A 2003 Gallup poll indicated that nearly 20% of Americans suspected
Lyndon B. Johnson of being involved in the assassination of Kennedy.
Critics of the Warren Commission have accused Johnson of plotting the
assassination because he hated the Kennedys and feared that he would be
dropped from the Democratic ticket for the 1964 election. With his 1968
book The Dark Side of Lyndon Baines Johnson, Joachim Joesten is credited
as being the first conspiracy author to accuse Johnson of having a role
in the assassination. According to Joesten, Johnson "played the leading
part" in a conspiracy that involved "the Dallas oligarchy and ... local
branches of the CIA, the FBI, and the Secret Service". Other
assassination authors who have indicated there was complicity on the
part of Johnson include Jim Marrs, Ralph D. Thomas, J. Gary Shaw, Larry
Harris, Walt Brown, Noel Twyman, Barr McClellan, Craig Zirbel, Penn
Jones, Jr., and Madeleine Brown.
In 2003, researcher Barr
McClellan published the book, Blood, Money & Power. McClellan claims
that Johnson, motivated by the fear of being dropped from the Kennedy
ticket in 1964 and the need to cover up various scandals, masterminded
Kennedy's assassination with the help of his friend, Austin attorney
Edward A. Clark. The book suggests that a smudged partial fingerprint
from the sniper's nest likely belonged to Johnson's associate Malcolm
"Mac" Wallace, and that Mac Wallace was, therefore, on the sixth floor
of the Depository at the time of the shooting. The book further claims
that the killing of Kennedy was paid for by oil magnates, including
Clint Murchison and H. L. Hunt. McClellan states that the assassination
of Kennedy allowed the oil depletion allowance to be kept at 27.5
percent. It remained unchanged during the Johnson presidency. According
to McClellan, this resulted in a saving of over 100 million dollars to
the American oil industry. McClellan's book subsequently became the
subject of an episode of Nigel Turner's ongoing documentary television
series, The Men Who Killed Kennedy. The episode, entitled "The Guilty
Men", drew angry condemnation from the Johnson family, President
Johnson's former aides, and ex-Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter
following its airing on The History Channel. The History Channel
assembled a committee of historians who concluded the accusations in the
documentary were without merit, and The History Channel apologized to
the Johnson family and agreed not to air the series in the future.[316]
Madeleine
Brown, who alleged she was the mistress of Johnson, also implicated him
in a conspiracy to kill Kennedy. In 1997, Brown said that Johnson,
along with H. L. Hunt, had begun planning Kennedy's demise as early as
1960. Brown claimed that by its fruition in 1963, the conspiracy
involved dozens of persons, including the leadership of the FBI and the
Mafia, as well as prominent politicians and journalists.[317] In the
documentary The Men Who Killed Kennedy, Madeleine Brown and May Newman
(an employee of Texas oilman Clint Murchison) both placed J. Edgar
Hoover at a social gathering at Murchison's mansion the night before the
assassination.[318] Also in attendance, according to Brown, were John
McCloy, Richard Nixon, George Brown, R. L. Thornton, and H. L.
Hunt.[319] Madeleine Brown claimed that Johnson arrived at the gathering
late in the evening and, in a "grating whisper," told her that the
"...Kennedys will never embarrass me again—that's no threat—that's a
promise."[319][320][321] In addition, Brown said that on New Year's Eve
1963, she met Johnson at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas and that he
confirmed the conspiracy to kill Kennedy, insisting that "the fat cats
of Texas and [U.S.] intelligence" had been responsible.[318] Brown
reiterated her allegations against Johnson in the 2006 documentary,
Evidence of Revision. In the same documentary, several other Johnson
associates also voiced their suspicions of Johnson.
Suspicions that
Johnson was involved in covering-up facts about the assassination were
supported by Parkland Hospital doctor Charles Crenshaw. While treating
Oswald, Crenshaw said he received a phone call from Johnson. Crenshaw
gave his account of the phone conversation in his book Trauma Room One:
Johnson: "Dr. Crenshaw, how is the accused assassin?"
Crenshaw: "Mr. President, he's holding his own at the moment."
Johnson: "Would you mind taking a message to the operating surgeon?"
Crenshaw: "Dr. Shires is very busy right now, but I will convey your message."
Johnson:
"Dr. Crenshaw, I want a death-bed confession from the accused assassin.
There's a man in the operating room who will take the statement. I will
expect full cooperation in this matter."
Crenshaw: "Yes, sir."
Dr. Crenshaw said that he relayed Johnson's message to Dr. Shires, but that Oswald was in no condition to give any statement.
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