Dangerous Friendship: Stanley Levison, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Kennedy Brothers
The product of long-concealed FBI surveillance documents, Dangerous Friendship chronicles a history of Martin Luther King Jr. that the government kept secret from the public for years. The book reveals the story of Stanley Levison, a well-known figure in the Communist Party–USA, who became one of King’s closest friends and, effectively, his most trusted adviser. Levison, a Jewish attorney and businessman, became King’s pro bono ghostwriter, accountant, fundraiser, and legal adviser. This friendship, however, created many complications for both men. Because of Levison’s former ties to the Communist Party, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover launched an obsessive campaign, wiretapping, tracking, and photographing Levison relentlessly. By association, King was labeled as “a Communist and subversive,” prompting then–attorney general Robert F. Kennedy to authorize secret surveillance of the civil rights leader. It was this effort that revealed King’s sexual philandering and furthered a breakdown of trust between King, Robert F. Kennedy, and eventually President John F. Kennedy. With stunning revelations, this book exposes both the general attitude of the U.S. government toward the privacy rights of American citizens during those difficult years as well as the extent to which King, Levison, and many other freedom workers were hounded by people at the very top of the U.S. security establishment.
1119000960
Dangerous Friendship: Stanley Levison, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Kennedy Brothers
The product of long-concealed FBI surveillance documents, Dangerous Friendship chronicles a history of Martin Luther King Jr. that the government kept secret from the public for years. The book reveals the story of Stanley Levison, a well-known figure in the Communist Party–USA, who became one of King’s closest friends and, effectively, his most trusted adviser. Levison, a Jewish attorney and businessman, became King’s pro bono ghostwriter, accountant, fundraiser, and legal adviser. This friendship, however, created many complications for both men. Because of Levison’s former ties to the Communist Party, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover launched an obsessive campaign, wiretapping, tracking, and photographing Levison relentlessly. By association, King was labeled as “a Communist and subversive,” prompting then–attorney general Robert F. Kennedy to authorize secret surveillance of the civil rights leader. It was this effort that revealed King’s sexual philandering and furthered a breakdown of trust between King, Robert F. Kennedy, and eventually President John F. Kennedy. With stunning revelations, this book exposes both the general attitude of the U.S. government toward the privacy rights of American citizens during those difficult years as well as the extent to which King, Levison, and many other freedom workers were hounded by people at the very top of the U.S. security establishment.
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Dangerous Friendship: Stanley Levison, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Kennedy Brothers

Dangerous Friendship: Stanley Levison, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Kennedy Brothers

by Ben Kamin
Dangerous Friendship: Stanley Levison, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Kennedy Brothers

Dangerous Friendship: Stanley Levison, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Kennedy Brothers

by Ben Kamin

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Overview

The product of long-concealed FBI surveillance documents, Dangerous Friendship chronicles a history of Martin Luther King Jr. that the government kept secret from the public for years. The book reveals the story of Stanley Levison, a well-known figure in the Communist Party–USA, who became one of King’s closest friends and, effectively, his most trusted adviser. Levison, a Jewish attorney and businessman, became King’s pro bono ghostwriter, accountant, fundraiser, and legal adviser. This friendship, however, created many complications for both men. Because of Levison’s former ties to the Communist Party, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover launched an obsessive campaign, wiretapping, tracking, and photographing Levison relentlessly. By association, King was labeled as “a Communist and subversive,” prompting then–attorney general Robert F. Kennedy to authorize secret surveillance of the civil rights leader. It was this effort that revealed King’s sexual philandering and furthered a breakdown of trust between King, Robert F. Kennedy, and eventually President John F. Kennedy. With stunning revelations, this book exposes both the general attitude of the U.S. government toward the privacy rights of American citizens during those difficult years as well as the extent to which King, Levison, and many other freedom workers were hounded by people at the very top of the U.S. security establishment.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781611861310
Publisher: Michigan State University Press
Publication date: 04/01/2014
Edition description: 1
Pages: 268
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Ben Kamin is a nationally known clergyman, teacher, counselor, and author of eight books on human values, civil rights, and spirituality.

Table of Contents

1 cousin Stanley 3

2 ft Walk in the Rose Garden 11

3 From far Rockaway to Montgomery 27

4 The Communist 39

5 In Friendship 53

6 Harry Belafonte, Janet Levison, and a Totally Different "Kennedy" 67

7 ft stabbing in Harlem 83

8 Stanley Knew Better 93

9 Senator Kennedy is Galling 111

10 martin, Stanley, and Clarence 127

11 I Am Not Now and Never Have Been a member of the Communist Party 143

12 I Have a Dream Today 157

13 The Same Thing Is Going to Happen to me 169

14 Lyndon Johnson, Ping-Pong, and Bobby's Transformation 181

15 Selma, Vietnam, and the Gathering Shadows 193

16 Bobby Prays in Indianapolis; Stanley Weeps in Atlanta 211

Afterword: Negroes Will Not Return to Passivity 225

Notes 231

Sources 241

Acknowledgments 247

Index 249

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