Under Cover of Night

[Sandy Larsen]

2 hours ago, Roger Odisio said:

My point is, saying Johnson did not want "a blue ribbon commission" is not the right question ask.  Who was it that wanted, not just any commission, but the kind of commission the WC was and was able to bring it to fruition?

 

Jim,

I don't know if you realize this, but Roger's motive for insisting the WC was Johnson's idea is that his theory is that Johnson was a major player in the assassination plot, and indeed a necessary element of it.

That seems to be the case to me, after debating this point with Roger on other recent threads.

 

[Sandy Larsen]

15 hours ago, Roger Odisio said:

When they arrested Oswald at the theatre shortly after the murder, they had no evidence of him killing Kennedy. They arrested him because he was the designated patsy.

 

You mean the DPD was told that Oswald was the designated patsy, and that was the reason DPD directed their police officers to go to the Texas Theater and arrest Oswald?

If so, that would mean that the head of the DPD was in the the conspiracy.

I think it's much more likely that the conspirators somehow brought to the DPD's attention evidence of some kind indicating Oswald should be a suspect. Faked evidence.

 

[James DiEugenio]

Roger,

This is the last reply I will make to this since I think you are close to joining the Robert Morrow club.

The references I will make are to the Gibson essay in The Assassinations.

Gibson begins his essay by saying that the version on the creation of the Commission in the HSCA is largely based on Katzenbach and is therefore not complete. (p. 4). For one, both Hoover and Johnson were dead.

Its quite clear that Hoover did not want a Commission, as Gibson writes, he opposed the idea. (ibid). And Katzenbach admitted that , "I am sure I talked about it with people outside the government entirely who called me and suggested old friends or former colleagues." (p. 7)  Incredibly, or predictably,  the HSCA did not follow this lead up.  

The first time anyone brought it up specifically was by Rostow on the 24th.(p. 7)  Right after Ruby shot Oswald. Rostow was a figure outside the government, at Yale. Rostow had talked to Katzenbach already about it (more than once), and he is now talking to Moyers. Rostow specifically said that his suggestion was of a "Presidential commission",  one "of very distinguished citizens".  He wanted a set of 7-9 people to "look into the whole affair of the murder of the President." (p. 7) 

Why?  Because, Rostow went on to say, that "American opinion is just now so shaken by the behavior of the Dallas Police that they're not believing anything." (p. 7)  And Moyers agreed with that perception.  And then Moyers repeated the idea of a blue ribbon commission.  And then he said he would bring it up with LBJ. (p.8) And we know that Rostow recruited Katzenbach because Hoover mentions that Katzenbach had suggested the idea late on the 24th.  And there is some evidence that Walter Jenkins had also been approached. (p. 9)

Now I do not see how you can get any more specific than that. Because Rostow's concept is what happened. And Rostow had now recruited, at least, Katzenbach and Moyers to his idea.

On the morning of the 25th LBJ is talking to Hoover. Johnson says that a  DOJ rep, likely Katzenbach, is lobbying  with the Washington Post about a presidential commission.  He then says he thinks that "would be very bad".  Because he does not think the White House should be part of this. (p. 9). He then brings up the idea of jurisdiction. (p. 10)  (Which legally, he is correct on.)

Later on in the conversation LBJ says that he favors an FBI report which would then be given to the AG.  If not then a Texas Board of Inquiry supported by the FBI.  (p. 10). After this conversation is when Alsop now called LBJ.   Rostow was the guy working the flanks and softening up the ramparts.  Alsop will now go in for the kill.

RIght at the  beginning, LBJ says he favors a Texas inquiry backed by the FBI.   Something from outside would be really bad.(p. 10) He actually said this three times to Alsop at the start.  Alsop steps right over this by saying that the Post is going to advocate for a blue ribbon commission.  He then says that Johnson should announce, in this case, a smaller commission, of three men, preferably lawyers.  And they will write a report. He accents that this report has to be reviewed outside of Texas.(p. 11)

He then resorts to flattery and tells him if he does this, he will have The Post behind him and also the rest of the press. LBJ still resists, since he does not want to interfere with a state matter, and says he has been advised by lawyers not to.  Alsop battles back and plays his ace card:  this is  the murder of a president! (p. 12). LBJ still resists.  But Alsop comes right back and plays his other ace: only in this way can the country be convinced. He then says he is worried about the Post but LBJ can get ahead of them. He even says that Moyers should call Kay Graham and tell them that he is going to do it. (p. 14). LBJ is now cowered and says he will talk to Acheson about it.  Alsop plays the affection card, and says "I hate to interfere sir, I only dare to do so because I care so much about you." (p. 14) And LBJ falls for this and says, "I know that Joe."

And within 72 hours of this, LBJ had reversed himself and announced he will form a commission. The double team of Alsop and Rostow worked.   I stand by what I said, the Commission was not LBJ's idea. It was brought to him by players outside the government. 

 

Edited April 29 by James DiEugenio

[Chuck Schwartz]

Roger and Sandy, perhaps the chief of police was told by the Mayor of Dallas (Earle Cabell) that the killer was Lee Harvey Oswald and they should go arrest him at the Texas theatre. (1) Earle Cabell's brother, Charles Cabell, worked for 9 years under A Dulles in the CIA. Both A. Dulles and C. Cabell were fired by JFK for the BOP fiasco.  I believe Dulles created the narrative that would later become the Warren Commission report, in my opinion. 

(1) I believe DAP was in Dallas on 11/22/63 and handling LHO.  It was DAP who kept Dulles in the loop on the happenings in Dallas that day, in my opinion. 

 

[Robert Morrow]

Jim DiEugenio is 100% correct. Lyndon Johnson did not think of or support the concept of what became known as the "Warren Commission."

What LBJ did was PICK HIS BEST FRIENDS AND ALLIES to be on the "Warren Commission" so LBJ could rig it to blame it all on a lone nut named Oswald. LBJ did this all the while telling people behind the scenes that it was an "international communist conspiracy" that that Fidel Castro had killed JFK.

Russell and Boggs were best friends with LBJ. McCloy was friends with LBJ, Clint Murchison Sr. and longtime LBJ-fixer Abe Fortas.

Allen Dulles had been FIRED by JFK just like LBJ was within days of being FIRED by John Kennedy. And just like Lyndon Johnson's blood brother and neighbor of 19 years (1943-1961) J. Edgar Hoover was going to be FORCED TO RETIRE when he turned age 70 on January 1, 1965.

Gerald Ford was picked specifically by LBJ because FORD HAD CIA EXPERIENCE as Lyndon Johnson explicitly told him and you can hear this today on YouTube.

The only screw up by LBJ was putting a personal friend of JFK, Sen. John Sherman Cooper, on his presidential commission. Sen. John Sherman Cooper thought in real time that LYNDON JOHNSON HAD JUST MURDERED JFK and Cooper was leaking Warren Commission information to journalist Dorothy Kilgallen (see RFK and Cooper aide Morris Wolff for those relevations).

Lyndon Johnson wanted to rig the cover up of JFK's death with a Texas Court of Inquiry led by Waggoner Carr.

Of course LBJ opposed a national commission, but the critical point is he rigged it anyhow by putting his best friends and CIA/FBI friendly people on it.

Lyndon Johnson told Madeleine Brown at the Driskill Hotel on 12/31/63 that Texas oil and "xxxxing renegade intelligence bastards" had killed JFK. Of course, this psychopath made a point to leave out his own involvement in the JFK assassination.

 

[Sandy Larsen]

1 hour ago, Chuck Schwartz said:

Roger and Sandy, perhaps the chief of police was told by the Mayor of Dallas (Earle Cabell) that the killer was Lee Harvey Oswald and they should go arrest him at the Texas theatre. (1) Earle Cabell's brother, Charles Cabell, worked for 9 years under A Dulles in the CIA. Both A. Dulles and C. Cabell were fired by JFK for the BOP fiasco.  I believe Dulles created the narrative that would later become the Warren Commission report, in my opinion. 

(1) I believe DAP was in Dallas on 11/22/63 and handling LHO.  It was DAP who kept Dulles in the loop on the happenings in Dallas that day, in my opinion.

 

Chuck,

Had Mayor Cabell of Dallas told the chief of police that LHO was suspect, the chief surely would have been surprised and asked how the mayor could have known such a thing.

Because of that, it's a little hard to believe that's how it came down.

However, I just recalled something that happened that, if true, makes a whole lot of sense.

Not too many years ago a forum member mentioned an apparent fact that somebody had called a tip into the police saying that someone with a rifle (or shotgun?) had just walked into the Texas Theater.

That's something that the perpetrators could easily have done, that would guarantee a huge police response!

But still, for this to work, it would have been necessary for the police to already be looking for LHO. And to have an accurate description of him.

I don't know enough about that part of the story to figure out how the police could have gotten that information. I do recall hearing that Roy Truly fingered Oswald as a suspect around the time the police were checking out the snipers nest.

 

[Robert Morrow]

11 hours ago, Roger Odisio said:

Jim,

You've ignored my point and simply repeated what you said before. I'm not going to call your post weird, but you ought to think twice before resorting to such tactics. Ignoring a person's point and simply repeating the same things is not how conversations are supposed to work.

My point is, saying Johnson did not want "a blue ribbon commission" is not the right question ask.  Who was it that wanted, not just any commission, but the kind of commission the WC was and was able to bring it to fruition?

Clearly that was not Alsop or Rostow, whose suggestions to Johnson weren't even on point to what happened.  Alsop says right out he wasn't suggesting a new Investigative body to Johnson but rather some people to take the FBI findings already made and better present them. He was, he said, only offering Johnson PR, not legal, advice. 

Alsop's suggestion had nothing to do with Johnson's ultimate creation of the WC.  He did *not* change Johnson's mind 

In fact, Johnson's mind was not changed at all despite what he claimed. Only the gullible believe he really wanted an investigation in Texas, beyond his ability to name the investigators and control the result, based on the transparently false reasoning he offered Alsop, as I explained.  My earlier post left out one other thing he said to Alsop about preferring a Texas investigation:  my lawyers tell me the president must not inject himself into "local killings".  Could there anything more phony than that? Even Alsop had to remind him that it was the US president who was killed, sir.

How unpleasant it is to see you resorting to the old CIA trick to dismiss what I said: I have the facts; you're just theorizing. In fact there was no theorizing involved in what I said. I took facts and deduced their logical connections to reach a conclusion about what happened.  You can challenge the facts or the logic but it won't do to claim I was merely theorizing.

For example, I assume you accept as fact that the planners of the murder chose Oswald as the patsy to blame and resolved to kill him before he could talk to a lawyer, thus eliminating a trial.  Which they did.  That meant there would have to be an official investigation. The POTUS had been murdered; it was no small matter.

It follows that before the murder, in fact as a condition that must be met in order to go ahead with the murder, the planners must have considered how to do that investigation to give themselves a good enough chance to get away with it.

We know as the new president the responsibility fell to Johnson to create and staff that investigation. We know that in the end the WC lied about, distorted, ignored, and destroyed evidence in order to reach a pre-ordained conclusion that Oswald was guilty and acted alone. Absolving the actual killers. The WC's purpose was not to find out what happened, but to conceal it.

You don't have to believe that Johnson was involved in this train of events but it seems pretty clear to me that he was not only involved but essential to acheving most of it.  If not Johnson, who?

Go ahead, Jim, take a whack at that if you disagree.

Well, you are not the first or the last person to think that LYNDON JOHNSON was involved in the JFK assassination. Heck, Warren Commission member Sen. John Sherman Cooper, a liberal Republican and  close friend of JFK, thought that WHILE HE WAS ON THE WARREN COMMISSION!

Sen. John Sherman Cooper, while he was a member of the Warren Commission: “I think Lyndon Baines Johnson was involved in the planning and execution of Kennedy’s death.” Source: his aide Morris Wolff (born 11-30-1936 and still alive in March, 2024)

Morris Wolff contact info: phone [contact me and I will give it to you] and email is moewolff657@gmail.com

QUOTE

He was still by something that had just occurred, and he sputtered, “They have it all wrong. They refuse to look at the facts. The forensics are right there. One bullet came in from the front, and the President grabbed his neck, and his head shot back in the open limousine. The car had slowed down in front of the Texas School Depository. The next shot came in from the back, from a window on the 7^th floor, the top floor of the Book Depository building on Dealey Plaza. A third shot came from behind the motorcade, jerking his head backward as he slowly passed the area. It was the shot fired by Lee Harvey Oswald, one of two or three killers. At least two were active that day, one from in front and the second from the back. The forensics clearly show there were at least two separate shooters, and they were standing in different places, one from the grassy knoll and one high in the office building. Our new President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, now wants to cover up and move on. I want to delay and get all the facts. They are covering the facts and putting their collective heads in the sand. LBJ pretends to give me the green light to press forward with the investigation. But he is secretly telling the others to bring the hearings to a quick close.”

Senator Cooper was boiling mad, somewhat out of control for the only time that I had ever witnessed. “They want to bury the truth under a pile of stones. I think Lyndon Baines Johnson was involved in the planning and execution of Kennedy’s death.”

As his driver to and from the Warren Commission hearings, I got to hear the latest scoop on the way back. I was not just his legal counsel but also had become “Maxie the Taxi.” Cooper selected me to convey him to and from the Supreme Court building for the hearings headed by Earl Warren, and that was a lesson van.

UNQUOTE

[Morris Wolff, Lucky Conversations: Visits With the Most Prominent People of the 20^th Century, p. 112]

 

Edited April 29 by Robert Morrow

[Chuck Schwartz]

Sandy, I am not sure if Chief Curry would push back or question the Mayor's recommndation.  Here is a hint from Curry himself..

Curry was also responsible for protecting Lee Harvey Oswald. However, he later claimed that just before Jack Ruby shot Oswald he was "called to take a phone call from Dallas Mayor Earle Cabell".

Maybe if Curry did not take that call, LHO would not have been killed.

 

 

[Pat Speer]

1 hour ago, Robert Morrow said:

Well, you are not the first or the last person to think that LYNDON JOHNSON was involved in the JFK assassination. Heck, Warren Commission member Sen. John Sherman Cooper, a liberal Republican and  close friend of JFK, thought that WHILE HE WAS ON THE WARREN COMMISSION!

Sen. John Sherman Cooper, while he was a member of the Warren Commission: “I think Lyndon Baines Johnson was involved in the planning and execution of Kennedy’s death.” Source: his aide Morris Wolff (born 11-30-1936 and still alive in March, 2024)

Morris Wolff contact info: phone [contact me and I will give it to you] and email is moewolff657@gmail.com

QUOTE

He was still by something that had just occurred, and he sputtered, “They have it all wrong. They refuse to look at the facts. The forensics are right there. One bullet came in from the front, and the President grabbed his neck, and his head shot back in the open limousine. The car had slowed down in front of the Texas School Depository. The next shot came in from the back, from a window on the 7^th floor, the top floor of the Book Depository building on Dealey Plaza. A third shot came from behind the motorcade, jerking his head backward as he slowly passed the area. It was the shot fired by Lee Harvey Oswald, one of two or three killers. At least two were active that day, one from in front and the second from the back. The forensics clearly show there were at least two separate shooters, and they were standing in different places, one from the grassy knoll and one high in the office building. Our new President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, now wants to cover up and move on. I want to delay and get all the facts. They are covering the facts and putting their collective heads in the sand. LBJ pretends to give me the green light to press forward with the investigation. But he is secretly telling the others to bring the hearings to a quick close.”

Senator Cooper was boiling mad, somewhat out of control for the only time that I had ever witnessed. “They want to bury the truth under a pile of stones. I think Lyndon Baines Johnson was involved in the planning and execution of Kennedy’s death.”

As his driver to and from the Warren Commission hearings, I got to hear the latest scoop on the way back. I was not just his legal counsel but also had become “Maxie the Taxi.” Cooper selected me to convey him to and from the Supreme Court building for the hearings headed by Earl Warren, and that was a lesson van.

UNQUOTE

[Morris Wolff, Lucky Conversations: Visits With the Most Prominent People of the 20^th Century, p. 112]

 

Maybe I'm having a brain fart, Robert, but I thought the Warren Commission's hearings were held in their offices, in the National Archives Building. Your man Wolff makes out that they took testimony in the Supreme Court Building. Is this a colossal blow to his credibility, or am I in fact having a brain fart?

P.S. I distinctly recall something about poor Warren having to race back and forth between the hearings and the Supreme Court. If they were in the same building, well, it wasn't all that big of a deal, was it?

[Roger Odisio]

10 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

Roger,

This is the last reply I will make to this since I think you are close to joining the Robert Morrow club.

The references I will make are to the Gibson essay in The Assassinations.

Gibson begins his essay by saying that the version on the creation of the Commission in the HSCA is largely based on Katzenbach and is therefore not complete. (p. 4). For one, both Hoover and Johnson were dead.

Its quite clear that Hoover did not want a Commission, as Gibson writes, he opposed the idea. (ibid). And Katzenbach admitted that , "I am sure I talked about it with people outside the government entirely who called me and suggested old friends or former colleagues." (p. 7)  Incredibly, or predictably,  the HSCA did not follow this lead up.  

The first time anyone brought it up specifically was by Rostow on the 24th.(p. 7)  Right after Ruby shot Oswald. Rostow was a figure outside the government, at Yale. Rostow had talked to Katzenbach already about it (more than once), and he is now talking to Moyers. Rostow specifically said that his suggestion was of a "Presidential commission",  one "of very distinguished citizens".  He wanted a set of 7-9 people to "look into the whole affair of the murder of the President." (p. 7) 

Why?  Because, Rostow went on to say, that "American opinion is just now so shaken by the behavior of the Dallas Police that they're not believing anything." (p. 7)  And Moyers agreed with that perception.  And then Moyers repeated the idea of a blue ribbon commission.  And then he said he would bring it up with LBJ. (p.8) And we know that Rostow recruited Katzenbach because Hoover mentions that Katzenbach had suggested the idea late on the 24th.  And there is some evidence that Walter Jenkins had also been approached. (p. 9)

Now I do not see how you can get any more specific than that. Because Rostow's concept is what happened. And Rostow had now recruited, at least, Katzenbach and Moyers to his idea.

On the morning of the 25th LBJ is talking to Hoover. Johnson says that a  DOJ rep, likely Katzenbach, is lobbying  with the Washington Post about a presidential commission.  He then says he thinks that "would be very bad".  Because he does not think the White House should be part of this. (p. 9). He then brings up the idea of jurisdiction. (p. 10)  (Which legally, he is correct on.)

Later on in the conversation LBJ says that he favors an FBI report which would then be given to the AG.  If not then a Texas Board of Inquiry supported by the FBI.  (p. 10). After this conversation is when Alsop now called LBJ.   Rostow was the guy working the flanks and softening up the ramparts.  Alsop will now go in for the kill.

RIght at the  beginning, LBJ says he favors a Texas inquiry backed by the FBI.   Something from outside would be really bad.(p. 10) He actually said this three times to Alsop at the start.  Alsop steps right over this by saying that the Post is going to advocate for a blue ribbon commission.  He then says that Johnson should announce, in this case, a smaller commission, of three men, preferably lawyers.  And they will write a report. He accents that this report has to be reviewed outside of Texas.(p. 11)

He then resorts to flattery and tells him if he does this, he will have The Post behind him and also the rest of the press. LBJ still resists, since he does not want to interfere with a state matter, and says he has been advised by lawyers not to.  Alsop battles back and plays his ace card:  this is  the murder of a president! (p. 12). LBJ still resists.  But Alsop comes right back and plays his other ace: only in this way can the country be convinced. He then says he is worried about the Post but LBJ can get ahead of them. He even says that Moyers should call Kay Graham and tell them that he is going to do it. (p. 14). LBJ is now cowered and says he will talk to Acheson about it.  Alsop plays the affection card, and says "I hate to interfere sir, I only dare to do so because I care so much about you." (p. 14) And LBJ falls for this and says, "I know that Joe."

And within 72 hours of this, LBJ had reversed himself and announced he will form a commission. The double team of Alsop and Rostow worked.   I stand by what I said, the Commission was not LBJ's idea. It was brought to him by players outside the government. 

 

I'm always amused when someone I'm discussing something with tries to cut off further discussion by announcing this will be his last post.  In this case, Jim, you couldn't resist twisting the knife by claiming I was becoming a disciple of Robert Morrow as some kind of justification for leaving. I couldn't be expressing my own thoughts.

 

It reminds me of the time when I first broached the topic of Johnson's involvement, you claimed I must have gotten that from "A Texan Looks at Lyndon".  Little did you know I was actually around when the book came out and immediately dismissed it as Goldwater type propaganda.

 

When a person announces his departure usually one or both of two things are in play. He has run out of answers and he been resorting to repeating the same points again and again.  And/or he is saying the other person, or the topic, or something is no longer worth his time.  Looks like both apply here.

 

Your departure at this point is all the more egregious because your endless repeating of the same points is made while repeatedly ignoring the points I posed in opposition. There hasn't really been much of a discussion between us so far.

 

It's a fact that Alsop and Rostow separately suggested to Johnson that he appoint some sort of official body to look into the murder in order to assuage the public's unease. No one disputes that.  Though you're also ignoring the substance of their suggestions which, particularly in Alsop's case, bore little resemblance the WC Johnson appointed. In fact, as I said Alsop said to Johnson he was *not*suggesting a new body to look at the case,but merely offering PR, not legal, advice about how to handle the public's misgivings. 

 

But those suggestions do*not* establish that that was the first time Johnson heard about  the idea or in any way contemplated it.  That's obvious isn't it?  Your assertion that the first time anyone brought it (an investigative body) up to Johnson "specifically was by Rostow on the 24th" is not only unsupported but surely is palpable nonsense.

 

Set aside Johnson's possible involvement in the planning for a minute.  The planners knew that an investigation would be necessary once they got rid of Oswald.  How is it possible then that they never gave any thought, before proceeding with the murder, to how to control that investigation to prevent their actions from being revealed.  The success of the whole operation literally depended on solving that problem.

 

You agree, I presume, that Johnson created a commission that did precisely what the planners wanted.

 

I've explained the reasons why I think the other planners would need Johnson's input on that point, including assurances from him that he would do his part as the creator of the commission. Agree with that or not, it probably doesn't matter a lot in discussing this point. But to suggest that we got the WC because Alsop and Rostow lobbied Johnson for it, and in the process changed Johnson's mind, who you claim was originally against the idea, is something you haven't established.   It's also simply false.

 

 

[Robert Morrow]

3 hours ago, Pat Speer said:

Maybe I'm having a brain fart, Robert, but I thought the Warren Commission's hearings were held in their offices, in the National Archives Building. Your man Wolff makes out that they took testimony in the Supreme Court Building. Is this a colossal blow to his credibility, or am I in fact having a brain fart?

P.S. I distinctly recall something about poor Warren having to race back and forth between the hearings and the Supreme Court. If they were in the same building, well, it wasn't all that big of a deal, was it?

No, it is not a "colossal blow" to the credibility of Morris Wolff who really was 1) an aide to Robert Kennedy 2) an aide to John Sherman Cooper and 3) who was one of 4 men (Jews) who personally wrote the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

It is the case of "an old man making a simple mistake" on what building he drove Sen. John Sherman Cooper for the Warren Commission hearing. I think there are lots of 80+ year old men and women who make minor mistakes like that.

I would be like me saying I had a Trans Am car in my early 20s when I really had a red Iroc Z-28.

QUOTE

Author Morris Wolff was an agent of change. He established the first international AIESEC Secretariat in Geneva in 1960 with exchanges in 33 member nations. Morris worked closely in 1963 in the Oval Office with President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy in writing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and getting it passed in the U.S. Senate with John Sherman Cooper of Kentucky.

Morris Wolff remains a man of wisdom and purpose, courage, integrity, and stamina and he gets things done. Morris is a man constantly on the move whose incredible life story of perseverance and a positive mental attitude you will enjoy. He is a forward person who loves to reach out and meet new people and hold meaningful and enjoyable conversations. His ingenuity led to his impromptu meeting in Ghana, with President Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba of the Congo in 1960. He met with Nelson Mandela in prison in South Africa in 1993. He later helped negotiate the peaceful transition of power from Prime Minister Willem de Klerk to President Nelson Mandela without a single drop of bloodshed or violence.

UNQUOTE

David S. Wolff of Houston is the brother of Morris Wolffe: https://wolffcompanies.com/about/leadership/david-s-wolff/

“Morris Wolff talks about life, book” – news article from July 4, 2011:https://www.ocala.com/story/lifestyle/2011/07/05/morris-wolff-talks-about-life-book/31444041007/

Excellent Morris Wolff video from 2020 as he received the David A.B. Brown Psi Upsilon’66 Distinguished Alumnus Award – he talks about his life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veMZGnUgwzo

128 views Dec 1, 2020

Morris Wolff, Gamma ’58 (Amherst), has led a distinguished life as an attorney, professor and humanitarian including Marching with Marion Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund at the gathering on the Washington Mall in 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King when King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Most famously, he worked to free Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish Diplomat who was imprisoned in Russia in 1945 and filed a historic lawsuit in the District of Columbia against the Soviet Union which resulted in the Wallenberg family being awarded damages in the amount of 39 million dollars. Brother Wolff has received numerous awards and accolades for his lifetime of service including the National Council of Christian and Jews annual award for humanitarian service (1983), the UN Peace Award for Humanitarian Service (1993), and the Alumnus of Distinction award from AIESEC (International Association of Students of Economics and Commerce) where he served as president for a number of years. Learn More about Morris, the David A.B. Brown ΕΦ ’66 Distinguished Alumnus Award, and Psi Upsilon at http://www.PsiU.org

Morris Wolff talks about life, book: The scholar and Villages resident investigated the fate of a Swedish diplomat imprisoned in WWII.

https://www.ocala.com/story/lifestyle/2011/07/05/morris-wolff-talks-about-life-book/31444041007/

Gary Green Correspondent

Morris Wolff is not just another retiree at The Villages. He may enjoy biking, swimming and playing tennis, but even though he has had a lifetime of accolades and accomplishments, he is far from ready to retire and rest on his laurels.

Wolff splits his time between The Villages and Daytona Beach, where he is an associate professor and also director of the Quality Enhancement Plan at Bethune-Cookman University, a program to strengthen the writing skills of freshman at the predominantly black college.

"It's wonderful to be privileged to become 74. You live your life in a way that you just appreciate every day," Wolff said.

He said he appreciates the ability to still make a difference, which he had done most of his life.

Just out of Yale Law School, Wolff found himself on the staff of then Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Wolff wrote sections of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and remembers the many Saturday brainstorming sessions when Kennedy, with his dog Boomer, sat with his staff and discussed the best way to go about writing the historic bill.

"They were amazing learning sessions for a young lawyer," said Wolff.

As a legal counsel to the White House, Wolff also spent time in the Oval Office briefing President John F. Kennedy on the Civil Rights Act and ultimately was assigned to brief Congress.

"It was very exciting to be part and parcel of that, and to be a young lawyer sitting at the elbow of these great men like Everett Dirksen, Hubert Humphrey and John Sherman Copper, who became my senator," Wolff said.

To help in the politics of passing the Civil Rights Act, Wolff was assigned as Legislative Aide to the Republican Senator from Kentucky who led the effort to pass the historic Civil Rights Bill.

Around that time, Wolff remembers it being a hot day in August when he accompanied his friend and Yale classmate Marion Wright Edelman in the 1963 March On Washington.

They witnessed the "I Have A Dream" speech from the fifth row and met Dr. Martin Luther King afterward.

"It was just a march. I didn't realize at the time it would become such an iconic moment," Wolff recalled.

Those were not his first or last brushes with world leaders.

As president of the International Association of Students of Economics and Commerce, Wolff turned a chance encounter with Ghana's President Kwame Nkrumah and the Congo's Patrice Lumumba into a productive private meeting.

Years later, he would turn a chance encounter with President Bill Clinton into another private Oval Office session with a sitting President.

Wolff is generous in relating such anecdotes, as well the gems of wisdom that helped mold him. According to him, his father's favorite saying was, "The only sin in life is to aim low."

Wolff did not disappoint. He became a renowned international lawyer, a scholar, an educator and a humanitarian.

Among his many accolades and honors are the 1993 United Nations Peace Award for Humanitarian Service given at Carnegie Hall on the same stage with Audrey Hepburn, and the National Council of Christians and Jews Medal he was awarded in 1983 along with Rosa Parks.

In 2005, Wolff was honored by the US Congress for his efforts to seek the release from the Soviet Union of Swedish Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. Wallenberg saved the lives of more than 100,000 Jews, helping them escape during the Holocaust, only to be imprisoned by the Russians at the end of WWII.

In 1983 the Wallenberg family asked Wolff to sue the Soviets for Raoul's release. Rescuing Wallenberg was the subject of Wolff's meeting with Clinton.

With the approval of Congress, Wolff secured a $39 million judgment and demand for immediate release from the Soviets in a U.S. Court. The case has gone on for 27 years, with the original $39 million now worth $142 million.

While many have considered Wallenberg long dead, Wolff said he recently received from a source a copy of a KGB memo that proves Wallenberg was alive and being held as recently as 1998.

"Whatever Happened to Raoul Wallenberg" is the book Wolff has written about what he calls his greatest case and accomplishment. It has garnered praise from people including Clinton, Elie Wiesel and Anatole Scharansky.

Meanwhile, Wolff shows no signs of slowing down.

"He has this revolving mind," said Patricia Pawlowski, the life partner Wolff calls "my angel."

"You never know what the day is going to bring," Pawlowski said. "He's always having these epiphanies."

According to Wolff, the main epiphany that has guided him through the years is something he learned as a Jewish/American exchange student in Germany after World War II: "We are not here to disturb other people or to fight old battles, we are here to make the world a better place."

 2019 Psi Upsilon Fraternity article honoring Morris Wolff’s life of Service

https://psiu.org/a-lifetime-of-serving-society-morris-wolff-gamma-58-amherst/

 [“A Lifetime of Serving Society: Morris Wolff, Gamma ’58 (Amherst),” Phil Upsilon Fraternity, 2019]

At the age of 83, Morris Wolff, Gamma ’58 (Amherst) still rides his bicycle eight to ten miles a day. Now living in central Florida, Wolff was born and raised in Philadelphia. He considers himself to be a very lucky man as he reflects on his life experiences and enjoys God’s humor and the craziness that life brings about, especially when it comes to the people he has had the opportunity to meet and work alongside with.

In more than eight decades of life, Morris Wolff has worn many hats. He has been a husband, an author, a civil rights lawyer, a teacher, an activist, and an advocate against injustice. He worked many years as a respected and well-known human rights lawyer and has been sought out by many to work in emancipation efforts for various groups of people, often working pro bono.

“Wherever I saw injustice, I felt called to help and to heal,” said Wolff as he explained how he was inspired to write his first book, ‘Whatever Happened to Raoul Wallenberg?,’ which tells the story about his efforts alongside the Wallenberg family of Sweden to rescue Raoul after his wrongful imprisonment by the Soviet Union following World War II. Wolff was contacted by Wallenberg’s family after Wallenberg had already been in a Soviet prison for 39 years. Wallenberg had become the forgotten hero of the Holocaust and Wolff went to work immediately to attempt to rescue him, suing the Soviet Union to secure the Swedish diplomat’s release. Wolff won a $39 million verdict against the Soviet Union and later joined forces with Israel’s officials and a former US ambassador to rescue Wallenberg. Unfortunately, Wallenberg was never released.

Wolff’s passion for righting wrongs and interjecting when he encountered injustice began from a young age. That pillar of confronting injustice was an important part of his upbringing, and eventually led him to join two of his three brothers who were also involved in Psi Upsilon Fraternity at Amherst College.

One of Wolff’s favorite and lasting memories at Amherst is when his fraternity brother, John Boettiger Gamma ’60 (Amherst), requested the fraternity hold a tea party so that he could bring his grandma as a guest. Boettiger wanted to show his grandmother where he lived and what he was doing in college. His grandmother was none other than former first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Wolff played an important role in this day that would leave an impression on him forever, as he picked her up from the airport and transported her to the Psi Upsilon house. As Wolff would find out quickly, this one-on-one time he spent casually with Roosevelt would change his career trajectory forever, as well as fuel Wolff’s fascination with meeting important people, which continued to play a part in his life experiences in meeting Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Frost, John and Jackie Kennedy, and many more figure-heads.

Wolff describes Eleanor Roosevelt as such a kind and gentle woman, who genuinely cared enough to sit down and give guidance to young men such as himself. When Wolff first met Roosevelt, he had been determined to go to Harvard Law School, but in the short few hours he spent with Eleanor Roosevelt in transit, she encouraged Wolff to attend Yale instead, a decision which impacted Wolff’s life greatly.

Roosevelt sustained her friendship with Morris Wolff, later connecting him in September of 1958 with Fred Rodell, a progressive liberal democrat and law professor at Yale. Wolff was drawn to Rodell’s unorthodox and maverick nature, both characteristics Wolff felt as though he too embodied. He quickly became Rodell’s research assistant and gained Rodell’s highest praise with his passionate and well-researched work. “This is the finest piece of student research and writing that I have seen in my 36 years of teaching law,” wrote Rodell on Morris’ research paper that would later be published in the Winter 1963 New Jersey Bar Journal.

“Certain human beings deeply influenced me along the way,” recalled Wolff while speaking of his time studying under Rodell.

After graduating from Yale Law School, Morris’ career propelled him into fulfilling his passions as he was specifically chosen in 1963 to work for Robert “Bobby” Kennedy in Washington D.C., making $5,200 as his annual salary. Working for Kennedy, Morris became a key element in not only drafting parts of the Civil Rights Acts, but also a bargaining chip in securing the votes to pass it.

“All of that started with Psi Upsilon and the visit from Eleanor Roosevelt,” Wolff said.

One of Wolff’s greatest motivators continues to be his discomfort and disdain for the misuse of power and injustices, particularly within government. He is vocal about his dislike for bullies, whether it be kids in the schoolyard, hazing in a fraternity, or those who are in political power. Wolff is still consistently outspoken in these scenarios, and always has been. He, only half joking, credits this to his Jewish heritage and his Quaker educational background.

“They taught me to speak up when things were wrong and unacceptable.”

Wolff explains that Psi Upsilon’s pillar, Service to Society, rings most true to him and his life accomplishments. From his upbringing, to his education, to his profession, he feels as though his life has truly been devoted in his service to society. After working in the thick of the Civil Rights movement and legislation, Wolff continued to embody service to society. After spending some time in the justice system, Wolff saw a need from the younger population to be equally and fairly represented. He began the TAKE A BROTHER program of Philadelphia which was committed to saving hundreds of young people from injustice within the justice system. The genius of the program involved matching little boys in trouble with the law to outstanding high school boys in the neighborhood in a mentorship fashion. Wolff partnered with his wife Patricia, going into the public high schools to find these outstanding boys to lead these wayward boys away from the life of crime. The program awarded the high school boys with college scholarships. Wolff explains that in Philadelphia at this time, many young kids were pushed through the justice system without much of a chance to learn, grow, and become future contributing members to society. The innovative program received a Points of Light award from President George H. W. Bush.

“Psi U focuses on the human heart as a place of knowledge and positive energy,” says Wolff, “This has motivated me to intervene and teach to the heart of these youth, where others had failed.”

Sixty years after his time as an undergrad member in Psi Upsilon, Wolff still recognizes the impact those four years of membership and brotherhood had on him. He still maintains friendships with fellow brothers Freddie Greenman, Gamma ’58 (Amherst) and John Lagomarcino, Gamma ’58 (Amherst) after all this time. As he sang over the phone “O Dear Old Shrine,” one of many songs Psi Upsilon members hold sacred, Wolff made it clear and apparent that his love for the organization and friendships have not faded over the years. To Wolff, Psi Upsilon’s motto, “Unto us has befallen a mighty friendship,” is the brotherly oath that each brother belongs to each other, from the heart.

Morris and his wife Patricia at the 2019 176th Psi Upsilon Convention in Chicago.

 “I’ve been very, very lucky,” Wolff concludes. “I am looking forward to as many more years of health and happiness as possible.”

We’re proud to announce Morris as a recipient of the David A.B. Brown, ΕΦ ’66, Distinguished Alumnus Award. The Distinguished Alumnus Award is the highest award which may be bestowed upon an alumnus of Psi Upsilon for bringing honor to the Fraternity by exemplifying the true spirit and meaning of brotherhood and moral leadership in all that they do and say, for dedicated and unselfish service in pursuit of the advancement of the Fraternity, and for demonstrating a commitment to serve the educational environment, their community, and their country. We would like to congratulate Brother Wolff on this award and thank him for all his hard work and reflection on Psi Upsilon. We are honored to have him as a member of our fraternity.

 

 

[Robert Morrow]

3 hours ago, Pat Speer said:

Maybe I'm having a brain fart, Robert, but I thought the Warren Commission's hearings were held in their offices, in the National Archives Building. Your man Wolff makes out that they took testimony in the Supreme Court Building. Is this a colossal blow to his credibility, or am I in fact having a brain fart?

P.S. I distinctly recall something about poor Warren having to race back and forth between the hearings and the Supreme Court. If they were in the same building, well, it wasn't all that big of a deal, was it?

I suggest mapping the distance from the U.S. Capital to the Supreme Court. Apparently, it is a mere 1/10th of a mile away and someone can walk there in 2 minutes. I don't think a car drive would be needed for that trip.

The distance from the U.S. Capital (where Sen. Cooper office) and the current day National Archives Research Center is 1 mile away or a 6 minute car drive. 

I think Morris Wolff meant to say he chauffeured Sen. Cooper to the National Archives Building.

 

[Roger Odisio]

9 hours ago, Robert Morrow said:

Jim DiEugenio is 100% correct. Lyndon Johnson did not think of or support the concept of what became known as the "Warren Commission."

What LBJ did was PICK HIS BEST FRIENDS AND ALLIES to be on the "Warren Commission" so LBJ could rig it to blame it all on a lone nut named Oswald. LBJ did this all the while telling people behind the scenes that it was an "international communist conspiracy" that that Fidel Castro had killed JFK.

Russell and Boggs were best friends with LBJ. McCloy was friends with LBJ, Clint Murchison Sr. and longtime LBJ-fixer Abe Fortas.

Allen Dulles had been FIRED by JFK just like LBJ was within days of being FIRED by John Kennedy. And just like Lyndon Johnson's blood brother and neighbor of 19 years (1943-1961) J. Edgar Hoover was going to be FORCED TO RETIRE when he turned age 70 on January 1, 1965.

Gerald Ford was picked specifically by LBJ because FORD HAD CIA EXPERIENCE as Lyndon Johnson explicitly told him and you can hear this today on YouTube.

The only screw up by LBJ was putting a personal friend of JFK, Sen. John Sherman Cooper, on his presidential commission. Sen. John Sherman Cooper thought in real time that LYNDON JOHNSON HAD JUST MURDERED JFK and Cooper was leaking Warren Commission information to journalist Dorothy Kilgallen (see RFK and Cooper aide Morris Wolff for those relevations).

Lyndon Johnson wanted to rig the cover up of JFK's death with a Texas Court of Inquiry led by Waggoner Carr.

Of course LBJ opposed a national commission, but the critical point is he rigged it anyhow by putting his best friends and CIA/FBI friendly people on it.

Lyndon Johnson told Madeleine Brown at the Driskill Hotel on 12/31/63 that Texas oil and "xxxxing renegade intelligence bastards" had killed JFK. Of course, this psychopath made a point to leave out his own involvement in the JFK assassination.

 

Look, JIm, I'm disagreeing with Robert.

Robert, I'll ask you the same question Jim keeps avoiding.  If the planners knew an investigating body would be necessary once they got rid of Oswald, and Johnson was going to be responsible for setting it up, how could they have *not* have sought his ideas about it and made sure he was on board with what they wanted? The results of an investigation would be crucial to the success of the whole project.

I'll say it again, the murder would not have happened without some idea beforehand about how to control the subsequent investigation and get the result the planners wanted.

Johnson did *not* oppose a national commission, no matter what he said to fool you on those calls he taped.. Some sort of investigation was going to happen.  He wanted a commission he could control that would make the findings he wanted.  That's what he got.

 

[Kevin Balch]

8 minutes ago, Roger Odisio said:

Look, JIm, I'm disagreeing with Robert.

Robert, I'll ask you the same question Jim keeps avoiding.  If the planners knew an investigating body would be necessary once they got rid of Oswald, and Johnson was going to be responsible for setting it up, how could they have *not* have sought his ideas about it and made sure he was on board with what they wanted? The results of an investigation would be crucial to the success of the whole project.

I'll say it again, the murder would not have happened without some idea beforehand about how to control the subsequent investigation and get the result the planners wanted.

Johnson did *not* oppose a national commission, no matter what he said to fool you on those calls he taped.. Some sort of investigation was going to happen.  He wanted a commission he could control that would make the findings he wanted.  That's what he got.

 

Why wouldn’t LBJ be even better able to control a Texas investigation?

Perhaps Eugene Rostow became alarmed at the possibility of an antisemitic backlash after Jesse Curry announced the death of Oswald and emphasized that Jack Ruby’s last name was Rubenstein. It would fit in with the timing of Rostow’s call to Moyers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Ds5dNzWRw

 

[Robert Morrow]

9 minutes ago, Roger Odisio said:

Look, JIm, I'm disagreeing with Robert.

Robert, I'll ask you the same question Jim keeps avoiding.  If the planners knew an investigating body would be necessary once they got rid of Oswald, and Johnson was going to be responsible for setting it up, how could they have *not* have sought his ideas about it and made sure he was on board with what they wanted? The results of an investigation would be crucial to the success of the whole project.

I'll say it again, the murder would not have happened without some idea beforehand about how to control the subsequent investigation and get the result the planners wanted.

Johnson did *not* oppose a national commission, no matter what he said to fool you on those calls he taped.. Some sort of investigation was going to happen.  He wanted a commission he could control that would make the findings he wanted.  That's what he got.

 

Lyndon Johnson was the planner of the JFK assassination. LBJ was the Mastermind of the JFK assassination. LBJ was the micro-manger of the JFK assassination. He was not checking in with any "planners" of the JFK assassination to get their permission on what to do or not to after a bullet goes into JFK's head.

Lyndon Johnson, who initially opposed a national commission, succumbed to political pressure to create one: HIS commission and he rigged it just like LBJ would have rigged a Texas Court of Inquiry. 

After Oswald was murdered in Dallas police custody, the national mood was we are not going to trust the results of any investigation based in Texas. But the problem was the leading murderer of JFK was the new president from Texas and he rigged the results anyhow mainly with the help of FBI Hoover, then CIA Allen Dulles and then CIA/FBI friendly Gerald Ford and LBJ/CIA friendly John McCloy.