''JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters'' is a book by theologian and
Catholic Worker
''Catholic Worker'' is a newspaper published seven times a year by the flagship Catholic Worker community in New York City. The newspaper was started by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin to make people aware of church teaching on social justice.
Hist ...
James W. Douglass
James W. "Jim" Douglass (born 1937) is an American author, activist, and Christian theologian. He is a graduate of Santa Clara University. He and his wife, Shelley Douglass, founded the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washing ...
(
Orbis Books
Orbis Books, is an American imprint of the Maryknoll order. It has been a small but influential publisher of liberation theology works. It was founded by Nicaraguan Maryknoll priest Miguel D'Escoto with Philip J. Scharper in 1970. Its editor-in- ...
, 2008;
Touchstone Books
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...
, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, 2010) that analyzes the presidency of John F. Kennedy as well as the events surrounding his
assassination
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
. The book is drawn from many sources, including the
Warren Report
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States Pr ...
. The book's central thesis is that Kennedy was a cold warrior who turned to peace-making, and that as a result he was killed by his own security apparatus.
Published by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, it received an award from the Catholic Press Association and coverage in the religious press; sales shot up after
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...
recommended the book, with it featuring in Amazon.com's Top 100 for a week. The 2013 edition of the book was endorsed by Kennedy's nephew Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said it had moved him to visit
Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza is a city park in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, Texas. It is sometimes called the "birthplace of Dallas". It was also the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963; 30 minutes after the shooting ...
for the first time.
Orbis Books
Orbis Books, is an American imprint of the Maryknoll order. It has been a small but influential publisher of liberation theology works. It was founded by Nicaraguan Maryknoll priest Miguel D'Escoto with Philip J. Scharper in 1970. Its editor-in- ...
The book took Douglass twelve years to write. The book was rejected by Orbis three times before it was accepted. Publisher
Robert Ellsberg
Robert Ellsberg (born 1955) is an American media personality known as the editor-in-chief and publisher of Orbis Books, the publishing arm of Maryknoll.
Early life
Robert is the son of Carol Cummings and the American military analyst and whistle ...
said that besides the book's 500-page length, it fell outside the usual range of topics published by Orbis, and that he was reluctant to enter the "dark thicket" of
Kennedy conspiracy theories
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 spawned numerous conspiracy theories. These theories allege the involvement of the CIA, the Mafia, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, the KGB ...
Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. On May 26, 1949, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood and giv ...
's ''Raids on the Unspeakable'', regarding (according to Douglass) "a kind of systemic evil that includes such realities as the Holocaust, the Vietnam War, the nuclear arms race, and these assassinations", which Merton calls a "void". In Merton's words, the void "gets into the language of public and official declarations ... and makes them ring dead with the hollowness of the abyss. It is the void out of which
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...
, seeing both Kennedy and Khrushchev "encounter ngthat void simultaneously". Douglass describes (citing Khrushchev's memoirs) Kennedy deciding to reach out to Khrushchev via his brother Robert F. Kennedy to declare that he is losing power to his generals, who favour nuclear war, and that he needs Khrushchev's help to avoid it. Douglass concludes that Kennedy "turned from global war to a strategy of peace. That's the why of his assassination." Douglass avoids much of the practical detail of the "how"; the single bullet theory is not mentioned, and the book includes no photographs or maps. Instead, Douglass follows the intelligence links around Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, and key people involved in the post-assassination investigation.
The book highlights the Bay of Pigs Invasion as the Central Intelligence Agency's attempt to entrap Kennedy into a full-scale US invasion of Cuba. Citing Daniel Schorr's conclusion that "In effect, President Kennedy was the target of a CIA covert operation that collapsed when the invasion collapsed", the book argues that the result of this operation was Kennedy's avowed intention "to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds." The forced resignation of CIA Director
Allen Dulles
Allen Welsh Dulles (, ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was the first civilian Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and its longest-serving director to date. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the early Cold War, he ov ...
and several deputies served notice that this statement might be followed through.Douglass, James W. 2010. JFK, Obama, and the Unspeakable ", '' Tikkun'', 25(6): 15 The book describes Kennedy's conflict with the military, including over the
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
in September 1963, via
William Attwood
William Hollingsworth Attwood (July 14, 1919 – April 15, 1989) was an American journalist, author, Managing editor, editor and diplomacy, diplomat.
Life
Early life
Born in Paris, France, he received his education at Choate Rosemary Hall and ...
, aimed at normalising relations, and
National Security Action Memorandum 263 National Security Action Memorandum Number 263 (NSAM-263) was a national security directive approved on 11 October 1963 by United States President John F. Kennedy. The NSAM approved recommendations by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and Chair ...
(beginning withdrawal from Vietnam). The book also cites an April 1962 confrontation with the US steel industry, led by
U.S. Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...
, which together with five other steel companies declared a price increase shortly after an agreement had been brokered to avoid them, in order to control inflation. The Kennedy administration raided corporate offices, issued subpoenas, and tasked the Defense Department with overseas marketing of its steel. Shortly after the steel industry backed down,
Henry Luce
Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''Time'', ''Life'', ''Fortune'', and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the America ...
's ''
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' published an editorial, headlined "Steel: The Ides of April", stating that the price rise had been conceived in political terms as a means to either damage the President's credibility, or to unite the business world against him.
Critical and commercial reception
Promotional reviews of the book were provided by
Richard A. Falk
Richard Anderson Falk (born November 13, 1930) is an American professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, and Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor's Chairman of the Board of Trustees. In 2004, he was listed as the author ...
,
Gaeton Fonzi
Gaeton Fonzi (October 10, 1935 – August 30, 2012) was an American investigative journalist and author known for his work on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He was a reporter and editor for ''Philadelphia'' magazine from 1959 to 1972, and ...
John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 spawned numerous conspiracy theories. These theories allege the involvement of the CIA, the Mafia, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, the K ...
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...
in 2009 described it as "an extraordinary new book hichoffers the best account I have read of this tragedy and its significance", and mentioned it during an appearance on '' Real Time with Bill Maher''. In 2013,
David Talbot
David Talbot (born September 22, 1951) is an American journalist, author, activist and independent historian. Talbot is known for his books about the "hidden history" of U.S. power and the liberal movements to change America, as well as his p ...
included it in a list of the seven best books on the subject.
Ray McGovern
Raymond McGovern (born August 25, 1939) is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer turned political Activism, activist. McGovern was a CIA analyst from 1963 to 1990, and in the 1980s chaired National Intelligence Estimates and prepared ...
described it in 2009 as "a very important book that was put out last year without much fanfare".
Ched Myers
Ched Myers is an American theologian specializing in biblical studies and political theology.
Career
Since the late 1970s, Myers has been involved in numerous issues including movement work for racial justice, economic equity, indigenous sover ...
in '' Tikkun'', in recommending the book to his readers, said the book "could not matter more." ''
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
'' called it "a compelling book, a thoroughly researched account of Kennedy’s turn toward peace, the consequent assassination and its aftermath". '' National Catholic Reporter'' wrote in 2008 "Should the book receive wider attention, its delineation of the conspiracy against Kennedy rather than his conversion to peacemaking will be the most controversial aspect since it concludes with a minute examination of old and new evidence that Kennedy was done in by his own security apparatus. ... The way Mr. Douglass' "how" stacks up with other theories that point toward the Mafia, the Russians, the Cubans or a combination of any or all of those is unclear. What is clear is that Mr. Douglass seems to have responsibly and painstakingly plumbed the evidence of the Kennedy assassination from a new angle and raised disturbing yet essential questions." '' Publishers Weekly'' said in 2012 the book was "now recommended reading for those seriously investigating political assassinations." The ''
New York Observer
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
'' said of the book that it included "a selective rehashing of such conspiracy chestnuts as the
Ike Altgens
James William "Ike" Altgens (; April 28, 1919December 12, 1995) was an American photojournalist, photo editor, and field reporter for the Associated Press (AP) based in Dallas, Texas, who became known for his photographic work during the ass ...
photo, which allegedly shows Oswald standing in the doorway of the Texas Book Depository at the exact moment he should have been firing away on the sixth floor. The book’s real interest lies in its portrait of J.F.K. ... nddoes make a convincing case that J.F.K. was becoming deeply disillusioned with the bellicosity of American foreign policy and the inordinate power of the military–industrial complex. Whether this got him killed remains, like just about everything else that happened in Dallas, the stuff of myth."
John C. McAdams
John Charles McAdams (October 26, 1945 – April 15, 2021) was an American associate professor of political science at Marquette University. McAdams taught courses on American politics and public policy, voter behavior, and the John F. Kennedy assa ...
critically reviewed the book, declaring "As bad as Douglass's account of Kennedy’s foreign policy is, his depiction of a plot to murder JFK is worse—unspeakably bad, in fact. To paraphrase Thomas Merton, Douglass's muse and inspiration, the bunk and nonsense Douglass recycles goes beyond the capacity of words to describe. He is utterly uncritical of any theory, any witness, and any factoid, as long as it implies conspiracy."
A graphic novel version of the book reached its $17,500 funding target on
kickstarter.com
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
Orbis Books
Orbis Books, is an American imprint of the Maryknoll order. It has been a small but influential publisher of liberation theology works. It was founded by Nicaraguan Maryknoll priest Miguel D'Escoto with Philip J. Scharper in 1970. Its editor-in- ...
Touchstone Books
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...