A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination (89 page)

“It would be ridiculous”:
Eisenberg interviews. See also Eisenberg memos on criminology science, March 4, 1964 (ballistics) and March 7, 1964 (value of witness testimony), staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

CHAPTER 21

The commission:
Memo from Willens to Rankin, March 9, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

In February, he wrote:
Letter from Rankin to McCone, February 12, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

The commission received:
Memo from Willens to Rankin, March 9, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

If the CIA had nothing:
Slawson memo for the record, “Conference with the CIA,” March 12, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

Slawson read them:
Memo from Coleman and Slawson for the record, “Mexico: Questions Raised by Ambassador Mann,” April 2, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

Stern was handed:
Stern interviews; memo from Stern to Rankin, “CIA file on Oswald,” March 27, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

“They let it be known”:
Slawson interviews.

Yuri Ivanovich Nosenko:
For background on Nosenko, see
New York Times
obituary on August 28, 2008. See also Martin,
Wilderness.

Nosenko’s defection:
New York Times
, February 15, 1964.

He worried, especially:
Martin,
Wilderness
, passim.

Rocca insisted to Slawson:
Slawson interviews.

He was given nothing:
Washington Post
, September 1, 2008.

The request would have to go:
Testimony of W. David Slawson, HSCA, November 15, 1977, passim.

CHAPTER 22

It was sometime early that month:
Testimony of Norman Redlich, HSCA, November 8, 1977.

“Of course we thought”:
Slawson interviews.

“It was self-protection”:
Specter,
Passion
, p. 93; Specter interviews.

Griffin saw it:
Griffin interviews. Also see Griffin testimony to the HSCA, November 17, 1977.

“Needless to say”:
Letter from Rankin to Hoover, February 20, 1964.

As Hosty described it:
Hosty interviews; Hosty,
Assignment: Oswald
, p. 234.

In December, he:
Letter from Hoover to Hosty, December 13, 1963, as reprinted in Hosty,
Assignment: Oswald
, p. 101.

“You’re going to be”:
Hosty,
Assignment: Oswald
, p. 118.

“I didn’t know”:
Ibid., p. 36.

In the months after:
Ibid., p. 83.

Hosty interviewed Odio:
Ibid., pp. 132–34.

As Odio described:
Testimony of Silvia Odio, July 9, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, p. 367 and passim.

During the interview with Hosty:
Memo from Griffin to Slawson, July 12, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA. Also see Hosty,
Assignment: Oswald
, p.132 and passim.

He contacted Odio’s psychiatrist:
Testimony of Dr. Burton Einspruch, HSCA, July 11, 1978, passim.

In the weeks after:
Hosty,
Assignment: Oswald
, p. 133.

CHAPTER 23

The reports were not:
Slawson interviews.

In the United States, a more serious:
Memo from Redlich to Rankin, February 11, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

On February 12:
See photocopy of
Tocsin
front page found in congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

Within days, Congressman:
Letter from Baldwin to Ford, February 12, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

He contacted the House Un-American Activities:
See letter from Francis J. McNamara of the House Un-American Affairs Committee to Ford, February 27, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

Asked by reporters:
New York Times
, February 5, 1964; Associated Press, February 4, 1964. See also Newton,
Justice for All
, p. 434.

Arlen Specter said:
Specter interviews; Specter,
Passion
, p. 59.

The
Columbus Enquirer
:
Attached to a letter from Harold Callaway to Ford, February 10, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

The chief justice was:
See transcript of Johansen remarks, February 6, 1964, found in congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

A senior editor at
Newsweek
:
Letter from Graham to Warren, February 18, 1964, and Bernstein letter to Warren, February 14, 1964, correspondence files, Warren papers, LOC.

On Monday, February 17:
Letter from Hoover to Rankin, February 17, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

Rankin reacted instantly:
Letter from Rankin to Hoover, February 18, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

As Rankin watched:
See memo from Charles N. Shaffer, “Memorandum for the Record,” February 17, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

“I took a bath”:
Statement of Marina Oswald to the FBI, February 19, 1964, as reprinted in Aynesworth,
JFK: Breaking
. See also letter from Hoover to Rankin, February 20, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

“Could it be possible”:
Ford,
Portrait
, p. 511.

Robert testified:
Testimony of Robert Oswald, February 20, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 1, pp. 264–502.

“Mr. Rankin said”:
Memo from Hoover to Tolson et al., February 24, 1964, FBI.

Within days, eight:
Memo from FBI Dallas field office to FBI headquarters, “Recommendations for Installation of Telephone and Microphone Surveillance,” March 2, 1964, FBI.

The next witness before the commission:
Testimony of James Herbert Martin, February 27, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 1, pp. 469–502.

“As Martin’s testimony”:
Memo from Redlich to Rankin, February 28, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

Two days later:
Memo from DeLoach to Ford, February 14, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

CHAPTER 24

As the commission’s chief:
Stern interviews.

It was darkly:
For the history of the Secret Service, see Kessler,
In the President’s Secret Service
, passim. Also, Blaine, McCubbin, and Hill,
The Kennedy Detail
, passim.

The limousine used:
For background on the Kennedy limousine, see the Web site of the Henry Ford Museum,
www.thehenryford.org/research/kennedylimo.aspx
.

“It was not designed”:
Stern interviews; memo from Stern to Rankin, “Report on Security Measures to Protect the President,” February 17, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

“It was horrible”:
Stern interviews.

Within the agency:
Warren Report, p. 430; memo from Stern for the record, February, 17, 1964, and Stern’s “Memorandum of Interview,” March 20, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

Stern felt sorry:
Stern interviews.

Stern had a sense:
Stern interviews. A description of the Metropolitan Club party is found in Peppers and Ward,
In Chambers: Stories of the Supreme Court Law Clerks and Their Justices.

CHAPTER 25

In March, Ford wrote:
Letter from Ford to Rankin, March 28, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

The chief justice was never:
Specter,
Passion
, p. 56.

John Stiles:
For background on Stiles, see obituary in the
Grand Rapids (Michigan) Press
, April 15, 1970.

In March, Ford was:
“Checklist of Questions Raised by Mark Lane,” March 6, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

Representative James D. Weaver:
Letter from Weaver to Ford, April 23, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

A memo to Ford:
Unsigned memo to Ford, “Memorandum for Honorable Gerald R. Ford,” March 17, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

“How did it happen”:
Letter from Poff to Ford, April 20, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

A Texas doctor:
Note from George H. Kakaska, MD, to Ford, April 23, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

On April 3, Rankin wrote to Ford:
Letter from Rankin to Ford, April 3, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

Ford wrote Rankin:
Letter from Ford to Rankin, April 7, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

In a separate letter to Rankin:
Letter from Ford to Rankin, April 24, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

He prepared a handwritten:
Undated memo from Ray to Ford, undated, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

An unsigned staff memo to Ford:
“Observations: Re: Mr. R,” April 7, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

In January, Ford’s Washington:
Letter from H. L. Hunt to Ford, January 25, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

“When I heard about this”:
Goldberg interviews.

In his hard work:
See background material about Ford’s book,
Portrait of the Assassin
, in Ford’s correspondence files, Ford Library. A copy of Ford’s book contract is also in the files.

CHAPTER 26

“I have had to somewhat”:
Letter from Belin to colleagues at Herrick, Langdon, Sandblom & Belin, January 27, 1964, Belin’s Warren Commission files, Ford Library.

Raised in a music-loving:
Des Moines Register
, June 15, 2000.

Another letter to Des Moines:
Letter from Belin to colleagues at Herrick, Langdon, Sandblom & Belin, February 11, 1964, Belin’s Warren Commission files, Ford Library.

“When there are”:
Belin,
You Are the Jury
, p. 175.

Asked how Oswald dressed:
Ibid., pp. 4–5.

There were far more:
Ibid., pp. 5–8.

“I really was not”:
Letter from Belin to colleagues at Herrick, Langdon, Sandblom & Belin, March 26, 1964, Belin’s Warren Commission files, Ford Library.

Friends on the police force:
See
New York Times
, November 25, 1963, as well as extensive biographical material on a Tippit family memorial Web site:
www.jdtippit.com
.

For the test, Belin:
Belin,
You Are the Jury
, pp. 139–40.