James W. Douglass - JFK & the Unspeakable: Why He Died & Why It Matters

Advance Praise for

JFK and the Unspeakable

JFK and the Unspeakable is an exceptional achievement. Douglass has made the strongest case so far in the JFK assassination literature as to the Who and the Why of Dallas. The conjunction of unrestrained elements in cold war Americadefense industry elites, Pentagon planners, and the heads of the intelligence communitywere the forces that led inexorably to Dallas and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Gerald McKnight, author, Breach of Trust: How the Warren Commission Failed the Nation and Why

With penetrating insight and unswerving integrity, Douglass probes the fundamental truths about JFKs assassination. If, he contends, humanity permits those truths to slip into history ignored and undefined it does so at its own peril. By far the most important book yet written on the subject.

Gaeton Fonzi, former Staff Investigator, U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations

Douglass presents, brilliantly, an unfamiliar yet thoroughly convincing account of a series of creditable decisions of John F. Kennedyat odds with his initial Cold War stancethat earned him the secret distrust and hatred of hard-liners among the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA. Did this suspicion and rage lead directly to his murder by agents of these institutions, as Douglass concludes? Many readers who are not yet convinced of this beyond reasonable doubt by Douglasss prosecutorial indictment will find themselves, perhapslike myselffor the first time, compelled to call for an authoritative criminal investigation. Recent events give all the more urgency to learning what such an inquiry can teach us about how, by whom, and in whose interests this country is run.

Daniel Ellsberg, author, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers

A remarkable book: devastating in its documented indictment of the dark forces that have long deformed the public life of this country, while also illuminating JFKs final vision of world peace and documenting beyond reasonable doubt the unspeakable assassination of our last partially admirable president. This book should be required reading for every American citizen.

Richard Falk, Milbank Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University

For forty years Jim Douglass has been our leading North American Catholic theologian of peace. But this monumental work on the witness of JFK is something deeper still. Douglass is trying to get us to connect the dots between our citizen denial, the governments plausible deniability, and the Unspeakable. This book has the potential to change our narrative about our country, and our lives as citizens and disciples. May we have ears to hear these truths, hearts able to bear their burden, and hands willing to build a new story.

Ched Myers, author, Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Marks Story of Jesus

Jim Douglasss spiritual and eloquent telling of President John F. Kennedys martyrdom for peace is a peerless and extraordinary historical contribution.

Vincent J. Salandria, author, False Mystery: Essays on the Assassination of JFK

This books story of JFK and the unspeakable is a stunning mix of political thriller and meticulous scholarship.... Douglasss book offers a goldmine of information and is indispensable for building prophetic spirit and hope.

Mark Lewis Taylor, Princeton Theological Seminary

This is the most thoroughly researched and documented book ever written about President Kennedys determination to prevent a nuclear warand how his success in that struggle cost him his life. And yet, Douglass leads us well beyond the whodunit dimensions of the story. He leads us straight into the urgent implications for the present, into what Thomas Merton called the unspeakable. In the shadows of our own time we begin to become better prepared to break free of the violence that threatens all of us today.

Don Mosley, co-founder, Jubilee Partners

A remarkable achievement, outstanding even in an overcrowded field. It is profoundly conceived, researched, considered, argued, and written.... Not all will agree with his detailed speculation as to what happened in Dallas. But Douglasss large picture of Americas political agony is, I believe, incontrovertible and certain to last.

Peter Dale Scott, author, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK

Douglass writes with moral force, clarity, and the careful attention to detail that will make JFK and the Unspeakable a sourcebook for many years to come, for it provides us with the stubborn facts needed to rebuild a constitutional democracy within the United States.

Marcus Raskin, co-founder, Institute for Policy Studies

Jim Douglass never ceases to surprise us, taking us where we do not expect or often wish to go. In this fascinating work he links politics and spirituality. In re-forming the past he reshapes the future, with hope, thank God.

Bill J. Leonard, Dean and Professor of Church History, Wake Forest University Divinity School

Jim Douglass is a courageous and single-minded Christian whose convictions are reflected in his life and witness. In this provocative new book, he brings together history and spirituality at the intersection of one of the most pivotaland yet still mystifyingevents of the past century. A myth-exploding story and compelling read.

Timothy George, Dean, Beeson Divinity School of Samford University

In JFK and the Unspeakable Jim Douglass steadily guides us toward a strategy of peace. By dramatizing JFKs remarkable conversion away from a U.S. foreign policy based on military threat and force, Douglass holds forth hope for current generations to similarly dismantle our addiction to war.

Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence

Founded in 1970, Orbis Books endeavors to publish works that enlighten the mind, nourish the spirit, and challenge the conscience. The publishing arm of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Orbis seeks to explore the global dimensions of the Christian faith and mission, to invite dialogue with diverse cultures and religious traditions, and to serve the cause of reconciliation and peace. The books published reflect the views of their authors and do not represent the official position of the Maryknoll Society. To learn more about Maryknoll and Orbis Books, please visit our website at www.maryknoll.org.

Copyright 2008 by James W. Douglass.

Published by Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0308.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Queries regarding rights and permissions should be addressed to: Orbis Books, P.O. Box 308, Maryknoll, NY 10545-0308.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Douglass, James W.

JFK and the unspeakable : why he died and why it matters / James W. Douglass.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-57075-755-6

1. Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963Assassination. 2. PresidentsUnited StatesBiography. I. Title.

E842.9.D68 2008

364.1524dc22

2007031902

To Vince Salandria and Marty Schotz

teachers and friends

You believe in redemption, dont you?

John F. Kennedy, May 1, 1962

Contents

Preface

We can know the essential truth of President John F. Kennedys assassination. That truth can set us free.

Thanks to the pioneer investigators into President Kennedys murder, the truth-telling of many witnesses, and a recent flood of documents through the JFK Records Act, the truth is available. Not only can the conspiracy that most Americans have thought was likely now be seen in detail. Not only can we know what happened in Dallas. More important than filling in the crime scene, we can know the larger historical context of the assassinationwhy President Kennedy was murdered. We can know the liberating truth. The story of why JFK was gunned down is the subject of this book.