Blood, Money & Power: How L.B.J. Killed J.F.K.    by Barr McClellan Order:  USA  Can Hannover House, 2003 (2003) Hardcover, Audio, CD Read an Excerpt      Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth While I am politically challenged, I found Blood, Money & Power (an in depth study of politics at its most horrific) to be captivating. The author claims he can prove that LBJ killed JFK! To me, the Warren Commission - set up to prove or disprove the conspiracy theory - was a joke. McClellan validates my disbelief. As I read this incredible book, I found myself talking out loud ... So that's the way Big Oil controls the flow of fuel in this country ... So that's who was the power behind Johnson! He comes across in the book as a mean, power hungry man, racist to the core. The author documents how Johnson became Vice President and, through the horrendous death of JFK, how he became President of the United States. Johnson's delight in becoming an instant president could not be hidden, even in the aftermath of the shock of Kennedy's death - murder according to this account, not assassination. If, as the author claims, Johnson orchestrated events, his cruelty in having Jackie stand beside him in the presidential plane as he was sworn in as president seems beyond contempt. The woman stood there with her husband's blood and brains on her clothes, in obvious shock, while (according to the book) her husband's murderer stood beside her, took the oath of the office he killed to get, and then had the effrontery to smile about it. If true, this is surely stranger than fiction! McClellan takes the reader back to Johnson's childhood, to delve into his background and the state of the oil business and politics at that time in history. Seems like it all went downhill from there. Power was Johnson's goal early in life and, according to the author, he kowtowed to whomever was necessary to push him closer to what he considered his place in Texas and the country. The account of how the ballot boxes of the 1948 Senate elections were stuffed with illegal votes for Johnson is not surprising, but if true, it is appalling that he got away with it and rose to such prominence. I have always thought that, when the subject turned to politics, I was a natural born cynic. Listening to someone pontificate about what he or she can do for constituents always reminds me of elections in high school. Silly promises were made. None of them kept. It has always seemed to me that in politics and big business, the bottom line and a sense of power is, sadly, more important than the common good. If this book can be believed, I was right to be cynical. Who in power does anything simply because it's the right thing to do? Read Blood, Money & Power and decide for yourself - is this yet another conspiracy theory, or a shocking revelation of what really happened? Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more NonFiction books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews