If you believe that President Kennedy was killed by a lone
assassin named Lee Harvey Oswald, then this is the book you have been waiting
for. On the other hand, if you believe that President Kennedy was a victim of a
conspiracy, then this is the book for you. Author Philip Shenon has gathered
the memories of all the surviving staff members who assisted the Warren
Commission in compiling its report, and in doing so has only bolstered the
beliefs of both sides.
The Warren Commission Report was initiated by President
Johnson, who later opined to Walter Cronkite that he believed there was a
conspiracy to kill Kennedy, and therefore did not believe in the findings of
the commission he himself had created. It was never signed by the man who
chaired it; Chief Justice Earl Warren, who suppressed evidence in order to wrap
things up neatly. And, finally, it was signed reluctantly by the man who would,
11 years later become the first unelected President of the United States,
Gerald Ford.
If you ever want to explain why Americans don’t really trust
their government, and embrace conspiracy theories in the first place, you have
only to look at the dysfunction of the Warren Commission to prove your point.
The infighting between the various agencies; such as the FBI and the CIA to
withhold evidence and sources from one another, as well as the commission, are
perfect examples.
The book goes into detail about the connection of Oswald’s
supposed Mexican visit, which produced no known photos of him at either of the
embassies he supposedly visited, raising the possibility of a double agent. His
relationship with Silvia Duran, of the Cuban Embassy is also explored.
Of particular interest are the deals made by Marina Oswald
in the days immediately surrounding her husband’s death at the hands of Jack
Ruby. She sold her husband’s diary without even telling the police that there
was one. She also burned what she thought to be the only copies of the now
iconic photos of her husband posing with a rifle, handgun and a Communist newspaper.
The fact that there were so many other copies floating about in the days before
digital scanning, etc. makes me wonder. Who else had copies of these photos and
why?
Her take from the various book deals and magazine articles
amounted to about $300,000 in today’s dollars. She fired her business manager,
James Martin, after having a brief affair with him while living in his home.
She ended the affair by calling his wife and telling her that her husband was
no longer employed as her manager, or lover.
Marina Oswald wasn’t the only widow taking in some immediate
cash. Jackie Kennedy began work on her book with Arthur Schlesinger before the
Warren Commission was even done with their report. The commission was not even
going to call upon her for her testimony; wishing to spare her the ordeal;
until they got wind of the book. If she could talk about it for money, then she
could appear before the Commission. Still, when it came time to depose her,
they went to her home in Georgetown, where she was living at the time.
Robert Kennedy would only appear before the Commission by a
series of letters; ones which he wrote himself. The first one was a request
from Chief Justice Earl Warren to him; written by RFK asking him to submit a
reply. The Chief Justice signed that request and sent it back to RFK. A
pre-approved reply was then sent to the Chief Justice.
The portion of the investigation dealing with Jack Ruby is a
true riddle. The man had the opportunity to kill Oswald on Friday night at the
infamous “news conference” at the City Jail, where he was paraded before the
press. Ruby even took part in that event when he corrected DA Henry Wade on the
correct name of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. He was that well known to the
local police, yet no one noticed him entering the building on Sunday morning
when he was finally able to kill Oswald.
Ruby ended up deranged before and during his trial for
killing Oswald. He believed that since he had murdered Oswald the Jews of
America were being tortured in retaliation. He was clearly insane; even judged
to be so; yet he was still sentenced to death for his crime. He died before the
sentence could be carried out. His chapter remains one of the most
controversial among conspiracy theorists.
Arlen Specter, the architect of the “magic bullet” theory;
which says that one pristine bullet caused 7 wounds to both Kennedy and Governor
Connally before landing underneath a rubber mat on the gurney at Parkland
hospital; is portrayed as an adequate investigator. His theory was doubted by
just about everyone on the Commission. It has been the subject of numerous
recreations using the latest technology to prove its validity. But think about
this; if you intentionally set out to prove a theory correct, you must first
start out by accepting that theory to be true. If you believe it to be false it
is just as easy to prove that as well.
One of the most interesting events to come out of the Warren
Commission’s investigation occurred when William Coleman; the lone
African-American working for the Committee; went to a secret rendezvous off of
Cuba to meet Castro and ask him; face to face; whether or not he, or the
Russians, had anything to do with the President’s murder.
Castro had told the press in October of 1963 that the
American government was targeting him for assassination; which they were under
Operation Mongoose a black op being run by the CIA. He also promised to
retaliate in kind; which many people think is actually what happened; Operation
Mongoose got reversed by right wing factions within the United Sates, making
Kennedy the target instead.
The most interesting thing about Coleman’s encounter is that
he already knew Castro from the Cuban leader’s visits to New York, which had
begun as early as the 1940’s. Apparently Coleman had met him in Harlem at the
jazz clubs when Castro was on his honeymoon in 1948. They were both jazz fans.
When they met again in 1964 aboard a Cuban navy boat, they discussed that visit
and music before getting down to business. Castro denied any involvement in the
murder, and Mr. Coleman took him at face value.
The investigators themselves; along with the 7 Committee members
themselves, were often at odds over the direction and progress of the
Commission. Some wanted to focus on the foreign conspiracy aspect of the crime
more than others. As a result of the pre-determined outcome of the report; it
must sate that Oswald acted alone, this was understood by all; any leads not
leading back to Oswald as the sole shooter, were given short shrift.
Commission investigator Jim Liebeler was a hard working
staff member. But he still found time to attempt the seduction of both Marina
Oswald and Silvia Odio; the Cuban woman in Texas who claimed to have seen
Oswald in the company of 2 other Latino men prior to the assassination. Silvia
Odio is a possible key to the unexplored portions of Oswald’s Mexico City trip.
The other Silvia in this story is Silvia Duran, who was
taken into custody within hours of the assassination by Mexican police at the
request of the CIA. She was beaten and tortured in an effort to find out what
she knew about Oswald and his activities there in Mexico.
All of these loose ends are what have Mr. Shenon concerned;
and rightfully so; that there are still unexplored leads to the murder of President
Kennedy in 1963. The latest ones involve Elena and Helena Garro, a mother
daughter team who claim to have attended a party at which Oswald was present in
Mexico prior to the assassination.
Whatever your beliefs about the Kennedy assassination may
be, this book delivers all of the excitement you have come to expect from the
crime which just won’t be solved. Mr. Shenon has done his homework well, and as
a result has delivered an exciting book about the scenes behind the Warren
Commission and the men who served on it.
In the end, it is also the story of the Warren Commission Report; a report which the Chief Justice for whom it was named refused to sign; and was only signed by Gerald Ford, who never believed it to be correct. And 11 years later he would become the first un-elected President of the United States.
