Rot in Hell, Mr. McNamara

National Archives release recording of conversations day JFK was killed

(NEWSER) - A heart-wrenching call from Lyndon Johnson placed to Rose Kennedy from Air Force One has finally been released more than 48 years after her son was assassinated. "I wish to God there was something I could do," says Johnson the day John F. Kennedy was killed. "I wanted to tell you that we are grieving with you." Rose responds: "Thank you very much. I know you loved Jack. And he loved you." Johnson's wife adds: "We just want to ... we feel like we've lost ..." "Thank you," says Kennedy. More»

...and other revelations from a new book of interviews

(NEWSER) - Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was not a fan of Martin Luther King Jr, once describing him as "tricky" and a "phony," after hearing FBI tapes of him with a woman other than his wife in a hotel room. That's just one of the revelations contained in a new book, Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life With John F. Kennedy, which details, and even includes audio recordings of, a series of interviews Jackie gave shortly after JFK's assassination. The AP got an early copy of the book and its accompanying eight audio CDs, and reveals these tidbits: More»

New book reveals fresh details about tragedy

(NEWSER) - We almost lost a second president just hours after losing JFK, according to The Kennedy Detail, an account of the assassination by members of the president’s security detail. In it, retired agent Gerald Blaine admits to nearly shooting the VP-turned-president, Lyndon Baines Johnson. Blaine was protecting Johnson’s house the night after the assassination when he heard someone approaching and grabbed his Thompson submachine gun. More»

War logs don't match revelations of Vietnam skullduggery

(NEWSER) - The release of 92,000 classified documents related to the Afghanistan war has prompted many comparisons to the Pentagon Papers. But that's a bit superficial, writes Richard Tofel for ProPublica . "In terms of important disclosures, it's not even close." The biggest WikiLeaks revelations involve Taliban fighters' use of heat-seeking missiles and the Pakistani intelligence service's complicated relationship with Taliban leadership—neither of which were actually secret. More»

(NEWSER) - On the weekend of his inauguration, John F. Kennedy gave his youngest brother a cigarette case engraved with the words, “And the last shall be first.” Fifty years later, that prophesy has come true, writes Richard Lacayo of Time. The "long shadow of Chappaquiddick" may have kept Ted Kennedy out of the White House, but "as the Romans understood, there can be Emperors of no consequence—and Senators whose legacies are carved in stone." More»