Customer Reviews

Blood, Money & Power: How L.B.J. Killed J.F.K.

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I found this book to be utterly compelling, forgiving the "faction" sections in favor of the real facts presented. Barr McClellan, former attorney of Lyndon B. Johnson, steps forward and claims that LBJ assassinated JFK. The evidence better be good.

The key piece of evidence given is a latent fingerprint. It was taken from a box, possibly used as a sniper's mount, on the 6th Floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository Building (TSDB) where Oswald allegedly shot at Kennedy.

But the fingerprint is not Oswald's.

An expert chosen by McClellan was shown the latent print with no prior knowledge of its context, and found that it matched a fingerprint on record for a Texan named Mac Wallace. The affidavit of this expert, Nathan Darby, is impressive, as are his credentials. Darby found a minimum of 14 matching points, whereas the FBI had inferior prints and far fewer matching points from the barrel of the gun Oswald ostensibly used. (Publishers Weekly, in their recent review, referred to this key latent print as a questionable "smudge," and devalued the book as a result. But on what basis? The reader should note that the Warren Commission took this latent print extremely seriously; so seriously that they circulated an internal memorandum among themselves -- exhibited in the book -- expressing "anxious" concern over it.) That memorandum and the latent fingerprint set the stage.

Together they are certainly worthy of examination -- and of a book, if the right links can be proven. That this book is written by Barr McClellan, Texas insider and former lawyer for Johnson, makes the potential all the more compelling. From behind the wall of the attorney-client privilege, the details come forward.

The question then becomes this:

If the latent print proves Mac Wallace was on the sixth floor of the TSDB, then what was Wallace's relationship to LBJ's inner circle?

Wallace, it turns out, was the lover of Josefa Johnson, LBJ's sister. Wallace murdered Douglas Kinser, her other lover, in a fit of rage. The trial was handled by LBJ's attorneys, Edward Clark and associates. (Clark, a Texas super-lawyer, was the kingmaker behind Johnson and the leader of their group. He made Barr McClellan the youngest partner in his law firm.)
Wallace was convicted of the murder, but walked away with a suspended sentence.

Soon after his conviction, Wallace was hired at LTV, a company owned by D.H Byrd, a player in Texas big oil.
Clark got him the job. It so happens that Byrd owned the Texas School Book Depository building.

The connections do not end there.

Read the book for the whole story. It's really worth the time. The chain of causation explaining Wallace's link to the Clark-LBJ inner circle is fascinating -- and very probably incriminating. The beginning of the text is a little circuitous, but McClellan hits his stride soon enough and lays the evidence bare. Walt Brown - a very good, solid JFK author and noted assassination expert -stands behind McClellan.

Bottom line for this reader: If Darby's 42 years as a fingerprint expert are valuable; and if the Warren Commission did not see this print as a "smudge," but as a key piece of evidence to be reckoned with - and they documented it as such -- then McClellan has some very real evidence and a strong case. See for yourself, I say. There is enough evidence presented in the book to enable careful readers to form an opinion of their own.

(Note: The details of LBJ's life are also compelling on their own. Here is a bio on him written by someone who represented his political and money interests.)

Anyone questioning the veracity of Barr McClellan's information would be fully convinced after watching the embarassing job of back-peddaling that Jack Valenti and other powerful Johnson administration millionaires forced upon the History Channel in a rebuttal of November's broadcast of "the Guilty Men" documentary (based in part on some of the evidence in McClellan's insightful book). Three dubious "historians" were paid to rebut the evidence in McClellan's book and the History Channel documentary... but instead of dissecting any of McClellan's 68 exhibits of courtroom quality evidence, they chose instead to attack his character through complete falsehoods about McClellan's past. They glossed over McClellan's 14 years as a member of the Clark Law Firm (handling all of the legal, personal and professional business transactions for L.B.J.), and blatantly lied about the circumstances surrounding McClellan's departure from the firm and their attempts to discredit him with accusations (...)(which were fully dismissed and characterized as harrassing abuses of power by the Clark-Texas-Power mob). Now the Texas / Johnson apologists have pressured the History Channel to present a one-hour "discussion" about the facts presented in McClellan's book and the "Guilty Men" documentary. So why didn't they discuss the evidence? Could it be that it's easier to attack the messenger than disprove the obvious message? I've been ashamed of Johnson and his organized mob for decades... now I'm ashamed that the History Channel would succumb to the bullying of rich and powerful old men, all of whom made millions on the back of Johnson, and on the blood of our soldiers killed in Vietnam. Kudos to McClellan for not being intimidated by this old-generation of corrupt Texas politicians.

November 22, 1963: As a senior history major at The University or Texas, I was not a supporter of JFK nor was I interested in his scheduled visit to Austin later that day. Then the unthinkable occurred - the assassination of OUR President.

Fall, 1972: a history professor at Southwest Texas State (LBJ's college) loaned me a book to read concerning the Zapruder film. The Warren Commission was not really satisfactory, and after reading the book about the assassination and the "magic bullet" my doubts increased.

October, 2003: BLOOD, MONEY AND POWER - is this what really happened? Did LBJ kill JFK?? This book is an intriguing and disturbing presentation of that possiblity. There are incredible revelations made by the author, Barr McClellan. Names are named, events are detailed, and the motive (of course) is obvious. It's time to finally uncover the truth. No man is above the law. Let's "recall" LBJ's legacy through the proper legal channels to determine his guilt or innocence.

You don't have to be a conspiracy nut to read this book. It's a "good un".

The author opens with a detailed biography of Lyndon Johnson that removes the veneer of 'presidentiality' from Johnson and shows him as a greedy, fearful, mean man with an all-consuming need for power. McClellan then builds his case against Johnson by describing events earlier in Johnson's life in which foul acts were performed for a momentary advantage. Quite a bit of detail is provided about the stuffing of the ballot box which allowed Johnson to win his seat in the US Senate in 1948 and also about the murder of the USDA inspector, Henry Marshall, who was on the trail of fraud being perpetrated on the Department of Agriculture. The original investigation found that Marshall had committed suicide...with five bullets in his body delivered by a close Johnson associate, Mac Wallace. Another murder victim was Doug Kinser who was threatening to bring scandal to Johnson. Mac Wallace was then convicted of killing Kinser but, thanks to Johnson's power over the Texas legal system, was sentenced to 5 years in prison and given a suspended sentence.

It is Wallace that the author alleges was one of the trigger men in the sniper's nest along with Oswald. As proof, the author matches a fingerprint found on a box in the sniper's nest with one of Wallace's earlier fingerprints obtained for the Kinser murder to place Wallace on the 6th floor of the School Book Depository. The author provides a lot of other interesting information such as pointing out that it was Johnson who arranged for Kennedy to visit Texas on November 22, 1963 and that Johnson had given a copy of the Secret Service plans for protecting the president to the conspirators.

McClellan also claims that there was a third trigger man on the grassy knoll who he does not identify and he claims that the conspirators wore suits and used fake Secret Service badges to identify themselves to police and escape the scene after the shooting. There is some credibility to this as many of the shooting eye witnesses and police officers reported encountering secret service agents in Dealey Plaza after the shooting and yet the Warren Commission established that not a single secret service agent was present in Dealey Plaza other than those riding on vehicles. One of the weaker parts of the book is where McClellan claims that the entire conspiracy was the work of a crooked Johnson lawyer named Ed Clark. It seems much more likely that the conspiracy was large enough that the lawyer Clark was working closely with other a handful of rogue agents from the CIA and the secret service and that the final conspiracy was a 'team' effort.

This is an interesting book that fleshes out a lot of missing pieces of the assassination puzzle and makes some of the earlier stuff attributed to Johnson, such as his phone call to the Parkland Hospital ER seeking a dying confession from Oswald, much more believable.

After reading this book, you will never again look the same way at the famous photo of Johnson getting a wink from Congressman Albert Thomas on board Air Force One after being sworn in as the president following Kennedy's killing.

For those who have studied the tragedy in Dealy Plaza on 11/22/63 there will be critical analysis...McClellan has not spent his life reading up on every little detail of "who killed JFK", but, none the less, this book is must reading. McClellan is to be highly commended on getting this story out. This is probably the first-ever insider story from a source as high up as lawyers to LBJ. McClellan's writing is powerful, fast-paced and you will be inspired by his personal sacrifice and bravery!
Ever wonder how a man as seemingly sleazy as LBJ made it so far?? Read this book and find out..stealing elections and having people killed...nothing mattered to this hell-bent-on- power crew. You won't be able to put this book down!

And you will be angry, very, very angry, I hope.

For those naive enough to believe that we actually live in some sort of a democracy, please read this most powerful tale and then demand a criminal investigation. In 1979, after 2 years of hearings by the House Select Committee On Assassinations, our government announced two important findings: That there was "probably a conspiracy", and that the Department of Justice needs to investigate. We are long overdue!!

Buy it, read it and then write to the press, who have been most complicit in this lie for now 40 years. Write to your elected representatives. McClellan sacrificed a brilliant legal career for this case....now it's up to we the people. There can be no "justice" in America so long as this coverup continues. Don't depend on CBS etc. for any historical truth, read this book and then continue your study. The powers that be depend upon the ignorance of the American electorate.

I am a relative to Edward Clark, LBJ's attorney and I have always heard the murmurs from East Texan's that my uncle was the one that set up JFK's assassination. I always ignored it growing up. When Barr published this book, we bought it and it does show quite a few coincidences. For instance. Jack Ruby's lawyer, Joe Tonahill of Jasper, TX was the ex-brother in law to Edward Clark. Please tell me why Jack Ruby would hire someone from deep East Texas to defend him? Definitely a must read.

I withold one star on the grounds that I can't properly evaluate the claims made in this book, but... It is an important addition to the investigation. Having read many books on the Kennedy assassination, reserving judgment (due in part to their tendency to cancel each other out) I had gotten a bit tired of the genre and skipped reading this one, but then after reading (and reviewing)the (quite excellent) _Judgment Days_ on Johnson and Martin Luther King felt nonetheless something awry, and ended up reading this almost by accident, as if drawn to see behind Johnson's mask. The result completely erased much previous reading on the subject with an account that, if not fully adequate, seems to break a deadlock in these endless queries into Kennedy's murder. One problem is the author's tendency to fill gaps with what he calls 'faction' or journalistic novelization. That would seem damning, but disregarding that aspect, the overall outline is quite convincing in the way it tells the story of Texas politics (at its worst) and Johnson's early political career (not a pretty picture at all). Much of this earlier detail would be of great interest even if the book hadn't dealt with the assassination. As a portrait of politics, especially the Texan brand, the book is quite an eye opener, and obviously a lot of this historical material is routinely sanitized in presidential historiography. If you have read a lot of Kennedy conspiracy books, it is important to consider this one, since it dispenses with much of the red herring baggage and distraction of previous efforts. One thing about this approach is that the broad outlines (despite the speculative details) are not something one would invent (although I could be wrong) and seems to roughly fit the evidence, tying up some loose threads.
In any case, this mystery won't go away, and this material seems to put the issue into a more falsifiable mode, unfortunately short of full success on that score. And there is the question of the remarkable fingerprint evidence left at the Texas depository.

This review may have a date which precedes the release of Bugliosi's book, "Reclaiming History". I have entirely changed my review of this book, posted long ago, and have noticed that Amazon reviews seem to always retain their original placement date. With that said, my review of this book is actually in a way a review of a different book, a set of gross errors maligning this book and Barr McClellan personally. I originally read "Blood, Money and Power" quite some time ago, and it changed me from a "lone nut" thinker to a conspiracy believer. Bugliosi, in his book, "Reclaiming History", takes to task virtually all of the popular conpiracy books, "Blood, Money and Power" being no exception. Bugliosi, with his tremendous, undefeated win record is somewhat of a real-life Perry Mason, and I have respected and enjoyed his previous books. HOWEVER, Bugliosi does a real hatchet job on Barr McClellan and this book, and I don't mean "hatchet job" in a successful way. Bugliosi seems to paint McClellan out to be a criminal and a liar, a deceiver of his readers. Bugliosi is such a master at his trade, I originally felt disgust and anger at McClellan for taking his readers on an erroneous joyride. Here's what Bugliosi says in "Reclaiming History":

"On November 20, 2001, I spoke over the telephone with Darby. Eighty-seven at the time,... I told him that I had trouble with his finding a 'match' between prints found at the sniper's nest on the sixth floor and the fingerprint exemplar card of Malcolm Wallace. 'Why?' he asked. 'Because,' I pointed out, 'the unidentified latent print found on the sixth floor was a palm print, not a fingerprint, and unless you've come up with something new, I've never heard of anyone matching a palm print with a fingerprint.' Darby, SENSING HE HAD BEEN TAKEN (emphasis added), told me that he had been given 'two fingerprints, one from a card, the other a latent...Of course, you can't compare a palm print with a fingerprint.' Bugliosi then says, "So much for Malcolm Wallace at the window and another desperate attempt by the conspriacy community to implicate anyone other than Lee Harvey Oswald for Kennedy's murder."

This is a real injustice to McClellan (and Nathan Darby - in this reader's mind, the implied assessment being: "poor old fool") and is totally without merit. Bugliosi seems to imply that since there was only one unknown print, a palm print, that McClellan must have fabricated a hoax on Darby, having him compare, in effect, the exemplar print to itself. He doesn't say this, but it seems to me to be implied, particularly by Bugliosi's verbiage, "Darby, sensing he had been taken...". Can one really detect in a phone conversation that the person on the other end of the line is "sensing he had been taken" or that the person on the other end is sensing anything for that matter? Seems like poetic license to me.

I was so bothered that McClellan may have erroneously changed my viewpoint on the assassination for nearly three years, that I found a university site on the web that hosted the entire published works of the Warren Commission, not stupid conspiracy buff garbage, but the actual, unadulterated Warren Commission material itself. Most people don't realize that while the summary report (nearly 900 pages) was published in great numbers and read by many Americans, to publish the entire 26 volumes of the findings on a large scale was deemed so prohibitively expensive that the government printing office only printed 2,500 sets, 1,340 of which were sent to selected libraries. With the advent of the internet, this material is now within the hands of anyone. Bugliosi, so meticulous in detail, didn't apparently realize, nor does Barr McClellan make this point clearly enough in this book, that the print in question is NOT an unidentified print, of course, but rather a fingerprint that had remained initially questionable and in time was attributed to Dallas police officer Robert Studebaker. The specific print is part of Commission Exhibit 656, labeled print #29. Bugliosi seems to have made a rare (very rare) short circuit in his analysis, assuming that the only print in question would be the only one left as unknown by the examiners for the Commission. Once again, there was no intent to deceive on the part of the Commission and its experts. Wallace would have been no more in their minds to check prints against than Santa Claus, and this is 1964, so forget the futuristic idea of matching prints against databases. Out of the people known to be there, this partial print was deemed to most likely belong to Studebaker.

In his lynching of McClellan, Bugliosi also says, "Since McClellan doesn't suggest or provide evidence that LBJ had anything to do with the misconduct of Estes, which was the subject of the Marshall investigation, one therefore wonders if McClellan ever questioned why LBJ would order the murder of Marshall, Estes' investigator." THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE! In this book, McClellan makes numerous references to LBJ being directly involved with Estes. He even tells of one incident where LBJ had ordered his personal pilots to pick him up and fly him to Pecos, in order to meet with Estes. The pilots didn't want to, because the weather was bad and in their opinion too dangerous to fly in. Apparently, Johnson insisted. The pilots were killed on their way to pick up Johnson while trying to land in bad weather. McClellan also talks of Estes' campaign contributions and direct rake-offs to Johnson from his deals, laundered through the firm's corporation, Brazos-10th corporation, in return for favorable agriculture contracts. To say that McClellan doesn't address this at all is terribly inaccurate on Bugliosi's part.

IF... the print in question can be confirmed by numerous print examiners to belong to Wallace, then doesn't it mean, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Wallace was there? If your print is there, you were there. No matter how unlikely, incongruous, or fantastic this may seem, this is an issue, even 44 years later, that must be explained.

While it may seem inappropriate to some to give here such length to another author's book, with Bugliosi's how-do-you-dare-oppose-him, Perry Mason reputation, coupled with the fact that he laid into this author with a machete, readers contemplating purchasing McClellan's book, but possibly hearing of Bugliosi's disdain for it need to be aware that Bugliosi's attacks against it are unfounded. In all of the assassination-related material I have read through the years, from Bugliosi's book, I am left with a new respect for the honest attempt made by the Warren Commission and no doubt that Oswald killed Tippit and shot Kennedy, so "Reclaiming History" is an important book, BUT Barr McClellan's book has equally impressed me with a belief that Wallace was there, at some point, and if he was, no matter how incredible or incongruous, it implicates the Clark law firm, acting in the interests of Johnson. Bugliosi (Perry Mason) doesn't shake one bit the believability of this book.

Oswald, as young and foolish as he was, had to think that getting the rifle out was as important as getting it in, otherwise, he will surely be named for this crime. If the rifle stays, then he better get out of Dallas, get out of the United States, and drop out of sight. Oswald never confessed, and didn't seem like a man ready to die a martyr's death. He vigorously evaded capture in the Texas Theater. Indeed, he attempted to shoot one of the arresting officers during the scuffle but the releasing hammer of his revolver instead pinched the webbing of the officer's hand between his thumb and forefinger. We know that Oswald left his wedding ring with Marina that morning, a note telling her to buy their daughter some shoes, and over a hundred dollars, probably all the money he had, but it doesn't seem like he ever had the idea he was going to die or be captured. It seems more like the actions of someone that thinks he is going to go away for awhile, and in order to do that, he would have needed some financial help (and a ride!). Heck, he can't even drive himself to work! I don't think he had plans to go back to work the next day or ever again, and I don't think he planned on sticking around Dallas just to see what would happen. As for Wallace's (IF involved) plans for Oswald, he's a convicted murderer himself. He won't have a bit of problem putting a bullet through Oswald's head and burying him where he'll never be found or setting Oswald up to look like a suicide. This plan originally worked with Henry Marshall, Marshall's death not being reinvestigated and deemed to be a murder until after Wallace was already deceased. The story of Marshall's death and Wallace's likely involvement is outlined in this book, Blood, Money, and Power - further evidence that Vincent Bugliosi must not have even read it if he says that McClellan doesn't even make a supposed connection between Johnson and Estes' criminal activities.

Some not wanting to believe Johnson would get within a thousand miles of this thing because it would be brazenly insane should have no problem seeing that it was brazenly insane to venture so close to Doug Kinser's murder (Johnson's sister's ex-boyfriend). Wallace walked in to his business, shot him, walked out and drove away. Witnesses got the license plate, Wallace was quickly tracked down, put on trial and found guilty of first-degree murder with malice aforethought. The jury recommended the death penalty, but guess what, Wallace, of course being defended by the Clark law firm, was sentenced to five years, sentence suspended and walked out of court a free man. Clark - Johnson - Wallace.

Henry Marshall, the Agriculture Department agent investigating Estes: Murdered. Officials ruled the death a suicide even though the old man would have had to shoot himself with a rifle five times. A local resident had been asked for directions to Marshall's place that day. A police sketch of the man looked nearly exactly like - guess - Mac Wallace. Estes - Johnson - Wallace - Probably Clark once again pulling strings to get a suicide ruling in such a ridiculously obvious case of murder.

IF, repeat IF they would be so brazen (and successful) in those cases, they would think it totally doable to set this Kennedy one up as well. Wallace's role may have been the easiest in the assassination of all three murders: Be there to make sure Oswald follows through, tell him he will meet him in an hour at 'X', take a little drive with him and pop him.

Ever since John F. Kennedy was assassinated there has been no shortage of conspiracy theories. Most take one or two minor pieces of evidence and build it into a full-blown theory. Rarely has someone with inside information come forward with a detailed theory. Barr McClellan has had that access to inside information as a member of the legal firm of Edward A. Clark that represented Lyndon B. Johnson's private as well as public needs. Being privy to this information and having access to individuals who were charged with protecting the president as well as promoting his agenda has lead him to the conclusion that when you follow all the details, ultimately L.B.J. and his lust for power are what lead to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Perhaps the most fascinating part of McClellan's book is his insight into the real Lyndon B. Johnson and his associates. McClellan provides a thorough background and history of Johnson from his early years through his presidency. The evidence presented is not conclusive, however it does provide enough of a convincing argument to show that it is not only a possibility, but totally consistent with the personalities, histories, and desires of the people involved. "Blood, Money & Power" is a highly recommended read for anyone interested in the John F. Kennedy assassination.

It's easy to say "politics as usual" after reading this book
on the life nad politics of LBJ, but, believe it or not, this
one will give you a glimpse of politics you wish you had never
seen.
LBJ has to have been the most sleazy man to ever hold the office
of President of the US, and his records almost is beyond belief.
But this author gives most of the names and dates, with all
the connections, that show LJB was involved in a lifetime of crime, including bribery, extortion, influence-peddling of the
worst kind, womanizing of the lowest kind, and then, worst of
all, complicity in the murder of JFK.
The writer has good credentials for his knowledge, since he worked for the Dallas law firm that represented LBJ's personal
interests, and the senior partner for that firm served as LJB's
personal bagman, as well as being the one who usually delivered the payments as well as the ultimatiums. He went into that firm
as a young guy after the JFK murder, but he was there for years,
and he recounts how he learned the truth over a period of years,
as the 2 senior men decided they could trust him to be quiet and
keep the secrets.
The author is rather self-serving in his denial of any duty to
report crimes at the time, as he learned about them, and he
rather akwardly tries to use the legal profession's canons of
ethics as an excuse. He repeatedly asserts that the "lawyer-client privilege" kept him from repeating any of this information, but he even relates examples where crimes were planned in advance, with the help of these lawyers, and he still
tries to say that privilege protected everyone. That is simply
not true, and we have to wonder in surprise at his assertions,
when the law is very clear that such privilege would not allow
lawyers to conspire to commit crimes with immpunity.
But it is an interesting story and one which should be read by
every voter in the country.
As to the main claim that LBJ participated in the murder of JFK,
the writer even gives the name of the shooter who fired one of
the fatal bullets (now dead of course), and he repeats the oft-heard claim that Oswald was a patsy.
The book could have been better edited, because in one section,
he claims he knows who the other shooter was but says he has to
await the development of further proof before actually naming
him publicly. But in a later section, he says the exact identify of the other shooter will never be known.
But he gives details of where the 2 shooters of fatal bullets
were stationed and the order of firing, etc., and he further
explains their ability to escape by pointing out that LBJ's
help allowed them to have false Secret Service credentials. He
also explains that the plan was for Oswald to be caught on the
spot and shot and killed in a shoot-out with police, but that Oswald slipped away too quickly, to be apprehended a little later in a theater.
He explains that Oswald fired 2 bullets at JFK, but that both
missed their target, while the 2 real shooters both connected.
Also pointed out by him is that 3 men (the 2 shooters and a look-out) were supplied with the false Secret Service credentials, but that only Oswald was not included in that part
of the plan.
You don't have to be a "conspiracy" buff to find his details
interesting, so it is very worthwhile reading. And even if
the reader can't quite believe Vice-Pres. Johnson conspired to
kill a sitting President, the full details of LBJ's life of
thuggery and law-breaking are very believeable, with, as stated,
considerable detail. From stealing the Senate election of 1948
(and he names the man who illegally filled in the voters' registration lists of a particular Texas precinct so the total
votes allegedly cast wouldn't exceed the number of registered
voters) to the murder of a man who would have embarrassed LBJ
with public revelations of the sister of LBJ, this list of
crimes and wrong-doing goes beyond even what even the most cynical of us would have believed.
As said, every voter should read this list of crimes and political excesses.