Secret service almost shot Lyndon B. Johnson by accident hours after JFK's death, new book reveals

Secret service almost shot Lyndon B. Johnson by accident hours after JFK's death, new book reveals

www.nydailynews.com

Hours after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, a jumpy Secret Service agent came within seconds of accidentally shooting new President Lyndon Johnson point-blank in the chest, the agent reveals in a new book.

Standing in the darkness outside Johnson's Washington mansion at 2:15 a.m. on Nov. 23, 1963, agent Gerald Blaine heard footsteps.

"We were still emotionally in shock over the assassination. It had been well over 40 hours since we'd slept.

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I heard this on the radio yesterday. It's interesting to think about the implications of this occurring and how it may have impacted history. Lyndon Johnson was responsible for, among other things, escalating the Vietnam War, the passing of social programs such as welfare, medicaid & medicare, the Gun Control Act of 1965, and the Immigration Act of 1965. I have only listed the items that I can remember, I am not a fan so let's discuss it.

Blaine had the gun pointed at the man's chest and was about to fire when he recognized the new President.

"I swear he turned white," Blaine recounted. "He had just walked out for a breath of air! He hadn't told anyone. When Kennedy left the house, he would notify the command post."

For a long moment in the shadows, LBJ and the agent looked at each other.

"Then he turned around and went back in the house. He didn't say anything. I think he understood he had no business being out there," Blaine said.

LBJ never mentioned the incident, he said.

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The book is mainly about his detail with JFK. His assassination obviously is a part of it. This is an interesting tidbit too:

Blaine said his book is motivated largely by the "abominable" tangle of misreporting about the assassination.

"I would hate to see history recorded as it's been laid out by the cottage industry of conspiracy theorists," he said. "You'd think there must have been 70 assassins in Dallas that day!"

He also tries to quash the rumor that Kennedy had an affair with Marilyn Monroe.

Think he's covering up? Think he really didn't know what was going on? Think he knew exactly what was going on and is telling the truth?

This is already a thread I think. I'll post the link as soon as I find it.