Death of the Rising Sun

Book excerpt: The assassination of John F. Kennedy ranks among the biggest stories of the 20th century, according to a survey of American historians and journalists. While numerous books cover the 1963 tragedy from a conspiracy or lone-assassin viewpoint, this work by veteran journalist Kevin James Shay tells the story that occurred between Kennedy's 1960 presidential triumph and his assassination. The narrative, infused with often behind-the-scenes details that have been brought to light in recent years, provides a compelling account that is particularly geared towards the average reader, not the assassination researcher.Shay witnessed Kennedy's funeral in Washington, D.C., as a boy and grew up in Dallas. He has researched the killing off and on since 1978, when eyewitness Bill Newman entered his college newspaper office and led him on a search. While Shay leans about lean 75 percent toward the conspiracy side, he is almost 100 percent certain that Oswald was involved in some way. Whether he was a patsy, government informant, or actually fired his rifle at Kennedy is more up in the air. If he was a shooter, he had help, and if he was trying to infiltrate and stop the plot as a government informant, he obviously didn't do enough. But then, no one did enough. Even lone-assassin author Gerald Posner admitted that the evidence against Oswald back then was circumstantial enough that a good lawyer would have gotten an acquittal. Posner has lately said there has been more evidence released that better proves his position, but Shay still thinks there are far too many questions about the evidence, cover up by LBJ and the Warren Commission, all the people who saw Ruby and Oswald together, the threats in Chicago, Florida, and other places, and more, that make the conspiracy side more believable.He unearths some information not highlighted much before, such as the involvement of Willie Somersett. The Klan leader actually opposed the racial violence in the 1950s and 1960s to the point that he risked his life exposing and helping to prevent it. He likely helped save and prolong Kennedy's life at least once. His story highlights a theme that might be relevant in dealing with the racial polarization occurring today. You can't judge a book by its cover.