Not in Your Lifetime: The Defining Book on the #JFK Assassination

Updated with the latest evidence, the essential, acclaimed account of President Kennedy’s assassination by Pulitzer Prize finalist Anthony Summers.

“He was holding out his hand . . . He looked puzzled . . . Then he slumped in my lap . . . I kept bending over him saying, ‘Jack, Jack, can you hear me? I love you, Jack . . .’ The seat was full of blood and red roses . . . .” —Jacqueline Kennedy, recalling the fatal moment in Dallas.

Fifty years on, most Americans still feel they have not been told the truth about President Kennedy’s death. Chief Justice Warren, who chaired the first inquiry, said “some things” that “involve security” might not be released in our lifetime. Millions of pages of assassination records were finally made public in the late 1990s. Yet the CIA is withholding more than a thousand documents under “national security”—until 2017.

Why? Why hold these records back if—as we were told half a century ago—Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone assassin? Anthony Summers set out to write a reliable account of the murder mystery that haunts America. Not in Your Lifetime, in this fresh edition, is one of the finest books written on the assassination.

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U.S. Marshals Task Force Arrests Suspect in Connection with a Bomb Threat

U.S. Marshal Robert Mathieson announced the capture of William Wyatt Raum. Raum was wanted by the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) in connection with a bomb threat communicated earlier this month.
On Oct. 29, the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center received a bomb threat from an unknown suspect. On Nov. 4, the FCSO requested their deputy sheriff assigned to the U.S. Marshals Service’s fugitive task force to investigate the threat. The investigation determined Raum as the alleged offender.

The case was adopted by the U.S. Marshals task force located within the federal Eastern District of Virginia. At approximately 6:00 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 18, task force officers and Deputy U.S. Marshals located and apprehended Raum in an apartment complex located on Marlboro Pike in Capitol Heights, MD. Raum was transported to the Prince George’s County Police Department and is awaiting extradition to Fairfax County.

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The United States and Morocco Sign Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Rand Beers joined Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance Mohamed Boussaid to sign a bilateral Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement (CMAA) that will provide a partnership and legal framework for information sharing and cooperation between Customs administrations of the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco.

“Today’s agreement provides a framework for information sharing and cooperation between our customs administrations as they combat transnational crime and endeavor to protect our respective national frontiers,” said Acting Secretary Beers.  “We look forward to implementing this Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement, and growing our cooperative relationship with the Kingdom of Morocco.”

The signing of the CMAA between the Government of the United States of America and the Kingdom of Morocco will permit the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco to exchange information and engage in a range of other forms of mutual assistance to collect revenue and protect our respective countries from threats, including our shared priority of combating terrorism.

“The agreement we have signed today will certainly facilitate the bilateral cooperation between the two Customs administrations and help both sides achieve a common goal to fight fraud and to cope with the challenges facing customs and trade,” said Minister Boussaid.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Customs Service before them, have used bilateral Customs Mutual Assistance Agreements as a valuable part of its law enforcement efforts for many years.  Today’s agreement marks the 68th country or territory with which the United States has Customs Mutual Assistance Agreements.

Via these law enforcement tools, both Customs administrations will better able to detect, investigate, and prosecute Customs violations and crimes that touch the movement of goods over international borders, including trafficking, money laundering, and terrorism-related activities.

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Dallas 1963 - Climate of Hatred Leading to Assassination of #JFK

In the months and weeks before the fateful November 22nd, 1963, Dallas was brewing with political passions, a city crammed with larger-than-life characters dead-set against the Kennedy presidency. These included rabid warriors like defrocked military general Edwin A. Walker; the world's richest oil baron, H. L. Hunt; the leader of the largest Baptist congregation in the world, W.A. Criswell; and the media mogul Ted Dealey, who raucously confronted JFK and whose family name adorns the plaza where the president was murdered. On the same stage was a compelling cast of marauding gangsters, swashbuckling politicos, unsung civil rights heroes, and a stylish millionaire anxious to save his doomed city.

Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis ingeniously explore the swirling forces that led many people to warn President Kennedy to avoid Dallas on his fateful trip to Texas. Breathtakingly paced, DALLAS 1963 presents a clear, cinematic, and revelatory look at the shocking tragedy that transformed America. Countless authors have attempted to explain the assassination, but no one has ever bothered to explain Dallas-until now.

With spellbinding storytelling, Minutaglio and Davis lead us through intimate glimpses of the Kennedy family and the machinations of the Kennedy White House, to the obsessed men in Dallas who concocted the climate of hatred that led many to blame the city for the president's death. Here at long last is an accurate understanding of what happened in the weeks and months leading to John F. Kennedy's assassination. DALLAS 1963 is not only a fresh look at a momentous national tragedy but a sobering reminder of how radical, polarizing ideologies can poison a city-and a nation.

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The Chicago Public Library @chipublib Observed the 50th Anniversary of Kennedy's Assassination Today

Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined Chicago Public Library Commissioner Brian Bannon, schoolchildren, and special guests today at the Harold Washington Library Center to observe the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The event celebrated the life and legacy of President Kennedy, as well as his and the Kennedy family’s long standing connection to Chicago.

“President Kennedy challenged all Americans to answer the call of public service, inspiring generations of Americans to serve others and work for the greater good of their fellow humans," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "Today, as we observe the fiftieth anniversary of his tragic death, we remember his life and legacy and the profound impact he had on our nation and our city."

As part of the program, author Ilene Cooper spoke about the Kennedys’ decades-long ties to Chicago, beginning in 1945 when the Kennedy patriarch and President’s father Joseph Sr. purchased the Merchandise Mart, which soon became a trade show mecca known across the country. From that time on, the Kennedy family has played a prominent role in Chicago. Several Kennedy family members have made the Chicago area their home and still play a major role in the operation of the Merchandise Mart.

Jazz musician Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band paid homage to President Kennedy’s love for cultural arts and jazz music. In 1962, the President and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy hosted the first White House jazz concert, starting a tradition that still exists today. The concert featured music selected from that first jazz concert in 1962, along with selections from subsequent White House concerts.

The Chicago Public Library encourages lifelong learning by welcoming all people and offering equal access to information, entertainment and knowledge through materials, programs and cutting-edge technology. Through its 80 locations, the Library provides free access to a rich collection of materials, both physical and digital, and presents the highest quality author discussions, exhibits and programs for children, teens and adults.  For more information, visit chicagopubliclibrary.org or call the Chicago Public Library at (312) 747-4050.

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