E. Howard Hunt: Voice from the Grave Blames LBJ

We seem to have picked an interesting week to start telling the story of WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT: THE IMPEACHMENT AND TRIAL OF JOHN F. KENNEDY. Just when you think it's safe to dip your toes in the Kennedy conspiracy, along comes radical new information from someone with spy cred and seemingly lots of inside knowledge about the facts...

It's actually a new "old" story getting significantly more play thanks to Rolling Stone. Basically, E. Howard Hunt, the CIA agent who organized the Watergate break-in, says in a new memoir published last month, American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond, that the man behind it all may, incredibly, have been Kennedy's vice-president Lyndon Johnson. This idea has existed on the radical fringe of JFK conspiracy theory almost forever, going even past Oliver Stone's "JFK."

Recently, it gained new currency in January during the run-up to the publishing of this book which, for the record, includes Hunt vehemently denying he had anything to do with the JFK assassination. The chapter, however, reads a little bit like OJ's book, If I Did It.

In any case, there is an excellent and comprehensive article about this in the just-out (April 5) Rolling Stone, "The Last Confession of E. Howard Hunt" by Erik Hedegaard. But it's more than a re-tread or synopsis of the book. Because the details of the JFK assassination come from Hunt's son and they were given to him on several occasions, and in writing. And they are in direct conflict with what Hunt says about his own involvement in the book itself. In both cases, though, Hunt's speculation about how it might have happened seems consistent with the point of divergence being his own involvement.

This "story behind the story" told by his son has taken on greater importance since Hunt died two months ago at the age of 88, causing a lot of JFK conspiracy buffs see this as the "death-bed" confession they've been waiting for. There is no doubt, by the way, that Hunt was quite experienced in his career in the art of disinformation. You have to take his word -- even his final word -- with a certain amount of skepticism. And his son who vouches for the details is a recovering meth addict.

The thing is, as a recovering journalist myself, I know that the best sources in seedy matters are not necessarily paragons of virtue. You have to look at the big picture, see it as a puzzle, and that's just what RS's Hedegaard has done. The new magazine is worth buying just to see the detail in that wonderful piece of artwork to the left which goes with the article. It's by Matt Mahurin and it seems to be a spot-on capture of Hunt's spirit as an aging Jack Bauer meets Hunter Thompson.

As for how this plays in our alt-history novel, we can only say that, yes, Lyndon Johnson is a key player in the events that take place after JFK's near assassination in Dallas. Our book is not really about the "whodunnit" part of this mystery (although there is that element, obviously), but really focuses instead on the unraveling of the JFK administration. Our premise is simply that if he survived unharmed, there would have been plenty of reporters asking some tough questions (not to mention the Kennedys themselves). And, instead of anybody worrying about protecting an image of a martyred president or even trying to avoid triggering World War III by inciting revenge for his murder, those same journalists might very well have gone after the story they'd either missed or ignored for years. And the Kennedy brothers would have been hell-bent to find their enemies and to ensure their political survival as well as their physical survival. Our bottom line: when somebody shoots at the president, you can't just let that slide whether you're an observer or the intended victim.

Who shot JFK? Well, if you want Hunt's version, you can check out Rolling Stone or, to a lesser extent, his book (which is less forthcoming). If you want our version, well, the next installment comes out on Monday, March 26.

Here's the link to Chapter One as it stands so far.