Agony Relived

The subject matter helps. In his second Look installment of the Death of a President. William Manchester is dealing with true historical drama--the assassination of President Kennedy. In this case, his Jackie Kennedy-authorized access to the people involved helps produce an authoritative, powerful account of the Dallas tragedy. Politics are left aside, and those caught up in the event emerge as neither heroes nor villains. The Secret Service is pictured some what confused and leaderless, but other than that, no one involved should have anything to complain about--unless it is the personal pain of having to relive Nov. 22, 1963.

Even Manchester's description of Vice President Johnson is sympathetic. His portrait of L.B.J. after the assassination is that of a man overwhelmed "While he had already succeeded to the office, he didn't realize it, and the slumped figure in the hospital bore little resemblance to the shrewd, assured President Johnson the country came to know." Kennedy's assistant press secretary Mac Kilduff, reported that on addressing Johnson as "Mr. President" for the first time, he "looked at me like I was Donald Duck." In the confusion Secret Service agents urged Johnson to take the J.F.K. presidential plane out of Dallas. It was L.B.J. who balked at the idea and flatly refused to board the plane until he had express approval from Kennedy's staff. As for the Lady Bird, she insisted on going first to do what she could to comfort Jackie Kennedy and Nellie Connally.

A Sole Assassin. In the hour following the assassination, normally lucid people did strange things. Since the murdered President had been scheduled to make a luncheon address at the Dallas Trade Mart, Lady Bird's press secretary, Liz Carpenter, assumed that the Vice President would make the speech. She hurried to the mart only to discover, of course, that scarcely anyone was there. In Parkland Hospital, medical attendants struggled to remove the critically wounded Governor's clothes. It was Connally, finally, who had the presence of mind to remind them, "Why not cut them off?"

The merit of Manchester's account lies not so much in the new details he supplies as in the methodical way in which he reconstructs events. His own exhaustive investigation led him to conclude that the same bullet which passed through President Kennedy's neck also struck Connally--thus making Lee Harvey Oswald the sole assassin. He also narrates a harrowing little episode involving Caroline Kennedy. Fearing that an attempt might be made on the lives of the Kennedy family, a Secret Service agent named Tom Wells picked up Caroline from some friends and started driving her away in an unmarked car. Another motorist spotted Caroline in the car, and thinking she had been abducted, gave hot pursuit. After a highspeed chase, Wells finally managed to escape.

No Promises. As far as the quality of the narrative is concerned, Jackie's controversial excisions seem to make no difference. What they actually amount to cannot be known until Look's installment can be compared with the unexpurgated version which is scheduled to appear in West Germany's Stern this week. Look tried to keep Stern from running any more of the deleted material by applying for an injunction, but a German court refused to grant it. Stern's editor, Henri Nannen, has hinted that he might consider "negotiating" future excisions from the version it publishes--but has promised nothing.

Otherwise, Look had nothing to be upset about. The issue containing the first installment sold some 1,300,000 newsstand copies, or close to three times the normal number. The second is expected to do even better.

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