Citizen Hughes - Michael Drosnin [225]
In all instances where corroborating evidence was available, the information in the documents was confirmed by unpublished data as well as known facts. A case in point: dates and places of meetings between Nixon confidant Bebe Rebozo and Hughes representatives chronicled in the memos were corroborated by Senate Watergate Committee records never made public. Other events known only to those present are also accurately described in the memos. For example, a secret meeting between Maheu and Lyndon Johnson recounted in one memo is confirmed in detail by papers on file at the LBJ Library. Those government files also contain a typewritten copy of the letter Hughes sent Johnson, the handwritten original of which is among the documents in my possession. Even Hughes’s accounts of television shows were confirmed by videotapes and/or transcripts I obtained—including the “Dating Game” show that caused him to drop his attempt to buy ABC.
There is one final proof, not scientific, yet entirely persuasive to all who read the Hughes memos—only the mind of Howard Hughes could have created them.
Notes on Illustrations
Some of the Hughes documents reproduced in this book are excerpts from longer memos. Wherever material has been excised, the cuts are indicated by tear lines in the facsimiles, and are also noted here:
The first memo Hughes wrote the night that Robert Kennedy died (following this page) was misdated 6/7/68 by one of his aides. It was actually written 6/6/68, and the date has therefore been deleted to avoid confusion.
All the memos in the Hughes-Maheu exchange (following this page) are excerpts.
The two Hughes memos regarding his relationship with Maheu (following this page) are excerpts from separate messages.
The Hughes memo promising to make Paul Laxalt president (following this page) is a one-page excerpt from a three-page message that also concerns nuclear testing in Nevada.
The Hughes handwritten memo offering Laxalt a top job in his empire, and the three typewritten reports from Maheu (following this page), are all excerpts from separate messages.
The Hughes memo regarding television and politics (following this page) is a one-page excerpt from a two-page message.
The Maheu typewritten memo reporting Laxalt’s help in killing the open-housing bill (following this page) was superimposed on the Hughes handwritten memo as indicated.
The Hughes memo comparing Las Vegas to Hiroshima (following this page) is a three-page excerpt from a four-page message.
The Hughes memo reacting to Lyndon Johnson’s refusal to halt a nuclear test (following this page) is a five-page excerpt from a seven-page message.
The Hughes memo plotting to play off Humphrey against Kennedy (following this page) is a one-page excerpt from a two-page message.
The Hughes memo calling the Kennedy family “a thorn relentlessly shoved into my guts” (following this page) is a five-page excerpt from a six-page message.
The Hughes memo about Teddy Kennedy and the RFK funeral (following this page) is a one-page excerpt from a two-page message.
The Hughes memos seeking to place in the White House “a candidate who knows the facts of political life” and citing Richard Nixon as such a candidate (following this page) are excerpts from two different messages.
The Hughes memo in which he describes himself as “a supposedly successful business man” (following this page) is a one-page excerpt from an eleven-page message.
The Hughes memo threatening to leave the country after Nixon’s bomb blast (following this page) is a three-page excerpt from a four-page message.
In addition, the Hughes memos reproduced on the back cover and the title page are excerpts from memos reproduced more extensively elsewhere in the book. The “bagman at the White House” passage on the cover comes from the LBJ memo following this page, while the