The Kennedy Assassination Tapes

Rating:
Summary: A Richly Textured Slice of History
Review: Max Holland's book should be read by everybody with an interest in LBJ, political history in the sixties, and the JFK assassination. Holland uses LBJ telephone-tape transcipts pertaining to the JFK assassination to create a vivid internal history of the mind and actions of LBJ from November 1963 until 1967. An epilogue, serving as coda to a grand symphony of material, takes the reader into LBJ's own memoir of 1971.

Although a book structured around transcripts might well put readers quickly to sleep, Holland has elevated the aesthetic punch of this form by virtue of deeply intelligent sections of his own prose which give the background of particular conversations, which broaden the historical framework of the dialogue, and which tie together the entire set of transcipts into a profoundly coherent and pungent tale. And it has its moments of deep poignance as well, especially around Jacqueline Kennedy, when we get to feel LBJ's strong regard for other people at the same time as we see his ingrained flaws when dealing with people while in the public eye.

Holland takes us from Dealey Plaza to Parkland Hospital and then onto Air Force One. We end up in the White House and inside LBJ's head. It's an amazing account with an incessant narrative drive, aided by sensibility-expanding footnotes at the bottom of the text pages where we can fold them into the story without grappling with back-of-the book interruptions, and accelerated by the feeling of immediate history registering in our awareness. I've never seen an internal history with such a compelling grip on the reader, with such a magnetic pull to continue the act of reading.

The conversations treated deal with the assassination, the transition to power, Jackie Kennedy's grief, the formation of the Warren commission, Hoover's FBI, the work of the Commission, the Garrison investigation, the Clark forensics panel, and, throughout, LBJ's bete noir Bobby Kennedy. A good feel for the political exigencies capturing LBJ's options emanates from the pages.

Holland has produced also a number of correctives to previous books by force of his painstaking research and interpretive savvy. In a gracious manner, he exfoliates some important errors of textual judgment by Michael Beschloss in TAKING CHARGE and Jeff Shesol in MUTUAL CONTEMPT which have led to significant inaccurate conclusions about the detailed history. Also by virtue of close reading and pin-point documentation, Holland dispels most of the myths fueling conspiracy theories about LBJ, the Warren panel, Gerald Ford, Richard Russell, Hale Boggs, Allan Dulles, and John McCloy. Nothing crushes nonsense like the truth and Holland has a bear-hug on it.

If you want to climb into a particular place and time, and want to experience the perceptions and vagaries of LBJ and his milieu about these specific events, Holland's masterful book is the book to read.



Rating:
Summary: Blush, blush!
Review: As if offering a new translation of a minor classic, the author warns us about previous works that have used this same material, to the extent, at least, that his precursors have misinterpreted--out of faulty understanding or to forward a point of view. Mr. Holland occasionally lapses himself into pre-conceived assumptions, as where he disposes of a notion Chief Justice Warren might have threatened Senator Russell about something in the Commission report, dismissing it simply as " unbelievable" (p.xix), or when editorializing, with some vituperation, about Jim Garrison. p 389 et seq

There is at least one instance where his corrective account requires still further translation (not forthcoming), as in the "threat" matter noted above. Russell, as to his attempt to get a "dis-sent" into the Report, is quoted telling how other members would "...come round and trade me out of it by givin' me a little old thread of it." p. 251. Assuming "trade me out" is used in its market sense, it is unclear what, in pre-internet times, "givin' me a little old thread of it" might have meant.

A fascinating aspect of this book, perhaps the most historically trivial, is likely nonetheless to supply "MacBird" theorists, for decades scrutinizing LBJ under the merciless lens of cui bono? with evidence of a bizarrely ghoulish inclination, as LBJ appears to attempt a courtship of Jacqueline Kennedy, "widow to a woeful bed", over the phone.

Robert Kennedy et al were reportedly upset by LBJ calling Mrs. Kennedy "honey", the "Irish Mafia" apparently tone deaf to Al Tracery [...]. But even taking into account the Texas trash-talking version of Confederate Chivalry, the handful of conversations with Jackie are startling. In the first place, whatever justification for bugging other callers, wiring Mrs. Kennedy's remarks was certainly questionable. As to the gist:

Of the Dec 2 conversation, less than two weeks after her husband's murder, and while Mrs. K is still in White House residence, Mr. Holland tells us "the tenderness in his voice is impossible to convey". We'll have to take his word for that, but in cold print it carries an erotic charge, more like Gloucester chatting up Lady Anne, with all the "honey"'s and "sweetie"'s and "darlin'"s, and "You just come over [and] put your arm around me, that's all you do. When you haven't got anything else [to] do, let's take a walk. Let's walk around the backyard ..."

Others reproduced are of the same ilk, always including declarations of Universal Love and cloying invitations to drop by. On Dec 7, he goes so far in his efforts, whatever may be their aim, to congratulate her on how well her news photos appear ("...gorgeous. And you had that chin up and that chest out, and you looked so pretty marching...") and to seemingly deprecate his already reverberant "All I have..." statement. ("All I have ever possessed I would have gladly given not to be here today." Speech to joint session 11/27/63. Not even Johnson's most steadfast adherents likely believed that, and most listeners then found his unctuous, corny pulpiteering a jarring change, if not a purely laughable one. We all kept a straight face, though--hoping in the uncertain interregnum, he might actually be sincere about the substance of his message--as he turned out to be, no matter the oiliness of the presentation.)

Reading these transcripts, notions of great-stags-in-the-forest rivalry is inescapable. Although Holland repeatedly insists LBJ, whatever his problems with "Bobby", was ever devoted and admiring of JFK, decades of reports scarcely bear out such retrospective benignity. And Johnson's well-circulated pique regarding JFK's womanizing reputation cannot but be brought to mind. Recalling his scornful assertion that he'd had more women by accident than Kennedy had on purpose, his intentions in these dialogues take on, to say the least, a peculiar aspect.



Rating:
Summary: Requires much previous knowledge
Review: I am writing this review for those, like me, who are not intimately familiar with either the US government, its history, its politics, etc.

The book is well written and makes excellent use of these primary sources. The text is well footnoted and primary source material is used well. One might wonder why there is so much reliance on Manchester's "Death of a President", as that is a secondary source, but having read Manchester's autobiography, as well as his book on General MacArthur, I have little doubt that his book is as good a reference as any and is no doubt solidly researched itself.

What does this book do? There is no inside look at the JFK assassination nor LBJ's involvement in the investigation of some (and anyone believing that a "smoking gun" might point to LBJ's involvement in the actual crime itself will be sorely disappointed." The author presents the story from a non-conspiracy point of view, and what the book does is describe Johnson's political maneuverings in the immediate wake of the assasination - and then talks about how he put together the Warren Commission. Johnson, in actual fact, knows virtually nothing of the details of the crime that took place and seems not interested - that is, in the end, why he started the commission in the first place.

So anyone hoping to read a real thriller will be disappointed. What the book does do is provide a look at the relationships between Johnson and all the branches of government as well as the various agencies at his command - Secret Service, FBI, CIA etc. The book is recommended to those with an above average understanding of how the government of the US was organized in the 1960s, however, even a layman such as myself found it interesting. My own personal bias comes from having read Groden, Lane, Garrison on the conspiracy theories but eventually being convinced by Posner that the Warren Commission had it right.

Holland seems to proceed from the same conclusions.

The book is thus not going to entertain those who enjoy the conspiracy books, but will probably appeal more to those that are interested in Johnson as a historical character (his personality is very much evident), or those interested in how the Warren Commission was formed.

The book presents an almost minute to minute look at Johnson's first days as the President, then shifts to cover entire months at a time by focussing solely on assasination-related work. An interesting focus which will also not please those looking for a broad overview of Johnson's presidency. However, having said that, Holland does provide very good historial synopses and does take pains to make the uninitiated reader understand the significance of eacy person mentioned and their relationship to Johnson, the Commission, and each other.

Only problem with sources is a reliance on newspaper articles from which Holland seems to draw a lot of conclusions. A minor point, perhaps.

Very readable nonetheless, but true value to you, as with any book, will depend on what you expect to get out of it.

Rating:
Summary: THE 'LBJ-LED CONSPIRACY' - THE FINAL TRUTH
Review: Max Holland's latest book is by far the most lucid and compelling account of the role President Johnson played in the investigation of JFK's assassination.
Holland's previous work has been highly acclaimed.He first established his credentials as a JFK assasination expert through his painstaking research into how conspiracy theorists had misled the public about the role the CIA and other intelligence agencies played in the Dallas tragedy.He was also one of the first researchers to provide evidence which established that a Soviet disinformation campaign had been responsible in creating many myths about alleged US Government involvement in the death of JFK.Holland's research concerning Soviet efforts in the dissemination of false information about CIA involvement in the assassination is bolstered by Christopher Andrew's 'The Sword and the Shield - The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB' which establishes the nature of KGB disinformation techniques in the USA during the 1960s and 1970s.
Holland's new book is no less valuable for the unique expertise he brings to the subject.Correctly, he criticises Beschloss and Shesol for misinterpreting the tapes.And Holland, unlike Beschloss, puts the assassination-related conversations all in one volume together with his extensive added commentary.The result is a clearer understanding of what transpired when LBJ became embroiled in the conspiracy controversy and the related Warren investigation.