savid J. Darrow 11/20/68 2olitical Science pest. CONY, New York. N.Y. 10031

Dear David,

erofessional Historians and political scientists, like those of us you regard

as an ignorant rabble to be talked down to, are entitled to your biases and prejudices

and preconceptions and, absent self-re.traint, are licensed to indulge(Ab you do in ye-

Appal day's Washington Post Jock World,But this does not extend to ignorance and

your flaunting of your own ignorance. (Please excuse my worse than usual typing; I'm

recovering from eye surgery.)

Aside from perhaps the belief that you know all there is to know about anything,

what qualifies you to all or any part of:

V...an ongoing fascination- at least on the paryof authors and publishers- with the real and imagined minuae of the Kennedy assassination itself, a fascination that shoW7S no sign ok diminution even as the most determined conspiracy theorists flirt with science fiction in their overheated imaginings...To anyone who has followed even in a half-hearted fashion the evolution of the burgeoning literature on7iii7ohn Kennedy's shooting, the sinkin4 feeling that less is known with each passing year - and arriving book- becomes inescapable."

Do you, personally, qualifieas the "heii-hearted" student of the literature?

Your language in this diatribe reflects ignorance/ not even half-hearted knowledge.

Aside from this, what 1 have no reason to believe troubles you at all, it is grossly

unfair and misleading and in some respects it is false.

What in the world do you mean by "minuOle?" The backbone of hist96 and of law

and justice is not what is commonly referred to as "minugae?" Or is this an ignoramus

way of seeking to put down what ho cannot address on the basis of fact add his personal

knowledge? Or of seeking to diminish the solid works of years ago by bracketing them

with the current nonsense of the Devises aOd the Scheima? How can the appearance of

such junk make less be known when there is what you ignore, solid works ofl the past?

What do you know of either the Warren CommissiOn, the books about it or what

I am confident David 'kin largely noresjwhat those of ua you and he seek to put

down have brought to light from official suparession, that entitles you to offer the

opinion that Delia is "per2uasivelt in his defense of his own past 'hat you and he

refer to as his defense of the Commission? Do you know enough about Bolin to hold an

intolligeent opinion about him and what he says and has laid and done, including in other

than his own self-serving version, what ho did and did not do on the 4.notfollig

What do you really know, in other than a Belinesque veradcer-df "the ph cal

facts of the Kennedy shooting to say to so large and trusting an audience, not to

mention trusting editors, that "for all practical purposes" these "physical facts

can no longer be disputed?"

CC klhq liN 1'13A Vi Harold Weisberg

Sine elYr

2

mints no words on this - you lie and it is an ugly, CI-----'1isgusting lie coming

from one of your discipline when in the real context you ignore you are talking about

the most subversivo crime possible in u society like ours.

What 1F anztlIng at all do lag, realty know of the physical facts, the actualities, not the selfliserving representations of the Beans or his Commission?

Do you know, or is this part of what you seek to dismiss as "minut6," that on the most Jasic of facts about the assassination, what shots hit who, to this day

both the Secret Service and the FBI disagree and as of my last knowledge sneered to ji

themselves about the Commission's version. And this, by the way, you 'eminent ignoramus,

sir, is the actual theorizing, the officials' of all levels, as you'd know if you had

read and understood the Warren report itself.)

In any translation of your closing words into everyday, dispassionate English,

you actually gall for an end to critical writing on this subject, this most sub-

versive of crimes, this most dubious official inquiry into what, contrary to the

other opinions you offer, turned the world around. For shame, Dabid! You belittle yourself, you demean your discipline, you

Orwellize when more than at any time I can recall, and I've lived a third as long

as ouY country, the people have an urgent need to know what is real gad true about so much,, including how their government serves than and their system of self-gpvernmenl:,

IhkAA- realry,,oito-freedom.

L'his outrageous stuff comes with even pporer grace from one whose own work was

to a large degree made possible by those he deprecates for without the effort of which

you are well aware and to which neither you nor any other professional historian or political scientist contributed in any way, those records would not have been available to you and others under the fieedom of Information act. Dane by a "conspiracy

theorist." was it, IJavid? Some of that "imagined min 444" Perhaps "science fiction

in their overheated imaginings?"

I'm sorry for you the you are capable of something as indecent, as dishonest,

as this is,

uusy

Ral

ory

K

AR

Err

FN

C,S

5 F

OR

7,4

L .4

.5.1

,JoG

rOh

POO

IN

SID

E

GO

RE

VID

AL

'S E

SS

AY

S

3

TH

E L

ET

TE

RS

OF

JA

CK

LO

ND

ON

R

AY

MO

ND

CH

AN

DL

ER

AN

D O

TH

ER

MY

ST

ER

IES

8 &

9

NE

W A

ME

RIC

AN

S:

AN

OR

AL

HIS

TO

RY

11

ose

wer

e so

so

. Thi

s w

as a

n ir

reve

rent

ass

embl

y of

jour

nali

sts

noti

ng th

e di

sast

rous

de

mis

ed K

ing'

s la

st g

reat

pro

ject

, th

e P

oor

Peo

ple'

s C

ampa

ign,

whi

ch

had

com

e to

rui

n on

ly m

onth

s af

ter

his

assa

ssin

atio

n.

As

a gr

oup

that

had

wit

ness

ed it

s sp

irit

ed, opti

mis

tic

bir

th i

n t

he

Dee

p S

outh

, we

wer

e ap

pall

ed a

t th

e sl

ow

, gru

esom

e dea

th o

f th

e

Rob

ert C

. May

nar

d, e

dito

r of

the

Oak

land

Tri

bune

, cov

ered

the

civi

l ri

ghts

mov

emen

t as

a re

port

er f

or

The

Was

hing

ton

Pos

t.

wit

h u

s to

th

is d

ay. T

wo

deca

des

afte

r his

dea

th, m

any

peo

ple

are

sa

tisf

ied

in t

heir

ow

n m

inds

as

to

how

muc

h of

Mar

tin

Lut

her

Kin

g's

min

istr

y w

as a

div

ine

insp

irat

ion

and

how

muc

h w

as h

isto

rica

l acc

i-de

nt. F

or th

ose

stil

l unc

erta

in, T

ay-

lor

Bra

nch'

s ne

w b

ook,

Par

ting

the

Wat

t= A

mer

ica

in th

e K

ing

Yea

rs,

1954

-63,

off

ers

ampl

e am

mun

itio

n to

kee

p th

e de

bate

ali

ve.

In t

his

fir

st o

f tw

o v

olu

mes

, B

ranc

h ha

s se

t out

on

an im

pres

sive

an

d am

biti

ous

mis

sion

: He

seek

s to

pla

ce K

ing i

n t

he

conte

xt

of

his

ti

mes

.. —

Con

tinue

d O

PP pa

ge .1

John

F. K

enne

dy a

nd th

e M

ytho

logy

of C

amel

ot

By D

avid

J. G

arr

ow

EV

ER

Y F

IFT

H N

ov

emb

er-1

98

3,

1988

—no

w w

itne

sses

a m

ajor

ann

iver

- ,

sary

of

John

F. K

enne

dy's

ass

assi

nati

on

in D

alla

s on

Nov

embe

r 22

, 196

3. E

ach

anni

-:

ver

sary

—an

d s

eem

ingly

ever

y s

ucc

essi

ve

pres

iden

tial

cam

paig

n—al

so w

itne

sses

a f

ur-

ther

bur

nish

ing

and

invo

catio

n of

the

jFK

_ im

-ag

e. N

ot

only

does

eff

usi

ve

cele

bra

tion o

f K

enne

dy's

Whi

te H

ouse

yea

rs e

xpan

d fu

rthe

r an

d fu

rthe

r w

ith e

ach

new

cro

p of

han

dsom

ely,

pr

oduc

ed p

ictu

re b

ooks

—e.

g. L

IFE

in C

ame-

lot T

he

Ken

ned

y Y

ears

—bu

t ea

ch e

lect

ion

Dav

id j

Gar

row

is th

e au

thor

of

"Bea

ring

the

Cra

ss. M

artin

Lut

her

Kin

g, J

r., a

nd th

e So

uth-

ern

Chr

istia

n L

eade

rshi

p C

onfe

renc

e" w

hich

w

ort t

he 1

987

Rob

ert F

. Ken

nedy

Boo

k A

war

d an

d th

e 19

87 P

ulitz

er P

rize

in b

iogr

aphy

.

year

pro

vide

s a

wid

er a

nd w

ider

ran

ge o

f of

-fi

ce-s

eeke

rs e

ager

to

clai

m s

ome

vers

ion

of

the

Ken

nedy

lega

cy a

s th

eir

own.

Fi

ve y

ears

ago

a G

allu

p po

ll fo

und

that

Ken

-ne

dy w

as t

he m

ost

retr

ospe

ctiv

ely

popu

lar

Am

eric

an p

resi

dent

. Mor

e po

inte

dly,

65

per-

cent

of

the

Gal

lup

resp

onde

nts

said

the

y be

-li

eved

that

the

Uni

ted

Sta

tes

wou

ld h

ave

been

"m

uch

diff

eren

t`—

and

pres

umab

ly b

ette

r—if

K

enne

dy h

ad n

ot b

een

kill

ed. A

s R

ober

t Mac

-N

eil w

rite

s in

his

intr

oduc

tion

to T

he W

ay W

e W

ere:

196

3, T

he Y

ear

Ken

nedy

Was

Sho

t, "W

e ar

e m

ourn

ing

our

own

unfu

lfil

led

prom

ise,

"

mos

t par

ticu

larl

y "i

he s

piri

t of

hop

e an

d op

: ti

mis

m t

hat

ring

s th

roug

h th

e fe

elin

gs A

mer

-ic

ans

had,

and

ret

ain,

abo

ut t

hat

tim

e—an

d at

trib

ute

to K

enne

dy.'

The

attr

ibuti

on o

f su

ch r

ose

ate

rem

em-

bran

ces

of p

ast h

opes

and

exp

ecta

tion

s to

the

Ken

ned

y p

resi

den

cy l

ies

at t

he

cente

r of

Am

eric

a's

ofte

n m

audl

in a

nd h

isto

rica

lly b

lind-

ered

cel

ebra

tion

of

JFK

. "S

ymbo

ls o

ften

em

-b

od

y n

eed

s th

at r

end

er l

iter

al f

acts

irr

ele-

vant

," T

hom

as B

row

n ap

tly

note

s in

JF

K H

is-

tory

of

an I

mag

e, a

nd n

o r

eader

of

Bro

wn's

sm

all b

ut e

min

entl

y us

eful

vol

ume

is li

kely

to

fini

sh it

sti

ll be

lievi

ng th

at R

onal

d R

eaga

n's

was

the

first

"T

eflo

n pr

esid

ency

.' N

o se

riou

s sc

hola

r co

uld

succ

essf

ully

con

-te

nd th

at th

e ac

tual

ach

ieve

men

ts a

nd p

olic

ies

of

the

Ken

ned

y p

resi

den

cy a

ccount

for

the

trem

endo

us p

opul

ar r

egar

d in

whi

ch J

FK

is

now

hel

d. I

nste

ad, a

s B

row

n su

ccin

ctly

put

s it

, "I

t is

the

cir

cum

stan

ces

of K

enne

dy's

dea

th

rath

er t

han

the

even

ts o

f his

lif

e th

at h

ave

elev

ated

him

to a

pri

mar

y pl

ace

in th

e po

liti

cal

cons

ciou

snes

s of

Am

eric

ans.

" H

owev

er, i

t is

no

t the

ass

assi

nati

on a

lone

that

has

sti

mul

atea

th

e m

ytho

logy

of

"Cam

elot

,' bu

t the

ver

y pr

e-m

atur

e an

d su

dden

pas

sing

of

that

pre

side

nt,

from

the

nat

iona

l sc

ene

that

has

all

owed

his

re

cord

in

offi

ce t

o be

nefi

t fr

om T

eflo

n qu

al-

itie

s th

at w

ill l

ong

outl

ast t

hose

of

the

Rea

gan

pres

iden

cy.

In f

all

of

1963 t

he

Ken

ned

y p

resi

den

tial

re

cord

was

far

fro

m a

sm

ashi

ng s

ucce

ss.

In

Iate

ign

affa

irs.

the

—

Con

tin

ued

or

page

10

The

boo

ksdi

scus

sed

in th

e ac

com

pany

ing

essa

y in

clud

e so

me

of th

e fo

llow

ing

wor

ks, a

ll o

f w

hich

hav

e be

en r

elea

sed

or r

eiss

ued

in c

onju

ncti

on w

ith

the

25th

ann

iver

sary

of t

he a

Tsf

it-

sina

tion

of P

resi

dent

Joh

n F

. Ken

nedy

.

LIF

E i

n C

am

elot:

Th

e K

enn

edy

Yea

rs

Edi

ted

by P

hili

p B

. Kun

hard

t Jr

Lit

tle,

Bro

wn

319

pp. $

40

TH

E W

AY

WE

WE

RE

•

Tie

V..

- K

enn

edy

Wa

s S

ho

t

Lit

tle,

Bro

wn.

189

pp.

$16

.95

JOH

N F

ITZ

GE

RA

LD

KE

NN

ED

Y

As

We

Rem

emb

er H

im

Edi

ted

by J

oan

Mey

ers

Run

ning

Pre

ss. 2

41 p

p. $

24 9

5

KE

NN

ED

Y;

25

Yea

rs

- -

• _

__-

JFK

and

Th

e M

yth

Of C

amel

ot

John

F. K

enne

dy w

ith h

is d

augh

ter

Car

olin

e

Con

tinu

ed f

rom

pap

I

mos

t not

able

eve

nt h

ad b

een

the

incr

edib

ly

inep

t mili

tary

and

hum

an d

ebac

le a

t the

Bay

of

Pig

s. O

n th

e do

mes

tic f

ront

Ken

nedy

had

be

en la

rgel

y un

able

to p

ersu

ade

Con

gres

s to

pa

ss a

ny tr

uly

sign

ific

ant l

egis

lativ

e pr

opos

-al

s. P

oliti

cally

the

1962

con

gres

sion

al e

lec-

tion

s h

ad w

itne

ssed

no

nota

ble

Dem

atic

or

Rep

ubli

can

gain

s, b

ut r

e-el

ecti

on tooc

r the

pres

iden

cy in

196

4 ap

pear

ed s

afe

only

if th

e R

epub

lican

s w

ould

be

so k

ind

as to

nom

inat

e B

arry

Gol

dwat

er.

,Tha

t muc

h w

as k

now

n on

Nov

. 22,

196

3.

How

ever

, any

one

of

seve

ral

thin

gs n

ow .

know

n w

ould

hav

e, if

reve

aled

, in

1963

or a

t an

y po

int d

urin

g th

e la

ter

life

of

a no

n-as

-sa

ssin

ated

Joh

n F.

Ken

nedy

, end

ed th

e K

en-

nedy

pre

side

ncy

and

left

the

ex-p

resi

dent

w

ith

a hi

stor

ical

rep

utat

ion

infe

rior

to th

at

of

Ric

har

d M

. N

ixo

n,

amo

ng

oth

eT

rs.

e

two

mos

t dam

agin

g ex

ampl

es w

ill s

uffi

ce.

Rev

elat

ions

of

any

part

of

the

Ken

nedy

-sup

-

port

ed C

LA

ass

assi

natio

n pl

ots

targ

eted

at

Cub

a's

Fide

l Cas

tro

likel

y w

ould

hav

e ha

d as

se

vere

a c

onte

mpo

rane

ous

polit

ical

impa

ct

as W

ater

gate

had

on

the

Nix

on p

resi

denc

y .

or t

he I

ran-

cont

ra s

cand

als

have

had

on

Rea

gan'

s. S

econ

d, e

ven

if th

e M

afia

's e

x-te

nsiv

e in

volv

emen

t in

thos

e go

verr

u-nen

t-

spon

sore

d pl

ots

had

not

on i

ts o

wn

been

en

ough

to g

ener

ate

call

s fo

r im

peac

hmen

t or

res

igna

tion

, rev

elat

ion

of a

n in

cum

bent

pr

esid

ent's

ext

ensi

ve s

exua

l inv

olve

men

t w

ith a

top

hood

lum

's gi

rlfr

iend

—Sa

m G

ian-

cana

's J

udit

h C

ampb

ell-

-cer

tain

ly w

ould

ha

ve. L

ooke

d at

with

the

cold

ret

rosp

ectiv

e ey

es o

f hi

stor

y, th

e as

sass

inat

ion

in D

alla

s m

ay w

ell h

ave

save

d Jo

hn K

enne

dy f

rom

a

hP

PT

I

FRO

IA •1

0.1.

FIT

2CAR

AD K

ENW

DY

AS

St 1

11M

tM86

1

real

m o

f m

otiv

e, b

oth

for

Osw

ald

and

f R

uby.

To

pict

ure

Rub

y as

a p

ossi

ble

oper

- or

ativ

e of

org

aniz

ed c

rim

e, g

iven

Rub

y's

back

-gr

ound

, is

not a

t all

dif

ficu

lt, a

ltho

ugh

to

expl

ain

Rub

y's

acti

ons

in th

e pe

riod

Nov

. 22

-24

as th

ose

of a

con

spir

ator

ial h

it-m

an is

di

ffic

ult i

f no

t dow

nrig

ht im

poss

ible

. Sim

-il

arly

, to

pict

ure

Osw

ald

as m

otiv

ated

by

poli

tica

l, e

.g.,

pro-

Cas

tro

desi

res,

rat

her

than

by

noni

deol

ogic

al id

iosy

ncra

sies

, is

also

ea

sily

pos

sibl

e in

ligh

t of

Osw

ald'

s qu

ixot

ic

hist

ory

as a

n em

igre

to th

e So

viet

Uni

on. T

o rk

wal

d to

any

con

spir

ator

ial s

pons

ors,

10

—

---

o ---- --

two

mos

t dam

agin

g ex

ampl

es w

ill s

uffi

ce.

Rev

elat

ions

of

any

part

of

the

Ken

nedy

-sup

-po

rted

CL

4 as

sass

inat

ion

plot

s ta

rget

ed a

t C

uba'

s Fi

del C

astr

o lik

ely

wou

ld h

ave

had

as

seve

re a

con

tem

pora

neou

s po

liti

cal i

mpa

ct

as W

ater

gate

had

on

the

Nix

on p

resi

denc

y or

the

Iran

-co

ntr

a sc

and

als

hav

e h

ad o

n

Rea

gan'

s. S

econ

d, e

ven

if t

he M

afia

's e

x-te

nsiv

e in

volv

emen

t in

thos

e go

vern

men

t-sp

onso

red

plot

s ha

d no

t on

its

ow

n be

en

-eno

ugh

to g

ener

ate

call

s fo

r im

peac

hmen

t or

res

igna

tion

, rev

elat

ion

of a

n in

cum

bent

pr

esid

ent's

ext

ensi

ve s

exua

l in

volv

emen

t w

ith a

top

hood

lum

's g

irlf

rien

d—Sa

m G

ian-

cana

's J

udit

h C

ampb

ell-

-cer

tain

ly w

ould

ha

ve. L

ooke

d at

wit

h th

e co

ld r

etro

spec

tive

ey

es o

f hi

stor

y, t

he a

ssas

sina

tion

in

Dal

las

may

wel

l hav

e sa

ved

John

Ken

nedy

fro

m a

po

liti

cal

dest

ruct

ion

that

wou

ld h

ave

been

ex

trao

rdin

arily

pai

nful

and

em

barr

assi

ng.

jOH

N K

EN

NE

DY

is o

f co

urse

not

the

on

ly m

ajo

r fi

gu

re f

rom

th

e 1

96

0s

who

se r

eput

atio

n in

dea

th h

as f

ar e

x-ce

eded

his

pop

ular

ity w

hile

-aliv

e or

his

li

kel

y p

op

ula

rity

had

he

liv

ed. T

he

sam

e is

eq

ual

ly t

rue

for

the

Rev

. M

arti

n

Lut

her

Kin

g Jr

., w

ho a

t the

tim

e of

his

dea

th

was

wid

ely

view

ed a

s bo

th d

ange

rous

ly r

ad-

ical

on

the

ques

tion

of

Vie

tnam

and

as

in-

crea

sing

ly l

ess

infl

uen

tial

wit

hin

bla

ck

Am

eric

a, a

nd f

or R

ober

t Ken

nedy

. who

at

the

tim

e of

his

ass

assi

nati

on w

as s

trug

glin

g bo

th t

o ev

ade

resp

onsi

bili

ty f

or t

he F

BI'

s re

cent

ly r

evea

led

wir

etap

ping

of

the

just

-de-

ceas

ed K

ing

and

to q

uell

the

resu

rgen

ce o

f 'b

ad B

obby

" an

alys

es th

at f

ollo

wed

fro

m h

is

entr

y in

to t

he 1

968

pres

iden

tial

cam

paig

n on

ly a

fter

Eug

ene

McC

arth

y ha

d al

l but

top-

pled

Lyn

don

John

son.

For

ML

K, d

eath

in

Mem

phis

res

ulte

d in

a s

udde

n en

shri

nem

ent

in A

mer

ican

his

tory

that

wou

ld h

ave

been

m

ost u

nlik

ely

had

he s

urvi

ved

thro

ugh

the

late

196

0s a

nd i

nto

the

1970

s, n

ever

min

d un

til t

he p

rese

nt d

ay. F

or R

FK

too,

pop

ular

hi

stor

y's

sym

boli

sm h

as b

een

kind

er t

han

wou

ld h

ave

been

in th

e ca

se h

ad h

e fa

iled

to

capt

ure

the

Dem

ocra

tic

nom

inat

ion

from

H

uber

t Hum

phre

y in

196

8 or

had

he

fail

ed

to w

in o

ut o

ver

Ric

hard

Nix

on.

Tho

mas

Bro

wn

says

wit

h re

fere

nce

to th

e C

astr

o pl

ots

and

the

Maf

ia c

onne

ctio

ns th

at

"the

mos

t sa

lien

t as

pect

of

the

reve

lati

ons

was

thei

r la

ck o

f la

stin

g im

pact

on

the

Ken

-ne

dy im

age,

" an

d th

at c

oncl

usio

n, in

ligh

t of

FIN

AL

DIS

CL

OS

UR

E

Th

e F

ull

Tru

th A

bo

ut

the

Ass

ass

ina

tio

n o

f P

resi

den

t K

enn

edy

B

y D

avid

W. B

elin

Sc

rihn

ers.

249

pp.

$19

.95

CO

NT

RA

CT

ON

AM

ER

ICA

T

he

Maf

ia M

urd

er o

f P

resi

den

t J

oh

n F

. K

enn

edy

B

y D

avid

Sch

eim

S

hapo

lsky

. 480

pp.

$19

.95

JOH

N F

. KE

NN

ED

Y

An

d a

New

Gen

erati

on

B

y D

avid

Bur

ner.

Edi

ted

by O

scar

Han

dlin

both

the

Gal

lup

stat

isti

cs a

nd th

e on

com

ing'

fl

ow o

f re

vere

ntia

l pi

ctur

e bo

oks,

is

quit

e in

disp

utab

le. C

oupl

ed w

ith

it, h

owev

er, h

as

been

an

ongo

ing

fasc

inat

ion—

at le

ast o

n th

e pa

rt o

f au

thor

s an

d pu

blis

hers

—w

ith

the

real

and

imag

ined

min

utia

e of

the

Ken

nedy

as

sass

inat

ion

itse

lf, a

fas

cina

tion

that

sho

ws

no s

ign

of d

imin

utio

n ev

en a

s th

e m

ost d

e-te

rmin

ed c

onsp

irac

y th

eori

sts

flir

t wit

h sc

i-en

ce f

icti

on in

thei

r ov

erhe

ated

imag

inin

gs

of c

orps

e-ta

mpe

ring

and

Lee

Har

vey

Os-

wal

d lo

ok-a

like

s. T

o an

yone

who

has

fol

-lo

wed

even

in a

hal

f-hea

rted

fas

hio

n t

he

evol

utio

n of

the

bur

geon

ing

lite

ratu

re o

n Jo

hn K

enne

dy's

sho

otin

g, th

e si

nkin

g fe

elin

g th

at le

ss is

kno

wn

wit

h ea

ch p

assi

ng y

ear—

and

arri

ving

boo

k—be

com

es i

ncre

asin

gly

John

F. K

enne

dy w

ith h

is d

augh

ter

Car

olin

e

Lit

tle,

Bro

wn. 189 p

p. $16.9

5

JOH

N F

ITZ

GE

RA

LD

KE

NN

ED

Y

..A

s W

e R

emem

ber

Him

E

dite

d by

Joa

n M

eyer

s R

un

nin

g P

ress

. 2

41

pp

. $

24

.95

KE

NN

ED

Y:

25

Yea

rs

By

The

odor

e C

. Sor

enso

n P

eren

nia

l/H

arper

& R

ow

. 781 p

p.

Pap

erb

ack

, $

10

.95

'LE

T T

HE

WO

RD

GO

FO

RT

H'

Th

e S

pee

ches

, S

tate

men

ts,

an

d

Wri

tin

gs

of

Joh

n F

. K

enn

edy

Sel

ecte

d an

d w

ith

an I

ntro

duct

ion

By

The

odor

e C

. Sor

enso

n D

elac

ort

e. 4

33 p

p. $

25

MA

FIA

KIN

GF

ISH

: C

arl

os

Marc

ello

an

d t

he

Ass

ass

inati

on

of

Joh

n F

. K

enn

edy

By

John

H. D

avis

M

cGra

w-H

ill.

580

pp.

$19

.95

ON

E B

RIE

F S

HIN

ING

MO

ME

NT

R

emem

ber

ing K

enn

edy

By

Will

iam

Man

ches

ter

Litt

le, B

row

n. 2

80 p

p. P

aper

bac

k, $16.9

5

ines

capa

ble.

Hop

ing

to s

tem

thi

s de

volu

-ti

onar

y pa

th i

s D

avid

Bel

in, f

orm

er e

xecu

-ti

ve d

irec

tor

of t

he R

ocke

fell

er C

omm

is-

sion

's in

quir

y in

to C

IA m

isde

eds

and

a co

un-

sel t

o th

e W

arre

n C

omm

issi

on, w

hose

bas

ic

conc

lusi

ons

abou

t th

e K

enne

dy a

ssas

sina

-ti

on B

elin

per

suas

ivel

y de

fend

s.

For

all

"be

yond

rea

sona

ble

doub

t' pu

r-p

ose

s th

e p

hy

sica

l fa

cts

of

the

Ken

ned

y

shoo

ting

can

no

long

er b

e di

sput

ed. K

en-

nedy

was

ind

eed

kill

ed b

y L

ee H

arve

y O

s-w

ald

firi

ng f

rom

the

sixt

h fl

oor

of th

e T

exas

S

cho

ol

Bo

ok

Dep

osi

tory

; n

o o

ther

sh

ots

w

ere

rued

at

his

car;

the

re w

as n

o "s

econ

d gu

nman

." S

imil

arly

bey

ond

disp

ute

is J

ack

Rub

y's

kill

ing

of O

swal

d tw

o da

ys la

ter.

W

here

que

stio

ns c

an b

e as

ked

is i

n th

e

!KW

-4.

414

FiT

ICA

RK

.0 K

EN

NE

DY

45

NI

PM

EM

dCR

Mik

e

real

m o

f m

otiv

e, b

oth

for

Osw

ald

and

for

Rub

y. T

o pi

ctur

e R

uby

as a

pos

sibl

e op

er-

ativ

e of

org

aniz

ed c

rim

e. g

iven

Ru

by'

s lu

ck-

gro

un

d,

is n

ot

at a

l d

iffi

cult

, al

tho

ug

h t

o

expl

ain

Rub

y's

acti

ons

in t

he p

erio

d N

ov.

22-2

4 as

thos

e of

a c

onsp

irat

oria

l hit

-man

is

diff

icul

t if

not

dow

nrig

ht i

mpo

ssib

le. S

im-

ilar

ly, to

pic

ture

Osw

ald

as

mo

tiv

ated

by

poli

tica

l, e

.g.,

pro

-Cas

tro d

esir

es,

rath

er

than

by

noni

deol

ogic

al id

iosy

ncra

sies

, is

also

ea

sily

pos

sibl

e in

ligh

t of

Osw

ald'

s qu

ixot

ic

hist

ory

as a

n em

igre

to th

e S

ovie

t Uni

on. T

o ti

e O

swal

d to

any

con

spir

ator

ial

spon

sors

, ho

wev

er, a

nd e

spec

iall

y to

any

pos

sibl

e or

-g

aniz

ed c

rim

e sp

on

sors

, as

is

the

curr

ent

po

pu

lar

rag

e, h

as s

o f

ar n

ot

bee

n d

on

e in

an

y pe

rsua

sive

fas

hion

and

is

unli

kely

eve

r to

be

done

. Cou

nsel

Bel

in f

orth

righ

tly

puz-

zles

over

the

stil

l undet

erm

ined

poss

ible

re

leva

nce

of O

swal

d's

Sep

tem

ber

1963

tri

p to

Mex

ico

Cit

y, b

ut h

e ac

know

ledg

es t

hat

nei

ther

the

War

ren C

om

mis

sion n

or

the

Hou

se A

ssas

sina

tion

s C

omm

itte

e—no

r an

y-on

e el

se—

has

offe

red

a fu

lly

conv

inci

ng e

x-pl

anat

ion

of O

swal

d's

mot

ive.

As

ofte

n is

the

case

, q

ues

tio

ns

of

inte

nt

are

the

mo

st d

if-

ficu

lt t

o an

swer

, and

wit

h re

gard

to

the

rifl

e sh

ots

of

Nov. 22, 1963, per

hap

s th

e ti

me

has

mor

e th

an c

ome

for

us t

o ac

know

ledg

e th

at t

hey

nev

er w

ill

be

sati

sfac

tori

ly a

n-

swer

ed.

The

pop

ular

myt

holo

gy o

f "C

amel

ot"

and

the

popu

lar

appe

tite

for

unp

rove

n—an

d un

-pr

ovab

le—

cons

pira

tori

al e

xpla

nati

ons

for

John

Ken

nedy

's d

eath

in

Dal

las

now

see

m

des

tined

to e

nte

r th

e lo

ng-t

erm

annal

s of

Am

eric

an h

isto

ry, t

he f

acts

not

wit

hsta

nd-

ing. Jo

hn K

enned

y's

thousa

nd d

ays

in t

he

Wh

ite

Ho

use

wer

e n

ot

the

go

lden

ag

e o

f A

mer

ican

pre

side

ntia

l le

ader

ship

any

mor

e th

an N

ov. 2

2, 1

963,

wit

ness

ed t

he g

reat

est

consp

irac

y i

n h

isto

ry o

r th

e M

afia

's m

ost

st

unnin

g "

hit

," b

ut

unti

l w

e co

mm

it o

ur-

selv

es t

o a

mo

re c

riti

cal

and

les

s si

mp

le-

min

ded

ren

der

ing

of

ou

r h

isto

ry,

we

are

dest

ined

to

be s

addl

ed w

ith

reve

rent

ial

pic-

ture

boo

ks a

nd b

izar

re c

onsp

irat

oria

l tr

acts

. ■

The

boo

ks d

iscu

ssed

in th

e ac

com

pany

ing

essa

y in

clud

e so

me

of th

e fo

llow

ing

wor

ks, a

ll of

w

hich

hav

e be

en r

elea

sed

or r

eiss

ued

in

conj

unct

ion

ariii

the

Z5t

h an

nive

rsar

y of

the

USW

-Si

llatiG

at 0

Pu:

idea

l Ale

x F

Ken

neo

UF

E I

N C

am

elo

t: T

he

Ken

ned

y

Yea

rs

Edi

ted

by P

hili

p B

. Kun

hard

t Jr

. L

ittle

, Bro

wn.

319

pp.

$40

TH

E W

AY

WE

WE

RE

1963, T

he

Yea

r K

enn

edy W

as

Sh

ot

Edi

ted

by R

ober

t Mac

Nei

l C

arro

ll &

Gra

f, 2

56

pp

. $

39

95

JF

K:

His

tory

of

an

Im

age

By

Tho

mas

Bro

wn

Ind

ian

a U

niv

ersi

ty P

ress

. 1

60

pp

. $

19

.95