Kemper updated his allegiances and detailed Joe Kennedy’s old suspicions. Hoover said, “I’ll build up a file to buttress your dissemblings. We’ll make it appear that all your Florida trips were solely on my behalf. I’ll anoint you the Bureau’s ace pro-Castrogroup monitor.”
Kemper supplied key Florida dates. Hoover sent him mock itineraries to memorize.
Hoover never mentioned the campaign. Kemper knew that he sensed a Kennedy victory.
Hoover did not mention Jack and women. Hoover did not suggest hot-wiring prostitutes. Hoover did not nail the reason why Kemper Boyd had stayed distant.
He didn’t want to implement another sex shakedown. He wanted to retain one strong loyalty compartment.
Pimp shakedowns?–no. Pimp service?–certainly.
He got Jack one call girl per night. He called his local vice squad contacts for referrals–and skin-searched every girl that Jack fucked.
The girls loved Jack.
So did SA Ward Littell.
They hadn’t spoken in over six months. Ward showed up at Jack’s big Milwaukee rally–the old Chicago Phantom as the new Chicago Wraith.
He looked frail and unkempt. He did not look like anyone’s notion of a G-man.
Ward refused to talk Mob scuttlebutt or Pension Fund strategy. Ward refused to discuss the D’Onofrio homicide.
Ward said he was neglecting his Red Squad assignment. He said he’d struck up a friendship with a leftist he was tailing.
The Kennedy campaign thrilled him. He wore Kennedy buttons to work and made a scene when SAC Leaky told him to stop it.
Littell’s anti-Mob crusade was dead. Mr. Hoover couldn’t touch them now: the Boyd/Littell collusion was null and void.
Kemper told Bobby the Phantom was still plugging. Bobby said, Don’t bother me with trifles. –
Littell was set to retire in eight months. His drunken dream was a Kennedy appointment.
Ward loves Jack.
New Hampshire loves Jack.
Wisconsin loves Jack.
West Virginia had its heart up for grabs. Greenbrier County was vote-crucial and totally Mob-run.
He decided not to ask the Boys for help. Why indebt Jack to men that Bobby hated?
America loves Jack.
Sinatra put it best:
“That old Jack Magic has me in its spell!”
42
(Blessington/Miami, 2/4/60–5/4/60)
That “lost brothers” line kept zinging him. Pete couldn’t get it out of his head.
John Stanton toured the campsite in mid-March. Pete quizzed him on Kemper Boyd’s background.
Stanton said the CIA researched the man. The hunting-accident story earned him high marks–Kemper didn’t let shit weigh him down.
Boyd spoke French. Boyd made big words come alive. Boyd made his whole world go whoosh–
His last three months: “autonomous,” straight from Webster’s Unabridged.
Kemper’s timecard read strictly KENNEDY. Pete’s timecard now read strictly CUBA.
Fulo quit running whores. Lockhart embraced the New Klan Kode. Six two-week cycles worked through Blessington–746 men total.
They learned weaponry, judo, speedboating and demolition fundamentals. Chuck Rogers fed them pro-U.S. docthne.
The Cadre kept recruiting in Miami. Cuban hotheads kept signing up.
The Agency now had sixty operational campsites. They established an exile “grad school” in Guatemala: a fully equipped military facility.
Ike loosened his pursestrings. Ike approved exile invasion plans. It was a big policy shift–three plots to whack Fidel backfired and scrambled the thinking at Langley.
Shooters couldn’t get close. Aides smoked exploding cigars marked for the Beard. Langley figured fuck it–let’s invade Cuba.
Maybe early next year. Maybe in Bad-Back Jack’s administration.
Boyd said Jack would approve the plan. Boyd was fucking persuasive. Santo Junior spread the word: Kemper Boyd has Jack Kennedy’s ear.
The Outfit dropped some coin on Jack’s campaign–quietly and anonymously. Big fat compartmentalized donations.
Jimmy Hoffa didn’t know. Jack didn’t know–and wouldn’t be told until the optimum moment to call in the debt.
Sam G. said he could buy Jack Illinois. Lenny Sands said Sam spent a fortune in Wisconsin. West Virginia ditto–Chi-Mob money had the state locked in for Jack.
Pete asked Lenny if Boyd knew about all that finagling. Lenny said, I don’t think so. Pete said, Let’s keep it that way–Kemper wouldn’t like to think that he’d put Jack in hock.
Boyd inspired confidence. Trafficante loved him. Santo passed the Cuban Cause hat–Giancana, Rosselli and Marcello ponied up large.
It was classic compartmentalization.
The CIA high brass condoned the gifts. And they learned about the Cadre dope biz–before Kemper informed them.