Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years (No Series) (74 page)

81
“The tone of [the] meeting was deeply disturbing”: U.S. State Department,
Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, Vol. XII, American Republics
, documents 300–326. Bowles also wrote in his memo that White House aide Dick Goodwin, who attended the meeting, “vigorously supported” Bobby’s rash approach on the Dominican Republic. But in a recent interview, Goodwin denied Bowles’ account: “I never heard anybody saying we were going to burn down the consulate or do things like that.” Goodwin suggested that Bowles’s report on the meeting might have been colored by his bitter relationship with Bobby. “There was already an open feud between the two, which Bowles was destined to lose of course.”

82
“The McCarthy years had pounded into [the Kennedy crowd’s] heads a sense of inferiority”: Bowles oral history, JFK Library.

82
“Kennedy’s inability to…draw on the wisdom of Bowles”: Wofford, 381.

82
Kennedy bowed to the political pressure: Goodwin, 213.

82
“Fucked again”: Quoted in Beschloss, 296.

83
The president was in a reflective mood: Fay, 221.

84
“I asked him how he was feeling”: Quoted in Amanda Smith,
Hostage to Fortune: The Letters of Joseph P. Kennedy
, 697.

84
The stress on the father must have been terrible: Thomas, 165.

84
“Typical Mafia killing”: Author interview with Vidal.

3: 1962

85
“When he lost his temper”: Author interview with Fred Dutton.

86
“a definite impression of [his] unhappiness”: Lawrence Houston, Church Committee testimony, June 2, 1975.

86
“I trust that if you ever do business with organized crime again”: Thomas, 171.

86
They would say that Kennedy was simply scolding the CIA: In 1975, Richard Bissell—the CIA official who initiated the Mafia plots in August 1960, in the final months of the Eisenhower administration—was quizzed about the dark pact by the Church Committee. Bissell testified that he had briefed Bobby about the CIA-Mafia partnership in spring 1961 during the Bay of Pigs postmortem review overseen by RFK and General Maxwell Taylor. But Taylor told the Senate panel that Bissell never mentioned an assassination effort against Castro. Considering Bissell’s record of shading and concealing the truth with the Kennedys, it seems likely he kept them in the dark about the murder plots.

86
Kennedy “was disgusted that he had been placed in that position”: Houston, Church Committee testimony.

86
“Bob…was absolutely furious”: Author interview with John Seigenthaler.

87
“McCone was out of the loop”: Ibid.

88
“Helms said all these stories are just the tip of the iceberg”: Quoted in
Newsweek
, October 12, 1998.

88
“We were caught in the reality of the Cold War”: Author interview with Seigenthaler.

89
“Are you Southerners always late?”: Quoted in Helen O’Donnell, A
Common Good: The Friendship of Robert F. Kennedy and Kenneth P. O’Donnell
, 134.

90
“He was completely candid with me”: Schlesinger, 190.

90
Seigenthaler decided [to do] “everything in my power”: John Seigenthaler oral history, JFK Library.

90
“It’s terrible. There’s not a cop in sight”: Quoted in Wofford, 154.

90
“Never run for governor of Alabama”: Quoted in Schlesinger, 297.

91
“I need you in this government”: Ibid., 229.

91
“You won’t have any trouble finding my enemies”: Quoted in
Life
, January 26,1962.

91
“It showed either…guts or no sense at all”: Quoted in Schlesinger, 23.

92
Bartlett did not see Jack’s subtlety of mind in Bobby: Charles Bartlett oral history, JFK Library.

92
He struck Sorensen as “militant”: Quoted in Thomas Maier,
The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings
, 282.

92
“I have a pretty good character”: Quoted in Smith, 306.

92
“everything was black and white for Bobby”: Salinger oral history, JFK Library.

92
“there was less hidden business with Jack”: Author interview with Benjamin Bradlee.

93
a beast of “passable intelligence”:
Look
, May 21, 1963.

93
Guthman realized…he was the oldest person in the room: Guthman, 94.

93
Bobby’s mandate was clear…“to murder Fidel Castro”: Hersh, 268.

93
“What would you think if I ordered Castro to be assassinated?”: Quoted in Szulc, 558.

94
“I don’t think someone as media-savvy as Kennedy”: Author interview with Goodwin.

94
“we would all be targets”: Quoted in Szulc, 558.

94
“Jack and Bobby had nothing to do with the plots”: Author interview with Robert Kennedy Jr.

94
“You could never be sure with the CIA”: Author interview with Goodwin.

94
“Tell them no more weapons”: Goodwin, 210.

95
“My idea is to stir things up on the island”: Handwritten notes, November 7, 1961, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy papers, JFK Library.

97
suggesting they go around…“the CIA palace guard”: Lansdale memo, November 24, 1961, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy papers, JFK Library.

97
Lansdale complained that the CIA’s “smash and grab” raids: Landsale memo, December 7, 1961, in U.S. State Department,
Foreign Relations of the United States, Cuba 1961–1962, Vol. X
, 692.

97
“Americans once ran a successful revolution”: memo, February 20, 1962, ibid., 746.

97
“When the Huks came”: Quoted in Jonathan Nashel,
Edward Lansdale’s Cold War
, 40.

98
the tale “makes Filipinos vomit”: Ibid., 42.

98
Goldwater was denouncing the administration’s “do-nothing policy”: Quoted in
New York Times
, April 19, 1962.

99
“He asked me if I thought we would have to go into Cuba”: Burke memo, July 26, 1961,
Foreign Relations of the United States, Vol. X
, 635.

99
“something must be done about Cuba”: Quoted in
New York Times
, September 5,1962.

100
“Cuba was the key to all of Latin America”: McCone memo, August 21, 1962,
Foreign Relations of the United States, Vol. X
, 955.

100
Bobby acknowledged that the Mongoose effort was “disappointing”: Ibid, 850.

100
the CIA man realized he didn’t have one of the “customary” autographed pictures of JFK: Richard Helms,
A Look over My Shoulder: A Life in the Central Intelligence Agency
, 227.

101
“There were many divorces”: Author interview with Cynthia Helms.

101
what she called his “Oriental look—totally inscrutable”:
New York Times Magazine
, April 18, 1971.

101
“He just had a martini on Friday nights”: Author interview with Cynthia Helms.

101
“My husband was not particularly an admirer of Robert Kennedy’s”: Ibid.

102
[a] CEO type who “stepped straight from central casting”: Quoted in Helms, 195.

102
“A former foreign correspondent, he observes much”:
New York Times Magazine
, April 18, 1971.

102
“there seemed to be more than a whiff of disciplinary flavor”: Helms, 207.

102
no “more than pinpricks” against Castro: Ibid, 202.

102
“getting my ass beaten”: Quoted in Evan Thomas,
The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared—The Early Years of the CIA
, 300.

103
“I didn’t trust Helms”: Author interview with Seigenthaler.

103
When the James Bond-bedazzled JFK: Joseph J. Trento,
The Secret History of the CIA
, 207.

103
Harvey called the Kennedy brothers “fags”: Ibid., 212.

104
“Bill gets chewed out by Bobby Kennedy”: Quoted in Bohning, 110.

104
“What will you teach them…Babysitting?”: Quoted in David Corn,
Blond Ghost: Ted Shackley and the CIA’s Crusades
, 82.

105
the CIA…“relegated Cubans to the status of tools”: CIA memo, July 5, 1962, NARA record number 104-10171-10378.105 Ford reported to his CIA superiors that one of the ELC men…was tied to a suspected Castro spy: CIA memo, September 28, 1962, NARA record number 104-10171-10355.

105
“Substantial numbers of Castro’s forces would survive”: Kent memo,
Foreign Relations of the United States, Vol. X
, 783.

107
“We could foster attempts on lives of Cuban refugees in America”: Pentagon memo, March 13, 1962.

107
“I sure as hell would have rejected it”: Author interview with McNamara.

107
“McNamara’s arrogance was astonishing”: Quoted in James Bamford,
Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency
, 82.

107
“until he made the mistake of coming into the White House…in a sport jacket”: Quoted in Beschloss, 474.

107
He thought their administration “was crippled…by inexperience”: Quoted in Bamford, 82.

107
Lemnitzer was summoned by President Kennedy…for a discussion of Cuba strategy: Lansdale memo, March 16, 1962, NARA, released under JFK Act, March 28, 2005.

108
“The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommend…military intervention in Cuba”: Pentagon memo quoted in Bamford, 82.

109
He gave Rosselli the false cover of an Army colonel: Charles Rappleye and Ed Becker,
All American Mafioso: The Johnny Rosselli Story
, 223.