John F. Kennedy Book by Larry Sabato - Business Insider

8/13/2019 John F. Kennedy Book by Larry Sabato - Business Insider

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It's not just crackpots

who question theconventional wisdom that

Lee Harvey Oswald acted

alone when he killed

President John F.

Kennedy on Nov. 22,

1963.

University of Virginia

professor Larry Sabato

(http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-obamacare-2014-elections-democrats-senate-2013-11)

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F. Kennedy Book By Larry Sabato - Business Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/john-f-kennedy-book-by-larry-s

4 06/11/20


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(http://politics.virginia.edu/people/sabato), author of "The Kennedy

Half-Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John

F. Kennedy (http://www.amazon.com/The-Kennedy-Half-Century-

Presidency-Assassination/dp/1620402807)" argues that "the chance of

some sort of conspiracy involving Oswald is not insubstantial."

Sabato reached this conclusion after considering 50 years of evidence,

even while also debunking a conspiracy theory

(http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/sabato-

jfk-book-kennedy-assassination-theory-98245.html)

put forth by a House committee in 1979.

"For all attempts to close the case as 'just Oswald,'

fair-minded observers continue to be troubled by

many aspects of eyewitness testimony and paper

trails," he writes.

The founder of the UVA Center for Politics opened this never-ending

debate "because the assassination is critical both to understanding

America's past and future paths and to the lasting legacy of

John Kennedy (http://www.businessinsider.com

/john-f-kennedys-enduring-legacy-is-starting-

to-become-much-clearer-2013-10)that is the subject of this

book."

Alternative theories cannot be put to rest because of discrepancies and

inadequacies in the initial response to the assassination.

To start, there are the questions about why the autopsy was performed at

the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland, not in Texas as required

by the law, and why the Bethesda team did not confer with doctors from

the Texas trauma room and did not have the president's clothes.


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"[The autopsy] opens it up to conspiracy theories immediately that the

body was altered, the wounds were altered, and all the rest of it," Sabato

told us. "I understand why they couldn't leave the body there but it would

have been so much better if it had been performed in Dallas."

More questions arise with the investigation ordered by President Lyndon

Johnson, which Sabato claims was haphazard and inadequate.

"The problem is the Warren Commission (http://www.archives.gov

/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html) did not do a

thorough job when the trail was hot," Sabato told Business Insider. "The

trail went cold decades ago. It is virtually impossible 50 years later to put

all of the pieces back together. I've interviewed people 50 years later that

the Warren Commission never interviewed that were right there and took

important photos or films."

Because of these errors, certain conspiracy theories may never be put to

rest.

AP


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While all evidence suggests that Oswald killed

Kennedy, some clues suggests that he may not have

been the only assassin or that he may not have acted

alone.

First, there remains "the live possibility of a second gunman in the grassy

knoll area," given the testimony of several witnesses, the presence of

phony Secret Service agents, and the armed men seen in the vicinity of

the Dealey plaza before, during, and after the assassination.

Adding to this theory is Dr. Robert McClelland, a physician in the trauma

room of the hospital where JFK was taken, who contends that the wound

he saw was consistent with a shot from the grassy knoll. Sabato notes that

the "ambiguous nature of the visual evidence" has led experts to disagree

as to whether the bullet that entered JFK's head came from the rear

(where Oswald was) or the front (the grassy knoll).

As for the idea that Oswald received help or encouragement, there is no

proof that he did, but there also is no proof that he didn't and there are

reasons to be suspicious.

"For a complete nobody, Oswald certainly did seem to hang out with

well-connected people," Sabato told BI.

Some of those shady connections include:

Upon returning from his short defection to the Soviet Union, Oswald

became friends with an international man of mystery named George de

Mohrenschildt, who "had ties with American intelligence and the State

Department ... and killed himself before he could testify to the House

Committee on Assassinations," Sabato said.

When Oswald moved from Dallas to New Orleans, he moved in with his

uncle, a small time hustler and bookie for New Orleans Mafia boss Carlos

Marcello. According to an FBI informant, Oswald received money from


4 06/11/20


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one of Marcello's chief lieutenants.

It was in the Big Easy where Oswald became

acquainted with the FBI. Oswald handed out pro-Castro

literature with the address 544 Camp Street on it. Curiously, FBI agent

Guy Bannister and a CIA-backed Cuban Revolutionary Council also

rented space at the same location.

"One thing that I've always wondered about is [Oswald's] time in New

Orleans because he was apparently associated with Guy Bannister, who

clearly had FBI and CIA ties, and yet he's also scuffling on the street with

[the local representative of] an anti-Castro group," Sabato said.

When Oswald was arrested after the fight, he demanded to speak with

FBI, and the agency sent Special Agent John Quigley to see him.

"All of these things are suspicious," Sabato told BI.

As a teenage Oswald was photographed with David Ferrie, a staunch

anticommunist who would allegedly go on to buy weapons from mob boss

Marcello and hand them off to Bannister and a CIA asset. Ferrie denied

ever knowing Oswald, yet in September 1963, six witnesses alleged that

the two showed up at a voter registration office in Clinton, Miss.

"It could be that Oswald was just a Forrest-Gump like

character who popped up at interesting moments

wherever he happened to live," Sabato writes. "But

just as conceivably, whether related to the Kennedy

assassination or not, Oswald actually had secretive

contacts with the CIA or the FBI, or both."


4 06/11/20


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Sabato details several more intriguing connections to Oswald, includingthe top CIA officials who withheld information about Oswald after he

allegedly showed up at the Cuban and Russian embassies in Mexico City

on Oct. 9, 1963, in a failed attempt to secure visas so that he could go back

to the Soviet Union.

When the CIA Mexico City station informed CIA headquarters that a man

named Lee Oswald had been in contact with the Soviet consulate, Langley

only sent a bare-bones reply with Oswald's basic facts. And the CIA,

which had self-operating surveillance cameras and telephone bugs in both

buildings, has never produced a photo or recordings of Oswald at either

embassy.

"The pieces of the Oswald puzzle stamped CIA may

be ill-fitting, but they could reasonably create a

portrait of covert action," Sabato writes. "CIA

headquarters might have found a good use for

Oswald and would not have wanted to share how

much they knew about this particular asset with

lower-level employees or foreign country stations."

Taken together, Sabato concludes that the prime suspects for influencing

Oswald to murder JFK would be the Mafia, the anti-Castro Cubans, or a

AP Photo/LM Otero


4 06/11/20


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Larry J. Sabato

rogue cell within the CIA.

"They all had means, motive, and opportunity,"

according to Sabato.

"As far as the CIA goes it is clear beyond question that the CIA lied

repeatedly to the Warren Commission and continued lying to the House

Select Committee on Assassinations," Sabato told BI. "Revealing nothing

about the assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. Revealing very little

about the fact they kept close tabs on Oswald: They knew what he was

doing, they were evaluating him. I think they had something in mind. I

don't subscribe to the hidden coup within the CIA, although I don't rule it

out. "

The suspicions about CIA went all the way to the top. Sabato writes that

Marvin Watson, LBJ's postmaster general, told the FBI that "President

Johnson expressed a belief in private in 1967 that the CIA had had a role

in Kennedy's death."

"Given the lack ofhard evidence, to

accuse any arm or

agency of the federal

government of

orchestrating

Kennedy's

assassination is both

irresponsible and

disingenuous,"

Sabato writes. "At

the same time, it is

impossible to rule

out the possibility


4 06/11/20


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that small, secret

cabal of CIA

hard-liners, angry

about Kennedy's

handling of Cuba and sensing a leftward turn on

negotiations with the Soviets ... took matters into

their own hands lest the United States go soft on

Communism."

The truth is that we may never know.

"I think this subject after 50 years requires some humility, which very few

analysts of the assassination have," Sabato told BI.

"I am tired of reading books by authors who are absolutely certain that

they have found the truth about the assassination. Malarkey," Sabato

said. "There is no way to have a full picture. We are where we are and I

think we are just going to have to accept that."

New details could come out soon, however, when

thousands of documents are scheduled to be released in October 2017.

"The President at that time will get to rule whether

anything can remain secret and redacted," Sabato said.

SEE ALSO: Sabato explains the legacy of

John F Kennedy

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(http://www.businessinsider.com/author/michael-kelley)

Michael Kelley(http://www.businessinsider.com/author/michael-kelley)

(mailto:[email protected]) (http

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14 68

8 17

on Oct 23, 1:57 PM

(http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52680e106bb3f7030245272b) said:

Perhaps it was conspiracy of husbands pissed off that he was

borrowing their wives?

Reply

ngg74

(/commenter?id=50b8e4baeab8ea1555000004)

11 6

Show non-Insider comments earlier in this conversation

jamesusnvet


4 06/11/20


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on Oct 23, 2:16 PM

(http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52681260ecad04010ed73520) said:

Go watch the films, seconds before the shot(s) was/were fired the

secret service was called off of the president's motorcade. Moreover

there was a Deathbed confession by Everette Howard Hunt, Jr.

http://en.wikipedia.org

/wiki/E._Howard_Hunt#Posthumous_allegations:_.22deathbed_co

nfession.22_of_involvement_in_JFK_Assassination(http://en.wikipedia.org

/wiki/E._Howard_Hunt#Posthumous_allegations:_.22deathbed_co

nfession.22_of_involvement_in_JFK_Assassination)

Jesse Ventura's show that has the confession video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96FDflK_Iug

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96FDflK_Iug)

Reply

(/commenter?id=4e66763149e2ae793b00001b)

5 6

on Oct 23, 2:56

PM (http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52681bd9ecad04c91bd73522)

said:

@Not so fast :Yes, there are always detractors for just about

anything, the Holocaust, the moon landing, ect. But there is more

evidence that there was a conspiracy then there wasn't. Go watchthe film showing the closest secret service agents being called off

the motorcade (you can see the confusion one of the agents is

expressing, this is not anything close to normal).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xEK16kLHsM

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xEK16kLHsM)

The "official" line is JFK ordered the secret service agents to back

off days before hand however you can clearly see the command is

not given by JFK, in fact he doesn't seem to even realize the agents

behind him are gone.

Reply

jamesusnvet


8 7

on Oct 23, 3:19

PM (http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52682136eab8ea2523d7351f)

said:

jamesusnvet



14 06/11/20


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Show 9 repliesShow non-Insider replies

@Tom Slick: Hmm, I guess video evidence of agents being called

off the motorcade is all bullshit then....

Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?

-Chico Marx

Reply

Show non-Insider comments earlier in this conversation

11 5

on Oct 23, 3:21

PM (http://www.businessinsider.com/c/526821d369bedd8c3944181b)

said:

@Peter Verkooijen: Oh really??

Then I'll just leave this here.

Explosive Jackie O tapes 'reveal how she believed Lyndon B

Johnson killed JFK and had affair with movie star'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023418/Jackie-

O-tapes-reveal-JFKs-affairs-believed-death.html

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023418/Jackie-

O-tapes-reveal-JFKs-affairs-believed-death.html)

Reply

jamesusnvet


2 5

on Oct 23, 7:33

PM (http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52685ccfecad04181ce49193)

said:

@Peter Verkooijen: That was her initial reaction.

After the president's death, she refused to remove her blood-

stained clothing and regretted having washed the blood off her face

and hands. She continued to wear the blood-stained pink suit as

she went on board Air Force One and stood next to Johnson when

he took the oath of office as President. She told Lady Bird Johnson,

"I want them to see what they have done to Jack."

jamesusnvet



14 06/11/20


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13/14

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(http://www.businessinsider.com/c/5268270deab8eaaf2cd73526) said:

um, there was actually a good special on bio I believe that explained

the whole backstory and how the shooter was the nephew of a shady

mobster/businessman that John and his brother were trying to

deport out of the country unsuccessfully numerous times. surprised

everyone doesn't know about this by now.

Reply

2 0

on Nov 2, 7:29 PM

(http://www.businessinsider.com/c/52758af7ecad0436153c3c85) said:

"New details could come out soon, however, when thousands of

documents are scheduled to be released in October 2017.

"The President at that time will get to rule whether anything can

remain secret and redacted," Sabato said."

Some say this is over fifty years of obvious federal obstruction of

justice.

Reply

kellydorsey8

(/commenter?id=5032d57cecad041b3000000f)


14 06/11/20


14/14


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