Chapter 17: June 1963 – December 1963
“[The President’s] emotional state is a matter of continual public commentary, as is the manner in which his personal and official families conduct themselves. The media bring across the President not as some neutral administrator or corporate executive to be assessed by his production, but as a special being with mysterious dimensions.”
– James David Barber, The Presidential Character, 1972 (OTL)
He came out of the fog with his coat flapping in the wind, like an overweight bat out of hell, an accurate description for a con artist in Bayonne, New Jersey.
“Welcome, inspectors,” the pudgy wholesaler and commodities trader in his late 40s said to the men whom had just outside.
The Amek representatives were given a tour of the facilities – a collection of massive warehouses in the most industrialized part of the city. With steam and summertime humidity swirling around the men traversed the interior to inspect the first of several hundred tanks, each one “filled to the brim with salad oil and soybean oil,” the man promised.
The lead inspector approached the first tank and peered in. “Yep, that’s salad oil. Okay, this tank checks out...”
The man’s deception was as simple as that.
Because of a rookie mistake, the inspectors left the warehouse facilities with a document of approval. They had failed miserably to notice that the oil in the tank only went an inch deep – all the liquid below that layer was saltwater hauled in from the Atlantic next door. The inspectors had also failed to even notice the interconnecting tubes to the back of each tank, allowing the man and his knowing and unknowing employees to transfer the oil-seawater mix from already-checked tanks to tanks yet to be checked.
When the inspection was over, Tino De Angelis returned to his office to continue the Scam of the Century.
– Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Norman C. Miller’s, “The Great Salad Oil Swindle,” Coward McCann Books, 1965 (Second Edition, 1979)
[pic:
imgur.com/ibgi0lh.png ]
– Tino De Angelis outside his warehouse complex, circa June 1963
LYNDON JOHNSON PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL RATING:
58% APPROVE
32% DISAPPROVE
10% UNCERTAIN
– Gallup poll, 6/29/1963
[pic:
imgur.com/xab8W5l.png ]
– Colonel Sanders cameos in “Fun in Acapulco,” an Elvis vehicle filmed in January and released on 6/30/1963 (originally scheduled for a November release but moved up after studio execs realized people were less willing to watch a “summer” film in the late fall); the Colonel agreed to the brief spot after learning that Elvis (who served in the US Army from 1958 to 1960) proudly supported the US military
“The President is increasing the number of troops set to be deployed to the Laos-Vietnam border by 500... The search for the late Secretary Litzenberg’s replacement is still underway, though there are several candidates under consideration...”
– White House Press Secretary George Reedy, press briefing, 7/1/1963
CHICKEN WAR ESCALATES
After a recent visit to the U.S., West Germany’s Minister Without Portfolio Heinrich Krone returned to Bonn with a telling assessment of official Washington’s mood. Said Krone: “Everyone is preoccupied with Cuba, Berlin, Laos-and chickens.” Konrad Adenauer confided not long ago that he and President Johnson
have had voluminous correspondence during the past two years, “and I guess about half of it has been about chickens.” Last week the cause of all this chicken talk – tariffs – took an unexpected turn. Into effect throughout the Common Market went a raised tariff on imports of U.S. chickens – just when the U.S. thought that [1] tensions were de-escalating around Europe’s farmers opposing U.S. chicken farmers lowering chicken prices across the continent during the past 15 years…
– Time Magazine, 7/2/1963
The National Restaurant Association voted in 1963 to hold its annual convention at its headquarters in the national’s capitol. The Colonel had been to Washington D.C. before, but only to sell his chicken (an endeavor that was not successful until 1953). Joining the Colonel at the “ritzy shin-dig” was Beverly Osborne, a man, only a few years younger than the Colonel,
[2] who in 1936 had (with his wife Rubye) founded “Chicken in the Rough,” the fried chicken chain that was KFC’s primary competition in earlier years, with the two franchises eclipsing in the late 1950s. In recent years, however, Chicken in the Rough sales were in a state of continuous decline. At the July 1963 NRA Convention, the Colonel learned that the Osbornes had decided to sell the company.
“But Bev,” the Colonel confronted Osborne, “if you pack up, I’ll miss competing with ya!”
Beverly replied, “I know when I’m beat, Colonel. I’m cutting my losses and retiring.”
The Colonel exclaimed, “Never retire! A man’ll rust out quicker than he’ll wear out!
[3] Besides, who’s going to fill your shoes? I can’t be the only chicken salesman in town – I can’t stand monopolies!”
“You’ll be fine, Colonel, there will be plenty of growing chicken franchises willing to take you on,” Osborne assured his friendly rival, “And besides, what about Kroc?”
“If Kroc tried to sell chicken, he’d fail worse than a heifer trying to fly! You’re not like that snake oil seller, you’re decent.”
“Well I’m not throwing in the towel entirely, Colonel. I’m still holding onto my pancake house in O.K. City and a few other assets.”
“Oh,” the Colonel calmed down a bit, “that’s good. Maybe you can expand that into a larger business!”
“Maybe,” Osborne answered unenthusiastically.
The exchange left the Colonel in a bitter mood for much of that evening, according to his wife Claudia. He was already frustrated with the rising tensions between American and European chicken farms that year inhibiting expansion into Western Germany despite his longtime pledge to purchase “local chickens for local outlets,” and the retirement of the Osbornes left him both crestfallen and furious. “He huffed that he would never, ever retire,” she later explained in a TNB Interview, “KFC was his ‘fourth child,’ you could say. Hearing that Beverly was just going to hand over his own child to the highest bidder was shocking to Harland. He told me, ‘Honey, if I get so old and loopy that I try something like that, please slap me upside the head with my own pressure fryer to set me straight.’”
Feeling guilty at “runnin’ Chicken-Rough to ruins,”[sic] the Colonel donated an undisclosed amount of money to the International Franchise Association
[4], an organization founded by Dunkin’ Donuts founder William Rosenberg to financially support upstart and growing franchise companies.
– Paul Ozersky’s Colonel Sanders and the American Dream, University of Texas Press, 2012
INTERVIEWER: Over the years you’ve done several collaborations with Frank Zappa. How did that start?
CHONG: Oh, I got to play with Frankie Z for the first time during this Fourth of July concert we both got booked for in 1963. We met backstage right after our parts and we hung out, you know? Smoked some African ganji, got with some groupies, broke into the local zoo, you know, regular stuff. Oh, man! I remember, those koalas were so lazy, we just sat there in the tree with one of them, and one of my bandmates was blowing smoke into its face and it still kept on snoring. I didn’t know koalas could snore but I swear this one was, at least…. Um… where was I? Oh yeah! Frankie was still solo at this point, but he had some really sick tunes. Very groovy. He was inspirational to me, man, and he really helped me hone in on my potential. I learned how to be more instinctive and spontaneous with my music, and it became more natural, more passionate, you know? There’s just something really beautiful about not needing anything. It’s simple when it’s just you and your instrument, the tool of your trade, and that’s all you need to learn who you are and when you discover that, man, you enjoy whatever comes your way. So right after that concert was when my band and I recorded “Please Pass Me By,” and that was our first real hit...
– usarightnow.co.usa/culture/interview, 2014
EXTRA! BOMB DISCOVERED AT KEY WEST INTERNATIONAL BAGGAGE TERMINAL LUGGAGE: Flights Quickly Cancelled, Delayed, Rerouted to Other Airports
– The Orlando Sentinel, 7/11/1963
SAM AND BUD WALTON, BROTHER BUSINESSMEN, DIE IN PLANE CRASH
Samuel Moore “Sam” Walton, 45, and his younger brother James Lawrence “Bud” Walton, 41, died in a plane accident on Thursday the 11th morning. Both men were businessmen and were licensed pilots whom would often use Sam’s personal small airplane to scout out potential store locations from above
[5], a friend of the family explained. According to witnesses on the ground and a statement from Key West International, both men were unaware of a passenger airliner, being rerouted from Key West impromptu, entering their airspace; Sam, the brother at the controls, successfully maneuvered their vessel out of the larger plane’s way, avoiding a mid-air collision, but was unable to stabilize the aircraft, resulting in the vessel plummeting to earth. Neither of the two occupants onboard survived the crash. An investigation is currently underway to determine the exact specifics of the crash.
Sam and Bud worked numerous odd jobs during the Great Depression. Sam served in the Army and Bud in the Navy during WWII. Both men owned and operated a small retail store in Rogers, Arkansas called Wal-Mart Discount City. It is currently unknown what will happen to the store.
Sam is survived by his wife Helen and their children Samuel, John, James, and Alice. Bud is survived by his wife Audrey and their daughters Ann and Nancy.
– The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, obituary article, 7/14/1963
As we looked out the windows of the plane, I felt trepidation despite Margaret’s ebullience. “Juan has done a phenomenal job so far in my opinion,” almost giggled in excitement. Dad was finally meeting the man with whom she’d been corresponding for months. I once joked that she saw him as a hot Latin Einstein; Maggie didn’t deny the sentiment. “He’s promoting labor rights and unions – within reason, of course – rights for women, for children, and for farmers and the homeless” thanks to a new constitution he promulgated in April.
“I’m sure I’ll like the fella – just as long as you’re sure he likes my chicken!” Dad half-seriously replied.
Even with the War still raging on in Cuba, the business world continued on, and Margaret was determined to bring Kentucky Fried Chicken to the Dominican Republic. “ ‘The establishment of corporate relations with the economic fixture of the Dominican Republic will help its good people move on past it dictatorship past,’ ” Dad read his speech aloud, “How’s that?” We voiced our approval as the plane finally landed.
We soon sat down to discuss the specifics of the deal with President Bosch and several business and economics advisors.
“The introduction of KFC to an area has always lead to local growth and development, as you can see on this chart,” I mentioned.
“I just hope I’m still in office at the start of the next fiscal year,” Bosch half-jokingly lamented, “I’ve only been in office for five months, and already they want me gone.”
Margaret explained to us that Bosch’s Presidency was already being threatened by upper-class landowners, industrialists, and the Church for being “too Communist,” as they claimed.
“Just because I care about the people who have less does not mean I am a communist,” Bosch spoke bluntly, “it means I am a humanitarian.”
Dad thought for a moment and they said, “Juan, let me give you some advice. Don’t let the military kick you around.”
Maggie interjected, “But Pops, he could face serious trouble from them.”
“Be a hand that feeds and doesn’t hit, and the dogs won’t bite,” Dad explained.
Bosch answered in Spanish, which Margaret later revealed meant “As you are a Colonel and so have military experience yourself, I will consider this feed-don’t-hit policy.”
Two weeks later, Bosch met with the US’s acting Secretary of Defense. According to his secretary, the first thing he asked was “Why does the US military never overthrow its government?” Bosch took whatever he learned from that meeting back to the Dominican Republic. “Clearing out corruption and political ties is necessary to have complacency,” he later wrote to my sister. Soon after, Bosch promoted Francisco Caamano to lead the military, and met with the leaders of the island nation’s Catholic Church to assure them that he was not a Communist. Of course, that wasn’t the end of things there, but I like to think that somehow, through just the introduction of Dad’s chicken to the island or maybe even more than just that, we helped smoothen that nation’s long transition from a dictatorship to a direct democracy.
– Mildred Sanders Ruggles’ My Father, The Colonel: A Life of Love, Politics, and KFC, StarGroup International, 2000
The increasingly noticeable atrocities of the Cuban War, and with them rise of the Shoutnik Movement, brought an end to the idealism of 1950s Cold War America. The picturesque innocence of the nuclear family was torn down, images of teens innocently hanging out at malt shops replaced by the images of young men dying in remote jungles merely 90 miles off of sunny Florida’s coast that might as well have been a world away like the jungles along the Laos-Vietnam border. Throughout the Cuban War, fear of Russian retaliation every time the US army advanced replacing one fear with another. Basically, the American people are scared – by 1963, they had worsened into being either numb to the fear or at each other’s throats over it, contributing to the social unrest. Paranoia stoked the fires of discontent and President Lyndon B. Johnson appeared too overwhelmed with the complexities of the office to respond.
– Josh Ozersky’s Colonel Sanders and the American Dream, University of Texas Press, 2012
THE END OF THE CHICKEN WAR
The chicken war – that silly but symbolic dispute between the U.S. and the Common Market – seemed to have
finally ended last week with each side holding a leg. After a dispute that, due to the distraction of Cuba’s issues,
dragged on for 13
months, a panel of neutral experts decided that the recent
tariff hike on chickens had cost the U.S. $26 million in exports. Though the estimate of losses was only about half as high as the U.S. had argued, both sides could claim victory – the Common Market because the loss figure was much nearer to its estimates, the U.S. because the ruling implied that the Market’s tariffs were discriminatory. [6] Despite that ruling, President Johnson has officially ordered a 25% tariff on potato starch, brandy, destrin, and light trucks
[7] from Europe. After months of international tensions over French and West German tariffs placed on US chicken imports to those nations, which were allegedly harming local chicken farmers, Johnson appears to be having the final say in the matter. The U.S. Secretary of Commerce explained that the President’s move is “meant to make up for profits lost during the ‘war,’” and that European trucks are part of the tariffs, instead of some other imports, in order to “give American domestic automakers an advantage over foreign competitors.” Additionally, he explained that with Johnson’s proclamation, executed via executive order, the U.S. had invoked its right under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), “whereby an offended nation may increase tariffs by an equal amount of losses from discriminating tariffs.”
– Time Magazine, 7/28/1963 [8]
Commerce Secretary: European Trucks Tariffs Will Promote Domestic Production And Purchases
– Engineering News-Record, 7/29/1963
I think these tariffs are going to hurt America’s car and chicken industries. The tax will cripple these industries by insulating them from any real competition. It’s a competitive market that promotes improving a product. Now I mean no disrespect to President Johnson, but what he’s done is dangerous, reckless, and irresponsible to our economy and to our God-given right to choose who we do business with!
– Colonel Sanders, multiple sources, 7/29/1963
NORTH 'NAME TROOPS ASSAULT U.S. EMBASSY IN SAIGON; 2 Officers Dead, 5 Wounded
…our correspondent in Saigon, tells us the attack is a possible form of retaliation against US activities along the North Vietnam-South Vietnam border with Laos
– The New York Times, 7/30/1963
…While Lyndon agreed that outright military intervention should be kept on the table “just in case,” Jack disagreed, arguing that it’d be irresponsible to agitate two spots on the map at once. My co-worker, Under Secretary of Defense George W. Ball, believed that “thousands, if not hundreds of thousands” of troops could end up KIA or MIA in Southeast Asia if the situation was severely mishandled. At the time, Jack truly believed that the situation never could rise to those sort of numbers,
[9] but he was still cautious of Johnson’s preference to more direct intervention nevertheless. Jack was not alone in mulling over and calling for moderation in the meddling macabre machinations of military maneuvers. Senator John Sherman Cooper of Kentucky suggested Johnson initiate peaceful negotiations with the Laos and North Vietnam governments to keep Communism from tearing apart the precipitous nation of Laos “like it has the island of Cuba.” Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, concurred to the notion of diplomacy over military intervention but disagreed on talks with the North Vietnamese…
– Robert F. Kennedy’s On the Precipice of Change, 1999
What puzzled authorities about the quality of Amex’s Field Warehousing operation was that since De Angelis was theoretically buying so much, they essentially authenticated the existence of much more salad oil than was actually accounted for in the entire U.S., according to an August reports from the Department of Agriculture.
[10] Amex, however, was lenient with De Angelis, as he was one of their biggest customers. With Amex’s seal of approval and
De Angelis’ talent for offering great deals attracted mainstream companies, such as Bunge Limited, Staley, and Procter and Gamble. The Bank of America also provided loans...
– Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Norman C. Miller’s, “The Great Salad Oil Swindle,” Coward McCann Books, 1965 (Second Edition, 1979)
CONGRESS PASSES TRADE EXPANSION ACT
– The Washington Post, 8/2/1963
CAM BOMB KILLS FIVE U.S. TROOPS, 21 OTHERS: Santa Cruz Del Sur, Cuba “Under Siege” By Resistant Communists!
– The Los Angeles Times, 8/3/1963
Mississippi State Democratic Party Gubernatorial Primary Election Results, 8/6/1963:
Lt. Gov. Paul B. Johnson Jr. – 173,873 (36.65%)
Former Gov. James P. Coleman – 163,577 (34.48%)
Charles L. Sullivan – 133,548 (28.15%)
Robert F. Mason – 3,416 (0.72%)
Total Votes Cast: 474,414
Turnout: 21.78% Total Population
– ourcampaigns.co.usa
DRAFT CARD BURNING: YOUTHFUL REBELLION OR OUTRIGHT TREASON?
Last month, a draft card burning ceremony in Springfield, Illinois, reached an attendance record of 250. That is the largest assembly for such an activity since the draft board founded in 1948. …This latest youth fad certainly has a more treasonous flavor to it... These youngsters are openly defying the government and inhibiting the government’s ability to raise an army when needed… While many claim the current situation in Cuba has devolved into “a quagmire worse than Korea” to quote the former US Congressman-turned-political lawyer George McGovern, in this author’s opinion, it is still far too early to throw in the towel. A majority of the island has been stabilized, and the Communist leader Camilo Cienfuegos remains at large, resorting to bombings and espionage out of desperation. What the draft card burners call “unofficial occupation” of Cuba is more akin to the US’s time spent in Japan after WWII: we are maintaining extensive security necessities for the betterment and safety of the Cuban people... The youth of today are impatient and they are ungrateful. They are too young to remember or even understand the sacrifices made for them during the Great Depression and the ration-book years of World War II …Fortunately, US Congressman L. Mendel Rivers has sponsored a bill that will impose strict penalties onto those whom betray their nation buy burning their draft cards.
– The National Review, conservative magazine, August issue
MEDICARE BILL ADVANCES FROM HOUSE TO SENATE
– The Washington Post, 8/8/1963
REAGAN JOINS A.M.A. IN SPREADING LIES ABOUT MEDICARE Bill.
Los Angeles, CA – Stretching his political muscles once more, actor and former Screen Actors Guild President Ronald Reagan appeared on TV on Saturday to deliver a ten minute speech criticizing the Medicare bill currently in congress. Medicare is a proposed health insurance program for Americans over the age of 65 that, if approved, of would be funded by a payroll tax, beneficiary premiums and surtaxes from beneficiaries and general US Treasury revenue. Reagan’s speech was funded by the A.M.A., or American Medical Association, and supported by several hospital and life insurance organizations. In the speech, Reagan claimed the bill will lead to socialism and dictatorship if passed: “already the federal government has invaded the precincts of private business. Now it wants to enforce upon the American people unwanted and unneeded socialized medicine – socialism disguised as medical care.” Reagan went on to claim that the bill will deprive freedom from doctors: “The bill will prohibit doctors from choosing their patients and their place of practice… nobody has the right to dictate the career path and workplace of someone else.” Reagan even criticized its name despite “Medicare” being coined under the Eisenhower administration in 1956. Advocating for private medical programs to be expanded instead, the actor closed with “Compulsory medical programs will be the first step to allowing government to determine what job your son will have.”
[11] What Reagan failed to mention was who the bill would help if passed – everyone over 65 regardless of color and creed. There are roughly 260,000 American doctors of medicine
[12], but 189 million Americans total, and roughly 17 million of those Americans are over the age of 65. …Reagan also exaggerated the affect the bill will have on physicians and hospitals… Our advice to Reagan: Take a math class and then go back to being in movies, Ronnie – politics isn’t for you.
– Hollywood Reporter, opinion article, 8/12/1963
Dad moved the family around from place to place, um, from the Fort Sill Army base in Lawton, Oklahoma where I was born in 1961, to Orange County, California in 1962, to NASA’s, uh, Lewis Research Center in Brook Park, Ohio in 1963. My Dad actually worked as a draftsman for NASA, designing shelves, storage compartments and the like, for the insides of the ships. He got hired for some Ohio-based promotion amidst a, um, a US Senate panel investigating a fire that had injured somebody in 1962, I believe, and uh, I remember him telling me that his job may not have been the most glamorous, but it was still important, and I remember that he was very proud of his job. He told he paid attention to the Senate hearings and everything back then because if NASA was blamed for the incident, it could lead to layoffs, which would mean we’d be moving again. Now I was only two at this point, but, uh, the fact remains that the places where I grew up were partially the result of the nation’s bigger problems and worries at the time, you know?
– Stephen Hillenburg, Tumbleweed Magazine interview, 2005
[pic:
imgur.com/F0EOZLF.png ]
– Colonel Sanders with his great-granddaughter, visiting the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, 8/18/1963
SENATE PASSES BILL TO STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SECURITY
Washington, D.C. – Just a day after the U.S. House approved of the legislation 310-to-114, the U.S. Senate voted 72-25 in approval of President Johnson’s latest Great Society legislation… the bill creates two new forms of federal health insurance that are additions to the 1935 Social Security Act signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt… U.S. Secretary of Housing, Education, and Welfare Gardner has noted that implementation of the new insurance will require “extensive data processing and…re-configuration of hospital policies” across the country, and advise anyone uncertain of how this will affect them to “ask their doctor”…
– The Washington Post, 8/24/1963
BLACK MAN’S BEATING SPARKS ANTI-COP PROTEST
Xenia, OH – A group of local African-Americans protesting outside of the Xenia Police Station are calling for an investigation into the assault of an African-American man, who was severely wounded at a traffic stop gone afoul. The man, admitted to the local hospital, claims he was pulled over without provocation and forced out of his car. When he turned around to get his walker, he was clubbed by the officers, and continued to be beaten after falling to the ground. At least 300 people are gathered around, holding quickly made signs and shouting “Justice For All, Not Just For Whites”…
– The Columbus Dispatch, 8/26/1963
The riots were started by the police. LBJ tried to disperse us with National Guardsmen, and they started hittin’ us and beatin’ us so we fought back with our signs and whatever we could. Bedlam and panic set in, and a lot of us got our skulls busted before they went and arrested us for demanding fair treatment. It looked bad for him, is guess, but it looked good for the racists, who kept pointing to it and saying that the Civil Rights Act had changed nothing, that we were still “not ready to join white society” and bulls#!t like that. It was sort of a watershed moment, though, as it caused black people across the country to protest our mistreatment and demand to actually see some justice for a change.
– Anecdote from John R., then-resident in Xenia, NBC Special commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Xenia Riots, 2013
[pic:
imgur.com/kok7Ffc.png ]
– Protestors confronted by police in Oakland, California, 8/27/1963
“Folks, it’s high time that some real justice reform happened, and if President Johnson is going to turn a blind eye to it, than the governors and the mayors and even the average Joes are going to have to get up and make sure that peace and safety return to our communities. That police officers remain friends to our communities. And that justice is distributed fairly and equally in this here nation of ours. It’s high time that we live up to the ideals set forth in our Constitution and become the type of nation we’ve always said to be – a fair and equal nation, with liberty and justice for all!”
– Colonel Sanders in Xenia, OH, offering his support for their cause, 8/30/1963
YOUNG NOT KEEPING CALM OVER OVERSEAS TROOP DEPLOYMENTS
London, UK – …the rise in demonstrations in the capitol against the government’s continued support of what the youth groups are calling the American “occupation” of Cuba continues on despite the U.S.’s Acting Defense Secretary describing the conflict as “practically” resolved at a press briefing last Monday...
– The Daily Sketch, 9/1/1963
...but it was actually the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Marvel Comic “the Mutants” that popularized the term “mutant” after its first issue hit the shelves in September 1963…
[13]
– James Rolfe, technet video on “mutants” in popular culture, yourvids.co.usa, 9/1/2012
On 3 September 1963, Greece’s legislation elections were held. Support for Karamanlis had dwindled sharply in the face of public disapproval of America’s “warmongering” in Cuba, especially among formerly pro-KKE voters in northern Greece. This development swelled support for the liberal Georgios Papandreou, whose party won 155 seats to Karamanlis’ 114 and the EDA’s 27, securing victory for Papandreou. Karamanlis, whom has actually been out of office since a feud with the King lead to his resignation in June, failed to regain support among the Greek voters to return to office. However, with Papandreou’s liberalism came massive protests from right-wing voters, claiming that the election results a “sham.” As the UK’s Daily Mirror observed, “Clearly, Greece’s political problems are yet to be resolved.”
– Richard Clogg’s Parties and Elections in Greece: The Search for Legitimacy, Duke University Press, 1987
“To the loyal citizens of Mississippi… In light of a recent cam bomb discovered and disabled in the state capital yesterday, and the possible threat of further cam bombs being used to destabilize society, I am declaring statewide emergency in place, effectively immediately and to remain in effect until the tenth of November. Curfew will be immediately implemented… To best maintain security, I have called out state guard to monitor all polling stations in the state during the upcoming governor election... Citizens, answer the call to defend your freedom by reporting any suspicious or possibly unpatriotic behavior, so we can stop the Cuban Communist plans for destruction before they can be executed. Thank you and good night.”
– Governor Ross Barnett (D-MS), official announcement on WJDX radio, state radio announcement, 9/3/1963
VOTER SUPPRESSION FEARS OVERWHELM MISSISSIPPI
…a Majority of Blacks in the state remain unregistered... While Washington, D.C has made steps to open up the democratic process to all Americans, most notably with recent federal Voting Rights legislation, these steps are not enough to enable Blacks to register to vote without intimidation and threats. Politicians across the country, including President Johnson, are condemning Governor Barnett’s recent actions as “an exaggeration of societal safety concern,” and “a desperate attempt to maintain the state’s oppressive status quo,” according to Vice-President Humphrey in a speech yesterday evening...
– The Washington Post, 9/8/1963
AS PROTESTS OVER BARNETT VOTER SUPPRESSION CONTINUE, FEDERAL COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE
…The US Commission on Civil Rights, a bipartisan federal commission created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for investigating civil rights concerns, such as literacy tests, poll taxes, and other practices which became unlawful in 1962, are investigating Governor Barnett’s “statewide emergency” measures… Governor Barnett has impounded state voting records and has threatened to arrest any C.R.C. agents whom attempt to access the records
[14].
…Activists have been threatened and arrested during attempts to get Blacks registered to vote, with state police claiming they were in violation of the “statewide emergency” in many of the case… Nevertheless, thousands are taking to the streets in efforts to exercise their right to register to vote...
– The Plain Dealer, Ohio newspaper, 9/11/1963
[pic:
imgur.com/x1iVLip.png ]
– Colonel Sanders confronts state police officers who, under Governor Barnett's orders, are preventing Blacks from “breaking curfew” and registering to vote, 9/12/1963
FORMER GOVERNOR PATTERSON BLAMES JOHNSON FOR XENIA RIOTS
…John Patterson, whom served as Governor of Alabama from 1959 to 1963, accused the President of having “lost touch with the needs of real Americans.” This sounds like the talk of a man testing the waters of a primary challenge... Patterson should look at his own record and history of human decency as well his leadership history before complaining about those of others. …While a supporter of him in the past, Patterson has in recent weeks remained silent in regards to Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett’s ridiculously desperate - and, possibly, federally illegal - actions in his state...
– Journalist Drew Pearson’s critical syndicated newspaper column “Washington Merry-Go-Round,” 9/24/1963
At this time last year we had just occupied the town of Calixto Garcia, and just over three-quarters of the island was ours. But now we have been pushed all the way back to the city of Camaguey. In our arrogance we sought to discourage the encroaching Communist swine by setting fire to the fields they sought to reconquer. From this church tower I can still see the smoke billowing from the fields far off in the distance. The damned stubbornness of the Communists is killing this island. There is the smell of death in the air; it is at times fowl and overbearing. There are so many wounded. Moaning in agony, they spill out of the hospital onto the streets. Smashed clay pots; blood-stained window drapes; blown-away walls; women and children with empty eyes of despair, or scowls of bitterness and hatred. Destruction is everywhere. And yet those damn Communists still will not surrender!
– 9/25/1963 Journal Entry of Mario Zuniga, DRF soldier (translated)
POLL: LBJ POPULARITY WANING
…those polled deemed the situation at home and overseas to be “falling apart” in light of recent events. …70% approve of US presence in Vietnam, but only 44% in Cuba, down from last month...
– In a newspaper article by George Gallup, Director of the American Institute of Public Opinion, 9/27/1963
Mom and Pop were ecstatic when the report came in that after 17 months, their son had come back to them. I was looking at the latest letters they’d sent me and the accompanying pictures of them when my CO walked in with the news.
“McCain!”
“Sir yes sir!” I bellowed as he entered the hospital tent. As he stiffly traversed to my bed, I tried to stand up to salute him but failed. It was still difficult for me to sit myself up in bed with parts of me still tightly bandaged. “Sorry, sir. The Commies did a real number on my back. I’ll recover though.”
“At ease, soldier,” he ordered.
I laid back down in relief.
“McCain, you’re being transferred.”
“What? To where? …The L-V B?” Shorthand for the Laos-Vietnam border.
“Nope. Pearl Harbor.”
“…Hawaii? But why?”
He looked me over. I was wearing a back brace and my arms were still wrapped in gauze. “Do I really have to say it, McCain?”
“Well you are my commanding officer, so, to be frank, sir, yes, sir.”
“Alright, fine!” he sighed and sat down in the chair beside me, “McCain, the official ruling is that for the time being you are… not yet able to serve again, uh, due to your current, um, position. You can’t fly a plane for at least another three months or so. You still have to heal and recuperate from all you’ve been through and that includes physical therapy that we can’t afford here. …But we can afford it at the hospital on base in Hawaii. It’s just been built, state-of-the-art, much better than here.”
“I’ll get better, sir. I always do.”
“Of course you will, McCain.”
“You’ll see sir,” I spoke confidently, “I may be going to Hawaii, but I’ll be back in no time, flying with the rest of the men up there, doing Uncle Sam proud.”
“You’ve already done your part, McCain,” he said, “And I hear that tomorrow General Palmer’s going to give you another medal for liberating that POW camp.”
“‘Co-liberating,’ Sir. But sir, a patriot’s duty is never fulfilled. In times of war he must fight to protect his country and in times of peace he must always be prepared to defend his country. This is no ‘part’ to be filled sir; a patriot gives his all. And I’m still here, and I can still give. So as soon as I can, I will resume my duty.”
He grinned, “Then I hope for the best for you, McCain,” and stood up. “Now I’ll get a nurse to help you pack your things. You’re being shipped out at the end of tomorrow.”
We saluted each other – well, I saluted him as best as I could – and he left the tent.
Dammit, I thought. Sure, it was Hawaii, a land of beaches, beer and babes. But my place was in active duty serving my country. I didn’t want to spend however long I had to spend there being a burden to doctors and therapists. I was seriously not looking forward to it.
But as it turned out, going to Hawaii was the greatest thing to happen to me.
– From Admiral John McCain’s Boldly Into Hell: A Firsthand Account of America’s Wars in the 1960s and 1970s, Random House, 1987
NAACP EXEC PRAISES COLONEL SANDERS
Florence, KY – Roy Wilkins, the Executive Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, met with Col. Harland Sanders, the former governor and wealthy businessman whose face adorns the iconic “K.F.C. bucket” logo, at his company’s headquarters for an hour-long meeting. After which Mr. Wilkins held a press conference to praise the Colonel’s work and “personal role” in advancing the Civil Rights movement. He pointed to Col. Sanders’s pro-civil rights rhetoric and actions, the businessman’s endorsements and financial backing of pro-Civil Rights productions and laws, and his active role in making it easier for colored people to achieve work in the business communities above and beyond custodial and entry-level cooking staff. A report found that, as of December 1962, an above-average number of African-Americans are employed throughout Kentucky Fried Chicken, and over 30% of the company’s employees are women, no doubt a statistic influenced by the Colonel’s daughters playing major roles in the company’s expansion and development.
Mr. Wilkins is an active leader in the Colored community, and a man who champions for social change coming about by means of the legislative system. Such a stance may then raise the question why it Wilkins has been giving so much praise to Col. Sanders and not President Johnson. This is because while the President has made many valiant moves to assure civil rights, most notably the Civil Rights Act passed last year, Johnson is not been nearly as passionate and vocal as the Colonel over the social suppression of the Black man in America.
For example, when the white men started a riot over the peaceful protesting outside Xenia Police Station in Ohio, it was the Colonel whom visited to lend his support. Reverend King, a friend of the Colonel, joined him in calling for peace and justice to prevail, and both visited the wounded victims of the white man’s violence at the local hospitals soon after. And what did President Johnson do? According to the Washington Post, he was busy having lunch with Prime Minister Diefenbaker of Canada.
– The Pittsburgh Courier, an African-American newspaper, 10/2/1963
A COLONEL COMES HOME: Harland Sanders Stumps For Nunn, Other State Republican Candidates
Paducah, KY – As it was at this time last year, the Colonel is resuming the role of politics barker, albeit this time it is for the Republican nominee for Governor of Kentucky, Louie B. Nunn. Sanders’ son, Harland David “Harley” Sanders Jr, reported his father preferred travelling and meeting real people to staying in stuffy board rooms. “Every four years, he gets to go down the old roads he remembers as gets to see how they’ve changed.” The Colonel seems to be blanketing the state for Louie Nunn. “Businessmen have to stick together,” the Colonel remarked yesterday at a rally in town. …Fiscal policy is the dominant issue in the race, with both the Colonel and Nunn criticizing Governor Combs raising state taxes in 1961 to pay for further state services…
– The Paducah Sun, Kentucky newspaper, 10/3/1963
He [John Y. Brown] left such an impression on the Colonel that Sanders
agreed that Brown would take over the franchising of a barbecue chain the Colonel was planning to establish. Brown acquired financial backing from Jack Massey, a millionaire businessman in Nashville, and set about opening his first store and studying the barbecue business [15]. By October, Brown began to believe that barbeque only had regional appeal and it was better to focus on the chicken (which he often called “the moneymaker”), a belief that Harley and I scoffed at. Brown what completely missing the entire reason why K.F.C. had grown to become a multinational enterprise – because something from Kentucky was seen as exotic in places far away from the commonwealth. So Harley told Brown to think outside the box and travel around to find a community with a palate that would welcome barbeque… I saw Brown as an impatient man too willing to give up on the assignment, but despite this the Colonel still saw potential in him for whatever reason. Maybe Brown reminded the Colonel of a younger version of himself, or maybe he saw the admittedly difficult assignment as a test of his abilities…
– Dave Thomas’ Under the Colonel’s Wing, Mosaic Publishing, 1982
IOC Session No. 61
Date: October 18, 1963
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
[16]
Subject 1 of 2: bidding for hosting the 10/12-27/1968 (or XIX) Summer Olympics
Results:
Mexico City, Mexico – 31 (Round 1)
Lyon, France – 14 (Round 1)
Detroit, USA – 11 (Round 1)
Buenos Aires, Argentina – 2 (Round 1)
Result: Mexico won on the first round
Subject 2 of 2: bidding for hosting 2/6-18/1968 (or X) Winter Olympics [17]
Results:
Grenoble, France – 15 (Round 1) – 18 (Round 2) – 27 (Round 3)
Calgary, Canada – 12 (Round 1) – 19 (Round 2) – 24 (Round 3)
Lahti, Finland – 11 (Round 1) – 14 (Round 2)
Sapporo, Japan – 6 (Round 1)
Oslo, Norway – 4 (Round 1)
Lake Placid – 3 (Round 1)
– http://www.aldaver.co.usa/votes.html
REPORTER 1: …We take you live to the scene now.
REPORTER 2: …the crowd behind me are supporters of the Wall Street Three – shoutniks Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger and Abbot Hoffman – members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a pro-voting rights and anti-war organization, whom the HUAAC have subpoenaed to testify at another one of their hearings. Their testimony concerns an incident in on August 4 of this year, when the three men led members of the organization to the gallery of the New York Stock Exchange to throw fistfuls of real and fake dollar bills onto the traders below. While the men were not arrested as they left the premises peacefully when asked by security, some are accusing them of inciting a riot and conspiracy to cause, quote “financial mayhem,” unquote. …Inside the hearing room, the HUAAC are reiterating their stance of denouncing the shoutniks and their activities as being un-American and possibly unlawful…
– CBS Morning News (founded 1963), 10/21/1963 report
“Well, sir, I think that burning your draft card is downright treasonous. Why if I was their age I’d gladly take their place on the battlefield and fight for my country. I also don’t approve of their more bothersome crowds – the ones that are unruly and disruptive and smell very funny. But to be fair to them, like my youngest daughter and even some of my granddaughters want me to be, I’m being thinkin’ a lot about what they’re doin’ and I think that if you disagree with your country’s actions, you have every right to make your concerns known, but still think there are more sensible ways to go about it. Burning your draft card and shoutin’ isn’t gonna win over other folks my age. And some of it is just too messy – not at all as organized as the Civil Rights movement, that’s for sure. And also, the actions of the shoutniks are detrimental to the war effort because they inhibit and downplay the valiant and brave hard work of our soldiers. And I don’t think that’s right.”
– Excerpt from Colonel Sanders’s guest spot on Meet the Press, 10/21/1963
FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT STRIKES DOWN BARNETT’S MEASURES AS “A USURPATION OF STATES’ RIGHTS,” DEMANDS REGISTRATION OFFICES RE-OPEN
– The Mercury News, California newspaper, 10/28/1963
CAM BOMB KILLS 3 AT D.R.F. HQ IN HAVANA: No Passersby Injured As Bomb Topples Building’s 2nd Floor
– The Richmond Times-Dispatch, 11/2/1963
EXTRA! L.B.J. SHOT BY GUNMAN DURING N.Y.C. VISIT!!!
– The New York Times, 11/4/1963
…To recap, President Johnson was wounded during an attempt on his life in New York City earlier today, when the President was exiting a hotel shortly after attending a meeting with Senator Jacob Javits and the city’s Mayor Wagner… The President has been taken to the close-by Metropolitan Hospital, along with Secret Serviceman Abraham Bolden, whom may have also been injured during the attack… …we’ve just received another bulletin…the man accused of shooting the President has been identified as a one Thomas Arthur Vallee. Vallee was shot and killed by Secret Service agents as he attempted to flee the scene of the incident… This is the second known attempt on the President’s life since the De La Beckwith Plot was uncovered last year...
– Walter Cronkite, CBS Evening News, 11/4/1963
[ pic:
imgur.com/NeYxauh.png ]
– Thomas Arthur Valle (11/15/1933-11/4/1963)
The doctors say the first bullet missed his vital organs… Johnson has decided to give a special award to Serviceman Bolden for taking that second bullet for him… Billy Graham [now a frequent White house guest] visited the President at the hospital again. The two men prayed together in silence for several minutes. Johnson believes the prayer his helping him with the recovery…
– Excerpt from the Diary of Mildred Stegall, personal secretary to Lyndon Johnson, 11/5/1963 entry
PAUL JOHNSON ELECTED GOVERNOR BY CLOSER-THAN-EXPECTED MARGIN
Jackson, MS – Lieutenant Governor Paul B. Johnson Jr. was elected Governor over Republican challenger Rubel Phillips in yesterday’s election, the outcome being officially announced earlier today at 2:05 AM. While Johnson was initially predicted to win in a landslide, Phillips slowly gathered momentum to reach a high mark of 45% approval in polls on October 30, but the Johnson campaign was dismissive of his chances. Between then and election night, Phillip’s numbers dropped down to 35% approval. On election night, though, Johnson received 58.7% of the vote (roughly 213,651 votes) while Phillips received 41.3% of the vote (roughly 150,320). Johnson arguably won thanks to backlash to the Civil Rights Act despite Phillips running a strongly anti-Lyndon B. Johnson campaign that in retrospective was possibly too single-issue to be effective at the statewide level. Phillip’s campaign also suffered a serious blow the day before the election when President Johnson was shot and injured in an attempt on his life, making his rhetoric seem too “incendiary,” according to one poll official in New Orleans...
– The Daily Mississippian, 11/6/1963
COMBS RE-ELECTED BY 0.5% MARGIN
Frankfort, KY – Governor Combs has proven himself popular enough to become the first Governor of Kentucky to win a second full consecutive term since James Garrard was re-elected in 1800, 163 years ago. Combs defeated Republican challenger Louie B. Nunn in last night’s gubernatorial election by a 0.5% margin. Combs popularity numbers were likely helped by the passage of the April 1963 state Civil Rights Act, which met approval among minorities and union workers. Nunn, whom remained silent on his own opinions regarding civil rights, won over upper-class and white-collar voters, plus many conservatives. Appearances by former Governor Colonel Sanders also helped drum up support for Nunn in the last few weeks, leading to such a narrow margin. Still, the candidate himself and his generic and rather theme-less campaign “are more to blame for the G.O.P. loss than the Colonel” says state representative J. B. Breckinridge. Evidence for this being the case is found in the very close race for Lieutenant Governor, in which Bernie Lawrence (R) seems to have edged out Harry Lee Waterfield (D)...
– The Kentucky Gazette, 11/6/1963
Kentucky General Election Results, 11/6/1963:
For Governor:
Bert T. Combs (Democratic) – 458,175 (51.71%)
Louie B. Nunn (Republican) – 427,872 (48.29%)
Total votes cast: 886,047
Turnout: 29.16% Total Population
For Lieutenant Governor:
H. Bernie Lawrence (Republican) – 429,560 (50.82%)
Harry Lee Waterfield (Democratic) – 415,697 (49.18%)
Total votes cast: 845,257
Turnout: 27.82% Total Population
– ourcampaigns.co.usa
Nunn lost in an upset due to additional support for Combs rising in the final weeks in connection to the sympathy vote for LBJ surviving another assassination attempt. As Nunn was an open critic of Johnson, this and his lack of a response after the shooting, were quite possibly seen by some voters as being insensitive and callous. Sanders was not blamed for the loss. In fact, his presence was credited in winning the G.O.P. the lieutenant governor’s seat, and in how and why it was such a close race to begin with. GOP leaders were impressed that the Colonel could stir such support. Support from the Colonel seemed to have had a similar effect in Mississippi as well. There, Ruben Phillips was almost elected, and would have made him the first Republican Governor of the state since 1876.
– Lowell Harrison and James Klotter’s A History of Kentucky, University Press of Kentucky, 1997
I lost because I was out n*%%ered by Combs. I should have run a campaign like Byrant, but I was so sure the Colonel’s endorsement would win enough n*%%ers over. Well, now I know better than to rely on a chicken salesman for something like this – so help me, I’m never again gunna be outn#%%gered!
– Louie B. Nunn (according to a Marshall Frady biography from 1972), 11/7/1963 (note: Nunn and others would later deny that he ever said this, making its validity somewhat disputable)
[ Pic:
imgur.com/fGBR6Fq.png ]
– Colonel Sanders makes a surprise cameo as himself in “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World,” in which Spencer Tracey’s character impatiently asks him for directions only for the Colonel to take too long to give them; filming lasted from April 1962 to early 1963, while the film was released on 11/10/1963
Naturally, Johnson used the attempt on his life to his advantage, using it as validation of his legislative proposals, telling Senate leader Mansfield “Ignorant radicals turn to guns when they run out of words. Smart and level-headed people will just go and get more words!” Shortly after the assassination attempt, for example, Johnson met with Senator Harry Byrd. Byrd was opposing the President on a proposed School Voucher Reform Bill, I believe. Johnson argued to Byrd, and I quote, “the bullet did not do its job… but how do we know that the next crackpot won’t be so unlucky? I may not have that long to live! If I die in this office, do you really think Hubert won’t capitalize off the sympathy from it to get a much more powerful bill passed instead?” The tactic worked because it was a phone call from the hospital, and Senator Byrd was still one of the few Senators yet to personally drop in to check on Johnson, and so Byrd did not actually know how well the president really was. …Lyndon would publicly brush the incident off as not that big a deal. But the truth is, I’ll admit, Lyndon was truly horrified by what was now the second serious attempt on his life.
– Mildred Stegall, personal secretary to Lyndon Johnson, RNN Interview, 1979
The inspectors returned with police and without warning, Commodity Exchange Authority representatives in tow. De Angelis hurriedly descended the main staircase and for over 30 seconds tried in vain to keep the men at the door before the search warrants were brought out.
“Somebody tipped us off about you, Tino,” one of the cops allegedly explained, “Seems you got careless. Tried to bribe some men you didn’t know were the honest type. And you made a couple of delivery mistakes that suggested you keep two sets of books, too.”
[18]
The inspectors made their way in, now knowing to look closer at the tanks this time. One of the inspectors went for a dramatic action and spun the release valve on one of the smaller tanks, causing a flood of clear liquid to cover a part of the room. The man tested the liquid. “It’s almost entirely seawater!” The man exclaimed over the discovered proof of their suspicions. De Angelis claimed to have $150 million in salad oil; he only had $6 million.
On November 20, De Angelis was escorted into the back of a police car.
On November 21, De Angelis’s company filed for bankruptcy, at which point investors discovered that hundreds of millions of dollars were unaccounted for.
On November 22, 1963, my report was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal hit the press.
– Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Norman C. Miller’s, “The Great Salad Oil Swindle,” Coward McCann Books, 1965 (Second Edition, 1979)
EXTRA! 90% OF SOYBEAN STOCK WORTHLESS: N.J. Trader Arrested For Falsifying Records After W.S.J. Exposé
– The New York Post, 11/22/1963
[pic:
imgur.com/m0yQ1Tw.png ]
– Dow Jones Industrial Average, early October to late November (note the November 3-5 dip following the second Lyndon Johnson assassination attempt)
On Saturday the 23,
the futures market crashed… The next day the NYSE, worried about potential U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission involvement, suspended two companies closer to De Angelis, “Williston and Beane” and “Ira Haupt & Co.” from trading. This only made things worse, as these two brokerages’ customers became desperate as
they didn’t know if they would get back the money in their accounts.
Word started spreading as traders investigated the suspension, and desperately tried to get their holdings out of those companies. While Williston and Beane were easily bailed out, things were more complicated for Ira Haupt & Co. The president of the New York Stock Exchange, G. Keith Funston, sought to avoid a massive crash caused by the 20,700 customers of Ira Haupt fearing their holdings were worthless now that the trading the brokerage firm did on De Angelis’s behalf meant that it owed various banks over $37,000,000 that it could not pay.
With stockholders in a panic, NYSE officials halted trading altogether.
The Stock Market remained closed amidst protests of people worried of their money, and did not reopen until Monday the 25th, at which point the market traded below expectations. The closure of the NYSE had not given temporary breathing room, and the scandal’s affects were still being felt. The collapse discouraged investment by small investors. On the 26th, the US Securities and Exchange Commission convened and decided to intervene, reducing the NYSE’s power. The NYSE attempted to solve the problem via imposing a $10 million assessment on exchange members and using that money to make Ira Haupt & Co.’s customers whole, only for the SEC to delay the plan’s implementation over distrust of the NYSE. Creditors, meanwhile, reeled as American Express and other lenders lost millions.
– John Kenneth Galbraith’s The Salad Oil Recession: The Causes and Effects of the Black Weekend of 1963, Excelsior Publishers, 1971 [19]
“Walter, chaos still reigns supreme here on Wall Street. The NYSE and banks across the country closing early has many spooked, as seen today when in just 45, the Dow dropped 50 points, about 10%, and 50 million shares were sold. I’m also being told that the exchange may close early today, but those stories are yet to be substantiated.”
– CBS reporter, early 11/25/1963 broadcast
“Who the hell is Tino De Angelis?!” the President bellowed.
“He’s a commodities trader,” Commerce Secretary Luther Hodges explained as numerous aides scurried in and out of the room with papers containing background information and statistics, wheeled in a second television set and plugged in several more telephones, all in an attempt to rectify, or at least minimize the economic debacle. “According to what this Norman Miller fella’s reporting, this Tino fella’s been buying and selling vegetable oil futures all over the world, and last started to corner the market for soybean oil. A majority of the world’s reserves were apparently transferred in and out of his New Jersey headquarters.”
“Soybean oil?”
“It’s used in salad dressing.”
“I know what it’s for, Luther! I just can’t believe this all went by undetected!”
“That’s what swindler, do, Lyndon,” noted Trade Representative Lovett.
Hodges continued, “Actually, Mr. President, it seems we’ve run into him before. The man’s company, Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Refining Corporation, took advantage of the National School Lunch Act and the Food for Peace program to overcharge the government $31,000 and deliver over 2 million pounds of uninspected meat to schools. He ended up bankrupt but soon bounced back with this endeavor, it seems.”
“And according to our records, he swindled my department out of over $1million in 1960 – that was under my predecessor, sir,” Agriculture Secretary Jim Folsom added. Folsom did not mention how in 1962 his department had predicted exports of the oil would reach record levels later that year, possibly contributing to De Angelis’ active efforts to corner that market.
Johnson, Lovett, Hodges, Folsom and Secretary of the Treasury and former Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization Henry H. Fowler continued to peruse whatever information could be found, though according to Fowler, most of what they “worked on” came from Norman Miller’s tell-all. They soon became aware of how De Angelis had obtained
massive loans from various Wall Street banks and companies, and used the cash to buy all of the futures on the oil. This way he would not only own a large quantity of soon-to-be expensive oil, but also cheap futures that would soon be worth a considerable value when the prices went up.
[20]
“Christ, this man singlehandedly gutted American Express,” uttered the President. American Express, or Amex in the stock world, was a respected name in traveler’s checks and credit cards in those days.
On the TV, a reporter claimed that the revelations has “crippled” N.Y. Stock Exchange. This was in response to the news that investors in 51 banks had been bamboozled out of a total of over $175 million (around $1.2 billion in 2000 dollars).
Hodges glanced over to the set, and then to the Commander-in-chief, standing but hunching, arms gripping the table as his eyes worriedly danced around over the papers. “Our response, Mr. President?” Hodges asked.
Johnson picked up head up and thought for a moment before stating “we’ll increase spending to promote confidence in the economy again, and you know that tax cut for the middle class we were planning to work on after re-election? We’re doing that now!”
Despite Johnson’s best (and in the case of his more Keynesian measures, worst) efforts, the U.S. energy markets would stay down, resulting in a new economic phenomenon that would be given the label “stagflation”…
– Robert Caro’s The Years of Lyndon: Book Four: The Power of the Presidency, A. A. Knopf Inc., 2018
STOCKS CONTINUE TO PLUMMET AS POPULACE RETAIN SKEPTICAL OF MARKET STRENGTH
– The Wall Street Journal, 11/29/1963
[pic:
imgur.com/CLyxqhN.png ]
– Sanders in a cross-promotion of KFC and the 51st Grey Cup, held on 11/30/1963
Seeing the “angry mobs” on TV, NYSE officials pointed all of the blame of De Angelis for the failure of the member firm. The stock market would hover at low levels for the rest of the year.
De Angelis
brought down a couple of commodities brokers foolish enough to let him trade on margin, made huge dents in a few banks foolish enough to lend him money, wrought havoc on both commodities exchanges and stock exchanges when his scheme finally unwound, and even knocked out about half of American Express’ market cap.
[21] He
took advantage of government subsidies and programs, provided uninspected goods, cheated on his contracts, falsified reports, covered losses, embezzled money, and so forth. At every step he was trying to beat the system, and as a result,
caused financial losses for thousands.
[22]
– John Kenneth Galbraith’s The Salad Oil Recession: The Causes and Effects of the Black Weekend of 1963, Excelsior Publishers, 1971
I remember reading in the newspapers how American Express’ stock immediately dropped 50% as the company lost over $50million from the scam. Many banks suddenly closed to avoid a rush, while others tried to downplay the news. Despite their efforts, by Monday the 25th, the 1963 recession had arrived. I remember the Colonel took rather well. His continued distrust of stock had actually helped save the company from really taking a hit from it, but he was still upset to see how the economic dip hit his customers. He felt better, though, knowing that Ray Kroc had to borrow even more money, and lay off many workers that would ultimately end up working for us, just to keep McDonald’s out of the red. Not exactly a silver lining, but, still.
– Pete Harman, 60 Minutes interview, early 1992
LONG, MCKEITHEN TO ADVANCE TO PRIMARY RUNOFF
Baton Rouge, LA – Last night’s Democratic primary for governor saw John J. McKeithen, Public Service Commissioner of the state’s Third District, use race-baiting tactics
[23] to win first place behind U.S. Congressman Gillis Long. McKeithen accused Long of being too close to President Johnson (dubbing him “the Washington candidate”) and being too liberal for Louisiana. Both men won over staunch segregationist Shelby Jackson, and fellow segregationist Robert F. Kennon, who lost votes to both Jackson and noted taxi-driving KKK member Addison Thompson. Nine men in total were on the ballot. The following list is approximately the distribution of the vote:
J. J. McKeithen – 318,173 (35.1%)
Gillis Long – 275,568 (30.4%)
R. F. Kennon – 127,813 (14.1%)
Shelby Jackson – 102,432 (11.3%)
Louis J. Michot – 38,072 (4.2%)
Claude Kirkpatrick – 29,007 (3.2%)
Wolford Thompson – 7,252 (0.8%)
Hugh Lasseigne – 4,532 (0.5%)
Addison Roswell Thompson – 3,626 (0.4%)
Total votes cast: 906,475
Ambassador deLesseps Morrison had considered running, but ultimately declined to due to “pressing diplomatic duties.” Pundits noted that the President being wounded in an assassination attempt a month before the election produced a sympathy vote-based boost for Long’s numbers but did not damage McKeithen’s, who continued the race-baiting rhetoric but dropped his criticisms of the President “out of respect,” according to a reliable source close to the campaign. McKeithen celebrated the results by…
– The Times-Picayune, Louisiana newspaper, 12/7/1963
SHOUTNIK ABBOT HOFFMAN SENTENCED, GIVEN LIGHT FINE OVER NYSE “MONEY PIT” INCIDENT
– The Financial Times, side article, 12/17/1963
Lyndon was increasingly unnerved after the second assassination attempt. He was, I’d say, somewhat paranoid because both Thomas Arthur Vallee and Byron De La Beckwith were these loner types, both were John Birch Society members with alleged mental problems, um, and both were ex-marines who possessed a large number of rifles, which caused Lyndon to consider pushing to some major gun reform… At the White House Christmas party that year, Lyndon was at the center of an incident that would become, I want to say, uh, legendary, among the White House staff for years. After a few cups of eggnog, perhaps one or two too many, Lyndon started looking over at the tree, his eyes kept darting back over to it. Suddenly, he dashed over to that side of the room and tackled the Scotch pine! Jumped right onto it. The whole thing started to fall down, but the Secret Service rushed in and caught it, and they quickly helped the President to his feet. Lyndon later explained that he was certain that an assassin was hiding behind it. So, yeah, the attempt on his life did certainly get to him. He even started to believe that a right-wing conspiracy of some kind was out to get him, because, as I later found out during a talk with, um, Clark Clifford, at who had just become the Secretary of Defense late in that year, that at some point during the winter recess, President Johnson ordered FBI Director Hoover to look into any connections between Vallee and De La Beckwith, and to investigate the Klan and other such groups...
– Homer Thornberry, White House Council in 1963, New York Times interview for article, 1985
“Released on Christmas Day, 1963, “Dr. Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” better known simply as “Dr. Strangelove,” was a satirical take on the Cold War. Ignoring the then-ongoing Cuban War, the plot focuses on a fictional and more direct international crisis between the US and Russia...
[snip]
And how does it end?”
[clip shown]
“That’s right, with all the characters in the war room having a pie fight! (pause) Don’t worry, I’ll explain… Meant to symbolize the chaos of inbound and outbound missiles during a nuclear exchange, the scene had to be reshot at least two dozen times as too often the actors would break character by smiling and blurting out some laughter during the melee. And Mr. Kubrick did not approve! Early test footage shows the pies as being too thick, blocking out the actor’s faces. In the end, Kubrick went through over 700 pies for the 3-minute conclusion, which, to many uneducated viewers – and by that I mean shitheads who can’t understand dark satire and symbolism – was the only clear sign that this was in fact a dark comedy. And those idiots should consider themselves lucky, as this wasn’t even the original ending. The whole bit was nearly scrapped due to Kurbrick’s frustration with the actors. It didn’t help when President Lyndon Johnson was shot in New York half-way through filming the scene, as some felt throwing a pie in the commander-in-chief’s face would be too inappropriate in light of that. However, due to the President quickly recovering and even downplaying the severity and seriousness of the assassination attempt in the following days and weeks, Kubrick kept the scene in, leading to one of the most serious comedies ever made ending with what has got to be the most serious pie fight ever put to film...
– Transcript of a review by Brad Jones, a nationally famous film reviewer and the protégé of Roger Ebert, uploaded to ourvids.co.usa, 12/12/2012
“Christmas ’63 came and went with our soldiers still getting butchered in Cuba. We were lucky, though, that the President’s criticism of the media only made the media more inclined to showcase the war’s carnage. The media’s depiction of Cuba helped more people understand the horrors of war. Funny. For every country, a generation always comes along that needs to be reminded that war is not at all like how their nutty grandpas says it’s like, the nostalgia-happy fool. And each time the new generation figures its out, it’s a complete shock to the oldsters. Every single time.”
– actor and social justice activist Peter Duel (1940-2018), LBC interview, 1984
We welcome you to relish in the first edition of Tumbleweed Magazine. …This magazine is the result of failure to properly represent Americans of the post-WWII Generation variety in mainstream media. The atrocities of the Cuban War has opening our eyes to the need for peace… Music, as seen throughout mankind’s history, can unite people and its expression can confront and contribute to the decay and destruction of negative social plague prevalent in the societies of our country and our planet. Music is a tool, a rallying cry, an entryway into what makes us human… Our mission statement: to bring news of the music world unadulterated by neither the radicalism of underground print nor the censored cautiousness of your parents’ newspapers, and to look for ways to improve society and the world along the way… We have christened this vessel “Tumbleweed” to honor not the Roy Rogers tune but the rootless wanderlust of that plant-based structure found forever roaming across of the American West in an anachronistic imitation of Jack Kerouac...
Enjoy expanding your mind,
Calvin Trillin & Bern Sanders
[24]
Head Co-Founders
– Excerpts from the Introductory Page of Tumbleweed Magazine, First Issue (Dec. 1963)
…over in the states, apart from continued presence in Cuba fanning the flames of anti-war youth and being injured in an attempt on his life, things were going swell for President Johnson – then a New Jersey swindler caused the stock market to collapse, rattling the economy and sending out shockwaves felt across the globe…
– Excerpt from A Year in Review, BBC World News Report, 12/30/1963
[pic:
imgur.com/XleEocs.png ]
– A Kentucky Fried Chicken holiday bucket lid, c. Dec. 1963
SOURCE(S)/NOTE(S)
[1] Italicized part taken directly from here: content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874857,00.html (link found on wiki article for “Chicken Tax”)
[2] Chicken in the rough co-founder was born c. 1897 based on this article:
http://sites.rootsweb.com/~okoklaho/obit/osborne_beverly__neva_l_flanery.html
[3] Famous quote from real life.
[4] More info on this OTL organization found here (there’s no wiki article on this for some reason):
https://www.franchise.org/about-ifa
[5]
https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20071014/wal-marts-flight-in-air-followed-retailers-rise-in-prominence
[6] Italicized parts are directly from here: content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,875410,00.html (link found on wiki article for Chicken Tax)
[7] I’m actually uncertain if I should keep trucks on this list due to the fact that, according to source 15 on wikipedia: “audio tapes from the Johnson White House, revealed a quid pro quo unrelated to chicken. In January 1964, President Johnson attempted to convince United Auto Worker’s president Walter Reuther not initiate a strike just before the 1964 election and to support the president’s civil-rights platform. Reuther, in turn, wanted Johnson to respond to Volkswagen’s increased shipments to the United States.” So I’m trying to think of some reason for why Johnson here would pick light trucks, and if not, then what would he impose tariffs on instead, since machinery was Europe’s main export at this point in time IOTL/IATL. Anyone have any ideas for this? (I’d greatly appreciate any feedback.)
[8] For more information on the Chicken War and how it started, simply peruse its wiki article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
[9] OTL JFK sentiment found here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20100920140844/http://www.amconmag.com/article/2010/mar/01/00032/
[10] Italicized info found here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tino_De_Angelis
[11] Sentiments based on this youtube video: watch?v=Bejdhs3jGyw
[12] statistic located here:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/186260/total-doctors-of-medicine-in-the-us-since-1949/
[13] the original name for the X-Men comics; just a seemingly minor butterfly...
[14] George Wallace actually threatened to do this IOTL according to his wikipedia page
[15] Italicized parts from here:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1970/02/14/kentucky-fried
[16] Held in Baden-Baden IRL over Kenya having political tensions with Portugal and South Africa; here (due to far-reaching butterflies, I guess (it’s a minor change, though, so I suppose it’s acceptable, right?)), they tolerate them enough the meeting to proceed there as planned.
[17] Held in January 1964 IRL due to tensions mentioned in Note 14 pushing back the bidding.
[18] This is actually how they got him IOTL, through some simple delivery errors!
[19] I’m basically just paraphrasing passages from here, just so you know:
https://www.businessinsider.com/the-great-salad-oil-scandal-of-1963-2013-11 . For more detail on what went down in OTL, see the following article:
https://uselessinformation.org/the-case-of-the-phantom-vegetable-oil/
[20] Quote taken from wiki quote found on this thread, which must receive credit for this idea as I would not have known about this OTL Scandal were it not for this thread:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/kennedy-lives-the-great-recession.413828/
[21] Italicized part here taken from this page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6576696-great-salad-oil-swindle
[22] Italicized bit from here:
https://www.businessinsider.com/the-great-salad-oil-scandal-of-1963-2013-11
[23] McKeithen allegedly used such rhetoric in the runoff election in OTL:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963%E2%80%9364_Louisiana_gubernatorial_election
[24] If a 21-year-old Jann Wenner is not too young for founding a magazine (The Rolling Stones) IOTL, then a 22-year-old Bernie Sanders co-founding a magazine ITTL should not be too young or too unrealistic, either…right?
2/15/19 Edit: fixed a typo.