"NOT EVER TO BE RELEASED TO ANYONE!" I wonder why?

[Paul Jolliffe]

1 hour ago, Ron Ecker said:

If LBJ had indeed re-entered the presidential race in the summer of 1968, we might would be wondering today if Hubert Humphrey had anything to do with the assassination of LBJ.

 

 

Ron,

I am not much of a fan of the NYT, but this op-ed - first link below -  on the "what-ifs" for Hubert Humphrey is worth reading in full.

It highlights Humphrey's isolation within the Johnson administration after writing his infamous February 1965 memo in which Humphrey called for a U.S. pull-out from Vietnam. Humphrey became a persona non grata to LBJ until he reversed his position in 1966, calling for more bombing and troops. That brought him back into Johnson's good graces, and he became the administration's mouthpiece on the Vietnam buildup. (And therefore, the Democratic nominee in 1968.)

Ironically, Humphrey revealed his true (?) colors in a speech in Salt Lake City in September of 1968, calling once again for a bombing halt. This so infuriated Johnson that he shunned Humphrey the rest of the campaign, which may have cost Humphrey the election. The writer even wonders whether LBJ hated Humphrey so much that he wanted Nixon to win!

Anyway, the point is that the only LBJ was going to get back into the race was as a hawk. LBJ may have hated the Vietnam War, but he did nothing to get us out of it, and there is no evidence that he had changed. If, somehow, LBJ had been re-elected in 1968, why as long as he was pro-war, then he wasn't going to get shot.

My belief (shared by Oliver Stone, apparently) is that Richard Nixon was also aware of the War Machine (and what it could do to presidents who wanted to pull-out) which is why it took him a full four years to get us out.

 

 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/opinion/vietnam-hubert-humphrey.html

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2019 by Paul Jolliffe