LBJ believed that JFK assassination was a conspiracy

[WI_DEM]

During coffee, the talk turned to President Kennedy, and Johnson expressed his belief that the assassination in Dallas had been part of a conspiracy. "I never believed that Oswald acted alone, although I can accept that he pulled the trigger." Johnson said that when he had taken office he found that "we had been operating a damned Murder Inc. in the Caribbean." A year or so before Kennedy's death a CIA-backed assassination team had been picked up in Havana. Johnson speculated that Dallas had been a retaliation for this thwarted attempt, although he couldn't prove it. "After the Warren Commission reported in, I asked Ramsey Clark to quietly look into the whole thing. Only two weeks later he reported back that he couldn't find anything new." Disgust tinged Johnson's voice as the conversation came to an end. "I thought I had appointed Tom Clark's son—I was wrong."

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/73jul/janos.htm

[johnnie]

1. LBJ's buddy Malcolm Wallace's fingerprint was found

..on one of the boxes in the depository.

[Fire1]

2. Johnson's not the only one. n/t

[EOTE]

3. I'm pretty sure that he KNEW it was a conspiracy.

I'd be damned surprised if he wasn't involved in the cover-up. Or perhaps even worse.

[gateley]

4. E Howard hunt made a tape before he died implicating LBJ...

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/13893143/the_last_confessions_of_e_howard_hunt

[goclark]

6. And didn't one of LBJ's girlfriend have a video tape claiming he was involved?

I think I saw the video on DU a few years ago and could not believe my eyes.

[gateley]

8. I think so -- now that you mention it it's coming back to me... nt

[Sebastian Doyle]

7. E Howard Hunt was a CIA thug who worked for Poppy Bush

He wanted to throw the suspicion off the real guilty parties onto someone who has been dead since 1973, and can't be questioned. And Hunt only said that much when he was on his own deathbed.

[EFerrari]

12. Agreed. Johnson was not inside.

And Ramsey Clark may have wanted to live and keep Johnson alive. I don't blame him.

[B Calm]

22. The key word, George HW Bush!

[AntiFascist]

16. Gerald Ford made a similar comment on his deathbed...

but keep in mind that they were both staunch Republicans and likely would want to draw attention away from the Nixon-mafia-CIA nexus of corruption, whose ramifications we continue to suffer.

[Ardent15]

20. Hunt is not a credible source nt

[Jokinomx]

5. Of course he thought it was a conspiracy!!! He was part of it....

All you have to do is read Dr.Charles Crenshaw's book "Conspiracy of Silence". He was an intern in the Dallas hospital ER when Kennedy was brought in. What he shares are his first hand observations and information that he compiled during his search for answers.

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/crenshaw.htm

Peace

[Robbins]

9. LBJ

A good case can be made he was involved with a coverup but the more I have looked Into the JFK
assassination the less he being Involved In actual planning to kill Kennedy Is credabily.Despite
the Vietnam War Johnson was hardly a right winger like some of the types who were likely Involved.
And If he was Involved it doesn't make sense for him to cast doudt on the official.In Crossfire
there Is even a mention of Johnson saying he was suspecious of the CIA.I think there are those who
long ago once they realized the public was not buying the Oswald did It alone theory tried to
blame It on Johnson.Nixon(who I don't think had anything to do with It) would be a more likely
conspirator than Johnson.

[Sebastian Doyle]

13. Nixon's involvement is more likely.

Probably not the shooting itself, though he was actually in Dallas on 11/22/63 (at a Pepsico board meeting) but when you consider Nixon knew Jack Ruby almost as long as he knew Prescott Bush, that's just too much to overlook or dismiss as "coincidence".

[Obamanaut]

10. He probably also believed the war in Viet Nam was winnable. That

didn't turn out all to well.

Truman sent the first advisors, then Eisenhower, then Kennedy.

[ceile]

11. Gee. Surprise, surprise.

What rational human being didn't think it was a conspiracy? Rhetorical question. LBJ was no idiot.

[Mimosa]

14. Answers are in Family of Secrets by Russ Baker

I finally got most of the answers when I read http://www.amazon.com/Family-Secrets-Dynasty-Powerful-Influence/dp/1596915579>Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America

By Russ Baker.

It is a fact based well-researched history, not a 'conspiracy book.' Some of the best info on the assassination I discovered on DU threads, btw.

[goclark]

15. LBJ seems to be holding up pretty good in that photo~

Huum ~ nothing there liets move along.

[troubledamerican]

19. LBJ's Mistress: Lyndon was involved

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=3120010&mesg_id=3122587

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

17. Of course. He did it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmkmKrbMgvI

[Bonobo]

18. This will go to the dungeon because it is a wacky, crazy, loony CONSPIRACY!!!!

Right everyone?

[omega minimo]

21. So he's weeping and pretending not to know what happened?

[anonymous171]

23. The whole "LBJ did it" theory never made much sense anyways.

Seemed more like sour grapes on the part of Kennedy cultists than anything else.

[Bolo Boffin]

24. Yep. LBJ believed that if he really dug into it, he would discover that Castro had pulled it off.

And that's why he didn't really dig into it -- because if he had 100% proof that Castro had done it, then something would have to be done, and the result would have probably been war between the Soviets and the U.S.

Check out "Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11" by Kathyrn Olmstead. It's an excellent overview of CT's in American politics.

ETA: The conspiracy theorists that have done America the most harm are the ones that sat in the Oval Office. Olmstead shows this rather clearly.