We all know the story of how President John F. Kennedy was gunned down during a parade in Dallas, Texas, in November of 1963. We also know that former military sharpshooter Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder soon after, but killed by Jack Ruby before he could stand trial. Many of us, however, are intrigued by the various conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of Kennedy. Bill O'Reilly offers his take in Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot.
Killing Kennedy touches on more than just the events surrounding the assassination of one of the country's most beloved presidents. It delves into Kennedy's adult life, beginning with his WWII career. It also covers his personal life, his seemingly insatiable sex drive and his personal battle with Addison's Disease.
The book's intentions really come into focus when it reaches 1961, with Kennedy's inauguration and the escalation of the Cold War. Kennedy's actions as president quickly make him several enemies in various parts of the globe, including Nikita Khrushchev in the Soviet Union, Fidel Castro in Cuba, and CIA director Alan Dulles in the United States. The book also touches on organized crime, and how he and his brother Attorney General Robert Kennedy may have been targeted by the mob as well. Readers are left to draw their own conclusions about the involvement of these enemies in his assassination, if any.
O'Reilly is best known as the host of The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel. His political commentary is also showcased in ten books, including Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy. In addition, his weekly newspaper column is syndicated in newspapers across the country, including the New York Post and the Chicago Sun-Times. His co-author, Martin Dugard, is a well known non-fiction writer and biographer. He worked with O'Reilly on both Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy.
"I very much enjoyed the audio version of Killing Kennedy, narrated by Bill O'Reilly. I know O'Reilly from Fox News, but I never watched more than a few minutes of his show, and I held no opinion about him one way or the other . . . prior to hearing this audiobook. O'Reilly is a WONDERFUL narrator and story-teller, articulate, funny (at times), informative, and always entertaining. His words are clear and his emphasis on words, phrases, and concepts guides the listener into remembering the important points. How he knows the detail that he knows (if indeed all he says is true!) is puzzling to me; the way he tells it, it seems that he was there when JFK saved PT 109, when he romanced women in the White House while Jackie was away, and when he road in the Lincoln for the last and final time. O'Reilly narrates with assurance, and I tend to believe everything he says, down to the details which he seems to know, adding realism to what otherwise may sound like a fiction for a Hollywood movie. O'Reilly has the heart of a teacher, and I understand he once taught high school – they were lucky kids!
As for the subject matter – the Kennedy assassination -- am riveted by all books, newsreels, newspaper columns, and other snippets of information that describe the whole affair, what happened, why it happened, and who was behind it. I was about 10 years old in 1963, and the assassination of JFK hurt me deeply, and continues to do so today (but, I have tried my best to get over it, and move ahead with my life!). Kennedy assassination gurus should not miss "Killing Kennedy" due its detail, believability, and lack of emphasis on conspiracies and conspirators. There are two central issues relevant to the JFK assassination: who pulled the trigger(s); and who arranged for that person or people to pull those triggers. In this book, O'Reilly clearly states that Lee Harvey Oswald was the trigger man, and no other possible trigger man or woman was even mentioned! Only near the end of this novel were the general concerns about possible conspiracy raised, only as an after-thought to the killing and known and accepted events. O'Reilly mentions the conspirators mentioned (or in some cases, promoted) by other JFK assassination books: Castro, the Mafia, the CIA, and Lyndon Johnson. O'Reilly pretty much seems neutral about all of this, and does not get into the evidence or lack of same, that any of these alleged conspirators had anything to do with the killing of Kennedy. Maybe they did, and maybe they did not, if we are to believe that Oswald was simply a man capable of shooting and killing, and that he wanted to kill someone important and famous, so that he could become equally famous and hold a firm and ever-lasting place in history . . . and he has done so, he got his wish! I am still unsure about whether there was a conspiracy, but taking O'Reilly's books and alleged facts at face value, it could be that Oswald acted alone, and the killing happened in a one-of-a-thousand chances that several other tumblers of life fell into place: his wife would not reconcile with him, the Dallas police did not do a good job in making the motorcade safe; the newspapers published the President's route, the Lincoln was incapable of accelerating quickly; JFK wore a back brace that kept his body erect and allowed the fatal shot to hit him . . .etc, etc., a "perfect storm," you might say. Had any of these things not occurred, maybe Kennedy would have been shot only once, or maybe not been shot at all. And this is why the conspiracy idea is so popular and to many, believable . . . how could this killing have happened with so many things having to "right" for it to occur? It doesn't happen often, but maybe it happened this time, just the way O'Reilly said it did.
My next audio book will be "Killing Lincoln."
Thanks for reading!"
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Tennis John (5 out of 5 stars)