Gerald L. Posner
Author of Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK
About the Author
Gerald Posner received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley in 1975 and a law degree from Hastings Law School in 1978. He was one of the youngest attorneys ever hired by the Wall Street law firm of Cravath, Swaine and Moore. He co-founded the New show more York law firm Posner and Ferrara. He is the author of more than ten books including Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK, and God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Gerald L. Posner
Secrets of the Kingdom: The Inside Story of the Secret Saudi-U.S. Connection (2005) 146 copies, 2 reviews
Killing the Dream : James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1998) 141 copies
Hitler's Children: Sons and Daughters of Leaders of the Third Reich Talk About Their Fathers and Themselves (1991) 131 copies, 4 reviews
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Posner, Gerald Leo
- Birthdate
- 1954-05-20
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Hastings College of the Law - Occupations
- lawyer
journalist - Organizations
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Talk
The Daily Beast - Relationships
- Posner, Trisha (wife)
- Short biography
- John Martin of ABC News says "Gerald Posner is one of the most resourceful investigators I have encountered in thirty years of journalism." Garry Wills calls Posner "a superb investigative reporter," while the Los Angeles Times dubs him "a classic-style investigative journalist." "His work is painstakingly honest journalism" concluded The Washington Post. The New York Times lauded his "exhaustive research techniques" and The Boston Globe talked of Posner's "thorough and hard-edge investigation." "A meticulous and serious researcher," said the New York Daily News. "Posner, a former Wall Street lawyer, demolishes myths through a meticulous re-examination of the facts," reported the Chicago Tribune. "Meticulous research," Newsday.
Anthony Lewis in the New York Times: "With 'Killing the Dream,' he has written a superb book: a model of investigation, meticulous in its discovery and presentation of evidence, unbiased in its exploration of every claim. And it is a wonderfully readable book, as gripping as a first-class detective story."
"What we need is a work of painstakingly honest journalism, a la 'Case Closed,' Gerald Posner's landmark re-examination of the assassination of John F. Kennedy," concluded Joe Sharkey in the New York Times.
Gene Lyons, in Entertainment Weekly: "As thorough and incisive a job of reporting and critical thinking as you will ever read, Case Closed does more than buttress the much beleaguered Warren Commission's conclusion ….More than that, Posner's book is written in a penetrating, lucid style that makes it a joy to read. Even the footnotes, often briskly debunking one or another fanciful or imaginary scenario put forth by the conspiracy theorists, rarely fail to enthrall...Case Closed is a work of genuine patriotism and a monument to the astringent power of reason. 'A'"
Jeffrey Toobin in the Chicago Tribune: "Unlike many of the 2,000 other books that have been written about the Kennedy assassination, Posner's 'Case Closed' is a resolutely sane piece of work. More importantly, 'Case Closed' is utterly convincing in its thesis, which seems, in light of all that has transpired over the past 30 years, almost revolutionary....I started 'Case Closed' as a skeptic - and slightly put off by the presumptuous title. To my mind historical truth is always a slippery thing. The chances of knowing for sure what happened in any event - much less one as murky as the Kennedy assassination - seem remote. But this fascinating and important book won me over. Case closed, indeed."
Posner was one of the youngest attorneys (23) ever hired by Cravath, Swaine & Moore. A Political Science major, Posner was a Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of California at Berkeley (1975), where he was also a national debating champion, winner of the Meiklejohn Award. At Hastings Law School (1978), he was an Honors Graduate and served as the Associate Executive Editor for the Law Review. A partner in Posner & Ferrara, the New York law firm he founded, he represents a mostly international clientele from offices in New York and Washington D.C.
In the past, he has been a freelance writer on investigative issues for several news magazines, and a regular contributor to NBC, the History Channel, CNN, FOX News, CBS, and MSNBC. In 2009 he was the Chief Investigative Reporter for The Daily Beast. A former member of the National Advisory Board of the National Writers Union, Posner is a member of the Authors Guild, PEN, The Committee to Protect Journalists, and Phi Beta Kappa. His wife, author, Trisha Posner, helps him on the research for all his projects.
http://www.posner.com/gerald-posner-b... - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- San Francisco, Californie, Etats-Unis
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
I went looking for a conspiracy....I wanted to find one. However, Mr. Posner does a great job in debunking the most popular conspiracy theories. I did not take his word as the gospel truth, but also read it along side the Warren Commission's Report, The House Select Committee on Assassinations Report, and about 8 other books offering up such conspirators as: anti-Cuban Castro exile groups, the CIA/FBI, The KGB, LBJ, and the Mafia. However, there is not one that can make its case without huge show more gaps and holes. I spent months piecing together controverted testimonies from the SAME PERSON. No doubt in my mind that Oswald and Ruby acted alone. show less
I am not a conspiracy theorist (anymore) but I always had questions about the JFK assassination. Stories I heard and facts I thought I knew made the assassination and the conspiracy fun and interesting. A friend recommended I read this book.
Case Closed is, at its core, a biography of Lee Harvy Oswald but it is also much more. After covering different aspects and times in his life, the Posner then tackles all the different theories, lies, and half-truths that have been told and repeated show more through books and movies.
Posner tells the story of an unreliable and unstable Oswald that assassinated JFK with no help, backing, or knowledge from Russia, mob, or US Government. To do this, he uses facts, eyewitness accounts, technology and reasoning.
I found this very informative and enjoyable. show less
Case Closed is, at its core, a biography of Lee Harvy Oswald but it is also much more. After covering different aspects and times in his life, the Posner then tackles all the different theories, lies, and half-truths that have been told and repeated show more through books and movies.
Posner tells the story of an unreliable and unstable Oswald that assassinated JFK with no help, backing, or knowledge from Russia, mob, or US Government. To do this, he uses facts, eyewitness accounts, technology and reasoning.
I found this very informative and enjoyable. show less
Picked this one up at the used book store at my local library for a dollar. Came out in 1993, not long after Oliver Stone's film homage to the conspiracy nuts.
Poser wades bravely into the fever swamps of JFK conspiracy theories with an extraordinarily well-documented account of Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby, explaining how Oswald came to kill Kennedy and Ruby came to kill Oswald. I suspect you all know the facts -- they're essentially as the Warren Commission determined them -- so I'll show more focus on the few exceptions, some other things that were new to me, and some observations on why the conspiracy theories have such tenacity even though they lack any credibility.
The Warren Commission erred in some of its sketches of Kennedy's neck wound location, and in its estimation of when the shots were fired. Better evidence puts the wounds consistently in the same location, supporting the autopsy report, and a modern analysis of the Zapruder film gives Oswald considerably longer to fire his shots than the Warren Commission estimated.
That's it. That's pretty much all they got wrong. Which is remarkable, considering that Warren pushed the Commission to complete its report in something approaching great haste, before the assassination could trigger World War III.
I had not realized just how deeply Oswald was involved in Marxism. He wasn't just a loony who somehow found his way to Russia; he was a committed Trotskyite from about age 15. (Which does not, of course, contradict him being a loony. May even be considered corroborating evidence.) After returning disillusioned to the U.S., Oswald made a determined effort to then defect a third time to Cuba, which he was hoping was the Marxist paradise Russia had turned out not to be, but even Cuba didn't want him. He then returned to Houston and the opportunity to assassinate JKF.
Marina, Oswald's wife, married him essentially because he had his own apartment in Russia, then stayed with him after he returned to the U.S. essentially because she found she liked life in the United States. In spite of the fact that Oswald refused to teach her any English, as a way to control her.
I had not realized what a loser Ruby was. The conspiracy theories that he had mob connections founder on the reality that no mobster with any instinct for survival would have touched him. Ruby was an unbalanced individual who had to be where the action was, and his murder of Oswald was arguably so impulsive and happenstance that he could very well have copped a 5-year "murder without malice" plea if his attorney, Melvin Belli, hadn't gambled on getting him off completely ... by arguing he was delusional. The world can do without lawyers like that.
Finally, I was surprised how many of the "witnesses" used by conspiracy buffs are obvious nut-cases. A surprising fraction (or maybe not) have spent time in mental institutions. It's a little incredible these folks are given any credibility by anyone at all.
An interesting side story is that of New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison, who conjured up a case against Clay Shaw essentially out of thin air. Shaw vaguely resembled a "Clay Bernstein" made up by a flamboyant New Orleans attorney notorious for his tall tales. Garrison was afflicted by a positively Stalinesque case of paranoia, and even most of the conspiracy buffs have tried to distance themselves from him. (Though not Oliver Stone.) Garrison was actually dropped from the National Guard after being diagnosed as suffering from severe psychopathology, but somehow this didn't derail his political career.
So why do conspiracy theories have such traction? It's really hard to beat the explanation first offered by William Manchester and quoted by Posner, that it just isn't possible for a lot of people to accept that a popular President could be offed by a complete nobody. Yet that's what the facts say. This is just too much cognitive dissonance for a lot of people, apparently. I find myself wondering if the same dynamics aren't behind the 9/11 Truthers: That a handful of young Muslim losers could kill thousands and bring down two great works of civil engineering is just too much cognitive dissonance to accept.
Anyway, Posner's book is highly recommended for anyone who hasn't read it already and is not already burned out on the JFK assassination. show less
Poser wades bravely into the fever swamps of JFK conspiracy theories with an extraordinarily well-documented account of Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby, explaining how Oswald came to kill Kennedy and Ruby came to kill Oswald. I suspect you all know the facts -- they're essentially as the Warren Commission determined them -- so I'll show more focus on the few exceptions, some other things that were new to me, and some observations on why the conspiracy theories have such tenacity even though they lack any credibility.
The Warren Commission erred in some of its sketches of Kennedy's neck wound location, and in its estimation of when the shots were fired. Better evidence puts the wounds consistently in the same location, supporting the autopsy report, and a modern analysis of the Zapruder film gives Oswald considerably longer to fire his shots than the Warren Commission estimated.
That's it. That's pretty much all they got wrong. Which is remarkable, considering that Warren pushed the Commission to complete its report in something approaching great haste, before the assassination could trigger World War III.
I had not realized just how deeply Oswald was involved in Marxism. He wasn't just a loony who somehow found his way to Russia; he was a committed Trotskyite from about age 15. (Which does not, of course, contradict him being a loony. May even be considered corroborating evidence.) After returning disillusioned to the U.S., Oswald made a determined effort to then defect a third time to Cuba, which he was hoping was the Marxist paradise Russia had turned out not to be, but even Cuba didn't want him. He then returned to Houston and the opportunity to assassinate JKF.
Marina, Oswald's wife, married him essentially because he had his own apartment in Russia, then stayed with him after he returned to the U.S. essentially because she found she liked life in the United States. In spite of the fact that Oswald refused to teach her any English, as a way to control her.
I had not realized what a loser Ruby was. The conspiracy theories that he had mob connections founder on the reality that no mobster with any instinct for survival would have touched him. Ruby was an unbalanced individual who had to be where the action was, and his murder of Oswald was arguably so impulsive and happenstance that he could very well have copped a 5-year "murder without malice" plea if his attorney, Melvin Belli, hadn't gambled on getting him off completely ... by arguing he was delusional. The world can do without lawyers like that.
Finally, I was surprised how many of the "witnesses" used by conspiracy buffs are obvious nut-cases. A surprising fraction (or maybe not) have spent time in mental institutions. It's a little incredible these folks are given any credibility by anyone at all.
An interesting side story is that of New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison, who conjured up a case against Clay Shaw essentially out of thin air. Shaw vaguely resembled a "Clay Bernstein" made up by a flamboyant New Orleans attorney notorious for his tall tales. Garrison was afflicted by a positively Stalinesque case of paranoia, and even most of the conspiracy buffs have tried to distance themselves from him. (Though not Oliver Stone.) Garrison was actually dropped from the National Guard after being diagnosed as suffering from severe psychopathology, but somehow this didn't derail his political career.
So why do conspiracy theories have such traction? It's really hard to beat the explanation first offered by William Manchester and quoted by Posner, that it just isn't possible for a lot of people to accept that a popular President could be offed by a complete nobody. Yet that's what the facts say. This is just too much cognitive dissonance for a lot of people, apparently. I find myself wondering if the same dynamics aren't behind the 9/11 Truthers: That a handful of young Muslim losers could kill thousands and bring down two great works of civil engineering is just too much cognitive dissonance to accept.
Anyway, Posner's book is highly recommended for anyone who hasn't read it already and is not already burned out on the JFK assassination. show less
In its final report, the 9/11 Commission famously called the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia "a problematic ally in combating Islamic extremism." Ostensibly, Posner "exposes the undeniable truth about U.S.-Saudi relations-and how the Saudis' influence on American business and politics poses a grave threat to our security." That is certainly a main thread here, but there is more just about the inherent racism, sexism and anti-Semitism of thee kingdom.
For this 2005 book, bin Laden and King Fahd are show more still alive. Not so much the named royal family contacts of the 9/11 terrorists that died mysteriously such as Prince Ahmed bin Salman, dead at 43. Also detailed is the likely close connection between a powerful member of the House of Saud and Abu Zubeydah, the highest-ranking al-Qaeda operative captured up to then by the United States
The role Saudi charities-including many controlled or supported by Kingdom officials-have played in bankrolling al-Qaeda and Islamic terror groups along with official government support to spreading Wahhabism through madrasas implies Saudi-sold oil means US consumers paying for their own threats. Even this is a bit of old hat yet it is instructive how the Nixon-initiated years of attempted self-sufficiency saw The Kingdom succeed in becoming a larger part of US oil imports.
The most interesting thing to me may be the "never-before-revealed" Saudi scorched earth plans in the event of a national crisis in the Kingdom: undetectable ("umarked") Semtex and radiological bombs integrated into critical infrastructure. By today the plastic explosives would be largely degraded. However, if they did in the 80s and 90s they may very well have maintained or improved it. show less
For this 2005 book, bin Laden and King Fahd are show more still alive. Not so much the named royal family contacts of the 9/11 terrorists that died mysteriously such as Prince Ahmed bin Salman, dead at 43. Also detailed is the likely close connection between a powerful member of the House of Saud and Abu Zubeydah, the highest-ranking al-Qaeda operative captured up to then by the United States
The role Saudi charities-including many controlled or supported by Kingdom officials-have played in bankrolling al-Qaeda and Islamic terror groups along with official government support to spreading Wahhabism through madrasas implies Saudi-sold oil means US consumers paying for their own threats. Even this is a bit of old hat yet it is instructive how the Nixon-initiated years of attempted self-sufficiency saw The Kingdom succeed in becoming a larger part of US oil imports.
The most interesting thing to me may be the "never-before-revealed" Saudi scorched earth plans in the event of a national crisis in the Kingdom: undetectable ("umarked") Semtex and radiological bombs integrated into critical infrastructure. By today the plastic explosives would be largely degraded. However, if they did in the 80s and 90s they may very well have maintained or improved it. show less
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