Final_Judgment

122 The Coming of the Messsiah [61]
Indeed, it was Johnson's involvement with Bobby Baker that had led
John F. Kennedy to begin laying the groundwork for dropping Johnson
from the Democratic ticket in 1964. But even with Kennedy's death, the
stench of corruption surrounding the Lansky-linked Baker still threatened
Johnson.
JOHNSON FACES PRISON?
Washington lobbyist Robert N. Winter-Berger recalls a visit by then-
President Johnson to the office of House Speaker John McCormack while
Winter-Berger was there. Johnson burst in unexpectedly. Unconscious of
Winter-Berger's presence, Johnson began shrieking and shouting and
condemning his longtime friend and protégé, Bobby Baker. "John, that son
of a bitch is going to ruin me. If that cocksucker talks, I'm gonna land in
jail," Johnson roared. "I practically raised that motherfucker and now he's
gonna make me the first President of the United States to spend the last days
of his life behind bars." 155
According to Winter-Berger Johnson suddenly realized that he was
present. Speaker McCormack assured the president that Winter-Berger was
"all right" and that Winter-Berger was close to one of Baker's other
associates, Nat Voloshen.
Johnson asked Winter-Berger to have this message relayed to Baker.
"Tell Nat to tell Bobby that I will give him a million dollars if he takes this
rap. Bobby must not talk." 156 Baker did not talk. Baker went to jail.
Johnson did not.
Obviously, Johnson's Lansky connection is far more complex than we
might even be able to determine—but the interplay between Johnson and his
intimates and those of the Lansky syndicate is indisputable, to say the least.
SUDDEN POLICY CHANGES
Needless to say, when Lyndon Johnson became president, the Kennedy
war against organized crime came to a sudden halt. There were other
important policy reversals as well, including, of course, the change in
Vietnam policy (about which we will explore further in this chapter and in
Chapter 9.)
What, of course, however, is most significant about Lyndon Johnson's
assumption of the Oval Office were the profound—and immediate—changes
in U.S. policy toward Israel and the Arab world that came rapidly upon
LBJ's sudden succession to the presidency.
`GOOD NEWS' FROM DALLAS
The earliest evidence we can find that Israel and its lobby in America
were delighted by Lyndon's elevation to the presidency comes in a memo
that I. L. Kenan, director of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee