Released JFK Documents Suggest Lyndon Johnson Was Former KKK Member

lyndon johnson kkk
Ku Klux Klan parade in Virginia, March 18 1922, United States, Washington. Library of Congress, . (Photo by: Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

There were plenty of interesting factoids to come out of the recent JFK files release: The CIA considered mob hits on Fidel Castro, someone called the FBI threatening to kill Lee Harvey Oswald a day before Oswald’s murder, and the U.S. examined sabotaging airplane parts heading to Cuba.

There was even proof that the CIA used journalists and media figures to spread propaganda.

Additionally, we got confirmation that President Kennedy’s successor following his assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson, was possibly a member of the KKK.

One of the newly released files contains a memo about a journalist named Ned Touchstone, who was an editor of The Councilor, the newsletter of the racist White Citizens’ Councils.

Touchstone claimed the Ku Klux Klan had “documented proof” that LBJ had been a member of the Klan in the early days of his political career in Texas.

That Johnson would have been a member of the Klan wouldn’t be much of a surprise, frankly. As a member of the Senate, he fought vigorously against civil rights legislation favored by President Eisenhower and Republicans. Early in his political career, Johnson was guilty of all kinds of statements in support of Jim Crow laws in the South.

This isn’t verified proof that Johnson was indeed part of the Klan. But given the political circumstances from which he rose (deep South, Democrat-dominated Texas), it’s not that far-fetched. In fact, more likely than not, Johnson mixed around with a racist crowd to get his political start.

Consider that in the context of this anti-Barry Goldwater 1964 presidential campaign commercial…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_i9Bq2tntY

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By Matt

Matt is the co-founder of Unbiased America and a freelance writer specializing in economics and politics. He’s been published... More about Matt

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