Official and Confidential

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by Anthony Summers


  Chapter 14

  Cartha DeLoach supplied the story about H. mimicking Eleanor Roosevelt, G. Gordon Liddy recalled H. describing her as dangerous, and Edna Daulyton the encounter in the hotel. Trude Lash spoke about her husband Joseph and Mrs Roosevelt, and Bernard Fensterwald reported the comments of Col. Roger Pierce on the alleged sex recording. Dr Beatrice Berle described ‘the collapse of H. s relations with Pres. Roosevelt. The H. ‘hoot owl’ comment is from a notation, Dec. 1958, cited in WP, Jun. 6, 1982. FDR, by Ted Morgan, and Eleanor Roosevelt, I, by Blanche Wiesen Cook, NY, Viking, 1992, were vital resources. The H./Eleanor Roosevelt correspondence are in FBI file 62–62–735. FDRL Archivist Raymond Teichman confirmed the absence of records of H./FDR contacts late in the presidency.

  Chapter 15

  The Steelman anecdote was told by former agent Curtis Lynum. General William Quinn described H.’s check on the remnants of the OSS, and former CIA Director Richard Helms discussed H.’s antipathy to CIA. I drew on Off the Record: The Private Papers of Harry S. Truman, and Dear Bess: Letters from Harry to Bess Truman, ed. Robert Ferrell, and Truman, by David McCullough, NY, Simon & Schuster, 1992. The James Angleton comments are from IC 2, pp. 67ff.

  Chapter 16

  Dr Edward Elson was interviewed. Alger Hiss’ attorney Cal Barksdale spoke about the Hiss case on behalf of his client, and Stephen Salant and William Reuben were also interviewed. Robert Morgenthau discussed his father’s view of Harry White, and Robert McGaughey described Mundt’s access to Hiss files. David Garrow supplied notes of his interview with Charles Brennan, and Truman’s ‘Gestapo’ comment came from a George Elsey note, May 2, 1947, from the George Elsey Papers, HSTL. Dangerous Dossiers, by Herbert Mitgang, and Alien Ink, by Natalie Robins (see Bibliography) were main sources on FBI meddling with writers and artists. Charlie Chaplin’s FBI file is number 96100-127090. ‘Ghost of a Typewriter,’ by Fred Cook, Nation, May 12, 1962, and ‘Forgery by Typewriter,’ by Gil Green, Nation, Nov. 10, 1984, were useful. Prof. Herbert Parmet kindly supplied his 1988 interview of Richard Nixon. The 2007 symposium was reported by AP on Apr. 5, 2007. Information on Thomas Dewey came from the Dewey folder, Nichols OC, FBI 62–116758.

  Chapter 17

  Professor Howard Higman, of the Univ. of Colorado, kindly obtained his FBI file on my behalf. Prof. John Murphy analysed it, and Marilyn Van Derbur was interviewed. John Lowenthal, Al Bernstein, Telford Taylor, and Joseph Rauh discussed H.’s attack on Max Lowenthal. The ‘bad news’ report to Truman is covered by an unsigned memo, Aug. 20, Rosen to Ladd, Aug. 28, and Powers to H., Aug. 28, 1953, HSF5. Merle Miller’s assistant Carol Hanley corresponded with the author. Sen. Hickenlooper’s involvement in the Lowenthal affair is at CR, Nov. 27, 1950, Hickenlooper Papers, HHL, and see CR, Jan. 17, 1966. Truman’s part in the matter is reflected in H. to Admiral Souers, Jul. 20, HT to Lowenthal, Jul. 25, Aug. 2, Lowenthal to HT, Jul. 31, 1950, Pres. Sec.’s files, HSTL.

  Chapter 18

  Guy Hottel, Donald Surine, Walter Trohan, and Thomas Reeves, discussed H.’s relationship with Sen. McCarthy. Barbara Coffman Burns reported H.’s hosting of a Nixon fundraiser. Virginia Murchison Linthicum, Madeleine Brown, and Jim Johnson spoke about Sid Richardson and Clint Murchison. Former AG William Rogers was interviewed on H.’s relations with Eisenhower. H.’s vacationing at Del Charro was discussed by Allan Witwer, former agents Harry Whidbee, Erwin Piper and Frenchie LaJeunesse, hoteliers Arthur and Mara Forbes, Donald King, former SAC Richard Auerbach, Billy Byars, Jr., Effie Cain, and others. John Connally described H.’s connections with oilmen, and Peter Sprague, Leland Redline, Henry Darlington, Robert Morgenthau, William Hundley, John Dowd, and William Pennington discussed his oil investments. Cornelius Gallagher was interviewed about H. and Roy Cohn, as was David Schine. H.’s broadcast on behalf of McCarthy is documented in Nichols to T., Apr. 5, 1949, and transcribed in FBI 94–37708. Wm. Sullivan’s comments are in part from notes of an Arthur Schlesinger int., Jul. 26, 1976. David Kraslow allowed quotation from contemporaneous notes of his Oct. 13, 1971 meeting with H. George Allen’s ‘juice’ quote is from Washington Exposé, by Jack Anderson, Washington, DC, Public Affairs Press, 1967, pp. 209ff. I used notes of ints. with Allan Witwer by Drew Pearson, in the Pearson Papers, Texas Oilmen file, G300, LBJL, and by Wm. Lambert, in his collection. The Director’s Daily Log proved the length of his vacations. Official findings on diversion of Recreation Fund money are from AG Griffin Bell’s US Recording Report, Jan. 10, 1978. I cited the Valuation of Securities, Estate of Clyde Tolson, Apr. 14, 1975, in TSF9. Myer Schine’s admission of a deal with the mob is from the Schine transcript, Sen. Special Cttee. to Investigate Org. Crime in Interstate Commerce, 1950, Pt. 2.

  Chapter 19

  John Williams, citing Allard Lowenstein, reported the meeting of worried US senators. Henry Eakins quoted Sen. Mundt on H. as ‘most dangerous.’ Former agent Harold Leinbaugh, Peter Eikenberry, Leon Friedman, and Ralph Salerno discussed Rep. John Rooney. Robert Winter-Berger was interviewed about John McCormack, and Jack Anderson about Thomas Dodd. Curtis Lynum described the Zero file system. Judge George McKinnon, Edna Daulyton, Julius Knutson, Quentin Burke, and Joseph Shimon provided information on Rep. Knutson. Former agents Amos Teasley, Joseph Woods, John Tierney, Paul Ertzinger, Conrad Trahern, Alfred Nicholas, Joseph Purvis, and Harold Charron, talked about the Official and Confidential files. I interviewed Gordon Liddy, and former CIA Director Richard Helms, about H.’s pressure on politicians. David Gelman recalled the NYP contact with Rep. Celler. I interviewed Arthur Murtagh, Walter Trohan, and former Sen. George Smathers. Sullivan’s comments drew on an unpub. int. by DES investigator Robert Fink, May 2, 1976. The Washington Pay-off, by Robert Winter-Berger, Secaucus, NJ, Lyle Stuart, 1972, was a main source on congressional corruption. I used the McCormack Papers, Boston University, and the Keenan Papers, Harvard Law School Library, to document those politicians’ relations with H., and Above the Law, by James Boyd, NY, New American Library, 1968, and FBI file 58–6157, OC 92 on Thomas Dodd. For the passage about Emmanuel Celler, I used the Celler Papers, LC, and a letter from Dorothy Schiff of Mar. 30, 1988. Arthur Murtagh’s congressional testimony of Nov. 1975 is at IC3, pp. 1047, 1068.

  Chapter 20

  I drew on interviews with former AG Laurence Silberman, Sen. Ralph Yarborough, Abigail McCarthy, and – on Rep. Boggs – with Thomas Boggs, Thomas P. O’Neill, Gary Hymel, Henry Reuss, Charles Percy, and Birch Bayh. I discussed Sen. Long with his former aide Robert Bevin, with Bernard Fensterwald, and former FBI Assistant Director Cartha DeLoach. The Gallagher affair was reported on the basis of multiple interviews with Cornelius Gallagher and his family, with Charles Joelson, William Lambert, Russell Sackett, Elizabeth May, Joseph Zicarelli, Jr., Larry Weisman, former AG Ramsey Clark, former Justice Dept. official Mitchell Rogovin, and FBI agents John Lelwica, John Connors, Lincoln Stokes, and Victor Carelli. Former Justice Dept. official William Hundley, journalist Mike Royko, and former agent William Turner, discussed Life magazine reporter Sandy Smith. On the FBI and the Supreme Court, I used the Now It Can Be Told syndicated TV program, Sept. 16, 1991, and Cloak and Gavel, by Alexander Charns, Chicago, Univ. of Illinois Press, 1992. An unpub. ms. by Robert Bevin was useful on surveillance of Congress, as was the unpub. ms. The Intruders, by Edward Long, and draft chapters for a book from Bernard Fensterwald’s personal papers. Bernard Fensterwald signed an affidavit on Oct. 22, 1990 about the alleged DeLoach visit to Sen. Long. The discussion of Sandy Smith drew on Playboy, 1981, Wm. Helmer to Turner, Sept. 1980, with enclosures, SAC Chicago to H., Mar. 16, DeLoach to Mohr, Mar. 16, 1965, FBI file 07–455829, and A Life memo by Smith, Aug. 21, 1968.

  Chapter 21

  Cartha DeLoach described H. weeping. Mrs L. B. Brown described her husband’s ordeal, and former agents Wm. Turner, Nate Ferris, Gordon Liddy, Joseph Schott, Francis Flanagan, Jack Shaw, Bernard Conners, and Nelson Gibbons discussed agent conditions. Dr Robert Choisser and Marilyn Bell spoke about H.’s health. John Dowd, Joseph Griffin, Homer Bo
ynton, Mrs Leo Gauthier, John Dunphy, Martin Kaiser, and Assistant AG Harold Tyler discussed the 1977 FBI corruption probe. Documents used included Nelson Gibbons’ FBI file, held by his attorney, AG Griffin Bell’s statement on release of the US Recording Report, Jan. 10, 1978, and the Nov. 11, 1976 report to Michael Shaheen, Council on Professional Responsibility, by John Dowd, Special Attorney, Crim. Div., DJ, obtained under Freedom of Information Act.

  Chapter 22

  The Lombardozzi quote was obtained for the author by attorney Wm. Pepper. Guy Hottel discussed H. and horseracing, and former agents Pete Pitchess, Wm. Roemer, and Neil Welch described early FBI attitudes to organized crime. Former Assistant Cttee. Counsel Joseph Nellis, Wm. Turner and Jack Anderson were interviewed about Sen. Kefauver. Former AGs Herbert Brownell, Wm. Rogers, and Ramsey Clark, NY DA Robert Morgenthau, former LA Police Chief Tom Reddin, crime consultant Ralph Salerno, former Justice Dept. officials Robert Pelaquin, Wm. Hundley, and Edwin Guthman, Prof. Fred Inbau, former FBI Assistant Directors Courtney Evans, Mark Felt, and Cartha DeLoach, and fourteen former FBI agents, were consulted about H.’s inaction against organized crime. Herman Klurfeld, and Mrs Meyer Lansky, reported by Michael Fooner, discussed Winchell’s links to the mob. Restaurateurs Jesse, Grace, and Jo-Ann Weiss discussed H. and Joe’s Stone Crabs. Allan Witwer talked about Ed Levinson, Wm. Gallinaro about Art Samish and John Daly, Robert Baskett, Win. Wilson, and Wm. Gallinaro about Dub McClanahan. Irving Davidson and Bobby Baker were interviewed, and former agent Wm. Roemer reported Murray Humphries’ comments about H. and Murchison. Among 22 interviewees on H. and horseracing, Virginia Linthicum, Effie Cain, Bud Brubaker, Guy Hottel, Curly Harris, Cliff Wickman, and Chick Lang were especially helpful. H.’s request to Phil Kovolick was reported in interviews and corr. with Hank Messick. Reporter Fletcher Knebel and former Justice Dept. aide Ed Guthman added to reports that H. placed larger bets than he publicly admitted. For the massive body of specialist literature on organized crime used, readers are referred to the hardback edition. This chapter drew on an uned. ms. in the papers of Leon Turrou, held by his son, the Harold Robinson Papers, HSTL, H.’s testimony to the the US Sen. Cttee. to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, Mar. 26, 1951, pp. 524ff., and – on Kefauver – the Apr. 21, 1952 report by Auerbach to H., and Sullivan to Belmont, Dec. 28, 1961, in FBI file 62–77208. Del Webb’s registration at the Del Charro was seen in Allan Witwer’s collection, and Dallas Conspiracy, an unpub. ms. by Prof. Peter Dale Scott, VI, 16, provided information on John Drew. Reporting on Del Mar used the Hearings, Cal. Sen. Factfinding Cttee. on Govt. Admin., Examination of 22nd Agricultural Assn., 1960, and orig. Life research files on Boys Inc.

  Chapter 23

  The late Norma Abrams was interviewed in 1988, as was Eduardo Disano. Herman Klurfeld, Joseph DiMona, and Lyle Stuart discussed the Lepke case, and Wm. Hundley described his encounter with Costello. Sam Giancana (nephew) recounted his father’s version of the Chicago mobster’s attitude to H., and Wm. Pepper (supra.) arranged the contact with Lombardozzi. Seymour Pollack was interviewed twice. The late Jimmy Fratianno was interviewed in 1990, and Nicholas Lore, Jim Henderson and George Carr discussed the encounter with H. that Fratianno described. Irving Resnick and his daughter Dana were interviewed, and Resnick’s story was discussed with Pete Hamill, Jim Doyle, and Wm. Roemer. At Gatti’s Restaurant, owner Mike Gatti and Edidio Crolla recalled H. and Lansky. Wm. Gallinaro told of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police taping a Lansky conversation. John Weitz and Gordon Novel were interviewed about alleged H.-Tolson sex photographs, and see Esquire, May 1993, p. 57, and author’s reply in August edition. An earlier report of the Hundley-Costello meeting was found in 1978 memos of Mike Ewing in HSCA files. Possible deportation of Costello is discussed in memos re. Drew Pearson, Mar.-Sept., 1952, and Jun. 1, 1954, in FBI file 94–8–350. Documentation on Pollack was found at Hearings, House Select Cttee. on Crime, Dec. 7, 1971, p. 3.

  Chapter 24

  The head of the Justice Dept’s Special Group, Milton Wessel, and Laurence Walsh, discussed H.’s response to Apalachin. Susan Rosenstiel was interviewed in France, and signed an affadavit swearing to the truth of her account. NY Crime Cttee. Chief Counsel Edward McLaughlin, investigator Wm. Gallinaro, Hank Messick, Jackie Somerville, Sidney Stricker, Stanley Penn, Jim Savage, Dr Elaine Needel, Dr Henry Foster, Robert Morgenthau and former Asst. Director Cartha DeLoach were interviewed about Rosenstiel. Kenneth Wells discussed the Freedoms Foundation. The author used FBI files on the Special Group obtained by Milton Wessel, and used Hearings, Subcttee. 5, House Judiciary Cttee., Serial 16, p. 102, and Hearings, Approp. Cttee. Subcttee., Mar. 6, 1961, p. 432. The testimonies of James Kelly, Yolanda Lora, John Harrington, Jeremiah McKenna, and Louis Nichols on Rosenstiel are in the files of the NY State Joint Legislative Cttee. on Crime, Its Causes, Control, Effects on Society, 1971. The author obtained a Dept. of Justice memo from Wm. Gallinaro to Henry Peterson, Jul. 27, 1970. Nichols’ retirement corr. is in a private collection. H.’s office logs, May 6, Jul. 15, 1958, established his contacts with Rosenstiel. The 1958 FBI report on the mob is Belmont to Boardman, Jul. 14, 1958, FBI file 94–8–350–943. After hardback publication, the author received material on Lewis Rosenstiel from FBI file 94–41753, and on Susan Rosenstiel from FBI file 163–1486–2 (FOIPA release 298–462). The account of H.’s reaction is in Kennedy Justice, by Victor Navasky, supra., p. 44. H.’s denial of a mob coalition is in Law Enforcement Bulletin, Jan. 1962.

  Chapter 25

  Former agent Kenneth Whittaker and Jesse Weiss discussed H.’s relations with Joseph Kennedy. Lady Bird Johnson, Lynda Robb, Curtis Lynum, Robert Parker, Joseph Schott, Bobby Baker, and Cartha DeLoach were interviewed in connection with H. and Lyndon Johnson. Joseph Shimon recalled Joseph Kennedy’s mob friendships, as did Edna Daulyton. Judith Campbell Exner was interviewed on several occasions. Evelyn Lincoln and Pierre Salinger discussed the 1960 Convention, and Ben Bradlee, Igor Cassini, Gore Vidal, and Jack Anderson described John Kennedy’s attitude to H. Philip Hochstein reported H.’s assertion that JFK had not legitimately won the election. The documentation of this and other Kennedy chapters is so vast that scholars are strongly advised to use only the hardback edition. The references that follow are highly selective. Joseph Kennedy’s 1955 letter to H. is in The FBI Pyramid, by Mark Felt (see Bibliography), p. 195, and his role as FBI ‘Contact’ is in OC14. British reports on JFK drew on Honeytrap, by the author and Stephen Dorril, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1987. FBI reports on Inga Arvad are in OC7, i, ii, iii, and JFK’s early courting of H. is in FBI file 94–37373. His father’s similar corr. is in file 94–37308. The FBI’s ‘highlights’ of JFK’s behavior are in Jones to DeLoach, Jul. 13, 1960, OC96. JFK and Lansky are covered in the transcript of 60 Minutes, CBS-TV, Jun. 25, 1989, and Battaglia is in Rosen to Boardman, Mar. 4, 1958, FBI file 94–37374. The approach to Marcello is in Pay-off, by Michael Dorman, NY, David McKay, 1972, p. 109. JFK’s activity at the Convention is covered in the author’s book Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe, NY, New American Library, 1986, and Kennedy and Johnson (NY, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1968) and My Twelve Years with John F. Kennedy (NY, David McKay, 1965), by Evelyn Lincoln, and ints. Lincoln. H.’s postelection letter to JFK is at Nov. 9, 1960, in FBI file 94–37374.

  Chapter 26

  Mitchell Rogovin told the anecdote about the bust of Stanley Finch. Danny Selznick supplied his interview of Cartha DeLoach on Robert Kennedy’s consultative visit to H., and the interaction of H. and RFK was based on interviews with former Asst. Director Courtney Evans, former agents Curtis Lynum, Joseph Schott, Jack Danahee, Gordon Liddy, and with Arthur and Mara Forbes, Wm. Hundley, Joe Dolan, and Angie Novello. Jesse and Grace Weiss, and Billy Byars, Jr., discussed H.’s relations with the Weiss and Byars families, and Edward Munden and Robert Garvey spoke of the Alicia Purdom case. John Seigenthaler and Wm. Hundley talked about H. and black agents, while Kenneth Whittaker reported Joseph Kennedy’s comments after golf, and H.’s outburst about RF
K. Robert Morgenthau and Joe Dolan recalled the Des Moines fiasco. Documents on the Purdom episode are in OC13, i, ii. H.’s Jan. 10, 1961 memo to RFK about Communism is in IC6, p. 821. H.’s letters to JFK are in JFKL, and the warning to H. of possible dismissal is in Millen to Conrad, Dec. 5, 1961, HSF6.

  Chapter 27

  The Mar. 22, 1962 H. meeting with JFK was discussed by Evelyn Lincoln and Judith Exner. The ‘first marriage’ story was recalled by Ben Bradlee, Tom Wicker, Courtney Evans, Igor Cassini, Walter Trohan, J. B. Stoner, and Bobby Baker. Cartha DeLoach, former agent Homer Young, and Dick Schumacher talked about JFK and Angie Dickinson. Gordon Liddy, Eunice Murray, Cartha DeLoach, John Sherlock, Harry Hall, Liz Renay, Billy Byars Jr., Arthur and Mara Forbes, and Anthony Calomaris, spoke of the relationship between the Kennedys and Marilyn Monroe. The duration of the Mar. 1962 H.-JFK meeting is established in JFKL records, and O’Donnell’s account is from Dec. 7, 1976 interview supplied to the author by Prof. Herbert Parmet. Evidence that H. knew of the JFK-Campbell affair is in Evans to Belmont, Mar. 20, 1962, OC96. Angie Dickinson is discussed in A Woman Named Jackie, by David Heymann, London, Heinemann, 1989, and in Those Wild Wild Kennedy Boys, by Stephen Dunleavy and Peter Brennan, NY, Pinnacle, 1976, p. 49. My book Goddess, supra., was the main source for the Monroe material, but Peter Lawford’s description of the affair came from David Heymann’s book Jackie, supra. Winchell’s article about Monroe and JFK is in Jones to DeLoach, Jul. 9, 1963, FBI file 105–40018.

  Chapter 28

  The 1963 decision to dump H. drew on interviews with Edwin Guthman, former AG Nicholas Katzenbach, Abba Schwartz, Robert Morgenthau, and Wm. Hundley. The notion of Yarmolinsky as a replacement was discussed with Joe Dolan and Yarmolinsky. Abba Schwartz described JFK’s reference to keeping a file on H. Ben Bradlee and Bobby Baker discussed the Rometsch episode, and members of Bill Thompson’s family spoke of his relationship with JFK. The coverage of the Profumo case drew on Honeytrap, by the author and Stephen Dorril, supra., FBI file 65–68218, and State Dept. and CIA documents released to the author. JFK’s conversation with Martin Luther King is from an interview of Andrew Young in Christianity In Crisis, Feb. 16, 1976, and My Soul Is Rested, by Howell Raines, NY, Putnam, 1977, p. 430. Sources on Rometsch included FBI files 105–122316, WFO 105-54487, OC22, Des Moines Register, Oct. 26, 1963, and letters in the possession of Bobby Baker.

 

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