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Self-Portrait of a Scoundrel
Released for the first time 16 years after his death, this startling autobiography by one of the so-called “three tramps” from the John F. Kennedy assassination reveals the details of Chauncey Marvin Holt’s many claims. Much mystery and suspicion still swirls around that fateful day in November 1963, and theories abound in nearly every form of media. But one of the major mysteries revolves around the three men spotted and later arrested in Dealey Plaza. Holt’s controversial confession to being one of the three tramps has a history of its own, and in his own words he delves into his unique and wild background and life. From his United States Air Force service during Pearl Harbor to his associations with the mob and the CIA, Holt discusses his experiences and encounters in great detail. From a man who truly lived a rare and unique life, the book explains the ins and outs of his associations with Lee Harvey Oswald and the assassination in this unique retrospective of a complex and occasionally dubious life.
- GenresNonfictionBiography
608 pages, Paperback
First published August 22, 2013
13 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 1, 2021
Classifying this rambling mess as both fiction and non-fiction. I'm just grumpy because after plowing my way through this mess, I discovered that you only have to read one of the appendices (which are way more coherent) to glean everything there is to read.
True, the appendices (there are 3, and they too are repetitive) just cover the JFK assassination, where the book purports to cover more of Holt's life. And if even a fraction of this book is true, Holt certainly had a remarkable life and it's a story well worth telling. Unfortunately, this book is full of horrible writing, typos, and incoherent passages — sadly evocative of a first draft that has never been edited.
The military industrial complex in this telling, is the corporate / organized crime / intelligence community, and they are in cahoots. They (the nebulous "they") run the world, and goodbye to anyone who gets in their way.
True, the appendices (there are 3, and they too are repetitive) just cover the JFK assassination, where the book purports to cover more of Holt's life. And if even a fraction of this book is true, Holt certainly had a remarkable life and it's a story well worth telling. Unfortunately, this book is full of horrible writing, typos, and incoherent passages — sadly evocative of a first draft that has never been edited.
The military industrial complex in this telling, is the corporate / organized crime / intelligence community, and they are in cahoots. They (the nebulous "they") run the world, and goodbye to anyone who gets in their way.
October 6, 2023
this might put things into perspective for his 'tale'....
it's better than E. Howard Hunt's ridiculous deathbed confession, which was a mixture of names who were likely involved with other names just thrown in for vendetta by Hunt.
Holt is interesting for making a lot of very interesting, very specific claims, wih all the risks of many 'name dropping' confessionals.
Here's a nice summary from the Mary Ferrell Foundation
........
Confessions
Someone would have talked, so the saying goes. But people did talk about their involvement in the JFK assassination--some did so publicly, and some only to intimate associates. So, were at least some of them telling the truth?
Confession of Howard Hunt - CIA master spy and Watergate participant E. Howard Hunt named names to his son Saint John, and created a tape to be released after his death.
CIA legend E. Howard Hunt. In his 2007 book, discussions with his son, and a tape recording, Hunt outlined his 'benchwarmer' role in a CIA plot to kill JFK.
John Martino's Confessions - John Martino, who played a post-assassination role in the attempts to pin the murder on Castro, talked to his family and his lawyer about his peripheral involvement in the crime.
David Morales - We Took Care of That SOB - JMWAVE Chief Operations Officer David Morales, aka "El Indio," told lifelong friend Ruben Carbajal and business partner Robert Walton that "we" had taken care of Kennedy.
Santos Trafficante - It Should Have Been Bobby - "Mob lawyer" Frank Ragano wrote in his book that Santo Trafficante told him that he and Carlos Marcello "should have killed Bobby" instead of JFK.
James Files - Grassy Knoll Shooter? - James Files claims to have fired the fatal head shot from behind the grassy knoll fence.
Chauncey Holt - One of the Tramps? - Chauncey Holt says that he forged Oswald's "Hidell" ID card, among other activities, and is the oldest of the "three tramps" depicted in photos of Dallas on November 22, 1963. Holt names convicted murderer Charles Harrelson as one of his companions.
The list above is certainly not a complete list of confessions. Also, many other people have alleged involvement with Lee Oswald or some aspect of the JFK assassination story, but not with the murder plot itself.
RESOURCES
Essays
The Last Confessions of E. Howard Hunt, by Erik Hedegaard
JFK Murder Plot "Deathbed Confession Aired on National Radio, by Paul Joseph Watson
Watergate Plotter May Have a Last Tale, by Carol Williams
A Conversation with Gaeton Fonzi, by Steve Bochan and Gordon Winslow
The Kennedy Contract: A Review, by Mike Sylwester
Excerpts from Ultimate Sacrifice: A New Take on the Murder of JFK, by Thom Hartmann and Lamar Waldron
Is James Files Telling the Truth?, by Wim Dankbaar
Meet Chauncey Holt, by William Kelly
The Kennedy Assassination's Links to Here and Now, by Edgar Tatro
Report from Dallas: The Ask Symposium, November 14-16, 1991, by Martin Shackelford
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, by Alan Houston
Other Links
Someone Would Have Talked. The website of Larry Hancock's book, including excerpts, documents, photographs, and other supplemental information
Pages on Spartacus Educational:
E. Howard Hunt
David Morales
John Martino
Santo Trafficante
James Files
Chauncey Holt
..............
Morales and Trafficante i think are the only legitmately important leads though
out of the above
it's better than E. Howard Hunt's ridiculous deathbed confession, which was a mixture of names who were likely involved with other names just thrown in for vendetta by Hunt.
Holt is interesting for making a lot of very interesting, very specific claims, wih all the risks of many 'name dropping' confessionals.
Here's a nice summary from the Mary Ferrell Foundation
........
Confessions
Someone would have talked, so the saying goes. But people did talk about their involvement in the JFK assassination--some did so publicly, and some only to intimate associates. So, were at least some of them telling the truth?
Confession of Howard Hunt - CIA master spy and Watergate participant E. Howard Hunt named names to his son Saint John, and created a tape to be released after his death.
CIA legend E. Howard Hunt. In his 2007 book, discussions with his son, and a tape recording, Hunt outlined his 'benchwarmer' role in a CIA plot to kill JFK.
John Martino's Confessions - John Martino, who played a post-assassination role in the attempts to pin the murder on Castro, talked to his family and his lawyer about his peripheral involvement in the crime.
David Morales - We Took Care of That SOB - JMWAVE Chief Operations Officer David Morales, aka "El Indio," told lifelong friend Ruben Carbajal and business partner Robert Walton that "we" had taken care of Kennedy.
Santos Trafficante - It Should Have Been Bobby - "Mob lawyer" Frank Ragano wrote in his book that Santo Trafficante told him that he and Carlos Marcello "should have killed Bobby" instead of JFK.
James Files - Grassy Knoll Shooter? - James Files claims to have fired the fatal head shot from behind the grassy knoll fence.
Chauncey Holt - One of the Tramps? - Chauncey Holt says that he forged Oswald's "Hidell" ID card, among other activities, and is the oldest of the "three tramps" depicted in photos of Dallas on November 22, 1963. Holt names convicted murderer Charles Harrelson as one of his companions.
The list above is certainly not a complete list of confessions. Also, many other people have alleged involvement with Lee Oswald or some aspect of the JFK assassination story, but not with the murder plot itself.
RESOURCES
Essays
The Last Confessions of E. Howard Hunt, by Erik Hedegaard
JFK Murder Plot "Deathbed Confession Aired on National Radio, by Paul Joseph Watson
Watergate Plotter May Have a Last Tale, by Carol Williams
A Conversation with Gaeton Fonzi, by Steve Bochan and Gordon Winslow
The Kennedy Contract: A Review, by Mike Sylwester
Excerpts from Ultimate Sacrifice: A New Take on the Murder of JFK, by Thom Hartmann and Lamar Waldron
Is James Files Telling the Truth?, by Wim Dankbaar
Meet Chauncey Holt, by William Kelly
The Kennedy Assassination's Links to Here and Now, by Edgar Tatro
Report from Dallas: The Ask Symposium, November 14-16, 1991, by Martin Shackelford
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, by Alan Houston
Other Links
Someone Would Have Talked. The website of Larry Hancock's book, including excerpts, documents, photographs, and other supplemental information
Pages on Spartacus Educational:
E. Howard Hunt
David Morales
John Martino
Santo Trafficante
James Files
Chauncey Holt
..............
Morales and Trafficante i think are the only legitmately important leads though
out of the above
August 26, 2018
This is one of the most poorly edited books I've ever read. Despite this, despite the repetitions, the almost overwhelming name dropping, the lack of clear chronological organization--despite all of this, it was, in parts, a page turner.
Chauncey Holt, the 'author' of this collection of text and interviews, was, by his account, a man of many parts: artist, accountant, pilot, gunsmith, assassin, counterfeiter--employed at times by both the Mob and the CIA and sometimes by both at the same time in the same operations. Most particularly, he claims to have been tangentially involved in the whole complex of events associated with the murder of JFK and to have been present that day on the plaza and to have been one of the three hoboes picked up, then released, by the Dallas PD. In this regard he absolutely rejects the notion that Lee Harvey Oswald, with whom he was acquainted, was the assassin or that the Carcano supposedly found in the Book Depository was the weapon. (Other objections to the FBI/Warren Commission theses are given in a lengthy appendix critiquing the Posner book).
This business about the assassination constitutes only a portion of this lengthy memoir. Other world-historical events with which Holt was involved (the overthrow of the elected governments of Guatemala, the Congo, Chile; the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba; Operation Mongoose against Castro etc.) are discussed, but so is a lot of personal stuff, much of it Mob and/or celebrity related. Still, for any researcher concerned with our government's (especially FBI and CIA) involvement with crimes, domestic and international, this autobiography appears to be a must read.
Chauncey Holt, the 'author' of this collection of text and interviews, was, by his account, a man of many parts: artist, accountant, pilot, gunsmith, assassin, counterfeiter--employed at times by both the Mob and the CIA and sometimes by both at the same time in the same operations. Most particularly, he claims to have been tangentially involved in the whole complex of events associated with the murder of JFK and to have been present that day on the plaza and to have been one of the three hoboes picked up, then released, by the Dallas PD. In this regard he absolutely rejects the notion that Lee Harvey Oswald, with whom he was acquainted, was the assassin or that the Carcano supposedly found in the Book Depository was the weapon. (Other objections to the FBI/Warren Commission theses are given in a lengthy appendix critiquing the Posner book).
This business about the assassination constitutes only a portion of this lengthy memoir. Other world-historical events with which Holt was involved (the overthrow of the elected governments of Guatemala, the Congo, Chile; the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba; Operation Mongoose against Castro etc.) are discussed, but so is a lot of personal stuff, much of it Mob and/or celebrity related. Still, for any researcher concerned with our government's (especially FBI and CIA) involvement with crimes, domestic and international, this autobiography appears to be a must read.
September 9, 2023
Matches other sources
Matches St John Hunt, Col Prouty existing records and Ed Donegan theory of events Lots of credible documents from know CIA operations
Matches St John Hunt, Col Prouty existing records and Ed Donegan theory of events Lots of credible documents from know CIA operations
April 13, 2017
Currently reading. Between the initial opening introduction and the first chapter, you can't wait to get to the end to see where it is going. A lot of younger folks won't recognize the names involved like Bugsie Seagal or Lucky Luciano but I do because they were not all that far in my distant past growing up. There will eventually be a link to the murder of JFK; can't wait.
I found this book difficult to follow along with. The author drops so many names from the past, most of whom I had never heard of but some I definitely have; mostly the leaders of organized crime including links to my hometown of Youngstown, Ohio controlled by the mob when I was growing u p in the 50s. The entire book is worthy of reading for just two chapters, those relating to the murder of JFK in Dallas. If you are like me you have heard of all kinds of stories as to who actually murdered JFK but as I read through these two chapters (very much embellished by the chapters leading up to them), you realize that there could have very easily been an alternative story that has yet to emerge except within these two chapters.
The book is a perfect merging of information from the books Dr. Mary's Monkey and Me & Lee when it comes to Lee Harvey Oswald's participation in the murder or not. I don't know if what Holt writes about as being true and his involvement or whether it is not true. I can tell you that I can believe that it "could" be true and probably is. That makes this one very scary book!
Who should read it? Anyone interested in the History of America in the 30's - 70's specifically relating to organized crime and their activities. But..specifically anyone interested in reading about the murder of JFK.
I found this book difficult to follow along with. The author drops so many names from the past, most of whom I had never heard of but some I definitely have; mostly the leaders of organized crime including links to my hometown of Youngstown, Ohio controlled by the mob when I was growing u p in the 50s. The entire book is worthy of reading for just two chapters, those relating to the murder of JFK in Dallas. If you are like me you have heard of all kinds of stories as to who actually murdered JFK but as I read through these two chapters (very much embellished by the chapters leading up to them), you realize that there could have very easily been an alternative story that has yet to emerge except within these two chapters.
The book is a perfect merging of information from the books Dr. Mary's Monkey and Me & Lee when it comes to Lee Harvey Oswald's participation in the murder or not. I don't know if what Holt writes about as being true and his involvement or whether it is not true. I can tell you that I can believe that it "could" be true and probably is. That makes this one very scary book!
Who should read it? Anyone interested in the History of America in the 30's - 70's specifically relating to organized crime and their activities. But..specifically anyone interested in reading about the murder of JFK.
April 28, 2018
Really an amazing tale of an underworld Zelig renaissance man that was everywhere: So. American & Caribbean coups, CIA wars in Indochina, keeping the books for Meyer Lansky, standing by Oswald while he passed out Fair Play for Cuba flyers and, of course, behind the Grassy Knoll on that fateful day in Dallas. He also could do anything: creative accounting with the best of them, military aviation, expert marksmanship, portraiture, document forgery, and more. Is it all true? I don't know, but it is a fascinating read full of facts on crime and cop figures that could be verified with lots of photos and documents and appendices with two lengthy interviews and more that purport to support his role as an unwilling bit player in an American coup by scorned Mafia/CIA/anti-Castro forces that all had it in for Kennedy.
This book is packed with false flag ops, dark ops, and the criminal underworld including insight in the nighttime bombing that disrupted Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno's Arizona retirement and was a mystery in Honor Thy Father.
I did an interview on my program Outsight Radio Hours related to this book and the interview transcripts.
This book is packed with false flag ops, dark ops, and the criminal underworld including insight in the nighttime bombing that disrupted Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno's Arizona retirement and was a mystery in Honor Thy Father.
I did an interview on my program Outsight Radio Hours related to this book and the interview transcripts.
November 25, 2013
Very good read. Holt's story is told after the fact. Holt's book tries to explain his role in JFK assassination with facts and conjecture after the fact. Holt had a very interesting life.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews