Abraham Zapruder captured a defining and tragic moment in history when his camera recorded the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The film was originally locked away by Time Life but was finally released to the public years later as a result of the investigation of Jim Garrison into Kennedy’s murder. The film leaves the view speechless and speaks more than a thousand words. Next to the gruesome murder of the President, there’s an iconic sequence that occurs that also remains cemented in the memory of the witnesses in Dealey Plaza that day and the millions others who have repeated watched the film. As the motorcade speeds toward the triple underpass, a Secret Service agent is seen jumping on to the back of the car as it speeds up to transport the mortally wounded Kennedy to Parkland Hospital. The agent is Clint Hill, a veteran of the Secret Service who served several presidents during his multi-decade career. Now 84, he’s become an author over the years, having written a few books, one of which is this account of the fateful trip to Dallas, Texas and the tragedy that ensued.
The book begins on November 21 as the party prepares for the departure to Texas. Hill shines light on the commotion and last-minute maneuvers that are required to make the trip go as smoothly as possible. We also see the softer side of the President as he embraces his children for the very last time. And as Air Force One departs for San Antonio, the first stop, no one aboard knows that this is the last trip that they will make with Kennedy. After receiving a warming welcome at San Antonio, the party is jubilant about the potential to mend political fences in Texas to bolster Kennedy’s chances for reelection in 1964. The morning of the 22nd starts out on a positive note as the President makes his last speech at the Ft. Worth Chamber of Commerce. The flight to Dallas is only fifteen minutes and the first couple emerges after landing to a crowd of eager supporters. The motorcade makes its way through the streets of Dallas and at 12:29 p.m. everything goes dark as the nightmare begins changing history and Hill’s life forever.
As the tragedy unfolds in Dallas, Hill serves as our point man takings us through each development as it happened. We also get a feel for the emotions and thoughts going through the minds of everyone as they struggle to remained composed in the face of an unspeakable tragedy. The vivid reality of the chaos in Parkland and later on Air Force One becomes even clearer as Hill takes us through the day and all the way until Kennedy’s body returns to the east coast for the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital and his final placement in the coffin in which he was buried. Funeral arrangements, the arrival of family and guests combined with the changing of the guard in Washington prove to be heavy tasks on all present and each does their best under the strain. Up until Kennedy’s final moment before he lowered into the ground, Hill remains a loyal agent and intimate family friend.
Because this book is written by a former agent on Kennedy’s detail, some would expect it to have possible clues as to who might have killed the President. This is not the case and Hill sticks to the government’s story of Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone gunman. Whether Hill continues to believe that is beyond the scope of the book and a completely different discussion. What this book is, is a poignant memoir by a man who remains haunted by those five days in November, 1963.
In volume I of her three-volume biography of the late Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), Blanche Wiesen Cook explored the early life of the pioneering First Lady of the United States. We learned about her family history, both intriguing and tragic, upbringing by close relatives, her marriage to Franklin and his election of the presidency of the country. The book closes as the family assumes their role as the new occupants of the White House. In this second volume, their story continues with the new President finding himself embattled on several fronts as the depression rages, Adolf Hitler threatens world peace and domestic social tensions threaten to tear the nation apart. The First Lady also finds herself fully immersed in ongoing current events that cause concern for citizens across the country. And it is during this time period, 1933-1938 that she defines herself as she finds her calling as a champion of women’s rights and advocate of equality and well-being for Americans of all ethnic backgrounds.
The President of the United States has what many consider to be the toughest job in the nation. Tasked with the impossible feat of making everyone happy at all times while often performing highly unpopular actions, the President often goes through a transformation while in office that results in deep reflection later in life. Standing next to each President in modern times, is the first lady who in her own right, has evolved into a major presence with a voice of her own. This November will mark the end of the Obama administration and as they prepare to leave the White House, I firmly believe the first lady can look back without regret as having served the nation as one of the finest America has seen. She follows a long line of pioneering first women to have occupied the White House, adding a touch of grace and class to what used to be a strictly supplementary role. But many years before Michelle Obama, there was another first lady, who stands out as one of American’s greatest historical figures and whose legacy continues today, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962).
October, 2017, will mark a turning point in American history. Pursuant to the JFK Records Act of 1992, all remaining classified files relating to the assassination of President John Kennedy are slated to be released to the American public. If no opposition is received from the FBI, CIA or any government agency with a vested interest in the files, more than 3,000 pages of once classified documents will be disclosed more than 50 years after Kennedy’s tragic death on the streets of Dallas, Texas.
In the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn lies Marcus Garvey Blvd, a street named after the late iconic figure in the African-American struggle for civil rights in the United States and abroad. The native son of Jamaica and former resident of London, England, made his name famous on the streets of Harlem, New York through the formation and activities of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The organization’s purpose to build up the moral, economical and social status of Black Americans, combined with his “back to Africa” movement, remain defining movements in the African-American experience. At the time of his death on June 10, 1940, Garvey was a shadow of his former self after several severe strokes had taken their toll on his aging body. His death dealt a sever blow to the strengthening movement for equality. And 76 years after his death, his writings, speeches and life, are still remembered, quoted and analyzed for they remind us of the importance of standing up for what we believe in. Garvey remains one of most magnetic figures of the 20th century.
On December 19, 2005, Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, died at the age of 77 at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. The late mafia boss gained notoriety on the streets of Little Italy as he walked about in a bathrobe speaking incoherently to himself and those around him. He became known in the media at the “Oddfather”. His death marks the end of an era as the late Gigante is considered to be among the last of the old-fashioned Mafioso who controlled the streets of New York City. The former boxer, trigger man and boss remains a legend in organized crime history.
The arrest and subsequent conviction of former NYPD Police Officer Michael Dowd highlighted the perils of decades long corruption that plagued many precincts in the New York City Police Department. Dowd and several other officers had engaged in a multitude of crimes ranging from narcotics trafficking and possession, armed robbery and accessories to murder . Several had even violated department protocol by appearing for work under the influence of alcohol or narcotics or sometimes both. When the scandal in the 75th precinct made headlines, a whole city was stunned and for many, it confirmed many of their beliefs about the NYPD being a corrupt agency full of crooked cops. The fallout from the scandal would force Mayor David Dinkins and Police commissioner Lee Brown to act quickly. The Mollen Commission was created to investigate the pattern of police corruption that had been plaguing the City of New York. Its final report was published in July, 1994 and remains freely available for those interested in one of the darkest periods in New York City history.
DeMeo and his crew of psychopathic killers engaged in killing on a scale that rivaled the actions of the former crew of contract killers out of Brownsville, Murder, Inc., during the early half of the 1900s. And although he’s been deceased since 1983, his name and reign of terror remain legendary in mafia history. Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci bring us their account of DeMeo’s reign of terror in this excellent investigative report that gives the full story of the rise and fall of one of the most violent street crews in New York City history. Carefully researched and aided by firsthand accounts of former associates and witnesses, the duo revisits the past and the early lives of Antonio “Nino” Gaggi, Roy DeMeo and Dominick Montiglio, the only surviving member from DeMeo’s crew.
FREETHINKING BIBLIOPHILE 
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