Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK

by Lamar Waldron, Thom Hartmann

Cuba's number 2 official today — Commander Juan Almeida — was secretly working with JFK in November 1963 to overthrow Fidel. The US government recently revealed Almeida's work for JFK, allowing the updated trade paperback of Ultimate Sacrifice to tell the full story for the first time (complete with new photos and documents).
The authors obtained the story from almost two dozen associates of John and Robert Kennedy, starting in 1990 with JFK's Secretary of State Dean Rusk. Their accounts are supported by thousands of newly-released files at the National Archives.
Almeida's "palace coup" set for December 1, 1963, was to be backed up by US forces "invited" in by Commander Almeida, then Chief of the Cuban Army. However, three Mafia bosses being targeted by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy used several CIA assets to infiltrate the secret plot and murder JFK.
This resulted in cover-ups by officials like RFK and LBJ, to prevent the exposure of Almeida and a possible nuclear confrontation with the Soviets. The new edition explains why Almeida was not a double agent, why Fidel suspected Almeida's ally Che Guevara, and what Fidel did in 1990 when he finally found out about Almeida's work for JFK.

Genres: History, True Crime, Nonfiction, American History, Politics, Conspiracy Theories

960 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2005

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Upon the release of Oliver Stone's film JFK the Clinton administration, responding to popular pressure, ordered the release of formerly classified documents pertaining to the assassination. While the authors of this book claim that over a million documents remain to be released, their work benefits from a review of the new data and from some original interviews they conducted themselves.

The thesis of this book is that the assassination was ordered by three Mafia figures, Johnny Rosselli, Santo Traffacante and Carlos Marcello, all of whom had been and were still being persecuted by Robert Kennedy's Justice Department, all of whom had substantial links to CIA and other covert governmental schemes to kill Fidel Castro and overthrow the Cuban government. Indeed, knowing of these covert plans gave them reason to believe that the murder of JFK could be accomplished without their participation in it being uncovered and quite probably would result in their being able to regain their assets in Cuba.

The weakest part of this book is its claim that a coup, followed by US military invasion, was definitely planned for 12/1/63. While they do make a strong case that at least the military was doing contingency planning for such an event, they didn't satisfy me that the Kennedys were committed to such an invasion. Indeed, even they acknowledge the several backchannel negotiations which were occurring during the months leading up to 'C-Day' (aka 'Omega' or 'Judas'), negotiations on behalf of the President with Castro himself. However, even without accepting the priority they give to this military plan, it is clear enough that elements of the government were attempting to remove Castro and change the Cuban regime by a variety of means beginning with the Eisenhower and continuing into the Johnson administration, some of which involved the utilization of Mob resources.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Ultimate Sacrifice' is a huge book, getting on for a thousand pages, that proposes to demolish many of the popular conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination, replacing them with an astounding 'for eyes only' top secret conspiracy, conspired from the White House in 1963, that planned a coup in Cuba, scheduled for December 1st 1963, and followed by a U.S. invasion of the island.
Whatever credibility the reader gives to this JFK sanctioned coup, supposedly overseen by RFK, and given the term C-Day, or the CIA cryptonym AMWORLD, Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann's research is not just food for thought, but a veritable feast.
Ever since the Warren whitewash, the past fifty years has seen historians and researchers question and expose the actions and cover-ups of government intelligence and investigatory agencies from the CIA, ONI, Secret Service, DIA, FBI and DPD. Accusatory fingers have pointed to involvement of many, from the lone nut Oswald to the Vice President, to Castro, to Russia, to Texas Oil, the Joint Chiefs and the CIA's David Atlee Phillips and E. Howard Hunt, or any combination of the above.
Prior to passing judgement, (guilty your honour), I must recommend this mighty work for consideration. Yes, I think the book has it's faults too. There is a large degree of repetition in the text. Yes, it could also be better edited. I have also found missing references in the Index. Yes, the authors have worked with declassified files that have been released since the JFK Records Act, which do not form a complete picture without the remaining release in 2017. However, I go along with the review from the Sunday London Telegraph that describes this as 'A truly remarkable book, there is no doubting the compelling logic of its conclusions.'

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just OK for me. The subject was fascinating but the book was entirely too long and detailed. Many details were repeated over and over again (I believe partly to remind the reader of details that were given 300 pages ago). There seemed to be a footnote every third sentence.

The authors obviously did copious amounts of research and may have felt that the claims they were making (that the mafia had JFK assassinated and set-up Oswald for the fall) required such a detailed account. I sometimes got the feeling though that the authors threw so much detail at you in an attempt to keep you from questioning some of the assumptions they made in order to fill in gaps and support their conclusions.

[Patty Abrams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best JFK assassination explanation yet. Oswald thought he was going to go to Cuba on Nov 22 to help kill Castro. Instead, he became a patsy for the mafia shooting of JFK. The CIA couldn't reveal Oswald's identity. They also couldn't reveal the mafia did it, which they knew, because that would reveal the Castro plan.

[Jamey · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The book starts off with the premise of a fictitious covert operation, and goes from there..." --John Judge

I read 1/3 of this thing and I don't think I'm going to finish it. When it came out, I was busy editing Larry Hancock's manuscript for SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TALKED. I had the impression that the chief merit of both books was that each of them incorporated new material from John Martino, who ran in rightist Cuban Exile circles and had foreknowledge of 11-22 but not much of a role in it. Ultimate Sacrifice does that, but Larry does it better, and their book is marred by an obsession with "C-Day," a name Waldron and Hartman invented for an invasion of Cuba which they claim was scheduled for the end of 1963. I do not believe them. They also perpetuate the idea that RFK felt in retrospect, and to some degree actually was, unwittingly responsible for 11-22; I regard that claim as, at best, mistaken and at worst, sinister. Also, their prose is mediocre.

By contrast, I have just read the best 11-22 book to appear since Peter Dale Scott's Deep Politics and the Death of JFK in 1992. It's JFK AND THE UNSPEAKABLE: WHY HE DIED AND WHY IT MATTERS, by James W. Douglas; it's the best book I've read in years -- on any subject.

Ultimate Sacrifice does some things well, but it is not a book I recommend.

[Vheissu · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book because of a taunt from a poster on the Thom Hartmann Message Board. I read the book, the entire book, and I checked out the authors' "end notes." Suffice it to say that the book is a complete joke that quotes other conspiracy nuts as sources for their findings. Some of their original document references contradict the books' conclusions (Jack Ruby was not a gun runner in Florida), and other references are to documents that are 200 pages long but no page number for the reader to check. Hoo boy.

I wrote this on Thom Hartmann's Message Board and I'll repeat it here: People who take advantage of the gullible in order to line their own pockets should be ashamed.

My taunter never even read the book and I got kicked off Thom's Board. Oh, well.

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredibly detailed book looking at the great likelihood that Kennedy was assassinated. It is less about the grassy knoll than it is about the Mafia and Cuban connections that had good reason to target the Kennedy brothers.

For legal reasons the authors do not state who they thought would have led the Cuban coup they refer to - but it is quite clear from the context of their writing who they have in mind. worth reading just for that gem!

It is well written and highly readable. It is however very long, and sits on my shelf admonishing me for only getting half way through.

[Terry Cornell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long read, and well researched. I only gave it four starts instead of five because I found it repetitive at times. This book answers many questions I had about JFK's assassination, covers material I didn't know about, and I believe pretty much sums up what really happened.

If you're interested in the topic, and want to do a deep dive into the material I highly recommend the book. I'll try to sum up the major parts here. After the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the CIA continued with their plots on trying to get assassinate Castro. Bobby Kennedy, and his associates in the Dept. of Defense, and some of the national intelligence agencies worked with several Cuban exile groups to stage a coup to get rid of Castro in early December of 1963. Many of the exile leaders had been associates of Castro, and for various reasons had fallen out. A key figure in the coup was the head of the Cuban military. Meanwhile, JFK through intermediaries was trying to work with Castro to get the Russians out of Cuba.

At the same time Bobby Kennedy and his justice department were prosecuting Jimmy Hoffa, head of the Teamsters Union for using their pension fund for helping finance various organized crime projects. Kennedy is also targeting various organized crime leaders including Carlos Marcello (Dallas area boss) and Santo Trafficante (Miami/New Orleans boss). The Chicago crime family wasn't too happy with the Kennedy's either. Marcello and Trafficante lost significant businesses in Cuba when Castro took over, and continued having contacts there. As the book unfolds, the reader discovers that several key people have multiple roles. One of the most notable to me was Richard Cain, the head detective of the Cook County Sheriff's Dept. in Illinois. Cain was also a member of the Giancana crime family, and a CIA asset. Another key participant was the head of the CIA station in Miami, who had Cuban and organized crime contacts as well. These are just some of the associations to show how convoluted this whole thing became.

Basically, it comes down to this. Hoffa wanted Bobby dead. Organized crime wanted Bobby dead. The cooler heads in organized crime decided killing Bobby, would only infuriate JFK and increase prosecution. Killing JFK, would stop Bobby. Key players were used to co-opt and infiltrate Bobby's Cuba coup plan, and re-aim it at JFK. They felt Govt sources would help cover up the assassination because they didn't want their coup/Castro assassination plan to go public. Plus key govt office holders would be implicated in this Cuba plan. The govt also didn't want their contact in Castro's military to be identified, because that would potentially ruin other plans and relationships. If this sounds complicated, it certainly is! It also explains why some of this information still isn't public to this day.

I wasn't aware that the Dallas killing was actually the third attempt. The original plan was to Kill JFK in Chicago at the beginning of November. Kennedy's Chicago trip was aborted when threats were leaked to the Secret Service. The second plan was to kill Kennedy in Tampa the week before Dallas. Again threats were leaked, but Kennedy felt he had to make the trip to bolster the situation in Cuba through a speech he gave. Security was heavily increased, deterring an actual attempt.

Dallas--After reading this it's obvious Oswald never fired the rifle. The book goes into great detail how Oswald was an asset of Naval Intelligence, and the CIA. He was a poor marksman, barely passing the basic Marine shooting requirement. The rifle he supposedly used was in very poor condition. He was always supposed to be the fall guy. Part of the Cuba plot, was to get Oswald into Cuba and have him be the fall guy for Castro's assassination since Oswald had ties to Russia. Eye witnesses in the motorcade believe that the initial shots came from the grassy knoll. In fact that's where law enforcement first converged. Several witnesses claim encounters with 'secret service' agents, but all agents accompanied JFK to the hospital. Eye witness accounts of Oswald in the depository lunchroom didn't give him enough time to assemble the rifle, and set up a snipers nest. Shooters were in both locations.

Jack Ruby had more connections to organized crime and Cuba than I realized. He worked for Al Capone in Chicago, later moved on to working in unions and becoming an associate of Jimmy Hoffa. Later on he was running guns to Cuba, both for Castro, and later for the exiles. He certainly had associates in the Dallas PD, as well as the Marcello crime family. The book asserts that it was his responsibility to have Oswald silenced either by 'fake' or real law enforcement officers. When that failed he had to do the job himself.

Side note--I often read multiple books at the same time, not necessarily associated with each other. Along with this book, I started reading 'The Irishman' a narrative interview with Frank Sheeran who was a union associate and friend of Jimmy Hoffa, and admits that he is the person that killed him along with an organized crime group. Hoffa had served time in prison, and upon his release he wanted to regain the presidency of the Teamsters Union, and was boasting that he 'knew things', implying that he would divulge information implicating others if not elected. Organized crime bosses took this as a threat that he would divulge organized crime's role in the Kennedy killing and this is why Hoffa was 'disappeared'. Again much more detail in the book. Tried to put this in a nutshell here, but I know there's a lot of cracks! Read the book, and see for yourself.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a long time to get through this book. So much information. It proves to me that things are never what they seem. A quote from a show (I forgot which) comes to mind after reading this, "You know too much to live!".

A great account of the events of the time, thanks to release of information. I wonder what else is still secret or destroyed?

[Kim Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't my usual fare, but I found it riveting and hard to put down, despite its length. Waldron and Hartmann present exhaustive evidence for one school of thought. I found it compelling and unforgettable.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating book but the poor editing made it very hard to read.

[Daniel Severin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this huge, historic work was like watching Tarantino's Kill Bill. (Stick with me for a moment.) Riveting and engaging, but by the end of it I felt the clunky-ness of it, and not just in my wrists from holding up the heavy hardback. But like that 2004 film, damn if I could think of a way to improve Ultimate Sacrifice without severely re-editing it. Unlike Kill Bill's endless fights and cinematic homages, though, what makes Ultimate Sacrifice so impressive is the volume of new information it contains. A previously unreported attempt on JFK's life in 1963? Multiple ringers/Oswald analogues set up to possibly take the fall, complete with mysterious trips to Mexico? And an African American secret service agent who the Mafia framed to help cover up their assassination plot, using testimony of someone he had sent to jail? Not to mention a concise overview of mid-20th century Mafia activities in the US. Those are only a handful of the astounding elements that Waldron and Hartman unravel for the reader in the first third of this book.

This was a perfect book to read at home during the Covid-19 shelter in place: epic, revealing and grounded in the reality that the government often has a hidden agenda. It's worth your time, quarantine or no. I understand that there's a newer edition that has been updated and revised to reveal who the Coup Leader was. I'll look out for it when the order is lifted and the bookstore is back open for business.

[Gary Harriman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been intrigued by modern US history all of my adult life and am now a joint US/UK citizen. The JFK assassination (and other major historical events that are, in y view, linked to it-Francis Gary Power`s U2 shoot down, MLK and RFK`s assassinations and even Watergate) still proves to be an enigma. In my view, from what I have seen of this poorly edited and repetitive book thus far, it is my opinion that no further definitive information or answers to this mystery have been provided by this book, just more questions. Any person that has researched the murder of JFK should not be too surprised by the cj3aims made in this book and, indeed, any JFK assassinations buff worth his or her salt will already know about the CIA and mob connection and the anger both groups felt towards both Kennedy brothers (many if not all of Nixon`s `plumbers` were Cubans linked to the Bay of Pigs and the CIA). The book seems like an interesting read, but it should not be taken as the ultimate last word as to hat really happened to John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his brother 5 years later. In my view, all elements had to be involved, but how they were involved is another question!

[David Gagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's hypothesis is that the Kennedy's were preparing a coup in Cuba to be followed by US invasion (authors refer to this as C-day). These plans were discovered and penetrated by the Mafia, notably mobsters Marcello, Trafficante and Roselli. They then used this to arrange the assassination knowing that a cover up would occur to protect the Coup Plan. The book is meticulously researched, and full of detailed accounts of meetings and connections between the players. Not sure if the authors have succeeded in proving their hypothesis, but along the way we encounter some hugely interesting revelations. In particular, the deep mafia connections of Jack Ruby and the earlier attempts to kill JFK at Chicago and then at Tampa only weeks and days before Dallas. Not an easy read because of the level of detail on each page, but revealing nevertheless.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first attempted to read this massive book several years ago, but had to stop because I was just too busy at the time to give it the brainpower that it required to keep all the players straight. Now, after doing a bit more reading involving JFK, I was ready to take another crack at it.
I found all of the governmental secrecy and the need for it even after several decades incredibly intriguing, and I attacked this book with a new vigor.
It was fascinating to know how all of the pieces fell into place and how everything went so tragically wrong for JFK.
I really enjoyed this book and gained a great deal of knowledge from reading it. I will definitely check out these authors again in the future.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent book. Had good information, but was too long and repetitive.

[Gloria Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well documented book, but it needs better editing is all. Why is it that we have to wait 30 to 50 years before being able to find out what was actually going on while we were busy living our own lives. The wait is purely to cover over evil behavior and plans.

I am amazed at how the mob has organized and infiltrated so many organizations and people. There is a central Mafia governing board and individual areas under them. Not only did Kennedy have the backing (financial) of the mob, but so did Nixon (whose entire political career was guided and financed by certain mob figures in California/Chicago/Florida, Trafficante, Roselli, M. etc. - he also gambled a great deal and especially liked Cuba. He was in Cuba a great deal even before he was Vice President. A lot of the men who were caught in Watergate were mob related as well as CIA involved), Goldwater (a playboy), LBJ (whose entire political career was financed by the mafia in Dallas).

[Jon]

Reading this makes me think the songs from CAMELOT that really apply to the Kennedy administration are the two they didn't use in the movie: "Fie on Goodness" ("O to burn a little town or kill a dozen men/Anything to laugh again") and "The Seven Deadly Virtues." ("Let others take the high road, I will take the low/I cannot wait to rush in where angels fear to go.") Waldron and Hartmann make--at great but necessary length--the case that three Mafia leaders killed JFK, used Lee Harvey Oswald as the "patsy" (as LHO said himself), and got away with it because they knew about the Kennedy brothers' secret plan to invade Cuba on or around Dec. 1, 1963. I don't know if the book's thesis is true but it is plausible, plus it's always useful to be reminded of how sleazy liberal Democratic politicians can be (Obama supporters take note). Simply put, this makes more sense than any other JFK conspiracy theory I've heard of.

[Jimmie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the Byzantine story line, the truth behind the JFK murder. And the authors did not have to use a magic bullet. Spoiler alert, the mafia did it. Top mafia fathers were being prosecuted by Robert Kennedy and they were looking for a way out of their troubles. So, Trafficante, Marcello, Rosselli and Hoffa started a plan.But they ingeniously intertwined it with the CIA/ Kennedy brothers plan to stage a coup in Cuba on Dec 1,1963. The mafia literally tied the government's hands in investigating JFK's murder to avoid exposing the plot and the people involved and starting a war. LBJ was convinced Castro was behind JFK's murder and left him and Cuba alone. And he was not alone. Oswald was working for the CIA, which had been infiltrated by the mafia. Oswald was set up to take the fall and Ruby was set up to silence him. And Ruby was working for the mafia. JFK's murder is one of America's biggest what if moments in history. PS, I love Thom Hartmann.

[Richelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book ended up having to be sloshed through. It turns out that previous reviews were, in fact, correct and a healthy editing could have been useful. The subject matter is so utterly fascinating; it's too bad the authors were so repetitive with their facts. This alone turned what could have been a five star outing into a mediocre sludge fest.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many books on the JFK assassination over the years. The evidence for a conspiracy includes many peculiar events and individuals which are hard to explain. I thought the authors of this book came up with a most coherent scenario which explains many peculiar events.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Massive, repetitive, kinda mind-numbing. But it covers in lots of detail the new information that has come out in the last 20 years, mostly as a result of the wave of documents that were released during the Clinton administration.

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, I couldn't even finish the intro of this book. Took it back to the library.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me 8 months to read. HARD TO READ! All in the the mob played a large role in killing JFK.

[Steve Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books ever on the subject.