Wednesday, Aug 13 was a day of funerals for the victims at the Cielo Dr murder scene. Sharon, Jay, Abigail, and Steven were buried that day. But it wasn't all mourning. Oh no no no. Just 1 1/2 miles due south(and within sight) of the Tate house, there was a huge celebration that very evening. The host was The President of the United States, who invited 1400 of the Power Elite to the Century Plaza Hotel on the Avenue of the Stars in the Century City area of LA for a formal Presidential Dinner to celebrate the first landing on the moon and the safe return of the astronauts of Apollo 11.
The Los Angeles Times called it the "Dinner of the Century," and
the New York Times said it was "one of the largest, most prestigious,
and most publicized state dinners in history." It was also allegedly
the first White House Dinner outside the White House. A good chunk of
the governing body of the country was there that night. Among the
notables(and their wives) were:
The President and First Lady
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
The former Vice President Hubert Humphrey
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
50 Members of the House and Senate of the United States
44 out of 50 Governors of the States
14 members of the Nixon Cabinet, including Defense and State
83 Ambassadors or Charge D'Affaires from foreign countries
The
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Chief of Naval Operations,
The Commandant of the Marine Corps, The Chief of Staff of the Air Force,
and The Chief of Staff of the Army Gen William Westmoreland
The Director of the CIA, Richard Helms and the Deputy Director of the CIA
William J. Casey of New York (future head of the CIA)
Vice Adm William Raborn, ex-Director of the CIA
Asst to the Pres Henry Kissinger
Donald Rumsfeld
Gen Omar Bradley
Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty
Evelle Younger, DA for LA County (and Bugs' boss)
Mrs. Martha Mitchell, wife of the AG
And the Chairmen/Presidents of:
The
Export-Import Bank of the US, The Council of Economic Advisors, The
Atomic Energy Corp, McDonnell-Douglas, Boeing, North American Rockwell,
Martin Marietta, Northrop, General Dynamics, Grumman, Fluor, Lockheed,
Southern California Edison, Rocketdyne, Goodyear Aerospace, Chrysler,
Pepsi Cola, United Air Lines, Delta Air Lines, Western Air Lines,
Continental Air Lines, Pan American World Airways, Eastern Airlines, the
AFL/CIO, and the United Auto Workers
And William Randolph Hearst
and the Publishers of a dozen big city newspapers, the President of
ABC-TV, the President of RCA and all the bigwigs from the local TV
media. And Walter Cronkite, Clare Booth Luce, Roy Disney, and Walt
Disney's widow.
And from the Hollywood crowd there was Jack
Warner of Warner Bros Studios, Bob Hope, Fred MacMurray, Art Linkletter,
Jimmy Stewart, Mr. & Mrs. Edgar Bergen (parents of Candace Bergen),
and a dozen other household names.
Also the Rev Billy Graham,
the Archbishop of the LA diocese, Howard Hughes aide Robert Maheu, Willy
Messerschmidt of Munich, Germany, and of course Nixon sidekick Bebe
Rebozo.
Does
it mean anything? Beats me. Unanswered is why the President wanted
this dinner to be held way out in Los Angeles. Why not Washington DC,
or Houston, the home of NASA? 
It would be interesting to see the list of people who declined the invitation, did not show up, or said they were invited - but were not. LBJ did not attend and neither did Jackie O. I wonder if Sebring had scheduled appointments with any of the guests?
ReplyDeleteIt was a big day and not just a dinner in LA. Earlier that day there were parades in NYC and Chicago, so the celebration took part in the three major cities and regions within the USA.
The facilities at Century City were new, luxurious, and large. Dinner for 1440 is not easy to accommodate. Having the dinner in LA gives you 2-3 hours over east and central locations. The wives of those invited to this boondoggle would have been pleased with this location.
If they would have instead had it at the Houston Astrodome, the event would not have surpassed the College Basketball “Game of the Century” featuring “Elvin Hayes” and “Lew Alcindor”. But they would have been able to serve some really good barbecue brisket.
I have read that NASA paid for the $30 per head seven course dinner, which included: goose liver pate, salmon poached in champagne, and filet of beef.
I wonder if Joseph Ball was there? He seems to associate with 3-letter agencies.
I fail to see how this post has any relevance or connection to any aspect of the TLB murders specifically or the whole "Manson Story" in general.
ReplyDeleteDitto.
DeleteI think William Randolph Hearst in attendance was William Randolph Hearst Jr., his father died in 1951.
ReplyDeleteSixtiesRockRules! said:
ReplyDeleteI fail to see how this post has any relevance or connection to any aspect of the TLB murders specifically or the whole "Manson Story" in general
and
shoegazer said:
Ditto
Well, it's Starviego, isn't it. He will probably imply that Richard Helms and Richard Nixon, both being Richards with federal power {presidency and CIA}, were in LA to check up on how the CIA murder projects at Cielo and Waverly, that were aimed at breaking up the Hippy and anti-war movements, were playing out, and probably for a quick word with Reeves Whitson and Winnie Chapman to sort out who should get the credit for seeing the bodies first....🥱
A few things did occur on August 13, 1969 concerning TLB.
ReplyDeleteKasabian borrowed Hannum’s car to drive downtown, but instead drove to New Mexico.
James Mitchum, son of Robert Mitchum and in the social circle of Tate, was interviewed concerning Tate/Cielo.
Controversy 1. A coroner’s representative delivered blood samples to Granado. Was the sample said to be Frykowski’s, his (VF’s)?
Controversy 2. The Spahn Ranch Search warrant was supposedly issued on the 13th. Have never seen a signed/dated/sealed copy but only the A & P. Was there a clerical/procedural error?
Another way in which the Mansons were oddly prescient is in the assertion that the moon landings were faked, voiced by an unknown Family member back in '69:
ReplyDeletenevalalee.wordpress.com/2017/03/24/the-dark-side-of-the-moon/
The Manson Family murders began with the killing of a man named Gary Hinman, who was taken hostage on July 25, 1969, a day in which the newspapers were filled with accounts of the successful splashdown of Apollo 11. The week before, at the ranch where Manson’s followers were living, a woman had remarked: “There’s somebody on the moon today.” And another replied: “They’re faking it.”
The Jeff Guinn book, on pg 230, also refers to this.
The first I heard of this 'moon landings were faked' theory was in the internet age. Were the Mansons the first known source to make this claim, which has since blossomed into a major obsession of some internet conspiracy theorists? That would be a rather odd coincidence, wouldn't you say?
oo-ee-oo!
"...Richard Nixon, both ... were in LA ..."
ReplyDeleteClose. Nixon was in neighboring Orange County, at the Western White House at San Clemente at the time of the murders.
The Cielo and Waverly killings must have cast some kind of weird morbid shadow over The Dinner of the Century. Occurring just four days after the murders, when news coverage still made TLB a major story,
ReplyDelete