madeleine's agency sent her along.

When she joined the party at the Driskill Hotel, Lyndon was there. "He looked at me like I was an ice cream cone on a hot day," Madeleine recalls with a smile. "And he said after a while, 'Well, I'll see you up in my apartment.' " Flushed and excited, but naively telling herself that the meeting was business, she went. "At that time, sex, because of my Victorian raising...well, there was a lot of suppression," she says. "Still, I was wild and full of fire. He had a certain amount of roughness about him, and maybe that's what I liked, you know. He commanded. I've been told that every woman needs to act like a whore in bed, and I guess that's what I did."

Johnson made it clear that their affair was to be kept utterly secret. "He told me from the beginning, 'You see nothing, you hear nothing, you say nothing,' " Madeleine remembers. Kellam became the go-between, calling Madeleine whenever Johnson returned from Washington and wanted to see her. Speaking obliquely, Kellam would offer some work-related excuse for her to come to Austin. Catching a plane within the hour, she would be met at the airport by a red KTBC mobile news unit and driven to the Driskill, where she would make her way to Lyndon's suite. Usually they would be together only for a half hour or so. Their longest liaison was three hours; their shortest one day when Lyndon greeted her with a hug and a smile and said, "Honey, I can give you 15 minutes of my valuable time."

Johnson, says Madeleine, was exuberant in bed. "He was a little kinky," she says, "and I loved every second of it. So did he." They used to play games with a little satin sleeping mask that was embroidered on one side with the words "Wake me for sex or golf." (At that time, she notes, LBJ had little interest in golf.) "Once," says Madeleine, "after he was through, he went to the window and opened it and bellowed like a bull, yelling, 'My God, I love Texas in the morning!' "

Her relationship with Johnson was purely physical, according to Madeleine, and they never discussed politics or world affairs. "We spent our time doing, not talking," she says. The affair caused her some spiritual turmoil, and she revealed her qualms in the confessional, though without mentioning Johnson's name. When she heard gossip and eventually discovered she was only one among Lyndon's paramours, she swallowed her unhappiness. Yet she couldn't help cherishing vague hopes for the future. "Sometimes, when I'd hint around, he'd just say, Today's today, tomorrow's tomorrow,' " she says. "That was his favorite answer. I guess it could have meant anything. I liked to think it meant someday I'd be in the White House. I would have been like Nancy Reagan. I wouldn't have stood it if he had other women."

Fortunately perhaps, Madeleine was not given the opportunity to risk almost certain disappointment. In his book Lyndon B. Johnson: A Memoir, former White House press secretary George Reedy recounts how Johnson was constantly recruiting new conquests to what his staffers privately called "the harem." "He may have been 'just a country boy from the central hills of Texas,' " Reedy wrote, "but he had many of the instincts of a Turkish sultan in Istanbul."

Madeleine came to understand that Lyndon regarded her as little more than a plaything in April 1950, when she told him she was pregnant. His legendary temper exploded and he went into a fit, shouting, "How could you be such a dumb Dora?"

After his anger had passed, Lyndon assured her that she would be taken care of. A few days later, Kellam told her that an attorney, Jerome Ragsdale, would be in touch. Madeleine confessed to her father that she was involved with a married man and that she was pregnant. A doctor told her he would put the name of James Brown, to whom she was still technically married, on the birth certificate as the father. After Steven was born in December 1950, says Madeleine, Ragsdale bought her a six-room house for $15,000, complete with a live-in maid. Though she continued to work, Madeleine was supplied with a raft of charge cards and presented all bills to Ragsdale for payment.

In the early '60s, says Madeleine, she had a "paper marriage" for five years at Kellam's urging. She never lived with her "husband", a Dallas businessman from whom she was later divorced. Some years later she was told by a friend that he had committed suicide. While Steven was a boy, Madeleine continued to see Lyndon whenever he was in Texas. They met a few times in San Antonio and Houston, but most often at the Driskill. Occasionally she would get flowers from Kellam, but she knew they were from Lyndon. One year, she says, she got a mink coat. When people in her office asked her where it came from, she coyly replied, "I got my minks the same way minks get minks."

Johnson's heart attack in 1955, which hospitalized him for six weeks, kept the lovers apart for a time. Yet once back on his feet, LBJ couldn't resist coming back to his red-haired mistress, and the affair resumed. In 1963 Madeleine was driving to meet Johnson in Austin when news of President Kennedy's assassination flashed over the radio. She turned around and drove home, but a few weeks later word came from Kellam to meet the new President of the United States in their usual place.

Meanwhile, Steven was growing up, with a gnawing unease about his paternity. Madeleine's in-laws, the Browns, always treated him differently from his brother, Jimmy, say Madeleine and Steven, and if there was a father-son event at school, Ragsdale, the attorney, would sometimes stand in. Steven wondered if he might be his real father. "But it was, well, businesslike with him," recalls Steven, "and I sensed it." He felt much closer to his mother, thinking of her as his "best pal. It was Mother who taught me how to throw a baseball and bought me a subscription to Playboy magazine and took me to a burlesque show when I was 21 years old," he says.

Once in a while, Steven and his mother would attend a political function together, and there would be LBJ. The boy always sensed there was something hidden between his mother and the President. Once, when Steven was 10, he and the maid saw Lyndon sweep Madeleine into his arms on a stairway in San Antonio's Menger Hotel and walk off with her. On another occasion, Lyndon came up to him, placed his hand on his head and said, "Son, someday you are going to be in the White House." Only recently has Steven concluded that this might have been a sort of acknowledgment.

Madeleine's years of sexual abandon with Lyndon came to an abrupt end in 1967. Steven was driving her home from the market when they collided with another car at an intersection. Madeleine awoke in the hospital, covered with bandages. The doctors told her she was lucky to be alive. Steven was only mildly injured, but Madeleine's neck, arm and leg had been broken. Worst of all, in her view, her face had been smashed and badly cut by broken glass. When the bandages came off, she was horrified.

With her face badly scarred, Madeleine feared she would never see Lyndon again. As she began a long course of recovery and plastic surgery, she plunged into a depression, worsened by constant pain. She had already begun to feel frightened of Lyndon Johnson, who had become increasingly concerned about being found out. She had received calls from Kellam praising her for being a "good girl," which she knew were reminders to keep her mouth shut. She had seen people who had crossed LBJ quail when he would ominously tell them, "I'm so glad you see it my way."

Madeleine also believes the President was secretly tormented by their relationship and the son he had never acknowledged. "I wondered how he must have felt, how he made peace with himself in his heart," she says. "I don't think he ever did."

After a dejected Johnson retired to his ranch in 1969, word had it that he knew his heart was failing and that he wanted to mend some of his fences. Later that year, Madeleine says, she got a call from Jesse Kellam. Lyndon was going to Houston for a parade to honor the Apollo 11 astronauts and wanted to see her. By then, surgery had largely repaired her features and she felt she could face him. Sensing this was to be their last goodbye, Madeleine flew to Houston and caught a taxi to the Shamrock Hotel, where she checked into a room and waited. A few hours later, there was a knock at the door. "I felt all the old rush of excitement and breathlessness," she recalls.

She opened the door to find a rumpled, overweight, haggard-looking LBJ. His bout with heart trouble showed clearly in the deep lines about his face. While his Secret Service escort waited discreetly in the hallway, the President came in. After a brief embrace, they sat together on the sofa. For the first time in their years together, they had a real conversation. "There comes a point in the lives of two people when they have to face reality," says Madeleine tearfully. "I think that's what we did. We talked for almost two hours. I cried. We kissed. But we didn't even try to make love. He had always seemed to me like an iron man. But he knew more than I did, I realize now: I think he knew he was going to die before long."

Madeleine told Lyndon she felt he owed it to Steven to acknowledge him. "But he said, 'Oh, I can't do that. I've got the girls to consider, and Lady Bird,' " she says. "And I thought what a fool I had been to take seconds. But that's what I did."

In 1973 Jesse Kellam called to tell her that Lyndon had died. The President, he said, had been alone at the end; Lady Bird had been in Austin at the time. "I wish I had been there," says Madeleine. "I would have stayed with him. When he was President, I used to laugh and say to him, 'Here you are, the most powerful man in America, and you are all mine—for a few minutes.'

"He'd laugh and say, 'Today is today, tomorrow is tomorrow.' "

Contributors: Kent Demaret.

Edited July 28, 2013 by Robert Morrow

July 28, 2013

I am 100% sure Madeleine Brown was a mistress and longtime girlfriend of Lyndon Johnson. And I also think she is one of the most important witnesses ever in JFK research. If anyone wants my file on Madeleine Brown, just email me at Morrow321@aol.com

Here is a differing viewpoint on Madeleine Brown by Dave Perry, who, frankly I do not respect as a JFK researcher. However, it is true that Madeleine and her son Steven sued the estate of Jerome Ragsdale in a paternity suit in 1979. Madeleine had not told her son Steven that he was LBJ's son and probably thought Ragsdale had stolen her "LBJ support money" when the payments stopped. Most likely it was Lady Bird who ended them. Madeleine was most likely suing that estate of Jerome Ragsdale as a proxy for suing the estate of LBJ. Madeleine did not come forward publicly as an LBJ mistress until a press conference in 1982.

http://dperry1943.com/ragsdale.html

The Case of Steven Brown ~~Johnson~~ Ragsdale

Lyndon Johnson died January 22, 1973. Steven Brown was born December 27, 1950.

Nine years and nine months after Lyndon Johnson’s death and thirty years after Steven’s birth, Madeleine Brown alleged she “was LBJ's lover.”

“A 56-year-old Dallas woman said Friday that she was the mistress of Lyndon Baines Johnson for almost 20 years, but friends and members of the Johnson family said the woman's claims are groundless.”

“Mrs. Brown said her affair with Johnson began in the fall of 1949 after a party at the Driskill Hotel in Austin. She said she continued to meet Johnson for romantic interludes at the Driskill - sometimes as often as two or three times a week, she said – into the 1960s.”

Source: the Dallas Morning News - November 6, 1982 (Christi Harlan – Staff Writer)

Curiously she did not mention that Johnson was Steven’s father. Brown claimed she met Johnson at the Driskill for “almost 20 years” which would be between 1949 and 1969 starting when she was 24 and Johnson 41. This would include Johnson’s years as president from 1963 to 1969. She stated the affair ended after she was involved in a traffic accident.

“A man claiming to be the illegitimate son of former president Lyndon Baines Johnson on Thursday filed suit in Dallas against Lady Bird Johnson for 10.5 million, alleging that she conspired to deny him part of the Johnson inheritance.” “In her affidavit, Madeleine Brown said (Jerome) Ragsdale, a Dallas attorney who died in 1978, was assigned to handle the legal problems involved with her pregnancy by Johnson.” “Mrs. Brown said Ragsdale later claimed to have fathered the child himself. This was to shieldLyndon Baines Johnson from any adverse publicity.” Mrs. Brown stated.

Fourteen years and six months after Johnson’s death and thirty-seven years after his birth Steven Mark Brown sued Lady Bird Johnson.

Source: The Dallas Morning News - June 19, 1987 – pg. 34

“Former District Court Judge Harlan Martin dismissed the case . . . when Mr. Brown then a naval operations specialist, failed to appear in court.”

Sixteen years after Johnson’s death Steven Brown’s 1987lawsuit is dismissed in 1989.

Source: The Dallas Morning News - October 3, 1990 - pg. 33A

Seventeen years and eight months after Johnson’s death Steven Brown’s obituary appeared in the Dallas Morning News. “Man who claims to be LBJ's son dies at 39.” (September 28, 1990)

“Mr. Brown filed a $10.5 million suit against Lady Bird Johnson alleging that she conspired todeny him part of the former president's inheritance."

Source: The Dallas Morning News - October 3, 1990 - pg. 33A

Twenty four years and five months after Johnson’s death Madeleine Brown advertises she is available for speaking engagements. She does so under the heading:

“Interview LBJ's Long-time Mistress!”

“An eyewitness to one of the most momentous times in American History, Brown will share with your listeners what really happened in Dallas that day.”

“Why she believes LBJ participated in the plot to kill Kennedy, if not initiating it himself, along with the rich and powerful men of Texas.”

“What it was like to bear and raise Johnson's illegitimate son – and to keep his paternity a secret even from the boy.

Source: Bradley Communications Corp. Geographic Index, pg. 79

The photograph at left from Madeleine Brown's 1997 book Texas In The Morning appears to be Madeleine's sole "proof" Lyndon Johnson was Steven's father.

Over the years as I looked at the timeline I became curious about two things. Why didn’t Madeleine Brown mention Johnson’s paternity in November of 1982? Why did Steven Brown file the lawsuit and then fail to appear in court?

Years ago, in 2002, I tried to get court records of the 1987 lawsuit. After several unsuccessful attempts I could do nothing but wait for technology to improve. I thought as time went by I might be able to recover the documents through Internet searches.

Several months ago I was able to obtain a court record which shed new light on the whole affair. The reason I could find nothing in 2002 was because in 1979 Steven and Madeleine had filed a different paternity lawsuit in Dallas County only to have it dismissed and moved to Bastrop County.

Why Bastrop County? Eight years before Steven filed suit against Lady Bird and three years before Madeleine claimed the affair with LBJ they both were contending Steven’s father was Jerome Ragsdale! This was the same Jerome Ragsdale who Madeleine would later claim wanted to profess paternity “to shield Lyndon Baines Johnson from any adverse publicity.” Ragsdale died on July 17, 1978 at Smithville, Texas. Smithville is located about 240 miles south of Dallas in Bastrop County hence the reason the Bastrop County court system handled the case.

To quote from Brown v. Crockett 601 S.W.2d 188 (1980):

“On March 29, 1979, appellant, Steven Mark Brown, filed a "Petition for Determination and Declaration of Heirship" in the Probate Court of Dallas County, where administration of the Estate of Jerome Thorn Ragsdale was pending. Appellant alleged that Jerome Thorn Ragsdale, son of Jesse Thorn Ragsdale and brother of appellee and Paul C. Ragsdale, was his biological father.”

“After receiving notice of the contest filed in the Dallas County Probate Court, appellee filed an "Amended Application to Declare Heirship" in the Estate of Jesse Thorn Ragsdale. The amended application provided, in part, as follows:

"VI. Applicant (Steven Brown) was a party to a suit brought by Madeleine F. Brown claiming a `lost will' which suit was dismissed by the Proponent during trial on the merits in the Probate Court in and for Dallas County, Texas. Applicant believes that Madeleine F. Brown had a son, Steven Mark Brown, who is now asserting that he is the biological child of Jerome T. Ragsdale, Deceased, and Madeleine F. Brown. Attached to the original Application to Declare Heirship was the Application on which Madeleine F. Brown went to trial, reflecting the relationship claimed by Madeleine F. Brown of her son to Jerome T. Ragsdale. Therefore, Applicant moves the Court to determine who are the heirs to JESSE THORN RAGSDALE's Estate."

Source: Brown v. Crockett 601 S.W.2d 188 (1980)

Conclusion:

In March of 1979 Steven Mark Brown was in a Dallas County Court using his mother’s claim of a “lost will” and her own assertion that she had Steven as a result of a tryst with Jerome Ragsdale. The suit was dismissed in Dallas County because the estate was being administrated in Bastrop County by Silky Ragsdale Crockett. Undeterred Madeleine and Steven pursued the paternity claim in Bastrop County.

In the end neither Madeleine nor Steven provided proof of paternity. What was their next step? It would seem they laid low for three years until November of 1982 when Madeleine announced she had an affair with Johnson. At that time she did not reveal Steven was Johnson’s son. Steven and Madeleine waited until June of 1987 for Steven to step forward once again. Having failed to prove Jerome Ragsdale was his father, as his mother insisted and he believed, he decided to become Lyndon Johnson’s illegitimate son and sue seventy-four year old presidential widow Lady Bird Johnson for 10.5 million for denying him his birthright.

Transcript - Brown v. Crockett

Addendum:

This would not be the last time Madeleine would have trouble with a will. In Brown v. Crockett it was a “lost will.”

In January of 1989 Madeleine “acting through her attorney, filed wills purporting to be those of Guy and Jessie Duncan.” The probate court subsequently discovered the true will was filed by Gary Dalton. The State then prosecuted Madeleine Brown for the offense of forgery. She was sentenced to confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections for 10 years and a fine of $500.00."

Possibly because of her advanced age (She was 67 at the time.) the sentence was modified to "a period of 10 years" probation.

Now there are some who I assume already know about this particular case. They realize that the case was appealed and they would no doubt claim Madeleine was found not guilty. That is not true. The appellate court merely reversed the decision of the lower court on a technicality.

Madeleine had an attorney file the will rather than doing it herself. Based on that fact, the appellate court reversed her conviction. But none of this discounts the reality that Madeleine Brown had Deborah Abbe prepare a forged instrument and then forged Guy Duncan’s name for presentation to the probate court.

Edited July 29, 2013 by Robert Morrow

July 28, 2013

Here is Dave Perry's other debunking of Madeleine Brown. Again, I very strongly disagree with Dave Perry, but here is his viewpoint: http://dperry1943.com/browns.html . My viewpoint on Madeleine is that she is perhaps the biggest break ever in JFK research, and for the most part is highly credible.

Texas in the Morning Imagination

"The simplest explanation is probably the right explanation."

Occam's Razor Before I begin, let me first explain I considered myself a friend of Madeleine Duncan Brown. I first met her in the early 1990s. We were at some event, most probably having to do with the Kennedy assassination. During the course of the evening she engaged in a lively retelling of her story for several guests including myself and my wife, Nikki. Later, Nikki expressed that although Madeleine was a "very nice person," she found the story of Madeleine’s relationship with LBJ and in particular his fathering of her son, Steven, quite improbable.

In the mid-90s my son Randy, then in his early twenties, acted as navigator and cameraman for Harry Moses and Gus Russo. They were in Dallas looking into the possibility of a Kennedy assassination television special. Randy videotaped interviews of both Madeleine and grassy knoll "witness" Jean Hill a.k.a. "The Lady in Red." Harry Moses asked Randy what he thought of Madeleine. He replied "I think she’s a nice old woman." Conversely, Randy had little complementary to say about Jean Hill.

In July of 1997 Madeleine sent me a copy of her book Texas in the Morning. Actually authored and published by Harrison Edward Livingston, the front leaf bears the inscription:

Best always, Dave
Madeleine Brown
July 18, 1997

Madeleine Brown died on June 22, 2002. For me her death brought a renewed interest in her story. This together with the urging of a couple of friends made me decide to look into the account and see if I could prove once and for all that she was a mistress^[1] of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Additionally, I would try to discover if LBJ and Madeleine were the parents of Steven Mark Brown. Steven died of lymphatic cancer on September 28, 1990.

Madeleine often claimed that many people had conspired to prevent the truth from coming out. As far as I know, the first time she presented the story in public was on Friday, November 5, 1982. At a press conference, Madeleine alleged she "was the mistress of Lyndon Baines Johnson" and decided to "clear the record."^[2] Curiously, as she would reveal over four years later, she made no claim concerning Lyndon Johnson’s fathering of Steven.

Because of her allegation of cover-up I decided to limit my research to public records and statements made in the book. I recognized that while Mr. Livingston was responsible for the text, Madeleine would have proofed the book and had the right to make preemptive changes due to potential inaccuracies both historical and personal. Eliminating the use of government records forestalled charges of a cover-up on my part if the results turned out to be unfavorable.

[1] The possibility of Johnson having an affair with Madeleine is not unique. LBJ had a long term affair with Alice Glass who would later marry Austin American Statesman publisher, Charles Marsh. He also had an affair with Helen Gahagan, who later became the wife of movie actor, Melvyn Douglas.

[2] "Dallas woman claims she was LBJ’s lover," The Dallas Morning News 6 Nov. 1982

The seminal event of Madeleine Brown’s life is described on page three of Texas in the Morning. It is important as it details how Madeleine first met her prospective paramour and future President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson.

"Glenn Advertising. This is Madeleine Brown."

"Madeleine" I immediately recognized the familiar voice.

"Jesse Kellam here. I figured you’d still be hanging around the sweatshop."

Jesse was a close friend of Lyndon Johnson’s, and now managed the congressman’s radio station, KTBC, in the Texas capitol, Austin. Glenn Advertising frequently purchased blocks of airtime from KTBC for its many varied clients and since my promotion to the position of "media buyer" Jesse and I had developed a close, mutually beneficial business relationship.

"Listen," Jesse continued, "I know it’s late notice, but I would love for you to be my guest this evening at a party KTBC is throwing at the Adolphus Hotel to celebrate Johnson’s senatorial victory over Coke Stevenson." This election came to be known as the infamous "Box 13" scandal, and Johnson’s credibility was forever after questioned.

Visions of a lavish party at the grande dame of great hotels with women in fashionable, elegant gowns and oil-rich men in western-style tuxedos made my blood rush, but I answered in a cool, measured tone of professionalism.

"Jesse, I would be honored. What time should I arrive?" "Eight o’clock sharp at the Crystal Ballroom."^[3]

Reviewing pages nine through eleven, Madeleine arrives at the event and is totally intoxicated by the "elegant but chaotic party", is engaged in conversation with "the tall, creamy-skinned socialite Alice Glass from Marlin, Texas", and finds LBJ so taken with her beauty that he declares:

"Duty calls and I must leave you now and join Bird in making social appearances around the room. But I would be absolutely delighted if you could see fit to attend Austin’s Box 13 victory campaign at the Driskill in three weeks." ^[4]

My investigation began by backtracking the "three weeks" from the date of the "Box 13 victory campaign at the Driskill" Hotel in Austin. On page 12 Madeleine reproduces the formal invitation which gives the date of "October 29, 1948." Check a calendar and the 29^th was a Friday. Three weeks prior would be Friday the ^8thor possibly Saturday the 9^th.This then could be the date(s) of the "lavish party" held at the Adolphus. It was now a simple matter to check the local newspapers for their take on the gala. The three were The Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Times Herald and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

[3] Madeleine Brown, Texas in the Morning (Baltimore, MD: The Conservatory Press, 1997), 3.

[4] Ibid., 9.

Almost immediately I found the Adolphus "victory" party could not be held three weeks prior to the Driskill affair because Johnson was in Washington, DC. On that weekend (October ₈th through 10^th) victory had not been secured. It wasn’t until Tuesday, October 12^th that:

"Rep. Lyndon B. Johnson, certified as the Democratic nominee for United States Senator, will make a few speeches in Texas prior to the general election he said here Tuesday."

They will not be campaign speeches, but are engagements that were made some time ago.’ Johnson explained." ^[5]

Wishing to be fair, although somewhat dumbfounded that Ms. Brown got the date of this very important event wrong, I continued searching the newspapers. It turned out that LBJ did return to Texas via Dallas but not for the purpose Madeleine describes.

The day of Johnson’s visit to Dallas was actually Friday, October 22, 1948 just one week before the date on the KTCB invitation. He was in town to give a luncheon speech before the Dallas Reserve Officers Association. His pre-speech comments to the media are most revealing. A detailed account is found in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram of Saturday, October 23^rd.

Not Talking Politics

He arrived here Thursday night, but he wasn’t talking politics, either in private or before the reserve officers.

Johnson said he would make several speeches next week, all non-political, before groups which have invited him to speak. No radio broadcasts and no political rallies had been planned for the next 10 days before the Nov. 2 general election.

Johnson had nothing to say about his Republican opponent, Jack Porter of Houston, or about a Senate subcommittee’s action in sending an investigator to Texas at the request of his primary opponent Coke Stevenson.^[6]

Using Madeleine’s own words and timeline, she attended a "victory" party at the Adolphus when Johnson was in Washington. Additionally, the celebration she claims to have attended was held at least two days before LBJ was certified as the Democratic nominee!

Madeleine indicated that LBJ invited her to Austin for the ". . . Box 13 victory campaign at the Driskill. . ." LBJ’s choice of words is rather strange. Why did LBJ invite Madeleine to a "victory campaign" instead of a victory celebration or party? The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary defines campaign as "a connected series of operations designed to bring about a particular result i.e. election campaign." LBJ made it clear that, "No radio broadcasts and no political rallies (have) been planned for the next 10 days before the Nov. 2 general election."

Madeleine is the one who decides that the "victory campaign" is a party.

[5] "A Few Texas Talks In Johnson’s Plans," The Dallas Morning News 13 Oct. 1948: A1

[6] "Soviets Await Striking Day, Says Johnson," Fort Worth Star Telegram 23 Oct. 1948: A1-2

"I handed him (Ward Wilcox ~ her boss) the invitation. ‘I’ve been invited to a party KTBC is throwing in Austin in three weeks.’ Then my heart quickened as I asked, ‘Do I have permission to attend?"^[7]

There is also a problem with the term "Box 13" as used in context with LBJ’s verbal invitation.

At that time, Johnson was keeping a low profile because of an investigation of improprieties in voting records for Jim Wells, Duval, and Zapata Counties (see Dallas Morning News October 13, 1948, Front page). Box 13 was a term used later with reference to inconsistencies with voting records in Jim Wells County only.

Madeleine admits as much in her book.

"An FBI investigation months after the election uncovered that 202 of Lyndon’s South Texas supporters had voted in alphabetical order in the ‘Box 13’ precinct" ^[8] (emphasis mine)

Would Johnson actually know in advance that voting problems in Jim Wells County would be called the "Box 13" scandal and would he really want to celebrate this budding predicament with a gala at the Driskill on the 29^th?

As of October 13^th, Johnson was being verbally and legally assaulted with claims of fraud from his Democratic opponent Coke Stevenson, a group of "States’ Righters" led by John Spann of San Antonio, and The Dallas Morning News. On October 16^thThe Dallas Morning News endorsed Johnson’s Republican opponent, Jack Porter. Under the caption "Shadow of Doubt Covers Johnson" The Dallas Morning News stated, "Mind you, no court has held that Mr. Johnson has been nominated either legally or honestly."

I felt I had discovered enough to dispel the notion of a lavish party at the Adolphus celebrating LBJ’s "victory." Just to be sure I decided to check all three papers for evidence of the party. Madeleine claimed the guest list included the likes of John Connally, Alice Glass, Jesse Kellam, Charles Marsh, Clint Murchison, and Sid Richardson.^[9] I was sure at least one newspaper would cover the affair.

I reviewed each paper, page by page, from Thursday, October 21^st through and including Monday, October 25^th. There are stories with photographs of society teas, club meetings of the wives of local attorneys, and the usual wedding announcements. However, not one word, not one picture appears in any of the three papers of the "large crowd of socially prominent Texans (that) had crammed themselves into the ballroom"^[10] or the "women in fashionable, elegant gowns and oil-rich men in western-style tuxedos." ^[11]

[7] Brown, 13.

[8] Brown, 12-13.

[9] Brown, 7.

[10] Brown, 6.

[11] Brown, 3.

Sadly, the whole scenario appears to be a complete fabrication.

Having discovered this incongruity I decided to press onward and find out if other claims in the book were misleading, inaccurate, or false.

Most notably I felt the celebration at the Driskill Hotel must now be called into question. No photograph of the invitation appears in the book. She received the invitation with ". . . a bouquet of two dozen red roses. The florist’s card said only, ‘Here’s to New Beginnings.’"^[12]

Madeleine more than implies the roses, card, and invitation came from LBJ. It was a direct result of LBJ’s verbal invitation given at the non-existent party at the Adolphus. Under the circumstances I should think Madeleine would have kept the actual item rather than rely on printing what purports to be the invitation on page 12 as shown below.

Radio Station KTBC – Austin
Requests the Pleasure of Your Company
At the Maximilian Room

The Driskill Hotel

Dinner will be served 8 P.M.
Dancing to Midnight

October 29, 1948 – RSVP Let’s review some of the problems:

Madeleine’s apologists could claim the invitation, although not actually produced, would prove Madeleine had some contact with LBJ. Not so. The mere possession of the invitation does not mean that Madeleine or Johnson, for that matter, attended. I have invitation No. 1042 to the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast given for John F. Kennedy. The event took place on the morning of November 22, 1963, but I was not a member of the audience.

Since the Adolphus party never occurred, how, if at all, did LBJ deliver his verbal invitation? Could there be another reason why Madeleine received the flowers, card and invitation? Did any of this happen exactly as was claimed?

Johnson specifically told the press that nothing of significance would take place until the "Nov. 2 general election." A gala celebration would be contrary to Johnson’s declaration to the media. Also remember The Dallas Morning News threw its’ support to his Republican opponent as the paper felt Johnson was not a legal candidate. If The Dallas Morning News found anything negative about LBJ, they would certainly report it.

Madeleine claimed LBJ personally invited her and, as a result, she received a formal invitation to the "Box 13 victory campaign at the Driskill." If true why does the invitation fail to name the event? Why doesn’t Johnson’s name appear? If the invitation is reproduced accurately then it is merely an invitation to a party given by radio station KTBC.

[12] Brown, 12.

One might consider Madeleine was really invited because she was a "media buyer" with "a spacious new office, complete with (my) own personal secretary."^[13] Supporting this contention is the fact that when asked in 1982 the Johnson family indicated that Brown, ". . . had purchased radio advertising time from the Johnson’s stations in Austin."^[14]

Madeleine’s arrival at the party is also questionable.

"The flight from Dallas to Austin was smooth. Only my stomach was turbulent, and soon the pilot announced we would be on the ground in seven minutes. As I stole a quick glance out the window, I saw KTBC’s mobile news unit awaiting my arrival as Jesse (Kellam) had prearranged."^[15]

What purpose does this serve? I can’t think of any reason why the radio station would send a mobile news unit. Now some might contend it was a television mobile news unit. There is a problem with this theory.

"From 1948 - 1952 there were no construction permits issued for TV stations while the FCC decided how it was going to assign channels for the new medium. Ladybird Johnson received the first permit after the freeze was lifted in 1952." [16]

There was no KTBC television at the time of Madeleine’s trip on October 29, 1948.

Since Madeleine indicates it was KTBC’s mobile news unit, what sort of news did they expect her to provide? What was she going to say? Certainly KTBC staff, if they knew, would not want her to reveal the boss’ secret affair.

I believe what is more likely is the news unit was in reality a vehicle sent to drive her to the hotel. Why would KTBC waste a news crew when a car or limousine would do?

Another explanation is that Madeleine recently started buying advertising time from the station. The invitation, "Here’s to new beginnings" card and flowers could be interpreted as nothing more than the station inviting a new customer to a promotional party for their advertisers.

I concluded she had expanded a KTBC radio station party into a full blown "victory campaign" leading to an affair with LBJ!

Madeleine seems to have a continuing problem with festivities involving the rich and powerful of Texas. Here is a quote from the preface to the book.

"Most startling of all, we hear in Brown’s own words about the party she attended the night before President Kennedy’s terrible murder - a party at Clint Murchison’s home in Dallas attended by Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover, John J. McCloy, and others of his rich, famous and powerful friends. Only John Kennedy wasn’t there.

[13] Brown, 26.

[14] "Dallas woman claims she was LBJ’s lover," The Dallas Morning News 6 Nov. 1982:

[15] Brown, 14.

[16] http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/1459/ktbc.html

It was at that party, on November 21, 1963, that the men were drawn aside to a private meeting, and given the outline of the assassination of President Kennedy the following day. When LBJ emerged anxious and red-faced, he told Madeleine Brown, ‘After tomorrow those goddamn Kennedys will never embarrass me again— that’s no threat—that’s a promise!’"^[17]

To dispel any doubts about the nature of this event, one must understand that Madeleine always referred to the party taking place at the home of Clint Murchison Sr. It is good theater but it never happened. As with the Adolphus gathering there is not one mention of this party in any newspaper. Gary Mack investigated the scenario many years ago. I have added notes in bold to expand the report.

Madeleine has claimed over the years that she attended a party at Clint Murchison’s house the night before the assassination and LBJ, Hoover and Nixon were there. The party story, without LBJ, first came from Penn Jones in Forgive My Grief III (pp. 84 – 86) In that version, the un-credited source was a black chauffeur whom Jones didn’t identify, and the explanation Jones gave was that it was the last chance to decide whether or not to kill JFK. Of course, Hoover used only top FBI agents for transportation and in the FBI of 1963, none were black.

Actually, there is no confirmation for a party at Murchison’s. I asked Peter O’Donnell because Madeleine claimed he was there, too. Peter said there was no party. Madeleine even said there was a story about it in the Herald (Dallas Times Herald) some months later (which makes no sense), but she had not been able to find it. Val Imm (Society Editor of the Dallas Times Herald) told Bob Porter (of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza staff) recently she had no memory of such an event and even looked through her notes - in vain.^[18]

Could LBJ have been at a Murchison party? No. LBJ was seen and photographed in the Houston Coliseum with JFK at a dinner and speech. They flew out around 10pm and arrived at Carswell (Air Force Base in northwest Fort Worth) at 11:07 Thursday night. Their motorcade to the Hotel Texas arrived about 11:50 and LBJ was again photographed. He stayed in the Will Rogers suite on the 13th floor and Manchester (William Manchester - author of The Death of a President) says he was up late.

Could Nixon have been at Murchison’s party? No. Tony Zoppi (Entertainment Editor of The Dallas Morning News) and Don Safran (Entertainment Editor of the Dallas Times Herald) saw Nixon at the Empire Room at the Statler-Hilton. He walked in with Joan Crawford (Movie actress). Robert Clary (of Hogan’s Heroes fame) stopped his show to point them out, saying ". . . either you like him or you don’t." Zoppi thought that was in poor taste, but Safran said Nixon laughed. Zoppi’s deadline was 11pm, so he stayed until 10:30 or 10:45 and Nixon was still there.

[17] Brown, Preface

[18] Val Imm’s oral history with respect to this episode appears at the end of this paper.

Depending on which version of her story she has told, Madeleine claims it was at the party or the next morning when LBJ supposedly said "After today those damn Kennedys will never embarrass me again," That, of course, meant Kennedy was going to be killed. (So where was Madeleine while LBJ was with Lady Bird?)

Actually, there were only two potentially "embarrassing" events IF LBJ ever made such a statement. The most likely was the not-so-secret talk about dumping LBJ from the ‘64 ticket. Nixon commented about it in an interview at his hotel the afternoon before the assassination and both papers mentioned it. Another possibility was the continuing Yarborough-Johnson squabble in which Ralph (Yarborough) wouldn’t even ride in the same motorcade car with Lyndon. JFK said to Connally, as he has testified, "You tell him he’ll ride, or he’ll walk."^[19]

Even Jim Marrs considered "a celebrity on the conspiracy circuit"^[20] has trouble with the story.

"Madeleine Brown, reported to be Johnson’s mistress for twenty years, has publicly stated that Johnson had foreknowledge of the assassination.

But did Johnson really have enough power to initiate the assassination and force literally dozens of government officials and agents to lie and cover up that fact?

Probably not."^[21]

There is more. I was contacted in mid-August 2002 by Greg Jaynes as he knew I was working on the Madeleine Brown story. His research on Clint Murchison’s life resulted in another avenue for me to follow. Greg informed me he had the telephone number of Clint Murchison’s personal chauffer, Warren Tilley. On August 21, 2002 I called the Tilley residence. Unfortunately, I was unable to speak with Mr. Tilley as he is totally disabled and unable to speak. I was able to talk with his wife, Eula. Mrs. Tilley informed me both she and her husband had worked for Mr. Murchison for many years, up to the time of his death (in 1969).

I asked her if she remembered anything about Mr. Murchison giving a party at the time of the Kennedy assassination. Her response was as follows:

"Both Warren and I worked for Mr. Murchison for a long time. He had seven houses, you know. He had one in Acapulco and we would go there to take care of him. I know he wasn’t at any party when Kennedy was shot. He did not have a home in the Dallas area. He was at his Glad Oaks Ranch between Athens and Palestine (Texas). I’m not sure how long before the assassination we were at the ranch but it was more than a few days. I remember because I was serving lunch to Mr. Murchison and his neighbor Woffard Cain. One of them said Kennedy had been shot."

Mrs. Tilley went on to explain that several years before Mr. Murchison had a stroke and was "very sick." He would have not been able to host such a "party" if he wanted to.

[19] Gary Mack, Memo of May 14, 1997.

[20] Robert Wilonsky, The Truth Is Way Out There (The Dallas Observer, 07/06/2000), 5.

[21] Jim Marrs, Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy (New York, NY: Carroll & Graf, 1990), 298.

Her comments are verified and amplified by a September 20, 2002 article authored by Dallas Morning News reporter, Alan Peppard. Peppard’s research for, Family’s history in estate indicates,

"After Clint Sr.'s 1958 stroke, he traded houses with his son John (who died in 1979), and the estate became a showcase for the eye-popping contemporary art the younger Murchison collected with his wife, Lupe (who died last year from cancer)."

Not only do we now have at least two "parties" that could not be documented by Madeleine but we have the situation that Mr. Murchison Sr. had moved out of the home in question at least four years prior to the assassination!

Chapter 4 is entitled "Minks, Flowers, and Loneliness." It opens as Ray Glenn, Madeleine’s current employer, stops by to tell her Fred Florence, her old boss, was inquiring about her success. Glenn informed Florence that Madeleine was doing very well indeed. Although Glenn knew Madeleine worked for Fred he wanted to know how they met.

"I explained that when I was a student at Dallas’ W.H.Adamson High School, Mr. Florence^[22] had initiated a unique introductory program to banking in all the Dallas-area schools. Every Tuesday was "Banking Day" and a student could bank an amount as small as a dime. (That’s when a dime was really worth ten cents.) After passing several tests, I was selected by the principal, H.A. Allen, to serve as an administrative assistant to aid other students in making their weekly deposits."^[23]

Madeleine Duncan graduated from W.H. Adamson High School in 1943. The school’s yearbook is the "Oak." She is not listed on any superlative page. However, she is one of twelve other girls who assisted "Mrs. Geraldine Holloway, Mr. Allen’s secretary, by answering telephones, making transcripts, and running errands." This is a far cry from the Administrative Assistant for Banking Day.

More to the point, the term administrative assistant is a modern one, not used in 1943. There is no reference in the yearbook to a Banking Club. However, there is one photograph of the Savings club. You can clearly make out an adult female advisor along with at least sixteen students either seated or at the blackboard. Madeleine is not shown as a standout nor is she mentioned in the caption which reads:

"This group is one of the smallest in Adamson, but the part it plays is great. No one needs to be told the value of that part. The picture tells only a bit of the complete story. Since April 1, 1943, savings have increased perceptibly and the War Bond and Stamp sales have grown extensively."

This caption shows the school’s interest was not in banking as Madeleine claimed but "War

[22] Fred Florence was the President of Republic National Bank of Dallas.

[23] Brown, 23.

Bond and Stamp" sales. Furthermore, the War Bond program was not unique to Dallas schools nor invented by Fred Florence. Schools throughout the nation participated in purchasing US Government savings stamps or placing dimes in pre-printed punch cards. The purpose was to save the stamps or dimes and redeem them for United States War Bonds.

I was now convinced much of what the book offered was either embellished or just plain made up. So what of the stories about Steven being LBJ’s son?

On June 1, 1987 Steven Mark Brown filed a 10.5 million dollar lawsuit against Ladybird Johnson claiming "My legal birthrights have been violated and a conspiracy was formed to deprive me of my legal heirship." He accused two friends of Johnson, Jess C. Kellam of Austin and Jerome T. Ragsdale of Dallas, of participating in the conspiracy.^[24]

Much of what is claimed does not come from Steven but from Madeleine, who the article quotes more extensively than Steven. Madeleine had filed an affidavit and was providing the newspaper with a synopsis. She indicated "Ragsdale later claimed to have fathered the child himself." She declared this was to shield Johnson from adverse publicity.

I was now faced with attempting to prove a negative. Ragsdale said he was the father while Madeleine claimed it was LBJ. And I was becoming not only annoyed but very distrustful of this claim. How convenient that all parties needed to prove or rebut the charge save Madeleine were long dead.

Lyndon Johnson, 01/22/73 ~ Jesse Kellam, 10/11/77 ~ Jerome Ragsdale, 04/08/78

It was also obvious Steven was filing the suit based solely upon what his mother had told him.

"In February of 1987, I was hospitalized after a heart attack and called Steven to my bedside. I wanted to get everything ready so I could go to the other side peacefully.

‘Steven, I know there are things you have worried about,’ I said, ‘and I feel I have done you a great injustice. I want to ask your forgiveness for allowing something

like this to happen.’

He looked at me intently and asked, ‘Mother, who really is my father?’

‘Lyndon Baines Johnson was your father.’ While in one sense blissful tranquility overcame me, I winced in agony, awaiting his reaction."^[25]

He was also representing himself!

"Steven prepared to take the state bar exam in order to legally represent himself in his own lawsuit. It would be his first case, in fact, and he felt his success would be overwhelming."^[26]

[24] "Man claims to be LBJ’s son," The Dallas Morning News 19 Jun. 1987: 34A

[25] Brown, 227.

[26] Brown, 228.

Are we to believe that Steven is capable of taking the state bar exam without legal schooling?

He did graduate from Texas A&M University in June, 1975 but contrary to his mother’s assertion there is no proof "he aspired to be an attorney."^[27] His goal actually lay in the direction of military service. In high school, coincidentally W.H. Adamson, he was a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) instructional staff, Texas A&M is a military based university boasting a corps of cadets of "more than 2,000 members; the nation's largest uniformed student body other than the service academies"^[28], and after school he was a United States Naval Operations Supervisor. So we end up with a legal neophyte preparing and filing a 10.5 million dollar lawsuit against Lady Bird Johnson!

The case never came to much for it was dismissed in 1989 ". . . when Mr. Brown, then a naval operations specialist, failed to appear in court."^[29] This, however, was not the case in Madeleine’s view. She felt Steven was being pressured to drop the lawsuit.

"Then on a Saturday afternoon, I received a devastating letter from the Grand Prairie Naval Air Station. This base was approximately ten minutes from our home, and was the same base Steven had received his military discharge from ten years earlier.

They claimed Steven was a deserter!" ^[30]

[27] Ibid.

[28] Texas A&M University, http://www.tamu.edu/

[29] "Man who claimed to be LBJ’s son dies at 39," The Dallas Morning News 3 Oct. 1990: A33

[30] Brown, 229.

On page 230 Madeleine indicates two Vietnam veterans appear at her doorstep shortly thereafter, apparently to arrest Steven. She has to defend her son. "I don’t know where he is. Why don’t you check his home or call him on the telephone?’ Then I added, ‘He was discharged from the Navy ten years ago!"

"I showed them the mailgram; and also a copy of Steven’s medical report indicating a diagnosis of lymphatic cancer. I defended my son, pointing out that he had never been a deserter."

I promised I would not use government documents to support or refute any of Madeleine’s claims. I have done this because the more mistrustful researchers would claim the appropriate records were altered or destroyed as part of a cover-up. I can, however, use logic to ask questions.

If Steven, "received his military discharge ten years earlier." based upon the language in the book this means ten years prior to the filing of the lawsuit on June 18, 1987. The date of discharge would be sometime during 1977. If true, since Steven graduated from Texas A&M in June of 1975, why would his discharge come only after 2½ years of service?

One might consider this a possibility when Madeleine explains that Steven was given a "humanitarian" discharge, "because of family emergencies involving his invalid and blind grandmother, and crippled aunt suffering from a series of strokes."

Here are the questions/problems:

Why would Steven need a discharge for "family emergencies" when he was working at a base not more than ten miles from home? And don’t think he was confined to the base:

"While stationed with the US Navy in Dallas, he was Republican Party precinct chairman and election judge in Precinct 4434.

He also helped restore the Oak Cliff Historical District and was project manager for the Jefferson Avenue Beautification Project, said his mother, Madeleine Brown" ^[31]

[31] "Man who claimed to be LBJ’s son dies at 39," The Dallas Morning News 3 Oct. 1990: A33

Why would Madeleine claim Steven was discharged when The Dallas Morning News reported he was still working for the Navy?

Why would he be subject to arrest ten years after the alleged discharge?

Madeleine’s discussion of Steven’s desertion from the Navy does not match the information she supplied for Steven’s obituary.

To continue ~

Outside of Madeleine’s word, the proof of the relationship with LBJ rests on a somewhat dubious picture of "Madeleine brown (sic), son Steven, and his father, Senator Johnson (back to the camera) at a party." in the photographic section of the book.

Then there is an ill defined letter from Jerome T. Ragsdale dated May 18, 1973 and reproduced below. As you read the Ragsdale letter remember that Steven was twenty-two years of age when it was written. Legally the terms of any agreement should have been reviewed when Steven reached age eighteen, not twenty-two.

Jerome T. Ragsdale
Attorney and Counselor at Law
1807 Mercantile Bank Building
Dallas, Texas 75201
May 18, 1973

Mrs. Madeleine Brown

218 South Windomere Avenue Dallas, Texas

Dear Madeleine:

Thanks so much for breaking your plans and meeting with Jess and me in Houston last week. I sincerely hope we did not inconvenience you in any way. Those of us that were close to Lyndon are saddened by his recent death. It is fortunate that he died at the ranch; he would have wanted it that way. It is unfortunate, however, that he died so bitter and tormented.

As we discussed in Houston, you have my personal assurance that I will continue with the financial arrangements that Lyndon provided for you and Steve throughout the past. I know you were very concerned about this and I simply wanted to relieve your mind.

As always, if you need additional funds for you and Steve’s living expenses, please do not hesitate to call me. Of course, I will continue to make weekly home visits to verify you and Steve’s welfare.

Sincerely yours, (Signature Jerome R?)

Jerome T. Ragsdale

JTR:mm

Enc.

Based upon the book’s continued occurrence of questionable claims, this letter made no sense. The only connection to Johnson was that it was written shortly after his death on January 22, 1973.

How could this letter be of any importance?

Sometime after March 27, 1950 Madeleine tells LBJ she is pregnant. Johnson responds, "I'll arrange it so that this lawyer, Jerome Ragsdale, takes the fall for the pregnancy."^[32] Shortly thereafter, Jerome Ragsdale arrives with a contract. "I would receive $200 cash per week for living expenses, which would increase to $500 upon birth; a raft of joint charge cards with accounts listed in the names of Jerome T. Ragsdale and Madeleine Duncan Brown; a new sixroom house, a live-in maid to assist in the care of the baby; and, in addition, all bills were to be presented to Mr. Ragsdale for payment."^[33] Madeleine is very happy with the agreement and it looks like Lyndon has covered all the bases by assigning Steven’s paternity to Jerome Ragsdale.

Why then, as the letter shows, is it necessary for Jerome Ragsdale to bring her to Houston to meet with her in the presence of Jesse Kellam? Where is her copy of the original agreement? Why the need to explain the terms of an agreement already in place? Where, since she had possession, is any of the ". . . raft of joint charge cards?" What is the name of the "live-in maid?" Why the need to provide such a generic non-legal letter as proof?

There are still more questions. Since the "agreement" began sometime in April of 1950 and was still in force in May of 1973 why was there the need for Madeleine, sometime in 1961, to enter into a "paper marriage" with Mr. Charles G. West?

"(J. Edgar) Hoover knows I’m xxxxing around and it is causing heat in Washington and especially with Bird. He knows about you and Steven and he’s calling in his marker," Lyndon said, lowering his head. "If I don’t get Kennedy to waive his mandatory retirement, Hoover’s threatening to go public about our relationship. I’d rather have Hoover inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in."

I knew that Hoover’s blackmail threat was intimidating Lyndon, an unlikely and uncomfortable position for the master intimidator himself.

"So I need your help, Madeleine." "What can I do, Lyndon?"

"I’ve talked it over with Jesse and Ragsdale and we think you should get married so it would take some of the heat off me. People, especially my Bird, don’t suspect married women."

[32] Brown, 60.

[33] Ibid., 61.

"In a few weeks, Charles G. West (who later committed suicide)^[34], and I were married "on paper" in a very short, unceremonial civil service by a justice of the peace. Evidently our charade was successful in derailing Hoover’s blackmail threats, as President Kennedy took immediate steps to make Lyndon the most active vice president in history."^[35]

If anyone can make any sense out of this, they need to let me know. Back in 1950, Johnson had already arraigned for Jerome Ragsdale to "take the fall" for the birth. We are now informed that eleven years later the charade has fallen through? Madeleine, who is prone to identify every big name in Texas society she socialized with, fails to provide documentation for this marriage. She never gives the date, place, or name of the Justice of the Peace. Based upon previous "stories" she tells about her life I wonder if the "paper marriage" ever took place. The reason for it is, in my view, her allegation is beyond belief. Also the claim that "Lyndon (became) the most active vice president in history." is historically inaccurate.

So what do I make of the Ragsdale letter? Could it, as the Adolphus party, be a fabrication? In my life I have seen many letters written by attorneys. This one looked a little suspect to me.

Some curiosities are contained in the two sentences, "As always, if you need additional funds for you and Steve’s living expenses, please do not hesitate to call me. Of course, I will continue to make weekly home visits to verify you and Steve’s welfare."

Why is it necessary to point out that she can call if she needs additional funds when Ragsdale is making weekly visits to check on her and Stephen’s welfare? And why is it necessary to stop by the house on a weekly basis anyway?

Another problem is found with the ENC at the end of the letter. For those with little business experience it means ENCLOSURE. Something was enclosed with the letter. It is highly unusual for anyone, particularly an attorney, not to reference the subject of the enclosure in the body of the letter.

I decided not all attorneys are members of Mensa. I needed additional proof. It came to me in a strange way.

Checking the Dallas court’s computers at the suggestion of Gary Mack and from information he supplied, I noticed nine, that’s right nine, court cases involving Madeleine Brown. Three were of real interest in relationship to the book. They are:

7802246T Jerome T. Ragsdale vs. M. Brown IND EXTRX estate status DECD (July 27, 1978)

8007818D O CL B&T Co vs. M. Brown etal Debt Note (etal details indicate Steven Mark Ragsdale) (July 29, 1980)

F9103481 M. Brown vs. State of Texas (November 6, 1992)

[34] Another individual who cannot verify Madeleine’s version of events.

[35] Ibid., 139-140

The first two are old cases and I have ordered the files. I will be notified when they arrive. The third was most revealing.

F9103481 M. Brown vs. State of Texas (November 6, 1992)

The State asserted "Appellant, acting through her attorney, filed wills purporting to be those of Guy and Jessie Duncan on January 3, 1989."

Guy Duncan died on September 21, 1988 and his wife Jessie died November 28, 1988. The probate court subsequently discovered the true will was filed by Gary Dalton. The State then prosecuted Madeleine Brown for the offense of FORGERY.

There was a jury trial. During the trial Deborah Abbe testified, in November of 1988 after Guy Duncan’s death, she typed the will for Madeleine. Earnest Mason testified he signed the will as a witness but did not, at the time, know the document was a will. Opal Miller, probate clerk of the Dallas County Clerk’s office, testified she received Madeleine’s version of the will from Attorney Miles Brown (no relation). Fundamentally, through Attorney Miles Brown the Probate Court received Guy Duncan’s will forged by Madeleine along with his signature, also forged by Madeleine.

The jury concluded, "It is therefore found and adjudged by the court, that the said Defendant is guilty of the offense of forgery, a ^2nddegree felony as charged in the indictment." The punishment "as has been determined by the Court, (was) confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections for 10 years and a fine of $500.00." Possibly because of her advanced age (She was 67 at the time.) the sentence was modified to "a period of 10 years" probation. [36]

Now there are some who I assume already know about this particular case. They realize that the case was appealed and they will no doubt claim Madeleine was found not guilty. That is not true. The appellate court merely reversed the decision of the lower court on a technicality. Madeleine had an attorney file the will rather than doing it herself. Based solely on that fact, the appellate court reversed her conviction. But none of this discounts the reality that Madeleine Brown had Deborah Abbe prepare a forged instrument and then forged Guy Duncan’s name for presentation to the probate court.

As the additional cases come in I will provide synopses of each.

Joe Nickell, author of Crime Science: Methods of Forensic Detection, has investigated this type of claim many times before. He has discovered, ". . . the historical evidence diminishes as we work backward to the alleged hoax, whereas, conversely, details of the story increase the farther they are from the supposed event."^[37]

There is an old saying that "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." Texas in the Morning provides nothing but refutable anecdotal evidence. For me personally, I have concluded that from beginning to end the story of Madeleine Brown’s romantic and sexual relationship with Lyndon Baines Johnson cannot be verified using public records.

I extend a challenge to anyone to refute with documentation the information contained in this paper.

[36] Cause No. 07-93-0230 – CR, styled MADELEINE BROWN V. THE STATE OF TEXAS

[37] Joe Nickell, Real-Life X-Files (Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 2001), 100.

I will make any material I have collected available to researchers for the photocopy and postage costs.

Dave Perry

October 26, 2002

Glenn Nall · June 11, 2015

Madeleine Duncan Brown was employed by Glenn Advertising, Inc. in its Dallas office for a number of years. Founded by Ray K. Glenn in Ada, OK, the firm moved to Dallas in 1937. Ray Glenn moved variously from Dallas to Fort Worth, then to California and back to Dallas. He died in 1957. After his death, the firm expanded even more and eventually merged with Bozell & Jacobs, by which time it was a huge operation, placing advertising ads in radio, television and other media and handling public relations work as well.

Madeleine's story revealed a great deal about how Lyndon Johnson's personal power network operated. The only private business with which he was ever associated was "Lady Bird's" broadcasting network composed of radio and television stations. LBJ, who was close to FDR, undoubtedly learned a great deal about this business from Elliott Roosevelt, who had acquired stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the 1930's (with help from Jesse Jones of Houston, who was also involved in owning both Houston newspapers at one time as well as having a broadcast station located at the top of the Rice Hotel).

The decades between the rise of radio and the Kennedy-Nixon TV debates were transitional ones that changed politics from campaigns by person-to-person stump speeches on whistle-stop train tours, printed up in local print media for literate people to read, to sound bites and image creation delivered by sophisticated ad executives, selling politics like they did soap.

It is doubtful, no matter what Madeleine believed she knew, that LBJ would have entrusted all his schemes to her. But she points the way to where to look. That is the real purpose of connecting dots--simply to give the wary ideas about where to look for the buried bodies.

Glenn Advertising is a potential grave site that pointed me to a family named Toline. While searching through the city directories for Dallas available at Ancestry.com for persons who worked at Glenn Advertising, the name Marjorie Jane Toline appeared during the years 1945-48. She had a sister named Elizabeth Anne Toline, who married attorney Robert Gerald Storey, Jr. in 1944. Storey's father headed a law firm in Dallas and was a networker par excellence, having been president or chairman of both the Texas State Bar at one time as well as the American Bar Association. He had been assigned in the post WWII years in Munich as a prosecutor in the Nuremburg Nazi trials, along with fellow Texan Leon Jaworski of Houston. Both men were called by the men who comprised the Warren Commission to sit in on Jack Ruby's questioning. No wonder Jack Ruby talked about Nazi pogroms! These men had been involved within the State Department, Justice Department and Military Tribunals which covered up those pogroms--all for the sake of international cooperation and world trade. Whether they agreed with the policy or not, they were part of what happened as a result of those trials, which led to Operation Paperclip and the importation of war criminals to the United States.

The real purpose of assassination research, in my opinion, is to help us to understand history--to discover how things went wrong and were covered up. It would be a relief if more research would just think about the clues and follow them up rather than wasting so much time criticizing others for not being perfect.

For more of the research involving Madeleine Brown's connections, see posts at my blog, Quixotic Joust:

http://quixoticjoust.blogspot.com/2011/03/george-w-owen-friend-of-mads.html

http://quixoticjoust.blogspot.com/2011/03/from-candy-barr-to-maureen-dean-and.html

http://quixoticjoust.blogspot.com/2011/06/bedford-wynnes-connections-to-dallas.html

http://quixoticjoust.blogspot.com/2011/06/connection-between-robert-g-storey-jr.html

It would be a relief if more research would just think about the clues and follow them up rather than wasting so much time criticizing others for not being perfect.

just wanted to repeat that. thanks

Madeleine Brown

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