Last September, The Future of Freedom Foundation launched a special 6 ½-hour video presentation on the JFK autopsy entitled “Altered History: Exposing Deceit and Deception in the JFK Medical Evidence” by Douglas P. Horne, who served on the Assassination Records Review Board in the 1990s. The video presentation was based on Horne’s five-volume book Inside the Assassination Records Review Board: The U.S. Government’s Final Attempt to Reconcile the Conflicting Evidence in the Assassination of JFK.
Here is the link to my September article announcing the launch of this project.
Here is the link to Horne’s video presentation, which is posted on YouTube.
As of January 5, 2015, Horne’s video presentation (part 1) has received 10,458 visits on YouTube.
At the same time we launched Horne’s video presentation, we announced the publication of the following two e-books on Amazon.com at a price of 99 cents each:
The JFK Autopsy by Jacob G. Hornberger
JFK’s War with the National-Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated by Douglas P. Horne
As of January 5, 2015, The JFK Autopsy has sold 2,525 copies and is ranked #15 on Amazon’s “Top 100 Best Selling Books in 20th-Century American History.”
As of January 5, 2015, JFK’s War with the National-Security Establishment has sold 1,749 copies and is ranked #39 in Amazon’s “Top 100 Best Selling Books in 20th-Century American History.”
That’s with no marketing or promotion other than the initial announcement of the e-books last September.
I thought you might enjoy the comments that both books have generated on Amazon. They are posted below.
If you would like to purchase our two e-books, click here for The JFK Autopsy and here for JFK’s War with the National-Security State. The price for each e-book is $.99.
Needless to say, I also highly recommend Horne’s five-volume book Inside the Assassination Records Review Board.
Comments (35) on The JFK Autopsy by Jacob G. Hornberger posted on Amazon.com
If this book has got Johnny Salami in a twist then you know that Hornberger has hit the target dead-center. Researching Kennedy’s autopsy at Bethesda is essential to understanding how only Lyndon Johnson could have masterminded a plot this pervasive. Well done Mr. Hornberger.
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Always glad to hear something I have not yet read before.
Information I have never heard before regarding delivery of the body to Bethesda. Very interesting.
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Loved JFK. Haven’t read over the holidays. No I have the time and looking forward to reading year books
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Excellent, thought provoking book. It should be read by every American and the veil of secrecy surrounding JFK needs to be lifted.
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Intriguing in the extreme – and VERY thought provoking! The only “odd” thing was the way it ended: It just sort of “stopped” – and there seemed there should be more of a decisive ending. But, it just “stopped”. Cold. As in, The End. I felt like I been left out on a tree limb, waiting for someone to hack it off!
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Redundant and derivative
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Useful addition to the many volumes written on the autospy and subsequent investigation. By focusing on the forensic evidence, the conflicting eyewitness reports and the testimony deliberately withheld or ignored by the official warren and subsequent congressional investigations.
The writer comes across as sincere in his desire to get to the truth, unfortunately it is unlikely anyone could then or now conclusively prove anything due to the poor conduct of the investigation and very poor control of the chain of evidence. The deliberate manipulation or omission of evidence both physical and witness testimony is the most shocking part.
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“The Kennedy Autopsy”is an excellent overview of the deception that went on in secret at Bethesda Naval Hospital on the evening of November 22, 1963. Dozens of highly qualified medical professionals at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas saw a large blown out wound in the back of President Kennedy’s head. Yet the official autopsy at Bethesda just 8 hours later reported no such wound.
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I’m sorry, but this is a rehash of “Best Evidence” with poor writing and gets so many basic things wrong that I can’t accept the premise.
The “getaway” from Dallas was fiction. President Johnson wouldn’t leave without Mrs. Kennedy because he didn’t want her children to hear their father was killed from anyone than their mother. Mrs. Kennedy wouldn’t leave without her husband’s body, so Johnson ordered Air Force One to hold for President and Mrs. Kennedy. Thus, an act of humanity has turned into part of a criminal conspiracy.
Another factor that isn’t given any weight is that Johnson HAD to return to Washington immediately. The US government was basically decapitated; President Kennedy.was dead, most of the Cabinet was over the Pacific heading for Japan and President Johnson was isolated in Dallas. Please keep in mind this was only a year since the crisis of October 1962.
One of the things that conspiracy buffs get wrong is assuming that the communications systems were anything like today when, in fact, they were only marginally better than what was available to Calvin Coolidge. There was simply no adequate communication ability for a president outside of the White House. That’s the most practical reason for getting back to Washington as quickly as possible.
The mysterious “crash” of the Washington telephone system was simply due to the old analog system with mechanical switching being overloaded. Even the most die hard of conspiracists will have to admit this is a much more likely explanation than sabotage, especially since rigging the system to fail would involve many (possibly 100+) technicians going to various switching facilities and taking them offline. Not only did the analog system in use at the time make this extremely difficult if not impossible it’s preposterous to think that none of the techs or supervisors would stay silent about this sort of thing.
It’s also wrong to depict the Secret Service as “thugs”. Quoting purple language by a huckster whose major role in JFK’s treatment was cutting off his trousers and then waiting thirty years to reveal his secret knowledge just undermines any reasonable theory. Dr. Crenshaw was cashing in on President Kennedy’s death, and quoting him as a basis of an idea is taking any consideration of that idea, balling it up, and throwing it in the trash.
I DO think there was a cover-up in President Kennedy’s assassination but it was venal and tawdry. The agencies most frequently connected to the supposed grand.conspiracy were the CIA, FBI and the Secret Service. The CIA didn’t adequately warn the FBI that Oswald approached the Cubans and Soviets in Mexico City. The FBI didn’t investigate a known defector in Dallas and the Secret Service wasn’t diligent in pursuing possible threats in a city that was rife with off-the-rails political nuts.
Do you think for even a moment that J. Edgar Hoover would march up to Capitol Hill and say his agency performed its duty so badly it got the President killed? (Remember, this was a man who kept his job by running an agency that seemed infallible) Would the head of the CIA or Secret Service do that? President Kennedy was dead, Oswald was dead. Who do you honestly think would be holding the bag in all this?
I’m sorry, I just can’t swallow a super-secret plot by an all-knowing and all-powerful capital G Government. Instead of Jack Ryan at the bottom of the assassination you had Curley, Larry and Moe.
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Very interesting, points out a lot of discrepancies
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Probably the best book that I have read about the assignation of Kennedy. I was 13 years old when this happened and it has held a lifelong interest in the real answers. Jacob as hit the nail on the head with this work.
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Brief but very interesting, the conspiracy theorist in me enjoyed the book…..
And there was a conspiracy by the U.S. G!
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Another book of many in this topic. Has great details of people involved. Makes for good reading, however can become complicated to keep up with all the different views from many sources.
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this book was okay. It kind of took a long way around the story. took me a long time to finish reading the book.
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Was a good eead scary. how our country. Underworld can create such a murder and n9 one punished for it. We indeed live. In. Scary times JFK tried to be a good president it was ! Cue da tae (sp) of. The highest order the startof. Black. Days for America
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Though this book repeats itself a lot and seems to ramble at times, the logic and explanations presented do seem to fit the reported happenings. The overall result in the end is to make conclusions none of us like to consider, even possibly describing conditions that could be still existing in our country today.
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Great book with information that was new to me.
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I enjoyed this book because It opened my eyes to possible a different view of Kennedy’s assassination. It also has educated me on the terrible health issues starting from his childhood until he was killed. I recommend this book to anyone who question the theory of who killed John F. Kennedy.
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We all knew this was Murder In The First Degree. It was sinful what was allowed to happen. I’ve been saying these since they Murdered Kennedy. They wanted him out of the White House, and L.B. Johnson made it happen the evidence is now showing what really happen to this man and his family. This was very interesting to read and learn about. And very enlighting to say the least. Wow!
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Too short, no pictures, ends rather abruptly
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This book discusses an interesting theory, but somehow never gets to the point. The author’s ideas could be reduced to two or three pages, instead of the interminable fluff and filler. Very disappointing read.
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I’ve read a ton of books about the assassination and this has to be one of the poorest. Same information repeated over and over and over again.
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good
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Factual logical, and correct with regard to similar works on this subject by several JFK WC critics.
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if you’re interested in the Kennedy assassination and have a brain then read this, you’ll know the Warren Commision findings were total…you know. Be sure to see the video the author talks about in the book, it’s also on youtube. This book has incredible FACTUAL EVIDENCE to show how the JFK Kennedy autopsy was faked and messed up and wow, I’ve read so many books but much of this information was new to me and I have other books to read now because of this information.
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This a fascinating look at the crucial time between JFK’s arrival in Washington and the completion of the autopsy. It’s presents a step by step trail from the beginning to end of the process. It’s full of new information and mysteries, and is well worth reading.
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Having lived most of my life knowing of the Kennedy assassination i found this book fascinating
While i have long believed there is more to the story than Oswald, any doubt i might have held is thoroughly erased now.
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Very interesting contradictory reports regarding transport of corpse, autopsy, and even autopsy photos, but not much speculation regarding who may have been responsible.
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There is much information and important ideas In this book, and I am glad I bought it. It has two main weaknesses that strike me.
It is very verbose and repetitive, and for me that weakens it.
It is intensely argued throughout, which makes it less powerful than calm reviews of facts would have been.
Nevertheless, it’s focus on high-pressure attempts at secrecy strikes home.
Professionally, my interest focuses on the plight of Dr Humes, navy pathologist who said he took his autopsy notes home and burned them because they were bloodstained, after copying them word for word. I made some mistakes in my time, especially with lawyers, but never so colorful and eternal a one.
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There is a problem with the book. Every time I reach a certain page it takes me right to the end. I tried to reload the book the same think happens. It is shame because the little I could read was very interesting.
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Good review of how the autopsy was botched (covered up) from top to bottom.
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More information about the Kennedy assassination that I bet you didn’t know. Well documented and sheds light on the efforts by the secret service to suppress evidence from the public.
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Excellent
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I enjoyed this reading this book, but it raises a ton of questions…
What I can’t figure out is why there are still so many unanswered questions about the assassination after the passing of so many years – 50 and counting now…
Who’s reputation is being protected?
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Hornberger’s book gets right to the crux of what has puzzled many Americans over the last 51 years; If Oswald was the sole assassin, why the withholding of any information relative to the case? After so many years the American people should have access to all the information. To assume that both Cuba and the then Soviet Union had no idea of assassination attempts against Castro sponsored by the CIA, even BEFORE the assassination, is totally ludicrous! Yes, the ultra rich oil barons stood to benefit…yes,the Mafia stood to benefit….yes, the military industrial complex stood to benefit….but only one person could conceal the involvement of any or all of these groups. Perhaps he benefitted the most by realizing his ultimate political achievement of becoming president of the United States, and that person is JOHNSON….read Hornberger’s book…
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Comments (30) on JFK’s War With the National-Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated by Douglas P. Horne
Here is the theory that fully convinces me. Mr. Horne has been at the forefront of declassifying a literal mountain of evidence to destroy the fiction that it was a lone assassin.
In truth, eliminating the possibility of Oswald as a lone actor is the easiest task about setting the record straight. He was indisputably a U.S. intelligence asset, the biggest question is to determine exactly how many agencies counted him as one. His obvious silencing by Ruby is a clear signal of conspiracy, but more importantly the inexplicable inconsistencies in Secret Service protection, and Horne’s singular achievement of cementing the facts behind JFK’s sham autopsy, prove that factions within the U.S. government were the architects of the plot.
This book reads like a diplomatic history, covering the same ground as Douglass’ JFK and the Unspeakable and extensively documents the history of radical peace-seeking that left JFK at odds with virtually everyone in his administration but especially the CIA and the JCS.
For me, at least this is the first book that gives me a plausible reconciliation of LBJ’s and J. Edgar Hoover’s role.
This book does not function as a general survey of the assassination and the theories. That’s both good and bad, because this evidence and narrative belongs in the public discourse. I think readers familiar with the ongoing discussion about JFK’s deathbed legacy will really appreciate the way the evidence has been employed to tell the real story of the assassination for the first time.
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A very detailed look behind the scenes of what actually went on between JFK and his military advisors. I loved it!
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A lot of information that I didn’t know! Very good read! I hadn’t realized that he had so much trouble with his cabinet.
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It can not be emphasized enough times. The works of this honourable man must be read by the whole world. Go to Inside the ARRB.
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This is a book for all those people who still believe that JFK was a Cold War hawk, thinking and acting just as the administration replacing him after his assassination. He refused to invade Laos, Cuba and Vietnam. He refused to allow the assassination of Diem. He refused to allow the assassination of Castro. He refused to provoke the Russians with tanks in Berlin at Check Point Charlie. He refused to give in to CIA blackmail and order air support in the Bay of Pigs. He refused to respond with military attack on Cuba and Soviet military installations in the Cuba missile crises. At several times he refused to launch a preemptive all out nuclear strike on USSR, China and the rest of the Communist block, saving humanity from certain extinction.
On the contrary, he tried to establish approachment with both Cuba and the Soviets through secret back channels while at the same time showing hardness and resolve, not to upset the hawks in his own administration. He launched a nation wide educational campaign seeking political mandate for a nuclear test ban treaty with USSR which he signed months before his assassination.
All this in opposition to his Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA and a majority of civilian hardliners in Congress and his own administration … including his Vice President, Lyndon Baines Johnson.
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good background research to US challengs in Cold War and US establishments needs to remove JFK, RFK
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Very interesting but he didn’t finish the story
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Read this with great intrest. He had a lot of folks pushing against him. Think Vietnam war would have been different if he had lived, but too much backstabbing by Congress and the military.
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A truly eye-opening expose for which I’m sure Paul Harvey would say: “Now you know the rest of the story.” Highly recommend this book as Douglas Horne as more than done his homework.
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I have read well over 200 books on the JFK assassination, beginning with the Warren Commission fairy tale when it was released in 1964. There are many good books, and too many no good at all.
Doug Horne’s “JFK’s War with the National Security Establishment” is a cogent and concise explanation of the deep crises of the Cold War faced by President Kennedy in his less than three years in office, and how he prevailed against the hidebound Cold Warriors whose solution to every problem was to take the country to war — even nuclear war.
These enemies within clearly came to believe that the new young president was a danger to America and “cast a veto on his life” as Horne puts it.
This fine book is not about numbers of shots or numbers of shooters. It is purely and simply about motive, massive abuse of power and damnable treason. Anyone and everyone who cares about American history should read this book. Only the whole truth about this horrible scar on the American psyche can set us free. Thank you Doug Horne!
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Two titles here
The first is President Kennedy’s war with the National Security Establishment; the second Why Kennedy was assassinated. Does one answer the other?
Douglas Horne does a fine job of laying out the conflicts between JFK’s increasingly perceptive understanding of where the prevailing attitudes of his time were pushing policy decisions and the resulting direction the world would take if those forces dictated American policy — in short toward nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union. In JFK’s first two years the opportunities were bountiful Berlin Crisis and Cuban Missile Crisis.
Horne’s detailing of the advice the president was offered and refused places JFK as another `Profile in Courage’ (a book he wrote or co-authored). By standing in opposition to insider direction he saved countless lives and a grim future for all.
Some readers may wish to draw comparisons with the roles played by recent American presidents.
On the second question the link requires the departure from Oswald as a sole assassin to evidence of a conspiracy. Here he turns to the autopsy of JFK as an attempt to conceal frontal wounds drawing on his five-volume work including the medical cover-up in the JFK assassination, titled: Inside the ARRB (Assassination Records Review Board).
Good enough for me.
His one failing as an author is he redundant and persistent use of emphasis added to what are clear enough conclusions. Cost a star.
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Mr. Horne presents evidence that will persuade any reasonable person that JFK’s murder was an “inside job”.
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Quite concise essays from a man at the heart of the JFK records review. A fine overview of Kennedy’s struggle to avoid war.
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Doug Horne is a the top of all researchers, and deserves our attention. Delve in an learn the intricacies not mentioned in the mainstream media dealt with factual evidence.
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Finally – the truth!
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When Dwight Eisenhower left office he gave a speech to the nation in which he warned us to be aware of and prevent the growth of the” military/ industrial complex” because of the threat it posed to our system of checks and balances which our national founders put in place to guard against the emergence of tyrannical threats to our liberties . Most academic researchers of the Assassination of President Kennedy have concluded that the president was murdered by a cabal of rogue agents within the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. Horne’s book reinforces and expands this theory in an extensively researched and footnoted narrative that manages to read like a thrilling murder story. It is easy to believe that there are many, possibly hundreds, of people still alive who aided and abetted the murder of President John F. Kennedy. This book should be required reading in advance placement high school civics courses, and university level political science courses, and perhaps a renewed hunt for those still alive who were active participants in JFK’S murder.
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An interesting, well-researched work with regard to John Kennedy ‘s assassination. The format with coherency of information made this compelling reading for me.
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This is an excellently researched and written account of the problems which JFK encountered with the military and CIA. Looking back, it’s shocking our military pushed for a ‘first strike’ against the Soviet Union which they thought they could win! Very well worth reading!
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Very interesting viewpoint. A definite re-read. Allegations that were new to this reader.
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One of very few books which accurately explains the “why” behind the public execution of John F. Kennedy which really is the most important question.
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recognize it at all from what they learned in high school or even grad school history classes.
Horne has read it all and writes to the quick of the moment, when the permanent unelected bureaucracy, became the government instead of facilitating the decisions of elected officials. Because this book so clearly shows that our old model of power– checks and balances and elections– are so clearly outdated, this book is current event #1. For, how can we solve today’s towering domestic and foreign policy problems if we are still kept on the hamster wheel of an outdated model of power?
That recognition is what comes through so clearly in Horne’s remarkably concise summary of virtually all Cold War Scholarship that he supplements with his own interviews from his job with the Congressionally appointed Assassination Records Review Board. The Coup of 1963 is when our government went Autopilot.
All current events are rendered mute and diversion, till that is recognized at the societal level. That’s why THIS is the book you should send to newbies to this issue. This is the book that should be posted across the spectrum by those informed enough to recognize the opportunity cost of not doing so, given a topic as censored as this one.
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Doug Horne examines the background of JFKs confrontation with the military and intelligence establishment beginning with the Bay of Pigs. Douglas Horne also served on the ARRB, and has a unique perspective on the establishment of the National Security apparatus created in 1947 by the National Security Act. Few of us can appreciate the significance of the power shifts that resulted from the passage of the NSA and the creation of the National Security Council, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Central Intelligence Agency, bringing a new continuing national security bureaucracy that grew in power to rival that of the Chief Executive, existing as it did with a life of its own. The perspective of the President unable to fully control this new establishment brings a new view of the Bay of Pigs debacle and all that followed.
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The book documents that JFK was consistently undermined by his military and it’s allies throughout his presidency. I was aware of General Curtis Lemay’s dangerous belief that it was better to initiate WWIII at a time of his own choosing, but not that he was the only general itching for a showdown with the Soviet Union. The other insight that the book provides is that the military opposition to JFK was a motivating factor in the decision to assonate Kennedy. It wasn’t just the mob, rogue CIA elements, and LBJ that were involved; the plot included and was to a significant extent driven by key military brass. The 1960’s were certainly “interesting times”.
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I decided to add this to the other books I purchased regarding JFK’s assassination and the inner workings of his administration. It’s a great addition to any library and gives an excellent overview of the seemingly endless battles JFK was fighting with the military industrial complex and the intelligence community. Besieged on various fronts, it shows Kennedy’s acts of defiance and courage in his determination to prevent nuclear war and resolve the Cuban crisis. Good read.
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Outstanding book and very easy to understand. Paints a very sad picture of a President who was completely polarized within his own government, particularly by the military.
Things could have been and should have been completely different had JFK lived.
However, in the final analysis he saved the world when it was on the brink of nuclear war. This is the over riding theme of this work with plenty of supportive documentation.
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Really shows the conflicts JFK was having with the National Security guys. I doubt many people today realize how serious this was and its consequences.
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Mr. Horne provides a well-researched and eye-opening account into the struggles between JFK and the American national security state during a critical time in our history. Although certainly not the beginning of our nation’s decline, this era of our history was one of rapid acceleration of loss of liberty resulting in part from the traitorous foreign policy agenda of the military and intelligence communities. We are still reaping the consequences of this struggle some fifty years later, as our nation crumbles abroad as well as domestically. A must-read for anyone who desires to understand the madness of current foreign policy and the forces that have shaped it for decades.
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Excellent
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Very handy, concise look at Kennedy’s fight against the JCS, CIA, etc…. if you haven’t read JFK and Vietnam, Eyeball to Eyeball, Kennedy’s Wars, or JFK and the Unspeakable, these essay’s are a treat. The other works referenced within are all necessary reads, but for a clear overview of Kennedy’s foreign policy battles from 61 to 63, this is a great starting point.