Pillar of Fire (107 page)

murders shook President Kennedy: Gravel,
Pentagon Papers
, Vol. 2, p. 270; Reeves,
President Kennedy
, p. 643.

troublesome letter from Senator Richard Russell: Garrow,
The FBI and Martin
, pp. 75-76; Belmont to Tolson, Nov. 1, 1963, 100-3-116-517, FK-NR; Evans to Belmont, Nov. 1, 1963, 100-3-116-518, FK-NR.

Hoover to force reconsideration: Cf. Evans to Belmont, Sept. 20, 1963, and Baumgardner to Sullivan, Sept. 26, 1963, FL-NR. Assistant Attorney General Burke Marshall had submitted for FBI clearance a draft memo setting forth the Justice Department's warnings to Martin Luther King about alleged Communist advisers. FBI officials assumed that its purpose was to establish a protective record of vigilance, and while grousing that it made the Attorney General look too good, decided to inform Marshall “that he should feel free, of course, to submit the memorandum as he drafted it.”

Three more times: Evans to Belmont, Nov. 1, 1963, 100-3-116-518, FK-NR.

fn “We didn't need to be told”: Belmont to Tolson, Nov. 1, 1963, 100-3-116-517, FK-NR.

Kennedy finally scrapped the revisions: Evans to Belmont, Nov. 1, 1963, 100-3-116-518, FK-NR.

Katzenbach was beaming: Ibid. Also int. Nicholas Katzenbach, Oct. 22, 1986, and June 14, 1991; Robert Kennedy Oral History, p. 684ff, JFK.

“You and I are a mile apart”: Katzenbach Oral History, Oct. 8, 1969, JFK.

“magnified into proportions”: Evans to Belmont, Nov. 1, 1963, 100-3-116-518, FK-NR.

“This shows wisdom”: Hoover handwritten note on ibid.

six o'clock on Friday evening: The brief Russell meeting took place at 5:00
P.M.
, and the first cable on Diem's surrender reached the White House at 6:05
P.M.
President Kennedy sent further instructions to Lodge at 8:47
P.M.
that night. Evans to Belmont, Nov. 1, 1963, 100-3-116-518, FK-NR; Reeves,
President Kennedy
, pp. 647-48.

“In summary”: Marshall to RFK with attached memo from John L. Murphy to Marshall, both Nov. 5, 1963, Box 3, Burke Marshall Papers, JFK.

careened through Lincolnville: Colburn,
Racial Change
, pp. 55-57.

fn “was the prime mover”: Gloster B. Current to Robert W. Saunders, Dec. 6, 1963, among other correspondence on the removal of Hayling in III-C-305, NAACP. Current was responding specifically to a letter from the Florida field secretary, detailing efforts to remove Hayling: “It has been his influence that has promoted much of the resistance from other sources. However, I must admit, that he has also been the moving force that sparked St. Augustine into motion. We have already spoken with some of the key young people in the youth movement and they are now working with us. Earlier, they were committed to Dr. Hayling.” Saunders to Current, Nov. 15, 1963, III-C-305, NAACP.

Republicans were said to be scarcer: Paul B. Johnson for Governor flyer entitled “There are ONLY 44 Real Republicans in Mississippi,” b32f362, Lowenstein Papers, UNC.

“Kill the threat”: Paul B. Johnson for Governor flyer entitled “Vote the Mississippi Democratic Victory Ballot,” Lowenstein Papers, ibid. This flyer managed to invoke the language of Abraham Lincoln to support one-party white supremacy: “A house divided cannot stand. Your liberty, your traditional values and your way of life are at stake.”

“a vicious two-party political system”: Paul B. Johnson for Governor flyer entitled “Two-Party System…would be the end of our way of life!” Lowenstein Papers, ibid.

“They are treating my workers like niggers”: Joseph Sinsheimer, “The Freedom Vote of 1963: New Strategies of Racial Protest in Mississippi,”
The Journal of Southern History
, Vol. 55, No. 2, May 1989, p. 242.

No Republican had bothered to run:
Time
, Nov. 15, 1963, p. 18; WP, Nov. 7, 1963, p. 9.

“Your democracy is nothing”: Malcolm X speech at CCNY, Nov. 7, 1963, Tape C173-74, SCRBC.

Muhammad had removed Malcolm: WP, Oct. 21, 1963, p. B1, FMX-73.

surprisingly barbed comments: Int. Abdulalim Shabazz (Lonnie Cross), March 14, 1991.

“Could be”: Int. Yusuf Shah (Captain Joseph), Oct. 17, 1991.

Malcolm confided nothing: Int. Benjamin Karim, Aug. 31, 1991.

“You may take offense”: Malcolm X speech at CCNY, Nov. 7, 1963, Tape C173-74, SCRBC.

Myles Horton: Sketch of Horton from Branch,
Parting
, pp. 121-22, 289-90.

Horton presided over: Memo and agenda for Greenville workshop of Nov. 11-17, 1963, A/SN111f16; “Names and Addresses” for COFO workshop dated Nov. 19, 1963, A/SN111f16.

up to two thousand of them: A Yale Law graduate who participated in the Greenville conference soon warned of “huge legal problems expected to arise during the coming summer. It is probable that a large group of students—perhaps as many as 2,000—many of whom would be white, will be coming into the state….” Oscar Chase to Jack Greenberg, Nov. 20, 1963, A/SN111f16.

considered the white volunteers more trouble: Int. Lawrence Guyot, Feb. 1, 1991; int. Charles Cobb, Aug. 29, 1991; int. Hollis Watkins, June 22, 1992.

as recorded by SNCC adviser: Zinn,
New Abolitionists
, pp. 186-89.

A straw vote late Friday: Int. Lawrence Guyot, Feb. 1, 1991; int. Charles Cobb, Aug. 29, 1991; remarks of Lawrence Guyot, Session No. 4 of the Trinity College SNCC Reunion, April 14-16, 1988, transcript courtesy of Jack Chatfield.

Moses received summary notice: Branton to Moses and Aaron Henry, Nov. 12, 1963, cited in Watters,
Jacob's Ladder
, pp. 213-14; Annell Ponder to Martin Luther King, Nov. 18, 1963, A/SN111f16.

Kennedy had an unseen hand: Courtney Evans reported that Theodore White met with the Attorney General and his press secretary, Ed Guthman, in New York on November 4 regarding White's
Life
article on Negroes, Martin Luther King, and Communism. Evans to Belmont, Nov. 5, 1963, FRFK-429.

assigned a Harvard honors: Int. Michael Sayer, June 25, 1992.

“Negroes, bursting out”: Theodore H. White, “Rushing to a Showdown That No Law Can Chart,”
Life
, Nov. 22, 1963, p. 102ff.

his second installment: Theodore H. White, “Power Structure, Integration, Militancy, Freedom Now!: The Angry U.S. Negro's Rallying Cries Are Confusing His Just and Urgent Cause,”
Life
, Nov. 29, 1963, p. 78ff.

students in Ohio:
Jet
, Oct. 3, 1963, p. 48.

massive reeducation: NYT, Nov. 10, 1963, p. 80.

“not leading too rapidly”: WP, Nov. 13, 1963, p. B5.

special section on intermarriage: WP, Nov. 12, 1963, p. 11.

Robert Kennedy's confidant: E. L. “Red” Holland to Edwin Guthman, Nov. 13, 1963, Ed Guthman private papers.

flew south to Florida: NYT, Nov. 19, 1963, p. 1.

national debt ceiling:
Chicago Tribune
, Nov. 8, 1963, p. 4; on budget, cf.
Newsweek
, Jan. 28, 1963, p. 19ff.

“While the Federal”: NYT, Nov. 19, 1963, p. 29.

interval with Father Michael Gannon: Int. Michael Gannon, April 3, 1991, Dec. 10, 1992.

convention of the United Synagogue: The Proceedings of the Golden Jubilee Convention, the United Synagogue of America, Nov. 17-21 1963, Concord Hotel, Kiamesha Lake, N.Y., courtesy of the United Synagogue of America, New York.

Heschel introduced King: Ibid.

“Freedom is not some lavish dish”: Ibid.

King added a passage: King address to Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 47th Biennial Banquet, Nov. 20, 1963, b14f27, Jacob Rothschild Papers, EU.

stopped over at Idlewild: Hoover to RFK, Nov. 26, 1963, FL-NR; Hoover to RFK, Nov. 26, 1963, FK-NR; NY LHM “Re: Communist Party, United States of America, Negro Question, Communist Influence in Racial Matters, Internal Security,” Nov. 21, 1963, FJ-NR; SA [name deleted] to SAC, NY, Nov. 18, 1963, FJNY-246.

“I'm not going to let Martin”: Branch,
Parting
, pp. 858-60.

had made awkward excuses: Wiretap transcripts of Sept. 16, Sept. 23, and Oct. 28, 1963, FLNY-9-292a, FLNY-7-553A, FLNY-7-588a.

“You know, I'm”: Wiretap transcript of Oct. 8, 1963, FLNY-7-610a.

“Notwithstanding trying circumstances”: Baumgardner to Sullivan, Nov. 25, 1963, FL-NR.

Word had leaked: NYT, Oct. 17, 1963, p. 1; A. M. Sonnabend to Members of Key Leadership Groups, Oct. 17, 1963, “Ecumenical Council IAD, July-Oct. 1963,” AJC; Bracker to Marc Tanenbaum, Oct. 28, 1963, AJC.

three Patriarchs denounced: NYT, Nov. 19, 1963, p. 1; Yzermans,
American Participation
, pp. 572-77; Vorgimler,
Documents of Vatican II
, pp. 48-49.

“giving honorable mention”: “AJC White Paper 1964-65,” AJC, p. 64.

Bea rose to address: Bea,
The Church
, pp. 154-59.

seethed with conspiracy: Michael Novak, “Intrigue in the Council,”
New Republic
, Jan. 11, 1964, pp. 10-11; “AJC White Paper 1964-65,” AJC, p. 65-67.

“As your Eminence knows”: Heschel to Bea, Nov. 22, 1963, AJC.

urged Heschel not to panic: Int. Thomas Stransky, Feb. 27, 1992.

“What is put off”: Irving M. Engel confidential memorandum, Feb. 10, 1964, “AJC White Paper—IAD,” AJC, p. 7.

inscription in the Piazza Cavour: Int. Thomas Stransky, Feb. 27, 1992.

even the boisterous young people: Int. John Oesterreicher, May 24, 1991.

13. G
RIEF

banged through the double doors: Miller,
Lyndon
, p 384.

bowled over a waiter: Wicker,
On Press
, p. 116.

“moving across that crowd”: Ibid.

Sarah Hughes cried tears: Miller,
Lyndon
, p. 384.

just as Tom Wicker: Wicker,
On Press
, p. 118.

shoved Johnson at a trot: Johnson,
The Vantage Point
, p. 11.

amid clashing orders: Notes dictated by Cliff Carter aboard
Air Force One
, Nov. 22, 1963, Vice President's Daily Diary, LBJ.

carload of reporters: Wicker,
On Press
, p. 120. The first shot at the Kennedy motorcade occurred about 12:30
P.M.
Dallas (Central) time. The announcement of President Kennedy's death was made from Parkland Hospital about 1:20
P.M.
Johnson took the oath of office at about 2:38
P.M.
Notes dictated by Marie Fehmer aboard
Air Force One
, November 22, 1963, Vice President's Daily Diary, LBJ; Manchester,
Glory and the Dream
, pp. 1231-32.

“I want them to see”: Johnson,
White House Diary
, p. 6.

“Just ah, think, think, think”: Dictabelt of telephone conversation between LBJ and Arthur Goldberg, 9:00
P.M.
, Nov. 22, 1963, LBJ.

He laid the crucifix: Int. Sargent Shriver, Feb. 21, 1991.

waxen face sealed: Schlesinger,
Robert Kennedy
, p. 658.

first business caller: PDD, Nov. 23, 1963, LBJ.

correct panicky errors: WP “Assassination Files,” Nov. 15, 1993, p. 10.

“That's one angle”: WP, “Assassination Files,” Nov. 16, 1993, p. 9.

ten hours of television news: Manchester,
Glory and the Dream
, p. 1232.

Heller took his brief turn: “Notes on Meeting with President Johnson, 7:40
P.M.
, Saturday, November 23, 1963,” Box 7, Heller Paper, LBJ.

slices of cherry-vanilla pie: “Notes on a Quick Meeting with the President and Other Leading Members of the Kennedy Family,” Nov. 19, 1963, Box 6, Heller Papers, LBJ.

pilloried bankers: Ibid. Also “Confidential Notes on Meeting with the President,” Oct. 21, 1963, Box 6, Heller Papers, 1963.

Heller's economists had pushed: “War on Poverty” monograph, Heller to the Secretary of Agriculture et al., Nov. 5, 1963, and Heller to Lampman, June 3, 1963, Legislative Background of EOA 1964, Box 1, Heller Papers, LBJ; Lemann,
The Promised Land
, pp. 129-35.

to offset the tax cut: Comments of William Capron, transcript of Brandeis University conference on “The Federal Government and Urban Poverty,” June 1973, RFK Oral History series, pp. 138-45, JFK.

“Having mounted a dramatic program”: Heller, “Confidential Notes on Meeting with the President, October 21, 1963, Box 6, Heller Papers, LBJ. Also Heller to JFK, June 29, 1963, ibid, in which Heller argues that, “The civil rights message covers a lot of the ground, but there may well be room for a broader program not linked to race.”