Description
Book Synopsis In this book, former Warren Commission lawyer Burt Griffin examines anew the Kennedy assassination, its various investigations, its effects on the Cold War and the civil rights movement, and the motives of Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. Griffin begins with his own skeptical reaction to the assassination, proceeds to the Dallas police investigation, and continues with the efforts of himself and his colleagues to sift truth from those who concealed, withheld, or exaggerated evidence.
After nearly six decades of study, Judge Griffin is satisfied that Oswald acted alone. He concludes that violence in the Cold War and civil rights movement caused Oswald to believe that blame for Kennedy''s death might be placed on followers of rightwing activist and former U.S. Army general Edwin Walker. Walker was an outspoken enemy of Oswald''s idol, Cuban president Fidel Castro, and a firm opponent of racial integration--and Oswald had already attempted to murder Walker in April 1963. The
Trade Review
“Burt Griffin writes with the authority and confidence of someone in complete control of the tumultuous history of the JFK assassination. Benefiting from his service as the Warren Commission's assistant counsel, Griffin provides a fresh and page-turning account of America's most infamous political murder. JFK, Oswald and Ruby is accessible both for those who have never read about the case as well as for veteran assassination researchers. Griffin's most important contribution is presenting a credible explanation of how the turbulent politics and social divisions of the early 1960s fueled the lethal motives for 'two powerless but ambitious people,' Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. Burt Griffin has performed a public service in JFK, Oswald and Ruby.” - Gerald Posner, author of Case Closed
“One of Burt Griffin's law school classmates once told me the primary reason he believed the Warren Report was because Griffin had been a member of the commission's staff, and that he would not have been party to an inadequate, corrupt, or incompetent investigation. True to form, in JFK, Oswald and Ruby, Griffin delivers a reality check to those who distort the truth for profit, out of bias or ideology, or through sheer ignorance. The Ruby dimension gets short-changed in many books about the assassination of President Kennedy. Not here.” - Max Holland, author of The Kennedy Assassination Tapes
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- Introduction
- Politics One—Investigators Find a Suspect
- 1. The Most Extensive Criminal Investigation in History
- 2. Police and Sheriffs at Work
- 3. Lee Harvey Oswald Faces Captain Will Fritz
- 4. The Warren Commission Begins Its Work
- Politics Two—Prejudice and Truth
- 5. Truth-Finding and Jack Ruby's Trial
- 6. Truth and Self-Interest
- 7. Jack Ruby Tells His Story
- 8. Friends, Employees, and Truth-Telling
- 9. Jack Ruby: The First Conspiracy Investigator
- Politics Three—Determining Credibility
- 10. National Interest, Self-Interest, and Truth
- 11. Scientific Evidence, Physical Evidence, and the Quest for Truth
- 12. Sylvia Odio: A Sincere Witness May Be Wrong
- 13. Mark Lane: A Misleading Advocate
- Politics Four—Ambition, Failure, and Assassination
- 14. Leaving Why to Others
- 15. Becoming a Marxist
- 16. To Russia for Love
- 17. The Maasdam Manifesto
- 18. Independence and the Changed Man
- 19. Edwin Walker: A Target for Murder
- 20. Alone in Dallas: A Chance for Political Reflection
- 21. Searching for Identity
- 22. Waiting for Walker
- 23. Action and Exit
- 24. The Big Easy
- 25. Revolution in America
- 26. Looking at a Different Revolution
- 27. Beyond Birmingham and Dallas
- 28. Building a Dossier
- 29. Fantasies After Failure
- 30. Another Try at the Dossier
- 31. Mexico City: Secrecy, Bureaucracy, Credibility, and the Cold War
- 32. Setting the Stage for Assassination
- 33. Looking for a New Life
- 34. Resuming Political Pursuit
- 35. Agent Hosty Disrupts the Inner World
- 36. Fathoming the Unknown
- 37. Distractions from Dallas Dangers
- 38. Waiting for the President
- 39. Semifinal Acts
- 40. Friday, November 22
- 41. Answering Why?
- Politics Five—Coping with Truth in Assassinations
- 42. Marina and America
- 43. The Assassination's Long Arm
- 44. The Unending Search for Truth
- 45. A Conversation about Conspiracy, Truth, and Trust
- 46. Truth and Trust in a Political World
- Postscript: Continuing the Search for Truth
- Chapter Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
