Didn’t do It: George H.W. Bush was not involved in JFK’s assassination

George H. W. Bush, CIA director
George H. W. Bush, CIA director and future president

(This piece was posted, in different form in March 2016)

It is true that former president George H.W. Bush was in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. It is true that Bush became director of the CIA in 1976. But, rest assured, G H.W. Bush did not supervise gunmen in Dealey Plaza.

John Hankey’s popular Youtube video claims Bush was was directly involved. I address his claim not because its credible but because some of the 100,000 people who have viewed it may think it is credible. Hankey also has some imaginative 9/11 theories, which I won’t get into here; suffice it to say they do not enhance his credibility.

When it comes to JFK’s murder, Hankey has crafted a fine Hollywood scenario–the future American Vice President as commander of an assassination team.This is spine-tingling stuff and it may convince people who think “Mission Impossible” accurately depicts U.S. intelligence work.

The “Bush done it” theory  is emotionally satisfying to some because it links a modern liberal villain (the Bush family) with an ancient crime (JFK’s murder.)

Unfortunately, Hankey’s scenario is not based much knowledge about how CIA personnel actually carried out political assassinations in the 1960s.  They certainly didn’t rely on an up and coming oil man from Houston for gunplay. The elder Bush did other service to the agency, including serving as director for one year in 1976, when the CIA was under investigation for a possible role. Bush covered up but he did not supervise gunmen.

For more on the many problems with the “Bush did it” theory, see Jim DiEugenio’s review of Russ Bakers’ Family of Secrets.

 

 

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