On question of the Pentagon reaction to JFK’s assassination, a reader writes that the story Gen. Maxwell Taylor took a nap is misleading, at least according to one journalist historian.
Peter writes:
“There’s a slightly different version of Taylor’s nap in A.J, Langguth’s book Our Vietnam: The War 1954-1975.
“Before Jack Kennedy recalled him to active duty, Taylor had been hired to oversee construction of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan.During that civilian interlude, he had taken to napping every day after lunch. When he returned to the Pentagon, Taylor ordered his staff never to disturb him when his door was closed. He had barely stretched out on his sofa when a general disobeyed him and called from the military command center to say that the president was dying.”
“Taylor summoned the Chiefs to his office to discuss whether this was part of a plot to overthrow the US government. Orders went to the nine ranking commanders around the world to raise their level of readiness.”
Thanks Peter.
I do not know of any official or account of Taylor’s conversation with the Joint Chiefs on November 22, 1963. Is there one?