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Post by Admin on Nov 28, 2014 15:01:26 GMT
The photograph, widely circulated on the Internet, shows a man with his hands in his pockets on the street by the front doorway of the Texas School Book Depository in the immediate aftermath of the JFK shooting who bears a resemblance to George H. W. Bush. No positive identification of the man has been made. On Wednesday, Nov. 20, 1963, an advertisement under “Club Activities” was published in the Dallas Morning News stating that George Bush, president, Zapata Off-Shore Co., would be speaking for the American Association of Oilwell Drilling contractors at 6:30 p.m., the next day at the Sheraton-Dallas Hotel. The advertisement places George H. W. Bush in Dallas the day before JFK was assassinated; there is no public record indicating when Bush left Dallas on that trip. Further, an FBI memo written by J. Edgar Hoover on Nov. 29, 1963, advised that the FBI office in Miami warned the Department of State on Nov. 23, 1963, one day after the assassination, that “some misguided anti-Castro group might capitalize on the present situation and undertake an unauthorized raid against Cuba, believing that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy might herald a change in U.S. policy, which is not true.” In the last paragraph of the memo, Hoover noted that “Mr. George Bush of the Central Intelligence Agency” furnished the background information contained in the report. Spokesmen for George H.W. Bush have said the reference might be to a different George Bush. “George William Bush,” a person with a different middle name from the future president, was a CIA employee at the time of the JFK assassination. However, George William Bush submitted a statement in a legal action before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stating that he reviewed the memo in question and Hoover was not referring to him. A second recently disclosed memo supports the conclusion that George H. W. Bush was in Dallas the day JFK was assassinated. FBI Special Agent Graham Kitchel wrote the memo to the FBI’s Houston bureau, dated Nov. 22, 1963, the day of the assassination. The memo reads in the first paragraph: “At 1:45 p.m. Mr. GEORGE H. W. BUSH, President of the Zapata Off-Shore Drilling Company, Houston, Texas, residence 5525 Briar, Houston, telephonically furnished this following information to writer by a long distance telephone call from Tyler, Texas.” Tyler is a small town about 100 miles east of Dallas. In the second and third paragraphs, Graham discloses, “Bush stated that he wanted to be kept confidential but wanted to furnish hearsay that he recalled hearing in recount weeks, the day and source unknown.” A phone call to the FBI stating he was planning to go to Dallas would create a misleading paper trail suggesting that his stay in Dallas was many hours after the assassination, rather than the night before, since the phone call could have come from anywhere. Perhaps Bush called the FBI because he became concerned he had been photographed in front of the Texas School Book Depository in the moments immediately after the JFK shooting. Bush has been vague about where he was when he first learned JFK had been shot, a moment virtually every American old enough to remember has fixed in their minds. When asked where he was when Kennedy was shot, Bush has said vaguely that he was “somewhere in Texas.”
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Post by Admin on Dec 2, 2014 14:02:32 GMT
In "41: A Portrait of My Father," George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, takes us through the life and leadership of his father, George H.W. Bush, the 41st U.S. President. Bush 43 describes his father's eventful three decades in politics - from the painful defeats in the Texas Senate races of 1964 and 1970, to his unlikely service as a diplomat and CIA director, to his eight years as President Ronald Reagan's vice president, and finally to his election as President in 1988. His loss in 1992 was a stinging rejection, but he overcame the pain of defeat and ultimately befriended his former rival, President Bill Clinton. This excerpt from "41" shares insights on that unexpected friendship, which Bush 43 dubbed the "odd couple." On the day after Christmas in 2004, a massive tsunami in the Indian Ocean devastated several Asian countries. The waves, one hundred feet high in some places, wiped away huge stretches of coastline and killed more than two hundred thousand people. I deployed American naval assets to help with the relief efforts. I decided to ask Dad and Bill Clinton to lead a private fund-raising campaign. I believed that a fund-raising drive led by these two former rivals would send an important signal about America's commitment to those suffering from the disaster. I called Dad and Clinton to tell them about my idea. Both readily agreed to serve, and they raised an impressive amount of money for the relief effort. As part of their efforts, Dad and Clinton took a lengthy trip to the scene of the devastation. They had seen each other at official events over the years, but they didn't really know each other. That changed on their trip to Asia. Their military plane had only one bed, and Clinton generously let George Bush sleep on it every night. Dad appreciated Clinton's consideration. Like many, he marveled at Clinton's boundless energy and genuine interest in people. Outside the pressure cooker of a political campaign, it was hard not to like the man. The friendship that flourished between the two of them was something that I did not expect. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the gulf coast in 2005, I decided to deploy the odd couple again. Once again, they answered the call, making multiple visits to the region and filming public service announcements to raise awareness about the needs of the victims. Their bipartisan appeal inspired more than a hundred million dollars in private donations. When Hurricane Ike struck in 2008, I called Presidents 41 and 42 into action for a third time. Once again, they did a terrific job. The friendship they formed through their shared service has endured. Bill Clinton visits my parents regularly in Maine. Over time, it became clear that Clinton treated Dad as a sort of father figure, perhaps because Clinton never knew his father. Mother took to calling Clinton her long-lost fifth son - or, as Marvin put it, "a brother from another mother." Clinton embraced the image and started calling himself the black sheep of the Bush family. He joked that Barbara Bush would do anything to claim another President in the family. In retrospect, I am not surprised about the relationship that developed between George Bush and Bill Clinton. Dad is a gracious man who always found a way to see the best in others. Even the most painful moment of his political career was not an obstacle to befriending the man who defeated him. When my second term ended in 2009, I was fortunate to become the first President to leave office with both parents alive. For one of my final Oval Office meetings, I welcomed the three living former Presidents - Bill Clinton, Dad, and Jimmy Carter - and the incoming President, Barack Obama. While we had our differences on policy issues, we all enjoyed the opportunity to sit together in the office that we shared and to impart some advice to the newest member of the club. The President-elect was gracious, and I noticed that he was particularly deferential to Dad. It was clear that he genuinely respected and admired George Bush. Two years later, President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor that the President can bestow. After recounting Dad's accomplishments, President Obama said, "His life is a testament that public service is a noble calling." Earlier this year, President Obama (who is not popular in Texas) stopped in Houston for a political fund-raiser on the way to an event celebrating the civil rights legacy of Lyndon Johnson. When he came down the steps of Air Force One, George H.W. Bush was waiting on the tarmac in his wheelchair. "When the President comes to your hometown," he said, "you show up and welcome him." This excerpt is reprinted from "41: A Portrait of My Father." Copyright 2014 by George W. Bush. (Crown Publishers/Random House)
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Post by Admin on Oct 27, 2017 18:59:22 GMT
The National Archives today released 2,891 records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy that are subject to the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (JFK Act). These records are available for download online. The President has also ordered that all remaining records governed by section 5 of the JFK Act be released, and thus additional records will be released subject to redactions recommended by the executive offices and agencies. NARA will process these records for release as soon as possible on a rolling basis. Based on requests from executive offices and agencies the President has allowed the temporary withholding of certain information that would harm national security, law enforcement, or foreign affairs. The President also ordered agencies to re-review their proposed redactions and only redact information in the rarest of circumstances where its withholding “is made necessary by an identifiable harm to military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or conduct of foreign relations; and the identifiable harm is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure.” These instructions will allow the National Archives to release as much information as possible by the end of the temporary certification period on April 26, 2018. The National Archives previously released 3,810 related records on July 24, 2017, including 441 records previously withheld in their entirety and 3,369 records previously withheld in part. More information about this release is available online. www.archives.gov/research/jfk/2017-release
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Post by Admin on Oct 28, 2017 19:16:21 GMT
Soviet officials were shocked at John F. Kennedy’s assassination, according to a source who was in Russia at the time cited in a document released with the JKF files this week. "The news of the assassination of President Kennedy was flashed to the Soviet people almost immediately after its occurrence. It was greeted by great shock and consternation and church bells were tolled in the memory of President Kennedy," a Dec. 1, 1966 document said. The top secret file details how Soviet leaders believed a "well-organized conspiracy on the part of the 'ultraright'" in the U.S. was responsible for Kennedy's death, not a single person. Lee Harvey Oswald, described as a "neurotic maniac" who was "disloyal," was not connected to the Soviet Union, according to an unnamed source. "They noted that Oswald never belonged to any organization in the Soviet Union and was never given Soviet citizenship," the document said. New JFK documents approved for release and made public capture the frantic days after the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination, during which federal agents madly chased after tips, however thin, juggled rumors and sifted through leads worldwide. (Oct. 27) AP Soviet leaders feared "without leadership, some irresponsible general in the United States might launch a missile at the Soviet Union," the document states. The KGB, Soviet intelligence agency, was also instructed to gather intelligence on Lyndon B. Johnson, who was largely unknown there, and his connection to the Kennedy family. The document also lists conspiracy theories published in the Soviet press, as well as several accounts from Soviet defector Yuri Nosenko, who was the subject of a turf battle between the FBI and CIA. The FBI trusted him, but the CIA didn't for years.
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Post by Admin on Oct 30, 2017 18:59:47 GMT
The newly released documents also reveal investigations into allegations about Kennedy’s seedier activities. One document, analyzed by USA Today, details a conversation with “a high-priced call girl” in 1960 in which she was questioned about a Los Angeles-based private detective who had told her to wear a wire to help him investigate suspected sex parties between Kennedy and Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Peter Lawford. The detective, Frank Otash, intimated that he was working for a magazine and looking for any “indiscreet statements” Kennedy might make while making introductions, in advance of the November election. The call girl responded that she was unaware of any such parties, and “refused this suggestion and invitation.” The C.I.A. also organized a number of assassination plans against Cuban leader Fidel Castro that involved the mafia. One report released this week, according to CNN, detailed a plan to speak to Sicilian mobster Sam Giancana “with a proposition of paying $150,000 to hire some gunman to go into Cuba and kill Castro.” That plan was scrapped, on the grounds that it would make Giancana and other mobsters approached by the government difficult to prosecute in the future. Other plans included hiring mafia members to give Castro a poison pill. “Operation Mongoose” involved the C.I.A. making plans to sabotage plane parts being shipped to Cuba. A number of revelations from the files indicate that conspiracies and rumors of them were everywhere. One memo to F.B.I. director J. Edgar Hoover stated that, “According to our source, officials of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union believed there was some well-organized conspiracy on the part of the ‘ultraright’ in the United States to effect a ‘coup.’ They seem convinced that the assassination was not the deed of one man, but that it arose out of a carefully planned campaign in which several people played a part.” Even former president Richard Nixon believed that political assassinations and coups were not below the C.I.A., who were thought to be behind the death of South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem. According to CNBC Trump is not happy with the level of redaction required to release the documents. Intelligence officials have pressed that names of people still living and information pertinent to ongoing investigations be censored from the documents, which Trump, after some deliberation, agreed to in order to release the files now available.
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