Justice for All
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12 Warren Commission Report, p. 157.
13 Warren did not record his reaction to the press conferences as they took place, but the Warren Commission report reflects his dismay at the pretrial publicity orchestrated by Dallas authorities. See Warren Commission Report, pp. 231-40.
14 Memoirs, p. 352. Manchester maintains that Jackie Kennedy did not call Warren directly, but it is difficult to imagine that Warren misremembered that conversation, which he recalled not only in his memoirs but also in conversations with friends, clerks, and family members for years afterward.
15 Memoirs, p. 353.
16 Copies of Warren’s remarks are in his memoirs, as well as in the files of the various brethren. Warren stumbled slightly in the penultimate paragraph, hence the ellipsis.
17 Author interview with Beytagh, April 8, 2005.
18 Public Papers of the President, Nov. 27, 1963. The American Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara, Johnson Papers, 11.
19 Warren schedule, Nov. 28, 1963, LOC, MD, Earl Warren papers, Personal file, 1963 Calendars.
20 Author interview with Beytagh, April 8, 2005.
21 Presidential daily diary, Nov. 29, 1964, LBJ Library.
22 Oral history interview with Warren, LBJ Library, p. 15. Johnson recalled the conversation somewhat differently, saying, for instance, that the number of potential fatalities was 40 million, but he acknowledged, indeed boasted, of using the threat of war to induce Warren’s participation. See Holland, The Kennedy Assassination Tapes, p. 205.
23 Oral history interview with Warren, LBJ Library, p. 15.
24 Holland, The Kennedy Assassination Tapes, p. 206.
25 Warren was, Beytagh said in our interview, “the opposite of upbeat.” Author interview with Beytagh, April 8, 2005.
26 Author interview with Jesse Choper, Sept. 9, 2003.
27 Holland, The Kennedy Assassination Tapes, p. 173.
28 Oral history interview with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, May 13, 1981, University of Kentucky, Lexington.
29 This conversation is related, in context, in Holland, The Kennedy Assassination Tapes, pp. 195-206. The Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia offers the unedited tape through its website, http://millercenter.virginia.edu.
30 I have adopted Holland’s punctuation and rendering of the tape. While others have rendered the tape more formally, Holland better captures Johnson’s manner and language. As noted above, the tape is publicly available through the Miller Center.
31 To Specter, Ford said he “was resisting as strongly as I could.” But Johnson’s call to Ford lasted all of 1:32 minutes, and Ford’s response to Johnson consisted entirely of “Well, you know very well I would be honored to do it, and I’ll do the very best I can” (Miller Center tape; Holland transcript, p. 186).
32 Author interview with confidential source.
33 Executive session transcript, Dec. 5, 1963, NARA, College Park, Records of the Presidential Commission to Investigate the Assassination of President Kennedy, p. 1.
34 Ibid., p. 39.
35 Olney’s duties and communications with Warren are reflected in papers at the LOC, MD, Warren papers, Lower courts file, Administrative Office of the Courts papers.
36 FBI interview with Olney, Oct. 12, 1978, NARA, College Park, House Select Committee on Assassinations, Numbered files.
37 Executive session, Dec. 5, 1963, NARA, College Park, Records of the Presidential Commission to Investigate the Assassination of President Kennedy, p. 47.
38 Executive session, Dec. 6, 1963, NARA, College Park, Records of the Presidential Commission to Investigate the Assassination of President Kennedy, p. 21.
39 Ibid., p. 6.
40 Executive session, Dec. 16, 1963, NARA, College Park, Records of the Presidential Commission to Investigate the Assassination of President Kennedy, pp. 1-9.
41 Ibid., p. 11.
42 Ibid., p. 18.
43 Ibid., p. 20.
44 Hoover to Tolson, Belmont, DeLoach, Evans, and Rosen, Dec. 14, 1963, FBI document 94-1-5619.
45 See, for instance, Time, Dec. 13, 1963.
46 Author interview with Mosk, April 20, 2005.
47 DeLoach memo to Mohr, Dec. 17, 1963, NARA, College Park, House Select Committee on Assassination records, FBI Investigative file on Lee Harvey Oswald.
48 Ibid. When the DeLoach memo became public years later, then President Ford insisted that his contacts had not continued during the rest of the Commission’s service. No other documentation has surfaced to challenge Ford’s denial.
49 Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964).
50 Ibid.
51 Ibid.
52 End-of-term memo, 1963, Chambers of William J. Brennan, Jr., LOC, MD, Brennan papers, Part II.
53 Author interview with Beytagh, April 8, 2005.
54 Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964).
55 Ibid.
56 Warren often made this point to confidants and interviewers. See, for example, his interviews with Morrie Landsberg and Tony Lewis after his retirement.
57 Memoirs, p. 308.
58 Lucas v. Colorado General Assembly, 377 U.S. 713 (1964).
59 See Brennan correspondence with Arthur Freund, LOC, MD, Brennan papers, Part II, Correspondence files, Freund folders.
60 Warren speech at Duke University, April 27, 1963, LOC, MD, Warren papers, Speeches file.
61 End-of-term memo, 1963, Chambers of William J. Brennan, Jr., LOC, MD, Brennan papers, Part II.
62 Elizabeth Black, Mr. Justice and Mrs. Black: The Memoirs of Hugo L. Black and Elizabeth Black, diary entry for May 11, 1964, p. 92.
63 End-of-term memo, 1963, Chambers of William J. Brennan, Jr., LOC, MD, Brennan papers, Part II.
64 Harlan note to Warren, Oct. 26, 1963, PU, ML, Harlan papers, Griffin v. Maryland file.
65 Archibald Cox letter to Chief and Justices, Nov. 21, 1963, PU, ML, Harlan papers, Griffin v. Maryland file.
66 End-of-term memo, 1963, Chambers of William J. Brennan, Jr., LOC, MD, Brennan papers, Part II.
67 Black, Mr. Justice and Mrs. Black, diary entry for May 11, 1964, p. 92.
68 End-of-term memo, 1963, Chambers of William J. Brennan, Jr., LOC, MD, Brennan papers, Part II. See also Roger Newman, Hugo Black, pp. 540-48.
69 End-of-term memo, 1963, Chambers of William J. Brennan, Jr., LOC, MD, Brennan papers, Part II.
70 New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964).
71 Ibid.
72 Ibid.
73 Ibid. (Black concurrence).
74 Lucas Powe, The Warren Court and American Politics, p. 306.
75 Memos and drafts contained in Harlan papers, PU, ML, Harlan papers, New York Times v. Sullivan file.
76 New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964).
77 Ibid.
78 Harry Kalven, “The New York Times Case: A Note on ‘The Central Meaning’ of the First Amendment,” Supreme Court Review, 1964, p. 191.
79 Evan Thomas, The Man to See, p. 314.
80 Melvin Eisenberg memo to file, Feb. 17, 1964, NARA, College Park, Records of the Presidential Commission to Investigate the Assassination of President Kennedy. Arlen Specter, Passion for Truth, pp. 53-56. Some have attributed the remark to Rankin, who may well have repeated it on other occasions.
81 Redlich testimony to the House Select Committee on Assassinations.
82 Author interview with Sam Stern, May 10, 2005.
83 Executive session, Jan. 22, 1964, NARA, College Park, Records of the Presidential Commission to Investigate the Assassination of President Kennedy, p. 1.
84 Executive session, Feb. 24, 1964, NARA, College Park, Records of the Presidential Commission to Investigate the Assassination of President Kennedy.
85 Warren letter to Arlen Specter, Feb. 23, 1967, LOC, MD, Warren papers, Organizations file, Kennedy Assassination Commission file, Correspondence, 1963-1967.
86 Ibid.
87 Hearings Before the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Ken
nedy, vol. 1, p. 2.
88 Ibid., p. 13.
89 Ibid., p. 119.
90 Ibid., p. 72.
91 Ibid., p. 76.
92 Pearson notes, LBJ Library, Aug. 21, 1967.
93 New York Times, Feb. 5, 1964.
94 Warren Commission Report, p. xiii.
95 Hearings Before the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, vol. 2, pp. 189-90.
96 David W. Belin, November 22, 1963: You Are the Jury, p. 454.
97 Jack Harrison Pollack, Earl Warren: The Judge Who Changed America, p. 243. Pollack misreports some of Rowland’s testimony, but this exchange appears in substantially similar form elsewhere. It is not in the hearing’s official transcript, as it occurred during the recess that Warren called in order to comfort Rowland.
98 Author interview with Mosk, April 20, 2005.
99 Belin, November 22, 1963: You Are the Jury, pp. 345-49. Also Specter, Passion for Truth, p. 86.
100 Executive session, May 19, 1964, NARA, College Park, Records of the Presidential Commission to Investigate the Assassination of President Kennedy, pp. 6601-2.
101 A copy of Ford’s notes is included with his pre-presidential papers housed among the Kennedy-related material at NARA, College Park. Warren appears also to have done background work before the meeting, as his personal schedule records a lunch with J. Edgar Hoover less than a week before the hearing over Redlich. Warren schedule, May 13, 1964, LOC, MD, Earl Warren papers, Personal file, 1964 Calendars.
102 Executive session, May 19, 1964, NARA, College Park, Records of the Presidential Commission to Investigate the Assassination of President Kennedy, p. 6608.
103 Ibid., pp. 6612-16.
104 Author interview with Ford, Dec. 8, 2004.
105 Warren schedule, May 19, 1964, LOC, MD, Earl Warren papers, Personal file, 1964 Calendars.
106 Oral history interview, Bartley Cavanaugh, Hunting and Fishing with Earl Warren, p. 9. 107. Author interview with Ford, Dec. 8, 2004. Also Specter, Passion for Truth, p. 108.
108 Warren Commission Report, pp. 92-110. That conclusion was further strengthened by the House Select Committee on Assassinations, which subjected the bullet to neuron activation analysis and concluded that the fragments recovered from Connally were “highly likely” to have come from the same bullet that was found on the governor’s stretcher and that the shot to Kennedy’s head came from a different bullet. The Committee supported the single-bullet theory, and it too concluded that it was consistent with the film and other evidence. See Committee report, pp. 42-48 (Internet copy).
109 Specter, Passion for Truth, p. 112.
110 Specter remembers the interrogation taking place in the afternoon, but the transcript of the session indicates that it began at 11:45 A.M. Hearings Before the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, vol. 5, p. 181.
111 Specter, Passion for Truth, p. 113. Also oral history interview with Warren, Sept. 21, 1971, by Joe B. Frantz, transcript on file at LBJ, p. 15 (Internet copy).
112 Hearings Before the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, vol. 5, p. 182. Warren would later regret having agreed to the test, as his acquiescence was interpreted as an endorsement of the machines. As for the test itself, the examiner concluded that Ruby told the truth on the relevant questions, while J. Edgar Hoover expressed doubt about whether the results were reliable, especially given Ruby’s mental state. The Commission elected to attach the transcript and analysis to its report but did not rely on either to reach its conclusions. Warren Commission report, Appendix 17, pp. 807-16.
113 Hearings Before the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, vol. 5, p. 198-99, cited in Warren Commission report, p. 354. The citation in the official report contains an incorrect note, suggesting that the testimony here came from another source; that appears to be merely a typographical error, for the note given as 1084 in fact corresponds to footnote 1094).
114 Warren Commission exhibit 2421, vol. 25, p. 523.
115 Among Ruby’s possessions when he was arrested were Polaroid photographs taken the previous morning of a sign that disturbed him. It was a billboard in Dallas. On it were the words “Impeach Earl Warren.” Warren Commission hearings, testimony of George Senator, vol. 14, pp. 220-21.
116 U.S. News & World Report, Aug. 12, 1992.
117 Ibid. To DeLoach in their December conversation, Ford also indicated that Warren was mindful of the political calendar; Ford said Warren hoped to finish by July.
118 Warren schedule, July 6 and Aug. 1, 1964, LOC, MD, Earl Warren papers, Personal file, 1964 Calendars.
119 Pearson notes, Aug. 21, 1967, Pearson papers, LBJ Library.
120 Specter, Passion for Truth, p. 120. Specter quotes Ford, who does not name the Commission member who objected; in his recollections during his oral history interview for the Johnson Library, Warren downplayed the seriousness of the objection but identified Russell as the person who protested.
121 Warren Commission Report, p. 21.
122 Holland, The Kennedy Assassination Tapes, p. 251. Also Miller Center tape of conversation from Sept. 18, 1964.
123 Warren Commission Report (New York Times edition), p. xxxviii.
124 Max Holland, American Heritage, Nov. 1995.
125 Hoover to Warren, June 16, 1968. FBI document 94-1-5619-318.
126 Hearings Before the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, vol. 1, p. 187.
127 Ibid., vol. 2, p. 51.
128 Ibid., vol. 5, p. 552. When Lane eventually did supply the tape, it did not support his version of the conversation but rather showed him attempting to lead the witness and her resisting his attempts to put words in her mouth.
129 Ibid., vol. 5, p. 553.
130 Mark Lane, Rush to Judgment, p. 83.
131 Ibid., p. 105.
132 Belin, November 22, 1963, You Are the Jury, p. 150.
133 To Drew Pearson, Warren said Lane had “got into some trouble for molesting children,” ending Lane’s political career. In public, Warren was never so crass. Pearson diaries, entry for Oct. 26, 1966, LBJ Library, Pearson papers, Earl Warren folder.
134 Memoirs, p. 367.
135 Patricia Lambert, False Witness, p. 182 (citing New Orleans Times-Picayune, Dec. 27, 1967).
136 FBI urgent teletype to Director from New Orleans, Sept. 5, 1967 NARA, College Park, House Select Committee on Assassinations, Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, HQ.
137 Note filed under Domestic Intelligence Division, Sept. 5, 1967, NARA, College Park, House Select Committee on Assassinations, Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, HQ. As a former chairman of the Warren Commission, Warren might well have had to recuse himself from any such case. It is possible that he used the potential for conflict as a pretext for avoiding Garrison, whom Warren wanted to avoid dignifying by debate.
138 This short summary of Garrison’s case is distilled primarily from Lambert, False Witness.
139 U.S. News & World Report, Aug. 17, 1992. See also Warren correspondence with Redlich, Belin in LOC, MD, Warren papers, Organizations file, Kennedy Assassination Commission folders. When Warren learned that Commission staff member Wesley Liebeler had set to work on a book, Warren alerted the FBI’s DeLoach and said Liebeler was a “beatnick” and not to be trusted. DeLoach to Tolson, Nov. 25, 1966, FBI document 94-1-5619.
140 There was an obvious and innocent explanation for the entry. Hosty interviewed Marina Oswald after their return from Russia. Lee Oswald, who was not present for the interview, was furious when he learned of it, and in all likelihood had made a note in his book in case he sought to communicate directly with Hosty.
141 House Select Committee on Assassinations, final report, p. 190 (Internet copy).
142 Ibid., p. 43.
143 Holland, American Heritage, Nov. 1995.
144 Deposition of J. Lee Rankin, Aug. 17, 1978, NARA, College Park, House Select Committee o
n Assassinations.
145 The most thorough study of that “evidence” was presented in late 2005. The authors rejected it entirely. See R. Linsker, R. L. Garwin, H. Chernoff, P. Horowitz, and N. F. Ramsey, “Synchronization of Acoustic Evidence in the Kennedy Assassination,” Science & Justice, vol. 45, no. 4 (2005).
146 Peter Dale Scott, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, p. 4.
147 Gerald D. McKnight, Breach of Trust: “McCormick” references, pp. 32, 74; Kennedy meeting, p. 40; various bullet-grain/postage-stamp comparisons, pp. 120, 182, 222.
CHAPTER 23. AN ENFORCED CODE OF DECENCY
1 Archibald Cox, The Warren Court: Constitutional Decision as an Instrument of Reform, p. 6. This title’s chapter is taken from an observation regarding Warren and the Court by Arlen Specter, who described the Chief Justice’s “code of decency” in Passion for Truth.
2 Katzenbach v. McClung, 379 U.S. 294 (1964), and Atlanta Motel v. United States, 379 U.S. 241 (1964).
3 Bruce Allen Murphy, Wild Bill, pp. 374-77.
4 Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965).
5 End-of-term memo, 1964, Chambers of William J. Brennan, Jr., LOC, MD, Brennan papers, Part II.
6 Brennan note to Douglas, April 24, 1965, LOC, MD, Douglas papers, Supreme Court file, Case file, Griswold miscellaneous folder.
7 Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965).
8 Poe v. Ullman 367 U.S. 497 (1961) (dissent).
9 Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, (1961).
10 Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965).
11 Ibid.
12 Undated memo, Ely to Warren, LOC, MD, Warren papers, Supreme Court file, Opinions of the Associate Justices, Griswold v. Connecticut.
13 Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965; concurrence).
14 Ibid. (dissent).