The Kennedy Men

by Laurence Leamer

  487 “the risk is too …”: President’s Special Assistant (Schlesinger) to President Kennedy, memorandum, Washington, D.C., March 15, 1961, NSC files, countries series, Cuba, general, 1/61-4/61, JFKPL. See also Blight and Kornbluh, p. 222.

  487 “Castro has been able …”: memorandum of conference with President Kennedy, January 25, 1961, FRUS.

  488 “to intimidate so as to obtain …”: “Propaganda Action Plan in Support of Military Forces: D-Day Until the Fall of the Castro Regime,” n.d., National Security Archive web site, www.gwn.edu/~nhsachiv/

  488 “Assassination was intended …”: CY, p. 134.

  488 In late August: “Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders (1975),” report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities, chaired by Senator Frank Church, pp. 74-76.

  488 These agents were in: interview of James O’Connell by Jim McDonald, September 25, 1978, House Select Committee on Assassinations, HSCA 189-10140-10362.

  489 included those led: Felix I. Rodriguez, Shadow Warrior (1989), pp. 65-66.

  489 “Poles, Germans, and Americans”: John Henry Stephens, Church Committee interview by Bob Kelley, May 30, 1975, NA.

  489 On March 29, 1961: cables in Mason Cargill, Church Committee memo, March 21, 1975, CIA DPD file. NA. See also Russo, pp. 53-55. 489 “I was part of that…”: Blight and Kornbluh, p. 87.

  489 “disposing of Castro”: CIA Targets Fidel: Secret 1967 CIA Inspector General’s Report on Plots to Assassinate Fidel Castro (1996), p. 26.

  490 “the details were …”: ibid., p. 35.

  490 “The White House has twice …”: ibid., p. 48. 490 “someone was supposed …”: CY, p. 139.

  490 at least twenty people: CIA Targets Fidel, pp. 45-46.

  491 “he had met…”: CG 92-349, 1960, HSCA records, NA.

  491 “There’s a question …”: LL interview with Cartha DeLoach.

  491 “particularly desires that no hint…”: McGeorge Bundy, memorandum of discussion on Cuba, January 28, 1961, reprinted in Mark White, p. 17.

  492 Articles about the training: Peter Wyden, Bay of Pigs: The Untold Story (1979), p. 46.

  492 124 members: conversation between JFK and Richard Helms, March 6, 1963, cassette D, telephone conversations, JFKPL.

  492 Beyond that, the president: Arthur Schlesinger Jr., memorandum for the president, “Subject: Howard Handleman on Cuba,” and memorandum for the president, “Subject: Joseph Newman on Cuba,” March 31, 1961, FRUS.

  493 “David will again …”: Washington D.C., February 17, 1961, NSC files, countries series, Cuba, general, 1/61-4/61, FRUS.

  493 “Don’t forget…”: President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Kennedy, memorandum, Washington, D.C., March 15, 1961.

  493 “I would have …”: Miami Herald, April 16, 2000.

  22. The Road to Girón Beach

  494 the CIA presented: NSC action memorandum 31, Washington, D.C., March 11, 1961, NSC files, FRUS.

  495 “done a remarkable job …”: President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Kennedy, memorandum, Washington, D.C., March 15, 1961, NSC files, countries series, Cuba, FRUS.

  495 “suitable for guerrilla…”: CIA, “Revised Cuban Operation,” Washington, D.C., March 15, 1961, NSC files, countries series, Cuba, FRUS.

  495 “We were standing in …”: LL interview with Colonel Jack Hawkins.

  495 “have the right…”: General Gray, summary notes prepared on May 9, 1961, NSC files, countries series, Cuba, “Subject: Taylor Report,” FRUS.

  495 “the invasion force…”: Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara, memorandum, JCSM-166-61, Washington, D.C., March 15, 1961, “Subject: Taylor Report,” FRUS.

  495 fifty-fifty chance of: “Review of Record of Proceedings Related to Cuban Situation, May 5,” Naval Historical Center, area files, Bumpy Road materials, Taylor Report, FRUS.

  496 “a divorce between …”: Robert A. Hurwitch, KLOH.

  496 “Since I think you lean …”: President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Kennedy, memorandum, Washington, D.C., February 18, 1961, FRUS.

  496 “proscribe[d] the use …”: Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Mann) to Secretary of State Rusk, memorandum, Washington, D.C., February 15, 1961, FRUS.

  496 When the president asked: Commander in Chief, Atlantic (Dennison), to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Lemnitzer), memorandum, Norfolk, Va., March 28, 1961. An editorial note refers to the March 29, 1961, meeting. FRUS.

  496 Kennedy insisted: Notes Relating to Instructions on Bay of Pigs invasion February 9, 1963: Washington National Records Center RG 330, McNamara Files; FRC 71A3470, Cuba, FRUS.

  496 “morale reasons”: One of the participants in Cuban Study Group, probably Dulles, admitted this after the invasion, memorandum for the record, Washington, D.C., May 1, 1961, “Subject: Taylor Report,” FRUS.

  497 “to give this activity …”: Wyden, p. 122.

  497 Rusk was particularly upset: ibid., p. 148.

  498 “he still wished …”: General Gray notes, March 15, 1961, “Subject: Taylor Report,” FRUS.

  498 “I hear you don’t think …”: ATD, p. 259. See also RKIHOW, p. 242.

  498 “entrenched Cold War ways”: RKHT, p. 443.

  499 “to deny any such CIA activity”: memorandum for the president, “Subject: Cuba: Political, Diplomatic, and Economic Problems,” April 10, 1961, president’s office files, box 65, JFKPL. This document also may be found at www.parascope.com under “Foreign Ops” and in National Security Files, Country Series, Cuba, Genoma, FRUS.

  499 “When lies must be”: ibid.

  500 Over the weekend: Jack Hawkins, “Classified Disaster: The Bay of Pigs Operation Was Doomed by Presidential Indecisiveness and Lack of Commitment,” National Review, December 31, 1996, and LL interview with Colonel Jack Hawkins.

  500 “Bissell said he felt…”: LL interview with Colonel Jack Hawkins.

  501 “to finance anti-Castro …”: CIA Targets Fidel, p. 42. 501 Varona had no more: ibid., pp. 27-28, 32.

  501 “felt it was …”: Theodore C. Sorensen, KLOH.

  501 “The minute I land …”: Richard Goodwin, p. 174.

  502 Suspicious reporters: Kornbluh, p. 304.

  503 Steve Smith, a weekend guest, thought: Wyden, p. 194.

  503 vowed that if: LL interviews with Grayston Lynch and Roberto San Roman.

  503 The UN ambassador was full: CY, p. 115.

  503 “If Cuba now proves …”: from: New York to: Secretary of State, no. 2892, April 16, 1961, 6:00 P.M., NSC files, box 40A, JFKPL.

  503 no longer be able: Deputy Director of the CIA (Cabell) to General Maxwell D. Taylor, memorandum, Washington, D.C., May 9, 1961, “Subject: Taylor Report,” FRUS.

  503 “regularly harassed …”: Joseph Alsop, KLOH.

  503-04 “He used to drive him …”: John Bartlow Martin interview with Robert Kennedy, May 14, 1964, ASP.

  504 “who never quite …”: RKIHOW, p. 205.

  504 “I’m going down …”: Senator Wayne Morse, KLOH. 504 “overriding considerations”: memorandum for the record, Washington, D.C., Subject: Taylor report, May 4, 1961, FRUS.

  504 Kennedy told Feldman: LL interview with Myer Feldman.

  505 Rusk agreed: Deputy Director of the CIA (Cabell) to General Maxwell D. Taylor, memorandum, Washington, D.C., May 9, 1961, “Subject: Taylor Report,” FRUS.

  505 During that first day: Kornbluh, p. 314.

  506 “I don’t think…”: quoted in RKIHOW, p. 242.

  506 involved with clandestine aspects: CIA, memorandum, Washington, D.C., January 19, 1961, Special Group meeting, Cuba, FRUS.

  506 “The real question …”: President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Kennedy, memorandum, Washington, D.C., April 18, 1961, FRUS.

  506 Bobby cautioned all those: Wyden, p. 289.
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br />   507 “Can anti-Castro forces…”: Chief of Naval Operations (Burke) to Commander in Chief, Atlantic (Dennison), telegram, Washington, D.C., April 18, 1961, 3:23 P.M., Naval Historical Center, area files, Bumpy Road materials, FRUS.

  507 “nobody knew…”: memorandum of conversation, Washington, D.C., April 18, 1961, Naval Historical Center, area files, Bumpy Road materials, FRUS. 507 “pressing for every…”: quoted in Wyden, p. 267. 507 Cleveland thought: ibid.

  507 the president had allowed: For testimony on the way the Joint Chiefs were kept out of the crucial policy loop, see General Earle Wheeler, KLOH.

  507 “The president is going …”: memorandum of conversation, Washington, D.C., April 18, 1961, Naval Historical Center, area files, Bumpy Road materials, FRUS.

  507 had to take down: Captain William C. Chapman, USN retired, “The Bay of Pigs: The View from Prifly,” paper presented at the Ninth Naval History Symposium, U.S. Naval Academy, October 29, 1989, and LL interview with William C. Chapman.

  508 “There’s no doubt…”: LL interview with William C. Chapman.

  508 “Authorities [the president] would…”: Chief of Naval Operations (Burke) to Commander in Chief, Atlantic (Dennison), telegram, Washington, D.C., April 18, 1961, 8:37 P.M., Naval Historical Center, area files, Bumpy Road materials, FRUS.

  508 “Wounded should …”: ibid.

  508 “Evacuation of…”: Commander in Chief, Atlantic (Dennison), to Chief of Naval Operations (Burke), telegram, Norfolk, Va., April 19, 1961, 2:01 A.M., Naval Historical Center, area files, Bumpy Road materials, FRUS.

  508 “Burke, I don’t want…”: Wyden, p. 270. 508 as close to crying: CY, p. 123.

  508 “We’ve got to do …”: Time file for RFK cover, Hugh Sidey material, LL interview with Hugh Sidey, CY, p. 123, and Evan Thomas, Robert Kennedy (2000), p. 122.

  509 “We are sincerely…”: Embassy in the Soviet Union to Department of State, Moscow, telegram, April 18, 1961, 2:00 P.M., Department of State, FRUS.

  509 most crucial creations: Kennedy wrote in Why England Slept “The great advantage a democracy is presumed to have over a dictatorship is that ability and not brute force is the qualification for leadership. Therefore, if a democracy cannot produce able leaders, its chance for survival is slight.” WES, p. 182.

  509 “to put the guerrillas…”: memorandum for the record, Washington, DC, May 16, 1961, Naval Historical Center, Bumpy Road materials, FRUS.

  510 “God damn it”: “After Action Report on Operation Pluto, May 4, 1961,” “Report on Activities on Barbara J.,” p. 7, quoted in Chapman, “The Bay of Pigs,” p. 29.

  510 “Am destroying all…”: CIA, memorandum prepared for the Cuban Study Group, Washington, D.C., May 3, 1961, NSC files, FRUS.

  510 “to act or be judged …”: CY, p. 124.

  511 looked at the Washington News: Wyden, p. 290.

  511 “Soviet Cuban”: handwritten notes of President Kennedy during a meeting with Jose Miro Cardona, et al., re: Cuban situation, April 19, 1961, JKPPP.

  511 “a landing of supplies …”: Kornbluh, p. 319.

  511 “present situation in Cuba …”: Attorney General (Kennedy) to President Kennedy, memorandum, Washington, DC, April 19, 1961, FRUS.

  512 “I hope …”: RKIHOW, p. 11.

  512 “I understand that you advised …”: New York Times, May 28, 1961.

  513 “When I took exception …”: notes on cabinet meeting, Washington, D.C., April 20, 1961, Yale University, Chester Bowles papers, FRUS.

  513 plan to invade Cuba: Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara, memorandum, JCSM-278-61, Washington, D.C., April 26, 1961, FRUS.

  513 “You people are so …”: quoted in Richard Goodwin, p. 187.

  513 “Jackie walked …”: TR, p. 400.

  514 As the pilots skimmed: LL interview with Stanley Montunnas, and Chapman, “The Bay of Pigs,” pp. 20-34.

  514 “One of the intelligence men …”: ibid.

  514 “We were all…”: LL interview with Stanley Montunnas.

  515 “fucking brass hats”: SB, p. 114. For Kennedy’s view of the Joint Chiefs, see also ATD, p. 295.

  515 putting his arm around him: RKHT, p. 295.

  515 “Let’s go in …”: LL interview with Edward Kennedy.

  515 “he’d rather be called …”: JFK discussion with General Lemnitzer at seventeenth meeting of Cuban inquiry, in Luis Aguilar, introduction, Operation Zapata: The “Ultrasensitive” Report and Testimony of the Board of Inquiry on the Bay of Pigs (1981), p. 331.

  515 “Fuck!”: quoted in SB, p. 115.

  516 He believed: RKIHOW, p. 245. There is no evidence that this took place.

  516 Bissell, as the attorney: CIA, memorandum for the record prepared by McCone, “Discussion with Attorney General Robert Kennedy,” Washington, D.C., November 29, 1961, 9:00-10:20 A.M., FRUS.

  517 “probability of being able …”: Dulles testimony to Cuban Study Group, Secret Eyes Only, PC.

  517 Most of the brigade: Grayston L. Lynch, Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs (1998), p. 138.

  517 “aircraft were probably…”: memorandum for the record, Washington, D.C., April 26, 1961, NSC files, FRUS.

  518 “Men of all ages”: Juan Carlos Rodriguez, p. 194.

  518 except into the swamps: Juan Carlos Rodriguez, p. 195.

  518 When they turned back: ibid., and LL interview with Grayston Lynch, and Cuban Study Group to President Kennedy, memorandum 1, Washington, D.C., June 13, 1961, FRUS.

  519 “I told ‘em …”: LL interview with Grayston Lynch.

  519 “75 percent of”: memorandum for the record, Washington, D.C., April 24, 1961, National Defense University, Maxwell Taylor papers, FRUS.

  519 “I don’t specifically …”: LL interview with Colonel Jack Hawkins.

  520 “How could you…”: LL interview with Roberto San Roman, and Thomas, pp. 124-25.

  520 “He [Kennedy] was taking …”: RKHT, p. 447.

  520 “a positive course …”: recommendation 5, in Aguilar, p. 51.

  521 other crucial sources: There were several extraordinarily perceptive memorandums, including a paper, with five attached annexes, prepared for the National Security Council by an interagency task force on Cuba, Washington, D.C., May 4, 1961, FRUS. The interagency task force on Cuba was composed of representatives of the Departments of State, Defense, and Justice, as well as the CIA and USIA. See also President’s Deputy Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Rostow) to President Kennedy, memorandum, Washington, D.C., April 21, 1961, FRUS. 521 no longer fully trusted: LL interviews with Myer Feldman and John Kenneth Galbraith.

  23. A Cold Winter

  523 often stayed: Kay Halle, CBS interview, n.d., NHP.

  523 For Kennedy, it was: Dr. Janet Travell, KLOH.

  523 checked into the Mayflower Hotel: Mayflower Hotel receipt, May 6, 1961, JEP.

  523 “This was the first…”: Exner, p. 221.

  523 The president strained: Dr. Janet Travell, KLOH.

  523 “You could see …”: LL interview with Ben Bradlee.

  523 Because he often woke up: Dr. Janet Travell, KLOH.

  523 He was so allergic: ibid.

  523 To help immunize: ibid.

  524 There were six pills: Dr. Janet Travell, KLOH.

  524 He also took: James A. Nicolas, M.D., Charles L. Burstein, M.D., Charles J. Umberger, Ph.D., and Philip D. Wilson, M.D., “Management of Adrenocortical Insufficiency During Surgery,” AMA Archives of Surgery, November 1955. The technical term is desoxycorticosterone acetate trimethylacetate, commonly known as BOCA.

  524 “He’s all hopped….”: Arthur Krock, “Memorandum: (Aspects of John F. Kennedy),” February 9, 1972, AKP.

  524 If he took too much: H. J. Sturenburg, U. Fries, and K. Kunze, “Glucocorticoids and Anabolic/Androgenic Steroids Inhibit the Synthesis of GABAergic Steroids in Rat Cortex, Neuropsychobiology 35, no. 3 (1997): 143-46; S. S. Sharfstein, D. S. Sack, and A. S. Fauci, “Relationship Between Alternate-Day Cortico
steroid Therapy and Behavioral Abnormalities,” JAMA 248, no. 22 (December 10, 1982): 2987-89; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.

  525 Dr. Cohen put a syringe: LL interview with Dr. David V. Becker.

  525 two months before: Admiral George G. Burkley, KLOH.

  525 Dr. Burkley and his colleagues: PJFK, p. 121.

  526 “I had the opportunity …”: Dr. Dorothea E. Hellman to Joan and Clay Blair Jr., March 31, 1977, BP.

  526 “Dr. Cohen got her …”: OTR interview with a physician long associated with Dr. Eugene Cohen.

  526 “a deceiving, incompetent…”: Eugene J. Cohen, M.D., to Admiral George Burkley, February 20, 1964, RWP.

  526 a passionate doctor: LL interview with Lorraine Silberthau, and paid death notices, New York Times, July 17 and July 18, 1999.

  526 “He was totally …”: LL interview with Dr. David V. Becker.

  526 in 1957 had drained: Janet Travell, Office Hours: Day and Night (1968), p. 320.

  526 “Then, as you know…”: Eugene J. Cohen, M.D., to Admiral George Burkley, February 20, 1964, RWP.

  527 “Does JFK…”: New York Daily News, May 12, 1961.

  527 Then Dr. Jacobson: Dr. Max Jacobson, unpublished memoir, courtesy Mrs. Max Jacobson.

  527 The treatment varied: ibid.

  528 “That dosage would have…”: LL interview with Dr. Mauro G. Di Pasquale.

  528 He was becoming: LL interview with Joseph Paolella.

  529 Bobby had set up the meeting: Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali, “One Hell of a Gamble”: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-1964 (1997), p. 112.

  529 “We were appalled …”: LL interview with Cartha DeLoach. 529 “If this underestimation …”: Fursenko and Naftali, p. 113.

  529 “new progressive policy …”: ibid., p. 114. The authors of this important book benefited from unprecedented access to Russian archives. The comparable documents from the American side may still not have been released by the JFKPL.

  530 “woman of loose morals”: ibid., p. 115.