LBJ’s tormenting of Humphrey was recounted by Humphrey himself in his autobiography (pp. 307–308), by Merle Miller in Lyndon (Putnam, 1980, p. 175), by Theodore H. White, The Making of the President 1968 (Pocket Books, 1970, p. 347), and in interviews with Humphrey and Johnson aides.
Humphrey’s outburst over Maheu’s phone call was recounted by his friend and adviser Dr. Edgar Berman in his book Hubert (Putnam, 1979, p. 205). Berman, who took the call and relayed the message to Humphrey, also detailed the incident in an interview.
Humphrey’s son Robert confirmed his employment by Maheu in an interview. He said that he had met Maheu a few years earlier through California Governor Pat Brown but was actually recruited for the job by John Meier. “It happened by accident. I bumped into him while I was with my dad in California. He was doing a press conference, and I was waiting out in the hall, and Meier introduced himself. I was a college graduate, looking for work, and I already knew Bob Maheu.”
Maheu described his offer of $100,000 to Humphrey at their May 10, 1968, Denver meeting in sworn court testimony. He said that the vice-president “seemed very grateful.” Two Humphrey aides confirmed that Maheu and the vice-president met at that time. A lawyer representing the Humphrey estate refused me access to Humphrey’s activity, appointment, and telephone logs for this and other relevant dates unless I agreed to prepublication censorship of this book, which I, of course, refused.
Humphrey’s efforts to establish a White House panel to investigate the bomb tests are recounted in AEC reports dated June 12, 25, and 26, 1968.
Johnson’s science adviser Donald Hornig said in an interview that the president appointed his own panel “to preempt the Hughes-Humphrey panel.” Johnson’s caustic remark about the Hughes-Humphrey dealings—“Hubert had better keep his pants zipped”—was reported by a top White House aide. “There was talk around the White House that Humphrey was getting money from Hughes and that he was in regular contact with Maheu,” the aide noted. “The president was not happy about it.”
The presidential panel, chaired by former AEC research director Kenneth S. Pitzer, issued its report on November 27, 1968. “The panel is seriously concerned with the problem of earthquakes resulting from large-yield nuclear tests,” the report stated. According to a December 13, 1968, AEC memorandum, the White House assured the AEC that “the vice-president was not given the report,” and that Hughes therefore would not get access to it.
Maheu described passing the $50,000 to Humphrey on July 29, 1968, in sworn court testimony. He said that when he greeted the vice-president at the fund-raising dinner, he told him, “I have the item we discussed,” and that he again referred to “the matter we discussed” when he placed the cash-filled briefcase at Humphrey’s feet in the limousine. Maheu testified that he did not show Humphrey the money because “it’s not proper to open the envelopes and count the cash in the presence of other people.”
Humphrey denied in a sworn statement that he ever personally received any cash from Maheu or that he was personally aware of any contribution made by Hughes to his campaign. However, the evidence of the backseat payoff is overwhelming.
Lloyd Hand, former U.S. Chief of Protocol and a close Humphrey friend, testified that he was in the limousine with Humphrey and Maheu, that Maheu definitely had a briefcase when he entered the car, and that he had “an impression” that Maheu left the briefcase behind when he got out. Gordon Judd, a Hughes lawyer who brought half the cash from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, testified that he watched from the hotel balcony as Maheu entered Humphrey’s limousine with the briefcase and that he saw Maheu leave the car without it.
Moreover, Humphrey himself acknowledged the contribution. Although he later claimed to have no personal knowledge of any Hughes donation, the vice-president wrote Maheu a letter dated November 1, 1968, thanking him for a second $50,000 Hughes gave his campaign on October 18, and in that letter clearly noted that he had received Hughes money before. “Dear Bob,” wrote Humphrey, “Dwayne has told me about the additional help you have given us. Bob, you are the greatest! We needed it badly and have put it to good use.” (Emphasis added.)
Humphrey’s selection of Muskie as his running mate was described by O’Brien in his book No Final Victories (Doubleday, 1974, p. 253). Muskie confirmed in an interview that he had known Maheu for years and visited him in Las Vegas, but denied knowing of any influence Maheu may have had in his selection.
The meeting between Humphrey and O’Brien on the morning after the Chicago convention was described by O’Brien in No Final Victories (pp. 253–56), and in two interviews. All the dialogue was quoted by O’Brien. He said that Humphrey called Maheu about eight A.M. on August 30, 1968, and told him: “I understand that you and Larry have worked out a business arrangement, and I’d like to ask you to postpone that arrangement until after the election. It would be a great personal favor to me.”
O’Brien claimed that he had no knowledge of the $100,000 Hughes gave Humphrey, although he was in regular contact with Maheu during the campaign. However, Maheu told the Senate Watergate Committee that he kept O’Brien informed of “all political matters,” and specifically told him about the money passed to Humphrey.
9 Camelot
Interviews with at least a dozen persons who knew either Joseph P. Kennedy or Hughes during their early days in Hollywood turned up no indication that they ever dealt with each other, ever came into conflict, or even met. Kennedy’s mistress in those years, Gloria Swanson, said that she could not recall him even mentioning Hughes. Noah Dietrich, who joined Hughes shortly after he arrived in Hollywood in 1925 and handled the business end of his moviemaking, said he was certain Hughes never dealt with Kennedy.
Information on Joe Kennedy’s background was drawn from Richard Whalen, The Founding Father (Signet, 1966), as was the “pants pressers” quote (p. 80).
Pierre Salinger confirmed his solicitation of Hughes money for the RFK campaign in a letter: “Steve Smith, who was raising money for the campaign, asked if I might have some special contacts who would help. I met Mr. Maheu in Las Vegas. He did not immediately pledge a contribution, but during the Oregon primary he called me in Portland to say that Mr. Hughes would give the campaign $25,000. After the death of Robert Kennedy, I received a call from Mr. Maheu telling me the contribution would still be made. I reported that to Steve Smith.”
FBI Director Hoover reported Bobby Kennedy’s revelation of the Castro plot in a memo dated May 10, 1962: “He stated he had been advised by CIA that CIA had hired Maheu to approach Giancana with a proposition of paying $150,000 to hire some gunmen to go into Cuba to kill Castro. I expressed astonishment at this in view of the bad reputation of Maheu and the horrible judgment in using a man of Giancana’s background for such a project. The attorney general shared the same views.” Less than three months earlier, Hoover had ended John Kennedy’s White House affair with Giancana’s mistress Campbell by bringing a report on her to the president, according to the Senate Select Committee on Assassinations.
Bobby Kennedy’s fears that the Castro plot had led to the assassination of his brother were reported by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., in Robert Kennedy and His Times (Houghton Mifflin, 1978, pp. 615–16). According to Kennedy aide Walter Sheridan, Bobby asked CIA Director John McCone, “Did the CIA kill my brother?”