LBJ

by Phillip F. Nelson

  The role of Bobby Baker in assisting Johnson to build his empire has never been quantified, basically because of the refusal of Senate Democrats to permit any further probing of that sordid affair. But President Kennedy had incorrectly assumed that Johnson had not been “on the take since he was elected” as vice president. Before that, however, as he told Ben Bradlee, “I’m not so sure.” He conceded that he knew Johnson, only a heartbeat away from the Presidency, had been improperly “tooling around the country in Grumman corporate jets. Exactly one month later, John Kennedy’s heart stopped beating, and the nation had a new President.”104

  The investigations unleashed by Johnson on Senator Williams were centered on making him seem like a cad, rather than the soft-spoken former chicken-feed dealer who tenaciously, gallantly—but credulously—tried to expose high-level corruption in Washington. More salacious rumors began to circulate from a mysterious source that Senator Williams was connected somehow to Carole Tyler, one of the party girls from the Quorum; when Ms. Tyler took the stage to defend herself, she revealed that she had important information about Senator Williams’s sex life. She turned up at a Nashville press conference, reading a prepared statement:105

  “I wonder what you would think if you knew that the principal instigator of the Senate investigation was seen by me on July 6 at 6:30 A.M. with a lady—not his wife—just after they finished breakfast. And just think, this is the gentleman who has been criticizing the Senate Rules Committee for not going into the so-called sex angle of the Baker case.* I leave it to his conscience, if any, as to why he was with this lady—not his wife—at such a time near a summer resort.”

  Asked to name the senator, Miss Tyler responded, “I think you know who I mean.” Actually, Miss Tyler had been telling the truth. She did, in fact, see the senator with a lady not his wife. The lady happened to be his granddaughter, whom he was accompanying to her home following a weekend at the beach. But Williams refused to dignify the attack by commenting on it at the time.

  Behind the scenes of this soap opera, it became apparent that Johnson’s fixation with “getting” Senator Williams was, by this time, becoming a maniacal obsession, which his aides realized was running the risk of destroying his own credibility. Despite Johnson’s efforts to stop the Senate investigation, the pressure brought by Senator Williams made it difficult for the Democratic majority to close the matter; they finally managed to take it out of play by referring it to the Criminal Division of the Justice Department. When the division failed to get Hoover’s cooperation to “wire” an informant who was about to confer with Baker—he actually reported this request to Johnson, who immediately stopped it—the Justice Department lawyers then routinely asked for help from the Bureau of Narcotics, which complied immediately.

  In the meantime, Baker thought he had escaped by having taken the Fifth Amendment and presumed he was “off the hook.” He was wrong about that and in 1967 was finally indicted on seven counts of tax evasion, one count of theft, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the government. This upset Johnson, who then ordered his aide Marvin Watson to get a complete rundown on former assistant attorney general Herbert J. Miller, who had ordered the use of wiretaps and bugs to investigate Baker. At the FBI, DeLoach wrote an internal memo outlining the request and stating that it should be done “as discreetly as possible,” and any reports should address “whether any of these individuals were close to Bobby Kennedy.”106 Baker was found guilty but managed to stall his prison term for several years while he appealed the conviction. The man who Johnson referred to as his “son” began serving his sentence in January 1971, at Lewisburg Penitentiary, until his parole after seventeen months in 1972.107

  Baker himself wrote a sad ending to the story: “One Sunday evening I was consulting with Abe Fortas at his home when Lady Bird Johnson called … I hardly heard her. I was thinking: LBJ’s right there by her side, but he won’t talk to me because he wants to be able to say he hasn’t. I knew that Johnson was petrified that he would be dragged down … LBJ was already nervous because of the previous Estes scandal and the resignation of a Texas friend, Fred Korth, who’d quit as secretary of the Navy following conflict-of-interest accusations. So I’d not expected to hear much from him. In fact, from the moment I resigned in October of 1963 until I visited him at his ranch to see a dying man, almost nine years later, we spoke not a word and communicated only through intermediaries.”108 After Baker’s release from prison, in September 1972, Walter Jenkins, who had also been reunited with his mentor, telephoned and arranged for him to visit Johnson at his home in Texas.

  During this visit, Johnson told Baker that he wanted to come to his aid, “But Bobby Kennedy would have crucified me … If there was any way in the world I could have turned off the investigation when I became president, I’d have gladly done it. But I knew it would be politically disastrous, and perhaps even legally disastrous.” The next morning, Johnson raised the question that bugged him the most: “LBJ gave me a sideways look and said, ‘Bobby, what’s gonna be in that book I hear you’re writing? Is it gonna be one of those kiss-and-tell books?’ Baker replied that he was “still in the outline and research stage, that the book hadn’t yet been fully formed in my mind.”109 Baker undoubtedly reassured Johnson that he was safe. He acknowledged that, if he had revealed the information he knew about in its entirety, there would have been extensive recriminations to many of his old political friends. He added that he could not “chirp like a canary” and further stated that “I would not have liked myself very much had I turned informer.” Neither did he say anything about the influence of the million dollars Johnson agreed to pay him, which was negotiated by Nat Voloshen.

  Fast Forward: March 1978

  Fifteen years later, in a revealing interview with Michael Gillette for an Oral History documentary for the LBJ Library, about the Bobby Baker investigations, Senator Carl Curtis spoke candidly about Lyndon Johnson’s invisible “footprints” behind the closure of the Senate investigation into Baker’s criminal activities:110

  “Everything would appear as though Lyndon didn’t know the investigation was going on. He had the ability to direct things and not be anywhere near the scene. No, he didn’t get caught interfering with that investigation at all.”

  That characteristic of Johnson was at the heart of all of his maneuvers and manipulations throughout his career. It was there in the stolen 1948 election; it was true of his dealings with Billie Sol Estes; it was obvious in the Bobby Baker scandals even before Senator Curtis spelled it out for Mr. Gillette. And it was axiomatic in Johnson’s long-term plot to become president at the expense of John F. Kennedy’s life.

  In his autobiography Forty Years against the Tide, Senator Curtis described the attempted investigation into the activities of Lyndon Johnson through his associates Bobby Baker, Walter Jenkins, and Fred Black. Curtis was a member of the Senate Rules Committee chaired by Senator Williams, which was in the process of secretly interviewing Don Reynolds as JFK was being assassinated. He spent two years trying, unsuccessfully, to get the case investigated. Moreover, Curtis confirmed the information from Burkett Van Kirk, the Republican counsel to the committee, which was that most of the incriminating information came from Robert F. Kennedy, who was planning to get Johnson dropped as vice president. He also revealed that much of the information on Baker came from a “bug” placed on instructions by RFK in Fred Black’s Washington hotel suite.111 (Perhaps Senator Curtis was unaware that Hoover was already taping that room.)

  According to Curtis, Johnson pressured the seven Democrats to vote against hearing the testimony of important witnesses, including two women who had been secretaries to Bobby Baker: Margaret Broome and Carole Tyler. The word went forth that Broome could not be relied on to keep quiet, so the six Democrats on the committee voted against allowing her to appear. It was understood, however, that Carole Tyler, who had become Baker’s mistress, was a “safe” witness, despite the allegations by Reynolds that she was deeply involved in handling fund
s which were earmarked for bribery, and had traveled extensively on Serve-U Corporation business. Tyler did testify but refused to answer questions on the ground that she might incriminate herself (Tyler later died in the strange crash of a small airplane on the beach in front of Baker’s Carousel Motel in Ocean City, Maryland). Senator Curtis described Baker, Jenkins, and Black as “contact men.” He added, “Contact-men existed primarily to obtain for their clients and themselves some share of the vast pool of riches in the possession of swollen centralized political bureaucracies. The more impressive a contact-man’s political connections, the better he and his clients would fare.”112

  When Baker was finally brought to trial for his misdeeds, one of the scams brought before the jurors—which illustrates the practically unlimited potential scope of his under-the-table dealings, clearly the conceptual baby of Lyndon Johnson, who provided him the tools and coached him in the amorality which ensured its success—resulted from his pressing California savings and loan association to contribute $100,000 to senatorial campaigns. He kept $80,000 for himself, in order to help fund his own finances, which were depleted by his investment in the Carousel Motel.113 Baker then suggested to Senator Robert Kerr, who had stepped up to fill the “influence peddler” void after Johnson became vice president, that some of the savings and loan executives would be willing to put up $200,000 if their taxes were not increased. According to Drew Pearson, “On Nov. 9, 1962 Bobby Baker brought in the first installment—$100,000 in greenbacks—and laid it on Sen. Kerr’s desk … Kerr counted out the money and stacked it in three piles on his desk. He put $50,000 in one pile to go to the Oklahoma campaign. He put $10,000 in another pile to go for contingent expenses. And he put $40,000 in another pile, which he gave to Bobby Baker. He told Baker at the time that he should begin looking out for himself and that this was a gift.”114 It isn’t clear which of his sponsors—the senator whose political influence was being purchased, Johnson followed by Kerr—was the more generous with their “finder’s fee,” but this transaction was probably typical of how these funds were shared. The meaning of the term “contingent expenses” can probably be inferred to be a provisional amount for legal fees in the “worst case” scenario.

  Having as their main political connection the new president of the United States reflects the height of the pinnacle of their careers reached by these power brokers, pimps, and lobbyists.

  Jack Ruby’s Statements of Johnson’s Involvement … and His Quick Death by “Cancer”

  In March 1965, Jack Ruby conducted a televised news conference in which he stated the following:

  “Everything pertaining to what’s happening has never come to the surface. The world will never know the true facts of what occurred, my motives. The people who had so much to gain, and had such an ulterior motive for putting me in the position I’m in, will never let the true facts come above board to the world.” When asked by a reporter, “Are these people in very high positions Jack?” he responded “Yes.”115

  Jack Ruby intimated that Lyndon B. Johnson was responsible for the assassination when he added that, had Adlai Stevenson been the vice president, it would have never happened. “When I mentioned about Adlai Stevenson, if he was vice president there would never have been an assassination of our beloved President Kennedy.” Asked if he would explain it again, Ruby continued, “Well, the answer is the man in office now (Lyndon Johnson).116 While waiting for his appeal for his first trial to be adjudicated, Ruby wrote a sixteen-page letter, which he gave to a fellow prisoner to smuggle out of jail. This letter wound up in the hands of researcher Penn Jones. The following excerpts indicate that Ruby repeatedly leveled the charge that Lyndon Johnson was behind the assassination:117

  First, you must realize that the people here want everyone to think I am crazy, so if what I know is actually [sic], and then no one will believe me, because of my supposed insanity. Now, I know that my time is running out … they plan on doing away with [me] … As soon as you get out you must read Texan looks at Lyndon [sic: A Texan Looks at Lyndon: A Study in Illegitimate Power, by J. Evetts Haley] and it might open your eyes to a lot of things. This man [Johnson] is a Nazi in the worst order. For over a year now they have been doing away with my people … don’t believe the Warren report, that was only put out to make me look innocent in that it would throw the Americans and all the European country’s [sic] off guard … There are so many things that have been played with success that it would take all nite to write them out … I am going to die a horrible death anyway, so what would I have to gain by writing all this. So you must believe me … Johnson is going to try to have an all-out war with Russia and when that happens, Johnson and his cohorts will be on the side-lines where they won’t get hurt, while the Americans may get wiped out. The only way this can be avoided is that if Russia would be informed as to [who] the real enemies are, and in that way they won’t be tricked into starting a war with the U.S. One more thing, isn’t it strange that Oswald who hasn’t worked a lick most of his life, should be fortunate enough to get a job at the Book Bldg. two wks before the president himself didn’t know as to when he was to visit Dallas, nowhere would a jerk like Oswald get the information that the president was coming to Dallas. Only one person could have had that information, and that man was Johnson who knew weeks in advance as to what was going to happen because he is the one who was going to arrange the trip for [the] president, this had been planned long before [the] president himself knew about [it], so you figure that one out. The only one who gained by the shooting of the president was Johnson, and he was in a car in the rear and safe when the shooting took place. What would the Russians, Castro or anyone else have to gain by eliminating the president? If Johnson was so heartbroken over Kennedy, why didn’t he do something for Robert Kennedy? All he did was snub him.

  According to Jim Marrs,118 Deputy Sheriff Al Madox said, “We had a phony doctor come in to [the Dallas County Jail] from Chicago, just as phony and queer as a three-dollar bill. And he worked his way in through—I don’t know, whoever supplied the county at that time with doctors … you could tell he was Ruby’s doctor. He spent half his time up there talking with Ruby.” Ruby told me, “Well, they injected me for a cold. It was cancer cells.” DPD Officer Tom Tilson said that “it was the opinion of a number of other police officers that Ruby had received injections of cancer.” Bruce McCarthy, who operated an electron microscope at Southwest Medical School near Parkland Hospital, was asked to analyze Ruby’s cancer cells and explained there are two types of cancer cells: cilia (which affect the respiratory system) and microvilli (affecting the digestive system). McCarthy identified Ruby’s cells as microvilli, indicating they originated in the digestive system. He was shocked when it was announced that Ruby died from lung cancer.

  On October 5, 1966, the Texas Court of Appeals reversed Ruby’s conviction and granted him a new trial. Ruby realized that this could mean he could get a five-year sentence; he could be out on the streets as soon as the trial was over, having already served three years of his time in jail. On December 7, they decided the trial would be held in Wichita Falls.119 This realization would have caused many people back in Washington to become very nervous. Only two days later, on December 9, Ruby was taken to Parkland Hospital. He had suddenly come down with a persistent cough and nausea. The doctors initially decided it must be pneumonia. The very next day, however, cancer was diagnosed. After some testing, it was decided that Ruby’s lung cancer was no longer curable.

  Though many believe Ruby died of cancer, he didn’t. On January 2, 1967, a blood clot formed, forcing the doctors to put Ruby on an oxygen mask. The next day, at 9:00 a.m., Ruby had a spasm; ninety minutes later, he was declared dead. Dr. Earl Rose, the man who had done the autopsy of Tippit and Oswald and should have done the autopsy on the president—but for the orders of Lyndon Johnson to hijack JFK’s corpse—discovered that the heaviest concentration of cancer cells was in the right lung, with traces of white cancerous tumors throughout the body. According to the
doctors who treated Ruby, his cancer had originated in the pancreas, but Rose saw a normal pancreas. Rose listed the immediate cause of death to be pulmonary embolism (i.e., a massive blood clot) that had formed in the leg, had gone through the heart, and had ended in his lung. Ruby’s body was flown to Chicago, where he was born, and buried in the Westlawn Cemetery, next to his parents.

  Before his death, Ruby had made at least three suicide attempts. He tried to hang himself, he split his skull by running into a wall, and at one time unscrewed the light bulb and threw water over his feet, trying to electrocute himself, only discovering the lightbulb was too high to reach while standing. One of the doctors assigned to Ruby was Dr. Louis Joy Ion West, a psychiatrist who had worked with the CIA’s MK/ULTRA program, which involved the use of LSD and other experimental psychological procedures. Dr. West was brought in mysteriously, by persons unknown, as he had no previous connection to Ruby or Dallas. If Ruby was in some way administered LSD, this would explain Ruby’s pitiful attempts to go jumping up and down, trying to reach the lightbulb and thus kill himself or to split his skull.120

  In a second letter Ruby wrote and had smuggled out of jail, he stated,121 “They found some very clever means and ways to trick me and which will be used later as evidence to show the American people that I was part of the conspiracy in the assassination of president … They alone planned the killing, by they I mean Johnson and others … In all the history of the United States never has a president been elected that has the background of Johnson. Believe me, compared to him I am a Saint.” (Emphasis added.)

  The Kennedys Stifle Manchester to Appease Lyndon Johnson