[Sample B: Approval/Signature Sheet] - George Mason University

as some army figures such as General Walker, and reactionary oil millionaires such as
H.L. Hunt.” 546 He advanced an early, truncated version of the “peace thesis,” saying
Cuba “sticks in the craw of the CIA” after the Bay of Pigs and “once Kennedy began a
policy of easing the Cold War, some of the CIA, like much of the Pentagon, would be
dismantled and the agency brought under presidential control.” To such men, Kennedy
would be seen as a “traitor” – a crime punishable by death. 547
Joesten also denounced the media for not questioning all the supposed evidence
being amassed against Oswald before his murder at hands of Jack Ruby. He blamed the
Texas authorities, in particular Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade, for creating an
atmosphere in which “within hours, Oswald was crucified as guilty” through a series of
“lies,” “contradictions,” “half-truths,” and “misleading smears.” 548 Joesten deplored this
supposed misinformation released about Oswald, but some of the contradictory
information was probably the result of the chaotic atmosphere after the assassination.
Joesten himself relied on some of the early erroneous press reports about the
assassination to argue for Oswald’s innocence and on articles in questionable
publications, such as the National Enquirer. Joesten derided the mainstream media for
not questioning the case against Oswald, and for lashing out at the early critics.
In his rendering of Oswald’s life, Joesten built his case for the alleged assassin as
a young agent of the CIA. He wrote that “one of the most important pieces of evidence
which points to Oswald’s having been a CIA agent is that his so-called ‘defection’ to the
546 Joesten, 146.
547 Joesten, 152.
548 Joesten, 30.
242