Texan oil
moguls Clint Murchison and Sid Richardson... had assets in excess
of $700 million, not counting as much again in untapped oil reserves.
Recognizing
Edgar's influence as a national figure, the oilmen had started cultivating
him in the late forties - inviting him to Texas as a houseguest,
taking him on hunting expeditions. Edgar's relations with them were
to go far beyond what was proper for a Director of the FBI. And
although the Murchison milieu was infested with organized crime
figures, Edgar considered him "one of my closest friends."
"Money,"
the millionaire used to say, "is like manure. If you spread
it around, it does a lot of good." Murchison and his Texas
friends spread a great deal of dollar manure on the political terrain.
They had
traditionally been conservative supporters of the Democratic Party
- until the presidency of Harry Truman. He enraged oil men by publicly
denouncing their tax privileges, and by vetoing bills that would
have brought them even greater wealth. Murchison habitually spelled
Truman's name with a small t, to show how little he thought of him.
Murchison's
political instincts were of the far, far Right. He was a fervent
supporter of states' rights, reportedly funded the anti- Semitic
press and was a primary source of money for the American Nazi Party
and its leader, Lincoln Rockwell, who considered Edgar "our
kind of people.'
During the
Truman years, musing in private about the perfect political lineup,
Edgar had named Murchison and Richardson as ideal candidates for
high office - or at least as financial backers for politicians to
his liking. Murchison had been obliging ever since. He threw money
at Edgar's friend Joe McCarthy, placed airplanes at the Senator's
disposal and promised him support "to the bitter end."
(2)
Peter
Dale Scott, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK (1993)
The Hunts
and the Murchisons present the images of different versions of right-wing
politics, with the Hunts allied to opponents of Washington, particularly
when they were supporting southern resisters to integration, and
the Murchisons playing their connections to Washington, Johnson,
and Hoover, for all they were worth. Nelson Bunker Hunt was behind
the hostile ad that confronted Kennedy in the November 22 edition
of the Dallas Morning News.
(3)
Bobby
Baker, interviewed in 1990.
Murchison
owned a piece of Hoover. Rich people always try to put their money
with the sheriff, because they're looking for protection. Hoover
was the personification of law and order and officially against
gangsters and everything, so it was a plus for a rich man to be
identified with him. That's why men like Murchison made it their
business to let everyone know Hoover was their friend. You can do
a lot of illegal things if the head lawman is your buddy.
(4)
David
E. Scheim, The Mafia Killed
President Kennedy (1988)
While ignoring
the Mob in his official capacity. Hoover was less exclusive in his
personal relationships. He often stayed for free at the Las Vegas
hotels of construction tycoon Del E. Webb, whose holdings were permeated
with organized crime entanglements. Hoover and Webb also met frequently
on vacations in Del Mar, California. During Hoover's annual trips
to that city's luxurious Del Charro Motel, his bill was paid by
its owner, Clint Murchison, Jr., Hoover's "bosom pal. Murchison,
a Texas oil tycoon who backed Lyndon Johnson, was questionably involved
with both the Teamsters and Bobby Baker, infamous LBJ aide whose
misdeeds will be discussed. But Hoover continued to accept Murchison's
hospitality, even while Murchison's dealings with Baker were being
investigated by both the Senate and Hoover's own FBI.
(5)
Madeleine
Brown,
interviewed
on the television programme, A Current Affair (24th
February, 1992)
On Thursday
night, Nov. 21, 1963, the last evening prior to Camelot's demise,
I attended a social at Clint Murchison's home. It was my understanding
that the event was scheduled as a tribute honoring his long time
friend, J. Edgar Hoover (whom Murchison had first met decades earlier
through President William Howard Taft), and his companion, Clyde
Tolson. Val Imm, the society editor for the now-defunct Dallas Times
Herald, unwittingly documented one of the most significant gatherings
in American history. The impressive guest
list included John McCloy, Richard Nixon, George Brown, R. L. Thornton,
H. L. Hunt and a host of others from the 8F group. The jovial party
was just breaking up when Lyndon made an unscheduled visit. I was
the most surprised by his appearance since Jesse had not mentioned
anything about Lyndon's coming to Clint's. With Lyndon's hectic
schedule, I never dreamed he could attend the big party. After all,
he had arrived in Dallas on Tuesday to attend the Pepsi-Cola convention.
Tension filled the room upon his arrival. The group immediately
went behind closed doors. A short time later Lyndon, anxious and
red-faced, reappeared I knew how secretly Lyndon operated. Therefore
I said nothing... not even that I was happy to see him. Squeezing
my hand so hard, it felt crushed from the pressure, he spoke with
a grating whisper, a quiet growl, into my ear, not a love message,
but one I'll always remember: "After tomorrow those goddamn
Kennedys will never embarrass me again - that's no threat - that's
a promise."
(6)
Madeleine
Brown,
Texas in the Morning (1998)
Just a few
weeks later (after the assassination) I mentioned to him that people
in Dallas were saying he himself had something to do with it. He
became really violent, really ugly, and said it was American Intelligence
and oil that were behind it. Then he left the room and slammed the
door It scared me.
(7)
Anthony
Summers, The
Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover (1993)
Murchison,
Snr., like almost all oilmen, had backed Johnson for the White House
in 1960, and his fears about Kennedy turned out to be justified.
The young President made no secret of his opposition to the oil
moguls' extraordinary tax privileges, and moved quickly to change
them. Murchison and his associates, it turns out, were linked to
the assassination saga by a series of disconcerting coincidences.
George de
Mohrenschildt, an oil geologist who knew Murchison and had worked
for one of his companies, was on intimate terms with alleged assassin
Oswald. He would be found shot dead in 1977, an apparent suicide,
on the day an Assassinations Committee investigator called to arrange
an interview.
Within four
days of the assassination, the FBI received a tip-off that Clint
Murchison and Tom Webb - the FBI veteran the millionaire had hired
at Edgar's suggestion - were both acquainted with Jack Ruby. While
they denied it. Ruby had met one of Murchison's best friends, Humble
Oil millionaire Billy Byars.
Byars was
close to Edgar. They used adjacent bungalows at Murchison's California
hotel each summer. The phone log for the Director's office shows
that, aside from calls to Robert Kennedy and the head of the Secret
Service, Edgar called only one man on the afternoon the President
was shot - Billy Byars.
(8)
Gary
Mack published an account of Madeleine Brown's story on 14th
May, 1997.
Madeleine
has claimed over the years that she attended a party at Clint Murchison’s
house the night before the assassination and LBJ, Hoover and Nixon
were there. The party story, without LBJ, first came from Penn Jones
in Forgive My Grief. In that version, the un-credited source
was a black chauffeur whom Jones didn’t identify, and the explanation
Jones gave was that it was the last chance to decide whether or
not to kill JFK. Of course, Hoover used only top FBI agents for
transportation and in the FBI of 1963, none were black. Actually,
there is no confirmation for a party at Murchison’s. I asked
Peter O’Donnell because Madeleine claimed he was there, too.
Peter said there was no party. Madeleine even said there was a story
about it in the Dallas Times Herald some months later (which makes
no sense), but she had not been able to find it. Val Imm (Society
Editor of the Dallas Times Herald) told Bob Porter (of the Sixth
Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza staff) recently she had no memory of
such an event and even looked through her notes - in vain.
Could LBJ
have been at a Murchison party? No. LBJ was seen and photographed
in the Houston Coliseum with JFK at a dinner and speech. They flew
out around 10pm and arrived at Carswell (Air Force Base in northwest
Fort Worth) at 11:07 Thursday night. Their motorcade to the Hotel
Texas arrived about 11:50 and LBJ was again photographed. He stayed
in the Will Rogers suite on the 13th floor and Manchester (William
Manchester - author of The Death of a President) says he was up
late. Could Nixon have been at Murchison’s party? No. Tony
Zoppi (Entertainment Editor of The Dallas Morning News) and Don
Safran (Entertainment Editor of the Dallas Times Herald) saw Nixon
at the Empire Room at the Statler-Hilton. He walked in with Joan
Crawford (Movie actress). Robert Clary (of Hogan’s Heroes fame)
stopped his show to point them out, saying “. . . either you
like him or you don’t.” Zoppi thought that was in poor
taste, but Safran said Nixon laughed. Zoppi’s deadline was
11pm, so he stayed until 10:30 or 10:45 and Nixon was still there.
(9)
Jack
Anderson,
San Francisco Chronicle (31st December, 1970)
Clint Murchison
picked up Hoover's tab ($100-a-day suites) year after year at the...
Del Charro near their favorite race track ... at the same time some
of the nation's most notorious gamblers and racketeers have been
registered there.
