"NO, I WILL BLOW HIM TO HELL!"

ANGRY MOB ATTEMPTS TO DISRUPT COUNTING OF ELECTORAL VOTE

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) "A mob gathered outside the Capitol and tried to force its way in to disrupt the counting of the electoral certificates" writes Dr. Ted Widmer* in his opinion column published in The New York Times on January 8, 2021.

You might think Mr. Widmer was referring to the recent events of January 6, 2021, but no...he was describing the situation of February 13, 1861 when Congress was in the process of confirming Abraham Lincoln's election as President of the United States.

Unlike January 6, 2021, the Capitol on February 13, 1861 "was guarded by men prepared for the onslaught."  Two hundred soldiers of the army of the United States surrounded and protected our "Cradle of Democracy" on orders of General Winfield Scott**.

Dr. Widmer describes the mob as "loud and swearing (and) wanting to get in."  Soldiers were instructed to allow only persons who had authorized passes inside.  The members of the mob had no such passes. 

They were up against a general who "meant business."  Scott warned that any intruder would "be lashed to the muzzle of a twelve pounder and fired out the window of the Capitol."  For good measure he added..."I would manure the hills of Arlington with the fragments of his body."

The soldiers were positioned in just the right places and when the mob was blocked from entry, they branded General Scott, a native of Virginia, a traitor.

And when a secessionist Texas senator asked if General Scott "would dare...arrest a senator for treason," Scott exploded...

 "NO, I WILL BLOW HIM TO HELL!"

 

*Edward (Ted) Ladd Widmer was born in 1963 & earned his PhD in History at Harvard University.   He is distinguished lecturer at the Macaulay Honors College at CUNY & is author of  "Lincoln on the Verge:  Thirteen Days to Washington," Simon & Schuster (2020).

**Winfield Scott (1786-1866) was born in Dinwiddie County, VA & educated at the College of William & Mary.  His father was a veteran of the Revolutionary War.  WS was admitted to the bar in 1806 & served in the VA militia.  

WS's service in the US Army spanned 1808-1861.  Known as "Old Fuss & Feathers," he was Commanding General of the Army 1841-1861 serving under presidents from Tyler to Lincoln.

 

SOURCES

"The Capitol Attack of 1861," Apple Podcast, History This Week, www.podcasts.apple.com/

"The Capitol Takeover That Wasn't," by Ted Widmer, January 8, 2021, The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/ 

 

 

General Winfield Scott

West Point, NY

June 10 1862

Photo by Charles D. Fredricks & Co.

 
 

JFK "BUGGED" THE OVAL OFFICE

JFK "BUGGED" THE OVAL OFFICE

JFK+50 received a copy in the mail today of "Listening In:  The Secret White House Recordings of John F. Kennedy."

The book, with accompanying CDs, includes the text of transcripts from JFK's recordings selected & introduced by Ted Widmer.

JFK+50 will include selections from the book in posts in the coming days.

Today we will look at Mr. Widmer's Introduction.

While JFK was not the 1st President to install recording equipment in the White House, Mr. Widmer writes:

"Kennedy's new initiative was on a vastly different scale."

He identifies Robert Bouck as the agent JFK directed to install the audio recording system which was known to a very few including the President's personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln & probably Bobby Kennedy.

Bouck installed one microphone in the kneehole of JFK's famous Resolute Desk & another on the coffee table in front of his equally famous Boston rocker.

These microphones were activated by pushing a "buzzer" type button located on the desk or at the coffee table.

More microphones were placed in the Cabinet Room along with a button to activate at the table.

As explained in an earlier posting on JFK+50, a Tandberg reel to reel tape recorder located in the basement was used to record the sounds picked up by the microphones.

But that wasn't all....JFK had a separate recording system set up to record his telephone conversations.

As to the reason for the installation of the recording systems, Agent Bouck wrote later...

"the tensions were kind of great during that period, & I think initially his concern was to record understandings that might have been had in those relations."

And Mrs. Lincoln expressed the view that the Bay of Pigs was the reason for the installation of the recording systems.

She also said that,to her knowledge, while JFK never listened to the tapes, she believed his sense of the importance of history was another reason he had the recording systems put in.

Mr. Widmer believes that these audio recordings represent "the closest to an autobiography we will ever get."  He writes at the conclusion of his introduction:

"Now, thanks to these tapes, readers can move past the myth, & judge the essence of a presidency for themselves."*

*The taping system was removed by Agent Bouck "immediately after the assassination" & the recording tapes finally ended up in the vaults of the JFK Library in Boston.

The existence of the tapes was not made public until 1973.

SECRET JFK WHITE HOUSE RECORDINGS AVAILABLE TODAY

SECRET JFK WHITE HOUSE RECORDINGS AVAILABLE TODAY

Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) In July 1962, President John F. Kennedy had an audio recording system installed in the Oval Office & Cabinet Room of the White House.

The purpose of this recording system was, according to the JFK Library, "to preserve an accurate record of Presidential decision making in a highly charged atmosphere of conflicting viewpoints, strategies & tactics."

A book titled "Listening In: The Secret White House Recordings of John F. Kennedy," which includes 2 audio CDs, went on sale today.

The book, published by Hyperion, includes a Foreward by Caroline Kennedy.  

The excerpts from 265 hours of original tape recordings were selected by historian Ted Widmer* in conjunction with the JFK Library in Boston.

*Ted Widmer, born in 1963, earned a PhD in history of American civilization at Harvard.  He served as a speech writer & special assistant for national security affairs under President Clinton.  He is director of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.

                         Ted Widmer
                Texas Book Festival
                      Austin, Texas
          Photo by Larry D. Moore
                       CC BY SA30

The book & CDs are made available in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the installation of the recording system.

After JFK's death the tapes were kept in the custody of Evelyn Lincoln, the President's personal secretary, before being transferred to the Kennedy Library.

The book, with CDs, sells for $40.

According to the Hyperion website, "Just as the unique vision of President John F. Kennedy continues to resonate half a century after his stirring speeches & bold policy decisions, the documentary candor of Listening In imparts a vivid, breathtaking immediacy that will significantly expand our understanding of his time in office."