A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination (93 page)

After the magazine the
Nation
:
Hoover’s handwritten note found on cable from Dallas field office to FBI headquarters, “TO DIRECTOR FBI, FROM DALLAS,” March 14, 1964, FBI.

“This fellow is just a low”:
Hoover’s handwritten note found on memo from FBI Dallas field office to Sullivan, February 13, 1964, FBI.

After an incident:
Hoover’s handwritten note on a letter from Rankin to Hoover, March 3, 1964, FBI.

In March, a top Hoover aide:
Hoover’s handwritten notes on memo from Branigan to Sullivan, “RE: LEE HARVEY OSWALD INTERNAL SECURITY,” March 3, 1964, FBI.

He said in a later memo:
Memo from Rosen to Belmont, March 16, 1964. Also see memo from Rosen to Belmont, “Subject: President’s Commission,” April 4, 1964, FBI.

Hoover seemed to be:
Hoover’s handwritten notes on memo from Jevons to Conrad, “RE: ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY,” March 12, 1964, FBI.

“I place no credence”:
Hoover’s handwritten notes on memo from Rosen to Belmont, “Subject: President’s Commission,” April 4, 1964, FBI.

“I want to let you know”:
Letter from Hoover to Ford, April 17, 1964, FBI.

DeLoach asked for a background check:
Memo from DeLoach to Mohr, April 22, 1964, FBI.

Hoover gave in and agreed to the interview:
Memo from DeLoach to Mohr, “Subject: William Manchester, Author of Kennedy Book,” June 4, 1964, FBI.

CHAPTER 51

He worked from his:
See the
New York Times
obituary for McCloy, March 12, 1989. For background on One Chase Manhattan Plaza, see
New York Times
, June 6, 2013.

But it was possible:
Letter from McCloy to Rankin, July 21, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

David Slawson had written:
Slawson interviews.

If Odio’s allegations:
Unsigned draft chapter entitled “Foreign Conspiracy,” July 15, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA. Also see undated memo from Coleman and Slawson to Rankin, “Subject: Suggested Changes in the Foreign Conspiracy [
sic
], Dated July 15, 1964,” staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

The staff settled:
Warren Report, p. 305.

“I did trust the CIA”:
Coleman interviews.

“According to his twenty-five”:
Coleman memo, “Oswald’s Trip to Mexico City September 26, 1963, to October 3, 1963,” July 20, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

Arlen Specter felt:
Specter interviews. Also see Specter,
Passion
, passim.

After reading through:
Letter from McCloy to Rankin, June 24, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

On August 20, he sent:
Letter and memo from Cooper to Rankin, August 20, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

“The evidence of the source”:
Letter from Belin to Rankin, July 7, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

“We made every effort”:
Belin,
Final Disclosure
, pp. 213–16. Also see Belin,
You Are the Jury
, pp. 425–40.

Alfred Goldberg was stunned:
Goldberg interviews.

FBI agents who visited:
Memo from the FBI’s Washington field office to FBI headquarters, “SAC WFO TO DIRECTOR, FBI RE: LEE HARVEY OSWALD,” September 17, 1964, FBI. Also see memo from Rosen to Belmont, “SUBJECT: LEE HARVEY OSWALD,” September 21, 1964, FBI.

As part of his research:
Goldberg interviews.

The
New York Times
, the
Washington Post
:
New York Times
and
Washington Post
, November 26, 1963.

In July, Barson said he:
Memo from Barson and Mosk to Rankin, July 9, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

After figuring that he had spent:
Griffin interviews.

“I think it is a mistake”:
Memo from Griffin to Willens, “Re: Memo on Ruby Conspiracy Portion of Chapter VI,” August 14, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

CHAPTER 52

His wife, Evelyn, recalled:
Evelyn Redlich interview.

“Every once in a while”:
Weinreb interviews.

Liebeler’s battles with Redlich:
Testimony of Wesley Liebeler, HSCA, November 15, 1977, pp. 209–61.

Rankin sided with Liebeler:
Memo from Liebeler to Rankin, August 28, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA. Also see Liebeler testimony, HSCA, November 15, 1977, passim.

In late August:
Memo from Liebeler to Willens and Redlich, “Subject: Conspiracy,” August 27, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

He was startled by the news:
Memo to Rankin from Hoover, September 3, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA. Also see memo from Liebeler to Willens, “Re: Relevant Property Remaining in Possession of Marina Oswald,” September 2, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

There would be little:
Liebeler memo, “Memorandum re: Galley Proofs of Chapter IV,” September 6, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

“There really was no response”:
Testimony of Wesley Liebeler, HSCA, November 15, 1977, pp. 209–61.

He described the Senate vote:
Associated Press, June 18, 1964.

“Violence and defiance”:
Fite,
Richard B. Russell, Jr., Senator from Georgia
, p. 46.

“Let me tell you again”:
Letter from Russell to C. R. Nichols, June 30, 1964, correspondence files, Russell Library.

In May, he had complained:
Holland,
The Kennedy Assassination Tapes
, p. 240.

He read through:
Atlanta Constitution
, September 28, 1964.

Russell’s former press secretary:
Interview with Powell A. Moore, “Oral History Interview #7,” March 6, 1971, Russell Library.

The chief justice:
Interview of Barboura G. Raesly, “Oral History Interview #157,” June 16, 1974, Russell Library.

The
Dallas Morning News
:
Dallas Morning News
, September 7, 1964.

Russell focused his questions:
Testimony of Marina Oswald, September 6, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 5, pp. 588–620.

The investigation was only just:
Handwritten note by Russell on United States Senate notepaper, December 5, 1963, personal files, Russell Library.

In mid-September:
Draft dissent by Russell, “Assassination Commission,” September 16, 1964, Russell Library.

The news arrived on September 21:
Letter from Hoover to Rankin, September 21, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

David Slawson, who had pressed:
Slawson interviews.

“In spite of the fact”:
Warren Report, pp. 322–24.

Over time, Loran Hall:
Testimony of Loran Hall, October 5 and 6, 1977, HSCA, RIF: 180–10118–10115, NARA.

FBI agents in Dallas:
See Appendix to Hearings, Vol. 10, “Anti-Castro Activities and Organizations,” March 1979, HSCA, pp. 19–35.

CHAPTER 53

The final contract:
“Publishing Agreement between Simon and Schuster and Gerald R. Ford,” October 9, 1964, Warren Commission files, Ford Library. The entire contract and other paperwork related to the book are found at the Ford Library.

Simon and Schuster decided:
“Editorial Department Report, Simon and Schuster,” July 29, 1964, Warren Commission files, Ford Library.

“Got Jerry Ford on the telephone”:
Letter from Thompson to Peter Schwed, Simon and Schuster executive, July 8, 1964, Warren Commission files, Ford Library.

That summer, it was:
New York Times
, July 7, 1964.

In a memo on July 31:
Memo from Fallon to Ford, July 3, 1964, Warren Commission files, Ford Library.

Ford’s friend Stiles:
Memo from Stiles to Ford, September 4, 1964, Warren Commission files, Ford Library.

In May, a reporter:
Ford’s handwritten notes, “Gene Roberts,
Detroit Free Press
, 5/9/64,” Warren Commission files, Ford Library.

“The FBI did a very substantial piece
”
:
New York Times
, February 23, 1967.

By the end of the investigation:
Ford,
Portrait
, pp. 53–60.

The timelines showed:
Ibid., pp. 335, 483, 301–14, 90–99.

Ford guessed that Oswald:
Interview of Gerald R. Ford, “Oral History Interview by Vicki Daitch,” July 18, 2003, JFK Library.

On September 2, he wrote:
Letter from Ford to Rankin, September 2, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

The draft had originally said:
Associated Press, July 2, 1997.

Decades later, a congressionally:
Testimony of Dr. Michael Baden, September 17, 1978, HSCA.

“It would have been disastrous”:
Pearson Diaries, October 1966, Pearson papers, LBJ Library.

“When the word”:
Warren,
Memoirs
, p. 3.

“Warren just wouldn’t”:
Interview of Barboura G. Raesly, “Oral History Interview #157,” June 16, 1974, Russell Library.

Although it is not necessary:
Warren Report, p. 19.

“Rankin made an effort”:
Proposal by Howard Willens for a book to be entitled
The Assassination
, undated. Willens announced in 2013 that he planned to write a book about his experiences on the Warren Commission, with a new title:
History Will Prove Us Right: Inside the Warren Commission Investigation into the Assassination of John F. Kennedy.

“The FBI took an unduly
”
:
Warren Report, p. 24.

The Secret Service:
Ibid., p. 26.

“It is conceivable”:
Ibid., p. 451.

From his reading of the findings:
Article submitted by Ford to the California State Chamber of Commerce, “Why the President Died,” December 30, 1964, Warren Commission files, Ford Library. The article was based on a speech that Ford had given to the chamber.

The only official record:
Warren Commission Executive Session, September 18, 1964, NARA.

CHAPTER 54

President Johnson wanted:
Holland,
The Kennedy Assassination Tapes
, pp. 247–51.

“I just worked like a dog”:
Slawson interviews.

John McCloy said he was:
Interview of John McCloy, “
Face the Nation
, July 2, 1967,” CBS News.

To no one’s surprise:
“The Warren Commission,” Appendix to Hearings, Vol. 11, March 1979 HSCA, p. 78.

Warren said later he refused:
Pearson Diaries, October 1966, Pearson papers, LBJ Library.

The staff lawyers said they were:
Letter from Oscar Collier to the commission, August 14, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.