VINSON: Media Casts Shadow On JFK Killing, LBJ’s Role

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LBJ was sworn into office on Air Force One by Judge Sarah T. Hughes.
Rummaging through my stack of magazines and newspapers, I happened upon a March 10, 1964 issue of Look magazine.

The cover page featured a large photo of President Lyndon Johnson, with several related exclusives, one of which one was titled, “After the Shots: The Ordeal of Lyndon Johnson.”

Indeed, the article was a refresher course in American History:  

On Nov. 22, 1963, at approximately 12:31 p.m., in Dallas, Texas, President John F. Kennedy/JFK, riding in a Limo convertible, was struck by a sniper’s (or snipers’) bullet(s). The vehicle in which Vice President Johnson was a passenger was two cars behind JFK’s in the motorcade.

At approximately 1:13 p.m., JFK was pronounced dead.

At approximately 2:38 p.m., aboard Air Force One, still aground at Love Field (public-use airport in Dallas), Federal District Judge Sarah T. Hughes swore in Lyndon Baines Johnson as the 36th president of the United States.

After being sworn in, with Air Force One en route to Washington D.C., LBJ called Rose Kennedy, JFK’s mother.

The article stated, in part: “‘Mrs. Kennedy,’” he [LBJ] said, ‘I wish to God I could do something to help you.’ Then he choked with emotion and handed the phone to his wife. ‘Here’s Lady Bird,’ he said.”

Directly underneath this dog-eared copy of Look (same stack) was the April 5, 2007 issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

Along with a cover page photo of rock band Pink Floyd, there was a feature article titled, “The Last Confession of E. Howard Hunt.”

A brief bio on Everette Howard Hunt: A graduate of Brown University, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After his naval stint, he served with the Office of Strategic Services, a forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency.

Hunt joined the CIA in 1949. As a CIA operative, he, reportedly, was involved in many high-level, covert operations, including the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, along with several assassination attempts on Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro.

Having become a “dirty tricks” consultant for President Richard M. Nixon, E. Howard Hunt is best remembered, however, as a major culprit in the “Watergate” break-ins in 1972, for which he served 33 months in federal prison. (NOTE: There is speculation that Tom Cruise’s spy character “Ethan Hunt,” of the Mission Impossible series, is based on E. Howard Hunt.)

About the JFK assassination, I’ve read, more than once, that E. Howard Hunt bore a striking resemblance to one of the “Three Tramps.”

After JFK was shot, three men – to become known as the “Three Tramps” – were found hiding inside a railroad boxcar, near the assassination scene.

The three were taken in and questioned by Dallas Police.

Strangely, for tramps/hobos, all three were relatively clean-shaven and well-dressed.

Still, there were allegations Dallas Police released the three men from custody too quickly, and, further, Dallas authorities suspiciously lost mug shots, fingerprints, and other data pertinent to them.

Textbook 101 operation for a CIA “heavy” such as Hunt, huh?  

Personally, I’m not well-enough informed on the subject to make a definitive comment.

From the Rolling Stone article, though, I can say this much.

At age 88, from his home in Miami, Florida, Hunt made a stunning deathbed statement (he would die six months later, on Jan. 23, 2007) to his son, St. John Hunt. The senior Hunt listed eight names he claimed were directly involved in the JFK assassination.

Disturbingly, at the very top of the list was LBJ.

E. Howard Hunt isn’t the only source to have named LBJ as being complicit in the JFK assassination.

For sure, Hunt was in a position to know “what was going on.”

Still, one would think even a hardened governmental operative such as Hunt wouldn’t lie on his deathbed.

Though my findings were a bit on the dark side, I’m glad I was able to take a close “look” at Look and conveniently correlate this story with Rolling Stone.

Mike Vinson can be contacted at mike_vinson56@yahoo.com.
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