Citizen Hughes - Michael Drosnin [136]
“Howard,” reported Maheu, “I just had a long talk with Larry O’Brien and we have decided to make one more pass at the President on the blast.”
O’Brien continued to knock at the White House door but failed to gain entrance: “I have been in constant touch with Larry and as of 15 minutes ago he had not been successful in our mission, but he is continuing throughout the evening.”
The dreaded blast was now less than two days away. Hughes had had it with O’Brien. As the zero-hour approached, he demanded that Maheu personally deal with the president.
“Howard, before I leave Larry wanted me to give you his thinking,” Maheu replied from Miami. “He is convinced that this blast is a compromise to which LBJ is irrevocably committed. He is truly concerned that a request for an appointment for me could be misinterpreted by the President since he and Larry have been so close for many years, and it could be thought that we have no confidence in the President or Larry.
“He points out also that a personal contact between me and the White House at this critical time could not avoid public scrutiny.”
This mission was getting dangerous. Both O’Brien and Maheu were eager to bail out. But Hughes was insistent. Again, he ordered Maheu to go see the president and make the big payoff. So far Maheu had not brought O’Brien in on the bribery plot. Now, however, with Hughes demanding that he once more personally offer Johnson a million dollars, Maheu apparently spelled it all out for his cohort.
“Via a pre-established code I was able to convey to Larry the extent to which we are willing to go,” he reported.
Perhaps for the first time O’Brien had to realize exactly what he was getting into, just what kind of a man he had signed on to work for. It must have been a chilling moment. He was not about to bribe a president. But neither was he so shocked as to quit his new job.
“He thought this should be reconsidered,” continued Maheu, reporting O’Brien’s reaction, “because he feels it is too late for LBJ to change his mind, and, in fact, it could eventually be used to our detriment. He is willing to stake his business career with us (which starts officially on Jan. 1, 1969) that he will accomplish our principal goal.”
If O’Brien himself was not willing to bribe Johnson, he apparently was still ready to arrange for his new partner to make the payoff.
“Howard, as you know I am prepared to do anything you request,” concluded Maheu, “and Larry, of course, will set up the appointment.”
Only Lyndon Johnson’s continued intransigence prevented the White House parley. Whether because Hughes had failed to make the library donation, or because Johnson was never made aware of the potential rewards, or simply because he remained unwilling to sell Hughes the bomb, the president refused to meet Maheu.
The megaton-plus blast went off as scheduled on Thursday, December 19, 1968. It triggered a violent artificial earthquake that shook Las Vegas and sent out tremors powerful enough to register on seismographs around the world. Alone in his bunker, Hughes gripped the sides of his bed, once again foiled in his plot to buy nuclear peace.
But his battle against the bomb was not over. And neither was his obsession with the Kennedys. Having bought O’Brien, Hughes never gave up hope that the last surviving Kennedy brother could himself be persuaded to sell out.
“Ted Kennedy is going to make a speech here, and I authorize you to offer him the sky and the moon and unlimited support for his campaign for the presidency if he will use our material and take the AEC apart in his speech here,” wrote Hughes, making his big move to snare the last pretender to the throne.
“Bob, if he mentions the sheep in Utah, I tell you he will bring the house down,” Hughes continued, again invoking