JFK News and Updates - JFK Lancer Blog

Robert McNamara, ex-defense secretary, dies

2009-07-06T09:37:00.000-05:00

# Robert McNamara was key architect of war in Vietnam under two presidents
# McNamara became lightning rod for his management of that war
# He was member of President Kennedy's inner circle during Cuban Missile Crisis

C. David Heymann is alleging - for the third time - that Jacqueline and Bobby Kennedy had an affai

2009-06-26T14:38:00.004-05:00

For Jackie Kennedy/Bobby Kennedy affair rumors, third time not the charm

Thursday, June 25th 2009, 1:00 AM
Robert F. Kennedy AP

C. David Heymann is alleging - for the third time - that Jacqueline and Bobby Kennedy had an affair, and once again, other Kennedy biographers are slamming the author's claim.

In his new book, "Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story" (available on July 14 from Simon & Schuster's Atria Books), Heymann interviews several on-the-record witnesses who say that the in-laws had a sexual relationship after JFK's assassination in 1963.

Updated Documentary on Mary Ferrell Foundation Site

2009-06-23T09:51:00.001-05:00

Mary Ferrell Foundation Featured Multimedia - RFK Documentaries, including the epilogue to Shane O'Sullivan's "RFK Must Die"

RFK Documentaries

Source: http://www.maryferrell.org
Running time - Approx. 7 minutes An update to RFK Must Die featuring new audio evidence that suggests a second gunman fired the shot that killed Bobby Kennedy

Your request is being processed... Patrick Kennedy Admitted To Medical Facility For Treatment

2009-06-12T23:16:00.001-05:00

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who has struggled with depression, alcoholism and addiction for much of his life, said Friday that he has checked into a medical facility for treatment. The Rhode Island Democrat, who sought treatment three years ago after an early morning car crash near the U.S. Capitol, said in a statement that his recovery is a "lifelong process" and that he will do whatever it takes to preserve his health.

"I have decided to temporarily step away from my normal routine to ensure that I am being as vigilant as possible in my recovery," said Kennedy, the son of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. He did not say exactly what he was being treated for, and did not disclose the facility's location.

Bair honored with JFK Profiles in Courage Award

2009-06-11T02:09:00.003-05:00

Sheila Bair (right), chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., today accepted a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in recognition of her early warnings about the subprime lending crisis and her subsequent criticism of the government's management of the financial crisis.

Caroline Kennedy presented the award to Bair at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library saying that Bair "stood up for average, taxpaying Americans and held her ground under intense criticism from political adversaries."

More Moon

2009-06-11T02:06:00.000-05:00

‘MOON SHOT…’ – The Museum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library will unveil a new exhibit, “Moon Shot – JFK and Space Exploration,” celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing, and President Kennedy’s grand vision that made the achievement possible. Featuring original documents, photographs, and artifacts from the collections of the Kennedy Presidential Library, the National Archives—Southwest Region, the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, and NASA, this exhibit will illustrate the elements of imagination and engineering that combined to achieve the successful Moon landing. For more information on JFK and the space race, visit http://jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/Space+Program.htm.

Marketers Look to the Heavens to Honor the First Moon Walk

2009-06-11T02:02:00.002-05:00

HOW high the moon? For marketers and media companies, the sky seems to be the limit as they prepare a cosmic — and commercial — commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon.

Louis Vuitton is running a print ad with, from left, the astronauts Sally Ride, Edwin Aldrin and Jim Lovell.

A print ad for a special Omega watch invokes John F. Kennedy.

The anniversary, to be observed on July 20, is the subject of advertising campaigns, books, DVDs, tribute merchandise, events and film festivals, along with enough trinkets to stuff a space capsule. The goal of all that basking in reflected moon glow is to remind the public how good it felt when the arrival of Apollo 11 on the moon — and the walks on the lunar surface by the astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin — fulfilled a promise made eight years earlier by President John F. Kennedy.

After 45 Years, a Civil Rights Hero Waits for Justice, Abraham Bolden and hidden files.

2009-06-11T01:57:00.001-05:00

Thom Hartmann
Best-Selling Author and Host of Nationally Syndicated Progressive Talk Show

A great miscarriage of justice has kept most Americas from learning about a Civil Rights pioneer who worked with President John F. Kennedy. But there is finally a way for citizens to not only right that wrong, but bring closure to the most tragic chapter of American presidential history.

After an outstanding career in law enforcement, Abraham Bolden was appointed by JFK to be the first African American presidential Secret Service agent, where he served with distinction. He was part of the Secret Service effort that prevented JFK's assassination in Chicago, three weeks before Dallas. But Bolden was framed by the Mafia and arrested on the very day he went to Washington to tell the Warren Commission staff about the Chicago attempt against JFK.

The Freedom Of Information Act - March 30, 1965

2009-06-08T02:09:00.003-05:00

(Sen. Al Gore with Rep. John Moss - Next time you're digging around the National Archives, thank the guy on the right.)

On March 30, 1965, California Representative John Moss introduced legislation in Congress that would give the public access to the inner workings of the government. It was met with a lot of resistance. LBJ swore to veto it if it arrived on his desk. The idea that a government that was transparent, that actually would be accountable, where the press would actually have access to documents seemed very abstract to some.

ARRB: JFK planned withdrawal from VIET was REAL

2009-06-06T11:28:00.000-05:00

Would JFK Have Pulled Out of Vietnam ? ( 2 Parts)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhLlOiWvvXo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN6r7MTTf9Y

Tip O'Neill: JFK was pulling out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3Icbzk8mg8

ARRB: JFK Phased Pullout was real
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcr5Q2RfhSQ

Kennedy discounts immediate and total withdrawal in Cronkite interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG7jjF6xuKM

Kennedy the Peacemaker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh2bv4jRomw

http://www.youtube.com/GJJdude

Billy Sol Estes Case - Issues and Answers 1962

2009-06-02T00:30:00.002-05:00

On July 2, 1962, at the height of the investigation, ABC's long-running Sunday talk show Issues and Answers featured a dialogue between Texas Attorney General Will Wilson and Senator Edmund Muskie, who was a member of the Senate Subcommittee investigating the Estes scandal. Follow the link to hear the program.

(The Shoes of Billy Sol Estes - no doubt the Alligator had other plans.)

What had to be one of the biggest scandals of the 1960's centered around one Billy Sol Estes whose influence and fraud wandered through many high places in Washington, allegedly all the way up to the office of Lyndon Johnson. Estes was the subject of a Senate Sub-committee investigation on political corruption which led to a startling number of discoveries and an even more startling number of "suicides" in the process. Although Estes was convicted of fraud and corruption charges and sentenced to prison, his conviction was overturned by a Supreme Court decision that ruled the massive amount of publicity the investigation garnered made a fair trial impossible.

Still, the allegations were serious enough about LBJ to force Kennedy to consider dropping him as running mate in 1964. And he probably would have, had fate not intervened.

Jay Leno Remembers JFK, Jr As His Most Emotional Moment

2009-06-02T00:08:00.000-05:00

Leno on his most poignant interview:

[Jay Leno NBC] “Well, I told this story yesterday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the most poignant one was John F. Kennedy Jr., because I talked about how I was 12-years old when Kennedy was assassinated and I remember sitting in the living room at my parents house and watching the funeral on TV and my mother crying hysterically. And I remember when they showed little John John in that little outfit, saluting the casket, and my mother just [in tears]. And when you’re a kid and your mom is crying, it’s like, ‘Oh, my God.’ It’s like an unnatural thing and I didn’t know what to do, I was totally lost. I’d look at the TV, I’d look at my mom, and I didn’t know how to fix the situation.

“And so that being what it is, I had John F. Kennedy on the show forty years later and I’m in the dressing room talking to him and it didn’t hit me and we had a nice talk. I introduced him on The Tonight Show, it still didn’t hit me. When he came around the corner and I shook his hand, and I looked up in the camera, I looked up at the monitor and I saw me shaking hands with John F. Kennedy [Jr.], and I immediately flashed to my mom just being hysterical and it was kind of an emotional moment. I didn’t say I was bursting into tears. But it was really like, suddenly never in my life did I think I would be able to fix that problem or go full circle with it.

"You know, I almost wanted to say to my mom, ‘Look, he’s right here, he’s fine. It’s okay.’ It really struck, and it caught me off guard for a second. I was like, ‘Um, yeah, sit down. Hey, good to see you.’ So to me, that was probably one of the more emotional nights on the show. I mean, obviously the night I talked about my mom and dad passing away was an emotional moment, too, but that’s separate. That’s an emotional one for everybody. So I don’t want to capitalize on that or make it look like I am, but that, certainly, with the exception of my parents and talking about that the night they passed away. The John F. Kennedy Jr. was probably the most emotional moment for me.”

Jackie and Michelle: The White House Wardrobes

2009-05-26T22:41:00.002-05:00

Comparisons between Michelle Obama and Jacqueline Kennedy are inevitable: two elegant women, catapulted into the national spotlight by their charismatic, ambitious husbands. Which is fashion’s true First Lady? Decide for yourself, and vote in the Vanity Fair poll.
WEB EXCLUSIVE May 20, 2009

Paramour of Kennedy Is Writing a Book

2009-05-23T19:34:00.003-05:00

By MOTOKO RICH
Published: May 22, 2009

Mimi Beardsley Alford, a retired New York church administrator who had an affair with John F. Kennedy while she was an intern in the White House, is breaking a silence of more than 40 years to tell her story in a memoir to be published by Random House.

Ms. Alford’s secret was initially divulged six years ago when a biography of Kennedy was published with portions from a 1964 oral history that described the president’s 18-month sexual affair with a young intern named Mimi Beardsley. The Daily News tracked her down and discovered that she was Marion Fahnestock, who was divorced, working for the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church and living in Manhattan. At the time, she gave a short statement confirming that she was “involved in a sexual relationship” with Kennedy from June 1962 to November 1963.

Richard Helms Testifies at The Church Committee Hearings - 1975

2009-05-22T10:34:00.002-05:00

From Crooks and Liars

(Richard Helms - What Didn't He Know and When Didn't He Know It

Ever since the latest fiasco regarding the CIA surfaced, I kept thinking how adept the CIA has always been, historically in telling half-truths, no truths and "who me?" prevarications.

Beginning in 1975, a series of hearings took place in an attempt to investigate certain "illegal goings on" within the CIA, It ran the full gamut from wiretapping, domestic espionage, assassinations and mail tampering. Heading up the Senate Select Committee was Senator Frank Church (D-Idaho), and the hearings were dubbed The Church Committee. The hearings lasted several months and fortunately most all of them were recorded and broadcast by NPR, back when NPR actually stood for something in the way of integrity and solid reporting.

This particular clip, from the afternoon session of October 22, 1975, features former CIA Director Richard Helms (who would later serve as Ambassador to Iran) being questioned by Senator Church over his role in the matter of illegal mail tampering - a practice that had gone on since the days Allen Dulles ran the CIA in 1953.

Since there are numerous hours of testimony to sift through from many witnesses, I will try and offer as much as I can in small doses over the next few weeks. Bear with me - it'll be worth it.

Sheila Bair, Brooksley Born: JFK Award Recipients For Predicting Crisis

2009-05-18T11:34:00.000-05:00

BOSTON — Two U.S. federal regulators who sounded early warnings on the financial crisis and a Liberian peace activist will receive the 2009 the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

The awards will be presented Monday by Caroline Kennedy at a ceremony at Boston's John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

Among those to receive honors is Sheila Bair, chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., who was one of the first to warn about the subprime lending crisis.

Brooksley Born, former chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will be honored for warning a decade ago about unregulated financial contracts.

Leymah Gbowee (LAY'-mah BOH'-wee) also will receive an award for organizing a multifaith group of woman to help end Liberia's civil war.

In Defense of the Speaker of the House

2009-05-18T07:26:00.002-05:00

William E. Jackson Jr.
Posted: May 16, 2009 12:35 AM

As of May 16, several national newspaper and television headlines were adopting an accusatory tone critical of Speaker Nancy Pelosi that undoubtedly tickled the actual authorizers (Vice President Cheney et al) and the actual practitioners (Central Intelligence Agency) of torture during the previous administration, 2001-2009. For example: "CIA Director Panetta Rebuts Pelosi's Charges," Washington Post, May 16.

Having worked for a Senate leader on Capitol Hill, I can attest that--when leaders of Congress are notified of major covert operations--the briefings are often incomplete at best and are sometimes prone to gloss over what is really going on. A full briefing on relevant CIA activities is seldom guaranteed.

William E. Jackson Jr. wrote a column on the press and national security for "Editor & Publisher Online" from 2003 to 2007. He served in the Executive Office of the President under President John Kennedy in 1963. He taught government and politics at UNC-Charlotte, and Davidson College. From 1974-77, he was chief legislative assistant to the U.S. Senate majority whip; and was the executive director of President Carter's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control, 1978-80. He has been a foreign policy scholar at the Brookings Institution, and the Fulbright Institute of International Relations. In addition, he produced and hosted the political talk show "Crosshairs" on Adelphia cable television, 2000-2003. Jackson resides, and writes, in Davidson, N.C.

Incredible aerial view of USS JFK

2009-05-11T15:01:00.003-05:00

Meet The Press - J. William Fulbright - April 30, 1961

2009-05-10T00:56:00.002-05:00

By Gordonskene at newstalgia.crooksandliars.com

With all the recent reflection on Presidential 100 days and crisis management, I was reminded just how much the Kennedy Administration had been handed in the area of Foreign policy and crisis management in their first 100 days.

Senator J. William Fulbright was Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, overseeing a host of hotspots, including the Congo, Berlin, Laos (in fact the whole Southeast Asia region) and Cuba. Ironically, five days before this Meet The Press was recorded, the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion took place - a bungled attempt at toppling the Castro regime on the part of the CIA causing a big black eye in our policy towards Latin America in general.

The deck was pretty stacked and there was no shortage of fires to put out. Fulbright was a big advocate of education and foreign assistance as a means of overcoming the increasing Communist influence in these regions. He was no advocate of armed conflict, particularly in SouthEast Asia, citing the French excursion and terrain as reasons to avoid it. His solution to funding the campaign of education and Foreign Aid was probably tainted by those two most lethal words in politics, "higher taxes".

This Meet The Press, from April 30, 1961 features Fulbright answering a battery of questions from Lawrence Spivak and Company.

Lively.

Alabama U.S.A. - May 5-29, 1961 By Gordonskene

2009-05-07T07:41:00.002-05:00

From "Crooks and Liars" website:

Hard to imagine that only 48 years ago today, a group of people, black and white, got on buses and rode South, attempting to bring an end to segregation in bus station waiting rooms and lunch counters. In 1961 it was illegal to mix races in social settings in the south - there were separate bathrooms, restaurants, hotels, waiting rooms, beaches. If you grew up during the end of Apartheid in South Africa, and were witness to the sweeping change that took place in the 1990's there, realize that pretty much the same atmosphere prevailed in the South in America in the 1960's. It was a horrific struggle in Alabama and Mississippi in 1961, but it was the turning point in race relations in America. When the first Freedom Riders went into Alabama, they were not greeted as liberators. Rather as agitators, communist inspired - part of some evil plot as the KKK, White Citizens Council, American Nazi Party and countless other hate groups would like to say. Buses were stoned and burned - Freedom Riders were pulled from buses and clubbed, beaten or tossed in jail on a myriad of trumped-up charges.

In response, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy sent Federal Marshals to enforce Civil Rights laws, ensuring safety of the protesters. It drew national attention and continued a struggle that began in the 1950's when the Supreme Court ruled Segregation of Public Schools was illegal. Slowly things began to change, but it was certainly not overnight. 1961 began a new era in the Civil Rights movement and it would be met with waves of violence from hate groups, bent on preserving a society where racism was the norm, a society run on fear and hate, a society doomed to implode on its own ignorance.

A segment of our society which sadly, still exists today.

Follow the link above for the NBC News Special recapping the events in Alabama in May 1961 called "Alabama USA" as well as some local (Montgomery Alabama) news reports, all as it was happening.

The Lion and the Legacy

2009-05-05T20:02:00.001-05:00

Senator Edward Kennedy’s diagnosis of brain cancer, in May 2008, touched off an extraordinary medical battle—and a veiled rivalry over who might succeed him as symbolic head of America’s fabled dynasty. Would it be R.F.K.’s oldest son, Joe? J.F.K.’s daughter, Caroline? Or the senator’s second wife, Victoria? An excerpt from the new book Ted Kennedy: The Dream That Never Died reveals the family’s shifting dynamics, the confrontation that led Caroline to drop her political bid, and the triumphant, grueling winter of the last Kennedy brother.

by Edward Klein June 2009

Incomplete Justice

2009-05-05T08:42:00.000-05:00

Mary Ferrell Foundation Featured - "Incomplete Justice," a six-part RFK essay series by Larry Hancock, author of "Someone Would Have Talked"

An Interview with Cesar Chavez - May 17, 1968

2009-05-05T08:08:00.002-05:00

From "Crooks and Liars" Blog

(Meeting with Robert F. Kennedy, 1968 - Chavez on day 25 of Hunger Strike)

We often think the situation with Migrant workers is something that's happen in the past few years. It's been going on for decades. One of the great voices in the labor movement and champion of migrant workers rights was Cesar Chavez. His endless campaign of organizing for better working conditions and a fair wage for long hours was a lifelong struggle for him, which was often met by overwhelming resistance. But in the end, progress had been made - not perfect, but a solid foundation. His is certainly a legacy that has lived on, long past his death in 1993.

Here is an interview, part of the Educational Television Networks nightly news program Newsfront, hosted by Mitchell Kraus on May 17, 1968. Chavez is joined by Junior Senator Harrison A.Williams (D-New Jersey) and Chairman of the Senate Sub-committee on Migratory Labor.

Acclaimed journalist Jim Lehrer to speak at East Central University Commencement

2009-05-03T12:04:00.002-05:00

Though it was particularly difficult for him to name the most profound moment in his career, he highlighted the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as one of these moments.

“I was a reporter for a afternoon newspaper in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated. As a reporter I learned once and for all, in an incredibly dramatic way, what one event can do and how one event can lead to so many different changes. The death of John F. Kennedy sent off a chain of events that changed our country and changed many things about it,” he said.

Obama, Caroline Kennedy Play In Oval Office

2009-04-29T16:53:00.000-05:00

To mark the President's First 100 Days, the White House released a ton of behind the scenes photos taken by Pete Souza. Some of the photos have already been seen, but there is a huge amount that show the President goofing around, acting affectionate with his wife and children and holding late night meetings with aides. Buried in the amazing collection is a photo imbued with White House history. It shows President Obama playing in the Oval Office with Caroline Kennedy. Is the President pretending to be John Jr. when he played in his father's desk? Is he trying to figure out how John got into the desk? Check out the photos to see for yourself. Follow the link to the photos of the entire slideshow from the White House.