JFK Assassination Discussion & Debate => JFK Assassination Discussion & Debate => Topic started by: Benjamin Cole on August 18, 2026, 03:38:36 PM
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JFK's legacy has been hijacked by many, so it is good to remember President Kennedy in his own words, and writing.
In this letter to South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem, written late December 1961, Kennedy pledges US support for South Vietnam and notes the "deliberate savagery of the communist programs of assassination, kidnapping and wanton violence."
JFK added that "the campaign of force and terror now being waged against your people and your Government is supported and directed from outside by the authorities at Hanoi."
JFK ardently opposed communism and terror in 1961, and would until his death.
Had JFK survived, he would have not changed in these regards.
The letter:
Dear Mr. President,
“I have received your recent letter in which you described so cogently the dangerous conditions caused by North Vietnam’s effort to take over your country. The situation in your embattled country is well known to me and to the American people. We have been deeply disturbed by the assault on your country. Our indignation has mounted as the deliberate savagery of the communist programs of assassination, kidnapping and wanton violence became clear.
Your letter underlines what our own information has convincingly shown – that the campaign of force and terror now being waged against your people and your Government is supported and directed from outside by the authorities at Hanoi. They have thus violated the provisions of the Geneva Accords designed to ensure peace in Vietnam and to which they bound themselves in 1954.
At that time, the United States, although not a party to the Accords, declared that it “would view any renewal of the aggression in violation of the Agreements with grave concern and as seriously threatening international peace and security”. We continue to maintain that view.
In accordance with that declaration, and in response to your request, we are prepared to help the Republic of Vietnam to protect its people and to preserve its independence. We shall promptly increase our assistance to your defense effort as well as help relieve the destruction of the floods which you describe. I have already given the orders to get these programs underway.
The United States, like the Republic of Vietnam, remains devoted to the cause of peace and our primary purpose is to help your people maintain their independence. If the Communist authorities in North Vietnam will stop their campaign to destroy the Republic of Vietnam, the measures we are taking to assist your defense efforts will no longer be necessary. We shall seek to persuade the Communists to give up their attempts to force and subversion. In any case, we are confident that the Vietnamese people will preserve their independence and gain the peace and prosperity for which they have sought so hard and so long.”
Signed,
John F. Kennedy
December 14th 1961
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Anyone wanting to read up on the assassination would be wise to read at least one objective book on JFK's presidency and not this nonsensical conspiracist history that portrays JFK as someone who didn't believe in the Cold War/containment policies. He was an anti-communist not an anti- anti-communist. The Douglas portrayal of JFK, which I think is the dominant view of him among the conspiracy Left, is a fantasy, make believe, an imaginary Kennedy.
The idea that he was just going to walk away from South Vietnam, abandon it, that he was going normalize relations with Castro (the Kennedys wanted him dead, period), that he didn't believe that the Soviets and Chinese and others were an existential threat to the West is just hooey. He believed in containment and that the West was threatened by the East.
Here's JFK in the speech he was to make in Dallas before Oswald shot him:
"About 70 percent of our military assistance goes to nine key countries located on or near the borders of the Communist bloc – nine countries confronted directly or indirectly with the threat of Communist aggression – Viet-Nam, Free China, Korea, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Greece, Turkey, and Iran. No one of these countries possesses on its own the resources to maintain the forces which our own Chiefs of Staff think needed in the common interest. Reducing our efforts to train, equip, and assist their armies can only encourage Communist penetration and require in time the increased overseas deployment of American combat forces."
That's not just political boilerplate, something to dismiss; it's someone who believes in containment not someone who wants to abandon it. There's lot more from where that came from.
Here's a good book on his presidency:
(https://isbncoverdb.com/images/book-cover-president-kennedy.webp)
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Progressive revisionists want to think of JFK as one of them from the same mold as his youngest brother Teddy, but the reality is that JFK was much more conservative for most of his political life. He was the most conservative of all the Democrats who made a bid for the Democrat nomination for President in 1960, staunchly opposed by Harry Truman and Eleanor Roosevelt. In his early days in Congress, he was a friend and ally of Richard Nixon and even donated $1000 to Nixon's campaign for the Senate in 1950. The Kennedys alliance with Senator Joe McCarthy is well documented.
JFK moderated some of his views prior to seeking the Democrat nomination in 1960 but he remained a staunch anti-Communist until his dying day.
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No one disputes that JFK tried to have Castro assassinated.
That is a pretty strong indication of JFK's views on communist oppression.
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No one disputes that JFK tried to have Castro assassinated.
That is a pretty strong indication of JFK's views on communist oppression.
It seems to me there are a number of historians and researchers, and not just Kennedy partisans like Schlesinger, who insist even today that he didn't order the attempts. Or that at the very least the evidence is inconclusive about what he wanted to happen to Castro. It was perhaps a sort of "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" of thing about Castro where JFK said he wanted something done but didn't directly order it. The "plausible deniability" idea.
According to the CIA inspector report on the plots and the Church Committee investigation, there were plots in 1964 and another in 1965 and I believe '66. Yes, most took place during JFK's presidency but several came after he was assassinated. I don't think there's evidence that LBJ ordered those. That indicates by itself that elements in the CIA acted without presidential approval. Richard Helms testified that he knew of the plots but that JFK never directly ordered them. That supports a " the evidence is inconclusive" defense.
From the Church hearings (and yes, Helms could have been protecting the President here):
(https://www.drivehq.com/file/DFPublishFile.aspx/FileID13726283195/Key3xvfvye3actt/helms.jpg)
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JFK issued the order for Operation Mongoose on 11/30/1961. If he didn't explicitly order the attempts to assassinate Castro, he turned a blind eye to them and in so doing, gave tacit approval. Perhaps it was along the lines of telling his national security advisers or maybe RFK that he couldn't issue such an order (wink, wink). I can't believe JFK was unaware of what Operation Mongoose was doing to get rid of Castro.
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https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/a-kennedy-plot-to-kill-castro (https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/a-kennedy-plot-to-kill-castro)
This might be the proof that Kennedy did order the hit on castro.
fred
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Reading between the lines, it seems to me JFK was concerned the operation might turn into another Bay of Pigs fiasco.
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https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/a-kennedy-plot-to-kill-castro (https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/a-kennedy-plot-to-kill-castro)
This might be the proof that Kennedy did order the hit on castro.
fred
It appears that nothing came of it, it wasn't followed up on. There's no reference in the CIA Inspector Report about it and I would think an attack at the Hemingway house would have been publicized by Castro and Escalante.
The fact that they even discussed the topic (and interestingly it was raised by RFK not Lansdale) is revealing. Particularly during a discussion of the attacks on Cuba. Why are they discussing Castro going to the Hemingway house? With little security with him? All of this for what purpose? Just small talk? I don't think this is evidence of an attempt but it's evidence that they were discussing it.
For what it's worth, Escalante claimed there were more than 600 attempts against Castro. In his book, "634 Ways to Kill Fidel" there is no mention of a Hemingway farm/house attempt.
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Verily, CIA Director John McCone's standing orders were that the topic of assassinations should never be addressed in formal meetings, and no records kept.
Bill Harvey, a less reliable source, said that false and misleading documents were actually created to help cover offshore assassinations.
In September of 1963 Castro was certainly under the impression the Kennedy Administration was trying to have him waxed, and publicly said so, and said assassination attempts could go both ways.
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In September of 1963 Castro was certainly under the impression the Kennedy Administration was trying to have him waxed, and publicly said so, and said assassination attempts could go both ways.
Do you think LHO was one of his gunsels?
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TG-
Maybe
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Verily, CIA Director John McCone's standing orders were that the topic of assassinations should never be addressed in formal meetings, and no records kept.
Bill Harvey, a less reliable source, said that false and misleading documents were actually created to help cover offshore assassinations.
In September of 1963 Castro was certainly under the impression the Kennedy Administration was trying to have him waxed, and publicly said so, and said assassination attempts could go both ways.
Were any CIAers involved?
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No one disputes that JFK tried to have Castro assassinated.
Quite a few far-left JFKA researchers and JFK scholars still deny that JFK ordered Castro's assassination.
Anyway, your OP is great. It should be added that JFK's UN ambassador, none other than liberal icon and two-time Democratic Party presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson, pulled no punches when describing the savagery and brutality of the Viet Cong:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QPZbM41jlmJIW5zW2OulUEnPiOGPmjB4/view?usp=sharing
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No one disputes that JFK tried to have Castro assassinated.
Quite a few far-left JFKA researchers and JFK scholars still deny that JFK ordered Castro's assassination.
Anyway, your OP is great. It should be added that JFK's UN ambassador, none other than liberal icon and two-time Democratic Party presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson, pulled no punches when describing the savagery and brutality of the Viet Cong:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QPZbM41jlmJIW5zW2OulUEnPiOGPmjB4/view?usp=sharing
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Here's the historian Robert Dallek on the plots and how much JFK knew about them. Dallek is a mainstream liberal historian and his book on JFK is, let's say, not exactly hard hitting.
From "An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963":
"No secrets on foreign policy existed between them [RFK and JFK]. Assassination was undoubtedly a topic of discussion and something the emotional, messianic Bobby may have seen as a necessary evil. But his more dispassionate brother seems to have resisted the suggestion, not necessarily as immoral, but as impractical and counterproductive. Kennedy realized that Castro’s death seemed likely to strengthen rather than eliminate communist control in Cuba, where the leader’s brother Raul and Che Guevara could convert his death into an emotional plea vindicating his life and beliefs. Poor planning at the Bay of Pigs had ended in disaster. By contrast, careful, modulated responses to Khrushchev’s pressure over Germany and Berlin had produced at least a temporary stand-down. The two episodes had strengthened Kennedy’s instinctual caution about any response to international dangers that could lead to war. Although the CIA continued to see assassination as a possible response to pressure to remove Castro, there is no evidence that the White House, perhaps after briefly entertaining it, saw it as anything more than a bad idea."
I think that's deeply misleading - "perhaps briefly entertaining it" and "no evidence" for it? Perhaps? No evidence at all?
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TG
I dunno, but suspect not.
There were "CIA'ers" who were but assets, and there were thousands of them in the US in 1963, due to the Cuba situation. Could have one or two anti-Castro hotheads (and many were plenty angry) hooked up with LHO? Sure.
In addition, DGI and G-2'ers were in the LHO orbit.
Some, such as Rolando Cubela, were thought to be double agents.
You know the Bruce Solie story. If Solie had "handed off" LHO to DGI, and then LHO did the deed with some help, then does that become "CIA involvement" in the JFKA?