After Jackie Read online

  That evening there were also, as always, a number of starlets present, and they all wanted to spend time with the President of the United States. But Jack was conflicted. While he might have spent some time with one or two of them in the past, it just didn't seem to be the appropriate thing to do so soon after Jackie's death. But then, at about 11:00 p.m. a slight pixy of a woman with carrot-red hair walked onto the patio surrounding Lawford's large pool. Shirley MacLaine was one of the most famous actresses in America. She had also known John Kennedy for years through her own friendship with Sinatra and Lawford. Walking across the patio she took a glass of champagne from a silver tray being carried by a tuxedoed waiter and continued on toward the President who was engaged in what seemed to be a boring conversation with a twenty-one year old blonde beauty who was stroking his arm as they spoke.

  "Hello, Shirley," Jack said as she approached. "Happy New Year."

  "You too, Mr. President," she said, hooking her arm in his and pulling him away from the blonde. They strolled over to a pair of chaise lounges at the far end of the pool and sat down.

  "So tell me," Shirley said, taking a sip of her champagne as Jack lit up a cigar, "what do you think of the party?"

  "Not bad," Jack said. "No one's asked me about civil rights or Vietnam all night."

  "Well, I guess that's my cue then," she said, laughing. Shirley MacLaine was an active Democrat and well able to converse intelligently on many major topics of the day, unlike other Hollywood stars whose only interests were Variety, the gossip columns and film reviews. The final hour of 1963 passed quickly as they discussed issues large and small. Before they knew it, party hats and noisemakers were delivered on another silver platter. The audio from the television set was being broadcast over stereo speakers set up all over the patio. As the last seconds of 1963 were being counted down, John Kennedy and Shirley MacLaine held hands. Three, two, one, 1964! A cheer rang through the air as Guy Lombardo's band struck up Auld Lang Syne. And as the palm trees swayed slowly in the breeze, the President of the United States and the red-haired movie star kissed.

  "Say," Shirley whispered into Jack's ear. "Why don't you come on back to my place? It’s not very far from here."

  Jack thought for a few seconds. "I would like that," he said. "But I doubt they", he pointed to a cluster of Secret Service men standing over by the pool, "will let me ride with you. I'd better follow in my own car."

  A few minutes later a small Presidential motorcade was speeding through the cool desert night. At its head was a red Cadillac convertible with the top down, the driver's red hair blowing in the wind.

  *

  The next morning Shirley MacLaine led Jack into the breakfast room of her desert estate. Shirley cooked, making coffee and bacon and eggs for the two of them. When they were done, Jack picked up her telephone and called for his car.

  "I think I'd better walk out alone," he said to Shirley, hanging up the phone. After giving her a kiss goodbye and thanking her for breakfast, John Kennedy walked out of the MacLaine residence thinking to himself, "Maybe 1964 will be a good year after all!" As he slid into the back seat of his bulletproof limousine the driver, Secret Service agent Rufus Youngblood, turned around and wished the President a good morning. "How was your evening, sir?" he asked. President Kennedy smiled. Rufus Youngblood smiled back at him, then turned and drove off.

  *

  Meanwhile three thousand miles away a photographer hiding on a small airstrip outside of Washington shot an entire roll of film of two aging men, hand in hand, climbing aboard a small airplane bound for a private island in the Caribbean. Using a telescopic lens, the photographer had plenty of opportunity to shoot clear images of J. Edgar Hoover and Clyde Tolson, faces in sharp focus. As the plane took off, the photographer climbed out of the brush, drove to a payphone, and called Robert Kennedy. "Mission accomplished" was all he said before hanging up.

  CHAPTER 5

  State of the Union

  On Wednesday, January 20, 1964 at precisely 8:55 p.m., John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States entered the Capitol in Washington, D.C. As he strode into the great hall of Congress accompanied by his brother the Attorney General the Clerk of the House of Representatives announced to the joint session of Congress, "The President of the United States of America."

  This was JFK's first appearance before all the members of Congress since Jackie's death and the outpouring of emotion to the young widower was tumultuous. Throughout the country he was enjoying a remarkable 85% approval rating in the polls and his reception in the House chamber echoed this sentiment. As the President slowly worked his way toward the podium, he shook every hand offered to him. Among the honored guests in the gallery that evening were many members of the President’s family: Rose and Joseph Sr., all the Kennedy sisters, their spouses and older children. Standing at the podium, the elderly Speaker of the House John McCormick tapped down the gavel and brought the Members of Congress to order. Robert Kennedy had taken his seat as Attorney General with the other Cabinet members. Senator Edward Kennedy had entered some time before to take his appointed seat with his Congressional colleagues.

  The President ascended to the podium and waited for the Speaker to formally introduce him. In every previous State of the Union Address, the Speaker had done so by succinctly stating that it is his great pleasure and distinct honor to introduce the President of the United States. But these were not ordinary times. As Speaker John McCormick, another Massachusetts Democrat and long time friend of the Kennedy family leaned into the microphone tears welled up in his eyes for all to see. Speaking on behalf of both his fellow congressmen and all Americans, Speaker McCormick used the power of his podium to talk about Jacqueline Kennedy, of the grace and dignity she brought to the White House and to the nation’s capital, of her unmatched vitality, of her devotion to her husband and her children, and of the nation's great loss. He continued to speak of the President's courage, his determination to carry on for the sake of his children, his family, and the entire country. Then his voice breaking with emotion, he started to recite the Lord's Prayer. In unison, as if such a scene had been carefully choreographed, every single person in the hall rose and joined the Speaker in this eulogy to the fallen First Lady When they were finished, everyone slowly sat down in complete silence. Speaker McCormick quietly stepped away from the podium and made his way back to his chair He did not even introduce the President.

  John F. Kennedy slowly approached the microphone. With tears filling his eyes, he looked at his family sitting in the upper gallery, at his Cabinet, at the nine Supreme Court Justices, and at the hundreds of elected officials assembled in the room. "On behalf," he said quietly, then stopped for a second to clear his throat. "On behalf of my wife, thank you. Thank you very, very much." Everyone in the audience, it seemed, nodded silently.

  "Mr. Speaker," the President began, "ladies and gentlemen of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court and our distinguished guests. As you all know, these past few months have been a trying time for me and my family. But time marches on, and so must we, even in sorrow. The fact is, despite the tragedy in Dallas last November, the United States of America is still the leader of the free world. We are still a beacon in the darkness of Communism and oppression. We're still the greatest and most powerful country on the face of the earth." After every sentence, the President was interrupted by applause but the greatest ovation followed his next statement: "Yes, there is evil and horrible tragedies still happen. But America today is the best it's ever been, and it will continue to get better and better."

  When the audience finally quieted down and took their seats again, the President launched into the heart of his speech. "Now is the time," he said, "for us to move forward with the works that we haven't addressed in the past. Now is the time -now when we can afford to turn our attention to such matters - for America to get back in touch with the idealism at its core, the spirit that forged this nation almost two hundred years ago. America has fought hard to make the world safe for democracy. Now the leaders in this room must work hard to make America safer and better for all Americans." Once again, the room burst into applause.

  "Like everything else," the President continued, "safety has its price. Some of you here tonight may not be happy about what I have to say. Some of you might be downright angry. All I can tell you is..... JFK flashed his famous smile, "just be thankful that we live in a country where we are able to criticize the President with impunity." The audience laughed.

  President Kennedy then held up a thick, bound document. "What I have here," he continued, "is a recent report from the Surgeon General of the United States. I'm sure that by now most of you know what this report says. Namely, that cigarette smoking is hazardous to your health. Now, we've all known this for years. I knew cigarettes were bad way back when I was in the Navy during the war. I smoked them anyway." The crowd laughed again. "But I was an adult. I had the ability to think for myself, to reason, to make that decision. Children don't. Children are very susceptible to advertising. When you couple that with the fact that it's all too easy for young people to buy cigarettes, you start to understand why there are so many millions more young people smoking today than there were when all of us were growing up. This cannot be allowed to continue. Our young people need to have a fighting chance to survive in this world. If they want to begin smoking once they are adults, that's their business. It's still a free country. But no child should grow up already addicted to cigarettes. To that end, I'm going to ask Congress to pass legislation that will permanently ban the sale of cigarettes to minors with steep penalties for violations. I'm also going to ask for legislation that will prevent tobacco manufacturers from advertising their cigarettes in ways that wil
l appeal to children. America's youth don't need tobacco. What they need is a fresh breath of air." A startled Congress gave only perfunctory applause. Representatives from tobacco growing states, taken aback from this unexpected attack, were dumbfounded.

  As the scattered clapping quickly died down, the President continued. "A hundred years ago this past November, Abraham Lincoln went back to the battlefield at Gettysburg to remind us that ours was a country conceived in freedom and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. That same country was then embroiled in a great Civil War because we had reached the conclusion that no nation could continue to be half slave and half free. Every man who fought and died on that battlefield and on scores of other battlefields during that war knew that was true. And yet today, a hundred years later - one hundred years later - we are still a nation that is only half free." A low rumble spread through the crowd. "A nation cannot be all free when its Negro citizens are denied equal access to schools and lunch counters and rest rooms and bus seats. A nation cannot possibly be all free when its Negro citizens are denied the right to vote -the most basic right we have in a democracy!" The rumble grew louder. "A hundred years is long enough! In the next few weeks, my administration will introduce the “Lincoln Agenda”, the most comprehensive package of civil rights legislation in American history. The goal of the Lincoln Agenda will be very simple: to make certain that the greatest nation in the world is also the freest nation in the world for all of its citizens and for all time to come."

  Three quarters of the people in the audience leapt to their feet and gave the President a thunderous standing ovation. The rest, composed mainly of Southern senators and congressmen, remained in their seats either hunched over or shaking their fists in the air in anger. But their protests were more than drowned out by the roar of the crowd which took more than five minutes to die down.

  President Kennedy calmly waited for the applause to abate. Then when a hush had been restored, he continued. "There's one more essential matter we need to deal with right away. All of you are well aware that at this moment there are 19,000 American soldiers stationed in South Vietnam, a small country on the other side of the world. Technically they are called "military advisors" but some of them have already been killed in engagements with the Communist North Vietnamese. Our great country owes those brave men who gave their lives to stop the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia a debt we can never hope to repay. Communism is as great a danger and threat as it has ever been. Its spread must be stopped not only in Southeast Asia but across the entire globe. As I am sure you remember all too well the Soviet Union tried not so long ago to place its missiles just ninety miles from the coast of Florida. As a beacon of freedom, the United States can not rest and will not rest until Communism is wiped from the face of the earth." The entire audience jumped to a standing ovation.

  "Please," President Kennedy said trying to quiet the crowd down. "Please, this is very important. While we will never compromise our fight against Communism we must also realize that in sending our own troops in to fight it wherever it occurs, we will be compromising ourselves. American lives are too valuable for us not to choose our battles wisely. And given what has already happened there and what we know about Indo-China it is my belief that protecting Vietnam at the cost of more American lives is simply not worth the price. To be blunt: The prize is not valuable enough. The United States and our allies will continue to support the South Vietnamese economically and financially. We will still send them weapons if they want them. But as I've said before, in the final analysis it's their war, and ultimately they are going to have to fight it, and win it, for themselves. And so I am issuing an Executive Order effective immediately that will end this military operation. No more American soldiers will be sent to Vietnam and every one of those 19,000 soldiers who are there already will be home by Christmas."

  This unexpected announcement sent every soul in the room to their feet and set the Halls of Congress thundering with applause at the prospect of world peace.

  Standing at the podium, John Kennedy smiled. He had some closing remarks prepared but the ovation was so enthusiastic that he decided to just fold up his notes and slip them into his pocket. Leaning into the microphone he merely said, "This then, will truly be America's New Frontier. Thank you and may God bless the United States of America!" With that he stepped away from the podium and was immediately surrounded by senators and congressmen who overwhelmed him with their good will. John Fitzgerald Kennedy had just set his agenda for 1964 and for his second term. And it was a smashing success!

  CHAPTER 6

  Troubled Youth

  Lee Oswald was the most hated man in America perhaps even the world. As he remained in solitary confinement in the Texas military prison where he had been incarcerated since November, this strange young man seemed self-satisfied almost content knowing that his actions had made him one of the most infamous men in the history of his country. He had never fit in, never had any friends, never had a real job, he never even really had a country to call his own. He had gone to Russia but after 2 1/2 years he had left there as well. He had gone to Mexico as a route to Cuba but was never allowed admission. He had been discarded by three countries. But he had at last found a way to gain historic notoriety. If he could not prove himself through his own life, he believed he had found success by causing another's death.

  Oswald was interrogated daily. For months he denied any involvement in the deaths of both Jacqueline Kennedy and Officer J.D. Tippett. All the while though the FBI doggedly investigated Oswald's background. What they found out only convinced them more vigorously that they had the right man.

  Lee Oswald, they learned, was born in New Orleans in 1939. When he was three, his mother, Marguerite Oswald put him into an orphanage saying that she could no longer care for him. One year later Marguerite remarried at which time she pulled Lee out of the orphanage. The marriage was an unstable one. It lasted only five years and during that time, the "family" moved eight times. Finally in New York City Marguerite and her husband split up for good. One day, under intense interrogation, Oswald broke down and revealed that he had slept in the same bed as his mother until he was a teenager and that he had not even bathed himself until he was thirteen years old.

  Due to chronic truancy, Oswald was placed in a home for juvenile delinquents at the age of fourteen. At fifteen, he read and embraced the Communist Manifesto. Two years later in 1956, Lee Oswald enlisted in the United States Marines. He had just turned seventeen.

  Oswald spent three years in the Marine Corps during which time he was trained as a radio operator and as fate would have it, he was also trained as a sharpshooter. He was not however a very good marksman. In fact, he actually managed to shoot himself - probably by accident - and was court-martialed and sentenced to 28 days in the brig for this mishap. When he was released and later assigned to janitorial duty he requested a discharge from the service. His request was granted. It was 1959.

  Returning to his mother, Oswald was unable to re-enter civilian life. He decided instead to embark on a new journey, this time to the Soviet Union. Upon arriving in Moscow he approached Soviet officials and offered them "State" information about strategic military installations and secret codes, information he had acquired during his service with the U.S. Marines. He asked the Soviets to give him a job at a radar installation monitoring Western air traffic where his experience, he thought, would prove valuable. Instead the Russians sent him to Minsk to work in a factory manufacturing transistor radios. In 1961, While in Minsk, he courted and married the daughter of a colonel in the KGB. They soon had a baby daughter.

  In 1962, after two and a half unhappy years in the Soviet Union, Oswald decided to move his family back to the United States. He settled in New Orleans where he quickly became involved with an organization called the "Fair Play for Cuba Committee." The following year he traveled to Mexico.