FTR-244 Trouble on Oiled Waters, Part V - Line of Succession (Restoring Dignity to the Office of the Presidency) (Two 30-minute segments) (Sources are noted in parentheses)

1. Throughout the campaigning of 2000, the Republicans have stated that they (George W. Bush) should be elected, in order to “restore dignity to the office of the Presidency.” (This, presumably, in reference to the scandals of the Clinton Administration. The role of the George H.W. Bush faction of the intelligence community in the creation of these scandals is discussed in numerous broadcasts, including FTR #'s 174, 182, 186 , as well as L-8.)

2. This broadcast underscores the role of the elder Bush, people associated with his administration, and other key Republican politicians (past and present) in the murder (or attempted murder) of past Presidents. In particular, the program focuses on what might be called ‘“vice” Presidents’”--Republicans who either held, or ran for, the office of Vice-President and participated in what might be viewed as the ultimate “vice” of someone in that position. These “vice” Presidents either murdered, or attempted to murder, the chief executive of the United States.

3. The broadcast begins with discussion of the predominance of Bush administration figures serving as principal advisors to George W. (The New York Times, 7/21/2000, p. A19.)

4. In that context, it is not unfair to assess “Dubya” in the context of his father's actions, particularly since the Republicans have attempted to tar Al Gore with Clinton's indiscretions. The first half of the program consists largely of a long excerpt from Miscellaneous Archive Show M-20 (George Bush and the Shooting of Ronald Reagan.) Recorded on 7/10/88, M-20 sets forth analysis of a strong body of circumstantial evidence linking the elder Bush to the shooting of Ronald Reagan. (M-20 was recorded during the course of “Campaign '88.” At the time Reagan was shot, former Director of Central Intelligence Bush was Vice-President.)

5. John Hinckley was a former member of the National Socialist Party of America. (San Francisco Examiner, 3/31/81.)

6. He was expelled for being so violent that his fellow Nazis suspected him of being a government agent. (Idem.)

7. In October of 1980, Hinckley had been arrested at the Nashville (Tennessee) airport as then President Jimmy Carter was due to arrive. (Idem.)

8. At the time, he had a .38 caliber pistol and two .22 caliber handguns in his possession, along with 50 rounds of ammunition. (Idem.)

9. Interestingly, this former resident of Dallas, Texas, had purchased the weapons at Rocky's Pawn Shop, on the very street on which President Kennedy had been assassinated. (Idem.) One wonders to what extent some of these “coincidences” were intended to send a message. The Nazi party to which Hinckley belonged had been founded by George Lincoln Rockwell, whose Arlington (Virginia) name and address were in Lee Harvey Oswald's address book at the time of his (Oswald’s) arrest. (For more on the Oswald - Rockwell-JFK assassination connection, see also: G-4, RFA-13, Miscellaneous Archive Show M-20, Lecture L-3, and FTR-188.)

10. Hinckley had attended a memorial march to commemorate Rockwell. (San Francisco Chronicle, 4/1/81.)

11. The broadcast sets forth evidence that Hinckley's father, John Hinckley Sr., had been a significant contributor to George Bush's primary campaign (when Bush Sr. was challenging Ronald Reagan for the nomination.) (Idem.)

12. The night after the shooting, John Jr.'s brother, Scott Hinckley, was scheduled to have dinner with Neil Bush (George W.'s brother and, like “Dubya” and George Sr, a petroleum industry professional.) (San Francisco Chronicle, 4/1/81.)

13. Scott was, at the time, an executive with the Hinckley family's independent oil company, Vanderbilt Energy. (San Jose Mercury, 4/1/81, p. 24A, San Francisco Chronicle, 4/1/81.)

14. Hinckley Sr.'s participation in a Christian Evangelical organization called World Vision is of more than passing interest. (San Francisco Examiner, 3/31/81.)

15. World Vision had served as a front for U.S. intelligence in Central America, employing former members of Anastazio Somoza's National Guard to inform on El Salvadorian refugees in Costa Rica. (National Catholic Reporter, 4/23/82.)

16. A number of the refugees were liquidated, after being identified as guerilla sympathizers by World Vision operatives. (Idem.)

17. World Vision had also functioned as a front for U.S. intelligence in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. (Christian Century Magazine, 7/4-7/11/1979.)

18. Hinckley Sr.'s participation in World Vision, the latter's connections to U.S. intelligence, and the closeness of the Bush and Hinckley families should be evaluated in light of the fact that George Sr. had been head of the CIA. Hinckley Jr. was eventually represented by the law firm of Edward Bennett Williams, one of the most powerful law firms in Washington D.C. (San Francisco Examiner, 4/1/81, p. A12.) The Williams firm's previous clients included former CIA director Richard Helms, Robert Vesco (also connected to U.S. intelligence), Jimmy Hoffa and John Connally.

19. With the assistance of the Williams law firm's representation (and a pliant media establishment) Hinckley's documented Nazi connections were magically transformed into “delusions” of this “lone nut.” (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/18/82.)

20. After the excerpt from M-20, the program highlights the probable role of George Sr. in selecting former Bush Defense Secretary Dick Cheney as George W.'s Vice-Presidential candidate. (New York Times, 7/26/2000, p. A16.)

21. Like the Georges Bush, Cheney is an oil man. (Wall Street Journal, 7/26/2000, p. B4.)

22. Cheney was also the White House Chief-of-Staff for another “vice” President, Gerald Ford. (The New York Times, 7/25/2000, p. A19.)

23. Like George Bush, Sr., Gerald Ford was involved in covering-up the assassination of President Kennedy, as well as the closely overlapping Watergate scandal. In a truly grotesque touch, George W. showed footage of President Kennedy during the Republican convention. (The New York Times, 8/12/2000, p. A27.)

24. The second half of the program documents a number of connections between the milieu of “vice” Presidents George Bush Sr., Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon and V.P. candidate Dick Cheney to the assassination of President Kennedy and Watergate. One of the acquisitions of Halliburton Oil (headed by Dick Cheney) was Dresser industries. (Wall Street Journal, 7/26/2000, p. B4.) (For more on Cheney and Halliburton, see FTR-236.)

25. The program recapitulates an excerpt from RFA-37. The excerpt documents Bush Sr.'s employment with Dresser industries, Dresser’s connections to the intelligence community and to Prescott Bush Sr. (George Sr.'s father), Dresser’s connections to the Skull and Bones society (to which both Bushes [and George W.] belong, the probability that Dresser served as a cover for George Sr.'s work for the CIA, and George Sr.'s close connections to Oswald handler and probable Nazi spy George de Mohrenschildt. (In the Company of Friends, by Anthony L. Kimmery, Covert Action Information Bulletin, Issue #41, Summer 1992.)

26. After discussing former “Vice” President Nixon's connections to the JFK assassination, the broadcast highlights the close relationship between Richard Nixon and George Bush, Sr. Nixon appointed Bush Sr. as head of the Republican National Committee during the Watergate scandal, just as he appointed Gerald Ford as Vice-President. Ford then succeeded Nixon, pardoned him, and appointed Bush as director of the CIA. Bush then helped to obstruct the House Select Committee on Assassinations' investigation of the Kennedy assassination. (For more on George Sr.'s role in covering-up Watergate as head of the RNC, see FTR-186.) It should be noted that George Sr.'s name crops up in connection with the Kennedy assassination in several different contexts. (For more on this subject, see also: Miscellaneous Archive Shows M-20, M-29 and FTR #'s 228, 236.)

27. The concluding segment of the program consists of a reading of a portion of Jack Ruby's testimony before the Warren Commission. (The Yankee and Cowboy War: Conspiracies From Dallas to Watergate, copyright 1976, Sheed Andrews and McMeel, Inc., ISBN 0-8362-0680-0, pp. 116-131.)

28. In that testimony, Ruby indicated that he was part of a conspiracy. His revelations were made in vain, as the Warren Commission ignored what he had to say. Ruby's testimony serves to highlight the numerous connections between the Kennedy assassination and Watergate. Nixon (George Bush Sr.'s political mentor) refused to release the Watergate tapes because of his fear that "the whole Bay of Pigs thing" would come out, if he did.

29. Nixon aide H.R. "Bob" Haldemann disclosed in his book The Ends of Power that "the whole Bay of Pigs thing" was a code word in the Nixon White House for the assassination of President Kennedy. (It should be remembered that Nixon was in Dallas on 11/22/63, yet he told the FBI in February of 1964 that he had left Dallas two days prior to Kennedy's assassination.)

30. Ruby's de facto confession was witnessed by Gerald Ford (who succeeded Nixon as President and pardoned him of all crimes committed), Leon Jaworski (a Warren Commission counsel, director of a CIA domestic funding conduit and selected by Nixon to be Watergate Special Prosecutor) and Arlen Specter (another Warren Commission counsel, who is now chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.)

31. Then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren (who ran for Vice-President on the Republican ticket under Thomas Dewey in 1948) handled most of Ruby's interrogation. Bear in mind that Dick Cheney was Ford's White House Chief-of-Staff, and that his selection as George W.'s running mate was apparently dictated by George Sr.

32. As indicated in the program's title, the web of connections joining these “vice” Presidents could very well be viewed as constituting a line of succession. Note, as well, the presence of the petroleum industry in this chain of events. (See also: G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4; RFA #'s 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 37; Miscellaneous Archive Shows M-3, M-20, M-22, M-25, M-29, M-37, M-38, M-56, M-59, M-60, as well as FTR #'s 8, 19, 26, 27, 46, 47, 50, 54, 62, 63, 71, 72, 76, 94, 95, 104, 108, 110, 111, 120, 114, 115, 116, 142, 158, 168, 182, 186, 188, 190, 216, 223, 236.) (Recorded on 8/13/2000.)