Legacy of Secrecy: The Long Shadow of the JFK Assassination

"The rifle fire in Dallas that killed John F. Kennedy didn't just start a frantic effort to find this assassins. JFK's murder also launched a flurry of covert actions by officials like Robert F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Helms to hide the fact that the United States was on the brink of invading Cuba as part of a JFK-authorized coup only ten days away. The plan's exposure could have cost the life of JFK's coup leader, Cuban Army Commander Juan Almeida, and led to a nuclear confrontation with the Soviets, just a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis. But the cover-ups by these top officials also had the tragic effect of preventing a full investigation of JFK's assassination, spawning a legacy of secrecy that would impact Presidents, Congress and U.S. foreign policy for the next forty-five years." "Legacy of Secrecy details the secret attempt of Robert F. Kennedy and his aides to expose his brother's killers, while protecting Commander Almeida. It shows how RFK continued his war against the Mafia by focusing increased attention on the Mafia bosses behind JFK's assassination, until his own murder. RFK's associates continued his quest, almost exposing the truth several times. But like a deadly, high-stakes chess game - at the height of the Cold War - they were blocked each time by three Mafia chiefs and a handful of CIA operatives. Legacy details each step taken by mob bosses Carlos Marcello, Santo Trafficante, and Johnny Rosselli to hide their involvement in JFK's murder, and the tragic results that followed. The long shadow of secrecy surrounding both JFK's murder and the coup plan set the stage for the murder of Martin Luther King, ultimately driving two Presidents from office, and bringing about the murders of five Congressional witnesses in the mid-1970s."--BOOK JACKET.