mirror of
https://github.com/nhammer514/textfiles-politics.git
synced 2024-12-29 09:16:21 -05:00
532 lines
29 KiB
XML
532 lines
29 KiB
XML
<xml><p>Article: 468 of sgi.talk.ratical
|
|
From: dave@ratmandu.esd.sgi.com (dave "who can do? ratmandu!" ratcliffe)
|
|
Subject: memorandum by J.E. Hoover on 11/29/63 re: his meeting with LBJ
|
|
Keywords: J.E. Hoover's FBI "spoon fed" the Warren Comission its data
|
|
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.
|
|
Date: Fri, 7 Feb 1992 19:29:31 GMT
|
|
Lines: 577</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Summary: The second half of this post includes the copy of a memorandum
|
|
written by J. Edgar Hoover immediately after he met w/LBJ in
|
|
the Oval Office seven days after President Kennedy had been
|
|
murdered. The first half analyzes some of the more remarkable
|
|
details of this memo.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> In 1963, John Edgar Hoover and Lyndon Baines Johnson knew each other
|
|
very well. They had lived across the street from each other for the
|
|
past 19 years. A professional bureaucrat of formidable talents, a 29-
|
|
year-old Hoover was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation
|
|
in 1924 (Hoover added "Federal" to the title in 1935) by then Attorney
|
|
General Harlan F. Stone to clean up a corrupt organization. During
|
|
WWII, President Roosevelt expanded the FBI's reach charging Hoover with
|
|
investigations of Nazi and Communist activities in the U.S. The Cold
|
|
War gave the Bureau new power and Hoover new glory. Hoover's dossiers
|
|
continued to grow as well as his command of Congress, his manipulation
|
|
and intimidation of the press, and his stature in the country. Hoover
|
|
supplied Joe McCarthy with a great deal of the ammunition which enabled
|
|
McCarthy to sustain his "crusade" far longer than would have been
|
|
possible without Hoover's connivance.
|
|
|
|
When Robert Kennedy became Attorney General in 1961, Hoover's
|
|
entrenched power-structures suffered a two-year, 10-month setback.
|
|
Long before 1961, Hoover had created a direct channel of communication
|
|
with whoever was the current occupant of the Oval Office--bypassing the
|
|
actual chain of command which went from the President, through the
|
|
Attorney General, to Director of the FBI. </p>
|
|
|
|
<p> When LBJ assumed the Presidency, Hoover's direct link into the White
|
|
House was re-established. Johnson's official relationship with Hoover
|
|
was enhanced by personal friendship as well. "As majority leader [in
|
|
the Senate], Johnson already had neen receiving a steady stream of
|
|
reports and dossiers from the Director . . . which he prized both as
|
|
a means of controlling difficult senators and as a gratification of
|
|
earthier instincts. For President Johnson, secrets were in themselves
|
|
perquisites of power . . . No chief executive praised the Director so
|
|
warmly. In an executive order exempting Hoover, then sixty nine, from
|
|
compulsory retirement at seventy, Johnson hailed him as `a quiet,
|
|
humble and magnificent public servant . . . a hero to millions of
|
|
citizens and an anathema to all evil men. . . . The nation cannot
|
|
afford to lose you . . . No other American, now or in our past, has
|
|
served the cause of justice so faithfully and so well' ("Johnson Hails
|
|
Hoover Service, Waives Compulsory Retirement," NYT, May 9, 1964)."
|
|
-- from "The Age of Surveillance, The Aims and Methods of America's
|
|
Political Intelligence System," by Frank Donner, (c) 1980, Knopf.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The following memorandum, written by Hoover immediately after his
|
|
meeting with President Johnson, just seven days after the assassination
|
|
of President Kennedy, is a remarkable document to say the least. There
|
|
is much information imparted in the memo regarding just how fluid and
|
|
unstable the cover story about who killed JFK still was shaping up to be
|
|
at that time. By analyzing the discrepancies between the story Hoover
|
|
briefed Johnson about on November 29th, and what the final cover story
|
|
handed down by the Warren Commission would claim almost a year later,
|
|
we can better appreciate the degree to which the final "official report"
|
|
was sculpted to fit the constraints the Commission was forced to adhere
|
|
to, regardless of the actual facts of the assassination.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> This document is what is known in bureaucracy-speak as a "memo for the
|
|
record." It was a customary practice in the upper levels of the
|
|
bureaucracy in the days before electronic technology in Washington, D.C.
|
|
An official of high rank would usually return to her or his office
|
|
after such a meeting and dictate a memorandum of as many details of the
|
|
discussion as could be remembered. It was a way of recording one's own
|
|
professional dealings for future reference.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Hoover starts out recounting that Johnson brings up "the proposed group"
|
|
--what will become the Warren Commission--to study the report Hoover is
|
|
trying to complete by the end of the same day. This has been initiated
|
|
by Johnson to prevent an independent investigation by Congress of the
|
|
assassination (Reagan tried to do the same thing with the Tower
|
|
Commission). Johnson would publically announce the creation of the
|
|
Warren Commission later that same day. This was a critical move by
|
|
Johnson: by appointing the Warren Commission, they effectively bottled
|
|
up Bobby Kennedy, they bottled up the Senate, and they bottled up Texas.
|
|
The Tower Commission didn't succeed in pre-empting an investigation by
|
|
Congress. In the end, the Warren Commission didn't either, but it did
|
|
keep the cork in place, preventing any other "official" examination, for
|
|
well over another decade.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> It is interesting to note that of all the people listed at the bottom of
|
|
page one, retired General Lauris Norstad (who had been head of the NATO
|
|
forces at SHAPE headquarters in Europe before his retirement) was the
|
|
only one who somehow succeeded in not serving on this Presidential
|
|
Commission. Earl Warren did NOT want the job and had sent a memo ahead
|
|
to the Oval Office, before he answered LBJ's summons, stating he would
|
|
not participate in such a commission. But when push came to shove,
|
|
Johnson's formidable powers of persuasion turned Warren's `no' into a
|
|
`yes.' Apparently, even such focused persuasion could not win Norstad's
|
|
agreement.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The six topic bullets at the bottom of page one are file listings. This
|
|
is important for anyone ever finding themself searching for documents
|
|
from the government through Freedom Of Information Act requests. This
|
|
type of listing is very useful beccause it lets one know that these
|
|
files exist, and that one might be able to find documents using this
|
|
method which one might not find (or even know about) any other way.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> In the middle of the first paragraph on page 3, Hoover relates how the
|
|
Dallas police didn't even make a move to stop Ruby. This is a pretty
|
|
heavy line by Hoover. He implies the Dallas cops must have somehow
|
|
been in collusion to silence Oswald from living to stand trial. But
|
|
the implication is never fleshed out.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The second half of page three contains some of the most enlightening
|
|
statements of the whole memo. Hoover tells Johnson three shots were
|
|
fired. Johnson asks "if any were fired at him." This question goes
|
|
a long way towards explaining the duress under which he served as
|
|
president. LBJ had heard bullets flying overhead--he had been that
|
|
close to the action. It was completely out of keeping with the
|
|
standard security procedures the Secret Service employed to have any
|
|
such parade appearance be attended by *both* the president and the
|
|
vice president. Johnson heard the sounds of those guns very clearly
|
|
and the message they conveyed. He lived out the rest of his public
|
|
life always aware of their possible return. Not long before he died,
|
|
LBJ was interviewed by his friend and writer Leo Janos. In the July,
|
|
1973 issue of "The Atlantic Monthly," Janos relates that LBJ told him:</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> 1. "that the assassination in Dallas had been part of a conspiracy;
|
|
2. "I never believed that Oswald acted alone . . .;
|
|
3. "we had been operating a damned Murder Inc. in the Carribean."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The presence of the vice president 2 cars behind the president in the
|
|
parade in Dallas was a fundamental breach of the level of security
|
|
normally adhered to by the Secret Service. He took the experience back
|
|
with him to the White House and never forgot its meaning. He could
|
|
just as easily be snuffed out if he ever got out of line.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Then there follows a most curious and confused explanation by Hoover of
|
|
the three shots fired: "the President was hit by the first and third
|
|
bullets and the second hit the Governor". Obviously Hoover did not yet
|
|
know about the injury suffered by James Tague. Tague's face was nicked
|
|
by a bullet fragment (or a fragment from the curb it hit) which missed
|
|
the limousene entirely and struck the curb at his feet, approximately
|
|
160 feet past the location of the president's car. This shot would end
|
|
up having to be one of "the three bullets fired" in the official story.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Johnson then explicitly asks again "were they aimed at the President."
|
|
It would appear that LBJ needed repeated assurance by Hoover that no one
|
|
had intended to shoot him. Hoover then says a mouthful when he states
|
|
"I further advised him that we have also tested the fact you could fire
|
|
those three shots in three seconds." Apparently they did not yet
|
|
understand the implications of the Zapruder film (or perhaps they were
|
|
confident they would be successful in never allowing the public to gain
|
|
any kind of access to it) and that it would be used as a clock.
|
|
|
|
Probably the most confused statements Hoover recounts making are when
|
|
he describes for Johnson's benefit how Connally was hit: "I explained
|
|
that Connally turned to the President when the first shot was fired and
|
|
in that turning he got hit. The President then asked, if Connally had
|
|
not been in his seat, would the President have been hit by the second
|
|
shot. I said yes." All we can conclude about this muddled explanation
|
|
is that Hoover was doing his best to explain things that he himself did
|
|
not understand or appreciate the complexity of.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Hoover goes on to claim they found the gun and three shells on the fifth
|
|
floor. As you can see at this point, the number of variations on what
|
|
would become the official cover story are quite numerous. All of the
|
|
the facts of the assassination were working against them. They had
|
|
a story all worked out--3 seconds, 3 shots, fifth floor--and yet they
|
|
didn't know the facts.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Fletcher Prouty commented on this issue to me while we were discussing
|
|
this memo recently. "It reminds me so much of when the U-2 was lost and
|
|
the guys from NASA began to explain the U-2 flight until a couple of
|
|
days later when somebody told them, `hey--it wasn't a NASA flight, we
|
|
can't do it that way.' And they began to change the cover story. But
|
|
then Kruschev said, `Look, I've got the pilot, I know the story.' The
|
|
U-2 boys used to work across the hall from me--I'd see them coming and
|
|
going--oh they were shattered, because their cover story had been
|
|
totally wrong. So Hoover is in the same kind of a box here--he is
|
|
trying to explain something that is nothing but a cover story, and
|
|
almost everytime he turns around, he finds there's another hole in it."</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Near the end Johnson extolls the virtues of his relationship to Hoover
|
|
stating "I was more than head of the FBI - I was his brother and personal
|
|
friend; that he knew I did not want anything to happen to his family;
|
|
that he has more confidence in me than anybody in town." Pretty
|
|
laudatory words which substantiate the unusally close rapport these two
|
|
men had. Then Hoover writes that Johnson tells him "he would not embroil
|
|
me in a jurisdictional dispute. . . " This was the reference to Bobby
|
|
Kennedy and the pre-empting of any other legitimate, independent and
|
|
official investigation that would NOT be under the control of the FBI.
|
|
They would see to it that there would not be the kind of "rash of
|
|
investigations" Hoover said at the beginning of this meeting "would be a
|
|
three-ring circus."
|
|
|
|
It is a known fact that in his later years Hoover's meglomania
|
|
approached epic proportions. He had various reasons why he did not want
|
|
any independent investigation which would *not* be dependent upon his
|
|
agency for the collection of data and use of his investigative staff.
|
|
Johnson was feeling quite vulnerable in these first days and was
|
|
very dependent on Hoover to tell him what to do concerning how to
|
|
consolidate his position and "reassure" the nation the assassination
|
|
was not political in any way, but rather the random occurence of a lone
|
|
sick mind. That was the only approach to take if they wanted to avoid
|
|
having to deal with why Kennedy had been killed. By de-politicizing
|
|
the assassination, they were able to ignore the basic question of why.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> This memorandum shows that the people in the federal government who were
|
|
responsible for creating the Warren Commission, and giving it only a
|
|
very selected and specific set of "data" by which they reached the
|
|
conclusions that became the official report, that they did not start
|
|
with the final cover story--they created it later because even Hoover
|
|
and Johnson didn't know about it a week after the event. They were still
|
|
making things up a week later. It goes back to the old truth that it's a
|
|
big mistake to overestimate the abilities and knowledge of people--even
|
|
in high office. They can make pretty stupid mistakes and then when they
|
|
have to recant their stories, you are left with the kind of contrivance
|
|
we know as the Warren Report.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> --ratitor</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>--
|
|
daveus rattus </p>
|
|
|
|
<p> yer friendly neighborhood ratman</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> KOYAANISQATSI</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> ko.yan.nis.qatsi (from the Hopi Language) n. 1. crazy life. 2. life
|
|
in turmoil. 3. life out of balance. 4. life disintegrating.
|
|
5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
|
|
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> WASHINGTON __, D.C.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> 1:39 p.m. November 29, 1963</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> MEMORANDUM FOR MR. TOLSON
|
|
MR. BELMONT
|
|
MR. MOHR
|
|
MR. CONRAD
|
|
MR. DE LOACH
|
|
MR. EVANS
|
|
MR. ROSEN
|
|
MR. SULLIVAN</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President called and asked if I am familiar with the proposed
|
|
group they are trying to get to study my report - two from the House,
|
|
two from the Senate, two from the courts, and a couple of outsiders. I
|
|
replied that I had not heard of that but had seen reports from the
|
|
Senate Investigating Committee.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President stated he wanted to get by just with my file and my
|
|
report. I told him I thought it would be very bad to have a rash of
|
|
investigations. He then indicated the only way to stop it is to
|
|
appoint a high-level committee to evaluate my report and tell the House
|
|
and Senate not to go ahead with the investigation. I stated that would
|
|
be a three-ring circus.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President then asked what I think about Allen Dulles, and I
|
|
replied that he is a good man. He then asked about John McCloy, and I
|
|
stated I am not as enthusiastic about McCloy, that he is a good man but
|
|
I am not so certain as to the matter of publicity he might want. The
|
|
President then mentioned General (Lauris) Norstad, and I said he is a
|
|
good man. He said in the House he might try (Hale) Boggs and (Gerald
|
|
R.) Ford and in the Senate (Richard B.) Russell and (John Sherman)
|
|
Cooper. I asked him about Cooper and he indicated Cooper of Kentucky
|
|
whom he described as a judicial man, stating he would not want (Jacob
|
|
K.) Javits. I agreed on this point. He then reiterated Ford of
|
|
Michigan, and I indicated I know of him but do not know him and had
|
|
never seen him except on television the other day and that he handled
|
|
himself well on television. I indicated that I do know Boggs.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Johnson, President Lyndon B.
|
|
Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
|
|
Presidential Commission on Assassination
|
|
of President John F. Kennedy
|
|
Security - Presidential
|
|
Presidential Conferences
|
|
Presidential Travel Security</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Memorandum for Messrs. Tolson, Belmont, Mohr, November 29, 1963
|
|
Conrad, DeLoach, Evans, Rosen, Sullivan</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President then mentioned that (Walter) Jenkins had told him that
|
|
I have designated Mr. DeLoach to work with them as he had on the Hill.
|
|
He indicated they appreciated that and just wanted to tell me they
|
|
consider Mr. DeLoach as high class as I do, and that they salute me for
|
|
knowing how to pick good men.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> I advised the President that we hope to have the investigation
|
|
wrapped up today but probably won't have it before the first of the week
|
|
as an angle in Mexico is giving trouble - the matter of Oswald's getting
|
|
$6500 from the Cuban Embassy and coming back to this country with it;
|
|
that we are not able to prove that fact; that we have information he
|
|
was there on September 18 and we are able to prove he was in New Orleans
|
|
on that date; that a story came in changing the date to September 28
|
|
and he was in Mexico on the 28th. I related that the police have again
|
|
arrested Duran, a member of the Cuban Embassy; that they will hold her
|
|
two or three days; will confront her with the original informant; and
|
|
will also try a lie detector test on her.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President then inquired if I pay any attention to the lie
|
|
detector test. I answered that I would not pay 100% attention to them;
|
|
that it was only a psychological asset in investigation; that I would
|
|
not want to be a part of sending a man to the chair on a lie detector
|
|
test. I explained that we have used them in bank investigations and a
|
|
person will confess before the lie detector test is finished, more or
|
|
less fearful it will show him guilty. I said the lie detector test has
|
|
this psychological advantage. I further stated that it is a misnomer to
|
|
call it a lie detector since the evaluation of the chart made by the
|
|
machine is made by a human being and any human being is apt to make the
|
|
wrong interpretation.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> I stated, if Oswald had lived and had take a lie detector test, this
|
|
with the evidence we have would have added that much strength to the
|
|
case; that these is no question he is the man.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> I also told him that Rubenstein down there has offered to take a lie
|
|
detector test but his lawyer must be consulted first; that I doubt the
|
|
lawyer will allow him to do so; that he has a West Coast lawyer
|
|
somewhat like the Edward Bennett Williams type and almost as much of a
|
|
shyster.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President asked if we have any relationship between the two
|
|
(Oswald and Rubenstein) as yet. I replied that at the present time we have</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> - 2 -</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Memorandum for Messrs. Tolson, Belmont, Mohr, November 29, 1963
|
|
Conrad, DeLoach, Evans, Rosen, Sullivan</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> not; that there was a story that the fellow had been in Rubenstein's
|
|
nightclub but it has not been confirmed. I told the President that
|
|
Rubenstein is a very seedy character, had a bad record - street brawls,
|
|
fights, etc.; that in Dallas, if a fellow came into his nightclub and
|
|
could not pay his bill completely, Rubenstein would beat him up and
|
|
throw him out; that he did not drink or smoke; that he was an
|
|
egomaniac; that he likes to be in the limelight; knew all of the
|
|
police officers in the white light district; let them come in and get
|
|
food and liquor, etc.; and that is how I think he got into police
|
|
headquarters. I said if they ever made any move, the pictures did not
|
|
show it even when they saw him approach and he got right up to Oswald
|
|
and pressed the pistol against Oswald's stomach; that neither officer
|
|
on either side made any effort to grab Rubenstein - not until after the
|
|
pistol was fired. I said, secondly, the chief of police admits he moved
|
|
Oswald in the morning as a convenience and at the request of motion
|
|
picture people who wanted daylight. I said insofar as tying Rubenstein
|
|
and Oswald together, we have not yet done so; that there are a number
|
|
of stories which tied Oswald to the Civil Liberties Union in New York in
|
|
which he applied for membership and to the Fair Play for Cuba Committee
|
|
which is pro-Castro, directed by communists, and financed to some extent
|
|
by the Castro Government.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President asked how many shots were fired, and I told him three.
|
|
He then asked if any were fired at him. I said no, that three shots
|
|
were fired at the President and we have them. I stated that our
|
|
ballistic experts were able to prove the shots were fired by this gun;
|
|
that the President was hit by the first and third bullets and the second
|
|
hit the Governor; that there were three shots; that one complete
|
|
bullet rolled out of the President's head; that it tore a large part of
|
|
the President's head off; that in trying to massage his heart on the
|
|
way into the hospital they loosened the bullet which fell on the
|
|
stretcher and we have that.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> He then asked were they aimed at the President. I replied they were
|
|
aimed at the President, no question about that.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> I further advised him that we have also tested the fact you could
|
|
fire those three shots in three seconds. I explained that there is a
|
|
story out that there must have been more than one man to fire several
|
|
shots but we have proven it could be done by one man.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President then asked how it happened that Connally was hit. I
|
|
explained that Connally turned to the President when the first shot was
|
|
fired and in that turning he got hit. The President then asked, if
|
|
Connally had not been in his seat, would the President have been hit by
|
|
the second shot. I said yes.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> - 3 -</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Memorandum for Messrs. Tolson, Belmont, Mohr, November 29, 1963
|
|
Conrad, DeLoach, Evans, Rosen, Sullivan</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> I related that on the fifth floor of the building where we found the
|
|
gun and the wrapping paper we found three empty shells that had been
|
|
fired and one that had not been fired. that he had four but didn't fire
|
|
the fourth; then threw the gun aside; went down the steps; was seen
|
|
by a police officer; the manager told the officer that Oswald was all
|
|
right, worked there; they let him go; he got on a bus; went to his
|
|
home and got a jacket; then came back downtown, walking; the police
|
|
officer who was killed stopped him, not knowing who he was; and he
|
|
fired and killed the police officer.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President asked if we can prove that and I answered yes.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> I further related that Oswald then walked another two blocks; went
|
|
to the theater; the woman selling tickets was so suspicious - said he
|
|
was carrying a gun when he went into the theater - that she notified the
|
|
police; the police and our man went in and located Oswald. I told him
|
|
they had quite a struggle with Oswald but that he was subdued and shown
|
|
out and taken to police headquarters.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> I advised the President that apparently Oswald had come down the
|
|
steps from the fifth floor; that apparently the elevator was not used.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President then indicated our conclusions are: (1) he is the one
|
|
who did it; (2) after the President was hit, Governor Connally was hit;
|
|
(3) the President would have been hit three times except for the fact
|
|
that Governor Connally turned after the first shot and was hit by the
|
|
second; (4) whether he was connected with the Cuban operation with
|
|
money we are trying to nail down. I told him that is what we are trying
|
|
to nail down; that we have copies of the correspondence; that none of
|
|
the letters dealt with any indication of violence or assassination;
|
|
that they were dealing with a visa to go back to Russia.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> I advised the President that his wife had been very hostile, would
|
|
not cooperate and speaks only Russian; that yesterday she said , if we
|
|
could give assurance she would be allowed to remain in the country, she
|
|
would cooperate; and that I told our agents to give that assurance and
|
|
sent a Russian-speaking agent to Dallas last night to interview her. I
|
|
said I do not know whether or not she has any information but we would
|
|
learn what we could.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President asked how Oswald had access to the fifth floor of the
|
|
building. I replied that he had access to all floors. The President
|
|
asked where was his office and I stated he did not have any particular
|
|
place; that he</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> - 4 -</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Memorandum for Messrs. Tolson, Belmont, Mohr, November 29, 1963
|
|
Conrad, DeLoach, Evans, Rosen, Sullivan</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> was not situated in any particular place; that he was just a general
|
|
packer of requisitions that came in for books from Dallas schools; that
|
|
he would have had proper access to the fifth and sixth floors whereas
|
|
usually the employees were down on lower floors. The President then
|
|
inquired if anybody saw him on the fifth floor, and I stated he was seen
|
|
by one of the workmen before the assassination.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President then asked if we got a picture taken of him shooting
|
|
the gun and I said no. He asked what was the picture sold for $25,000,
|
|
and I advised him this was a picture of the parade showing Mrs. Kennedy
|
|
crawling out of the back seat; that there was no Secret Service Agent
|
|
on the back of the car; that in the past they have added steps on the
|
|
back of the car and usually had an agent on either side standing on the
|
|
bumper; that I did not know why this was not done - that the President
|
|
may have requested it; that the bubble top was not up but I understand
|
|
the bubble top was not worth anything because it was made entirely of
|
|
plastic; that I had learned much to my surprise that the Secret Service
|
|
does not have any armored cars.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President asked if I have a bulletproof car and I told him I
|
|
most certainly have. I told him we use it here for my own use and,
|
|
whenever we have any raids, we make use of the bulletproof car on them.
|
|
I explained that it is a limousine which has been armorplated and that
|
|
it looks exactly like any other car. I stated I think the President
|
|
ought to have a bulletproof car; that from all I understand the Secret
|
|
Service has had two cars with metal plates underneath the car to take
|
|
care of hand grenades or bombs thrown out on the street. I said this is
|
|
European; that there have been several such attempts on DeGaulle's
|
|
life; but they do not do that in this country; that all assassinations
|
|
have been with guns; and for that reason I think very definitely the
|
|
President ought to always ride in a bulletproof car; that it certainly
|
|
would prevent anything like this ever happening again; but that I do
|
|
not mean a sniper could not snipe him from a window if he were exposed.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President asked if I meant on his ranch he should be in a
|
|
bulletproof car. I said I would think so; that the little car we rode
|
|
around in when I was at the ranch should be bulletproofed; that it
|
|
ought to be done very quietly. I told him we have four bulletproof cars
|
|
in the Bureau: one on the West Coast, one in New York and two here. I
|
|
said this could be done quietly without publicity and without pictures
|
|
taken of it if handled properly and I think he should have one on his
|
|
ranch.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> - 5 -</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Memorandum for Messrs. Tolson, Belmont, Mohr, November 29, 1963
|
|
Conrad, DeLoach, Evans, Rosen, Sullivan</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President then asked if I think all the entrances should be
|
|
guarded. I replied by all means, that he had almost to be in the
|
|
capacity of a so-called prisoner because without that security anything
|
|
could be done. I told him lots of phone calls had been received over
|
|
the last four or five days about threats on his life; that I talked to
|
|
the Attorney General about the funeral procession from the White House
|
|
to the Cathedral; that I was opposed to it. The President remarked
|
|
that the Secret Service told them not to but the family wanted to do it.
|
|
I stated that was what the Attorney General told me but I was very much
|
|
opposed to it. I further related that I saw the procession from the
|
|
Capitol to the White House on Pennsylvania and, while they had police
|
|
standing on the curbs, when the parade came, the police turned around
|
|
and looked at the parade.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> The President then stated he is going to take every precaution he
|
|
can; that he wants to talk to me; and asked if I would put down my
|
|
thoughts. He stated I was more than head of the FBI - I was his brother
|
|
and personal friend; that he knew I did not want anything to happen to
|
|
his family; that he has more confidence in me than anybody in town;
|
|
that he would not embroil me in a jurisdictional dispute; but that he
|
|
did want to have my thoughts on the matter to advocate as his own
|
|
opinion.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> I stated I would be glad to do this for him and that I would do
|
|
anything I can. The President expressed his appreciation.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> Very truly yours,</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> [signed J. E. H.]</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> John Edgar Hoover
|
|
Director</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> - 6 -</p>
|
|
|
|
<p></p></xml> |