I’ve reported how President Richard Nixon had threatened the pinnacle of the CIA, saying: “I do know who killed JFK.” When he was pushed out of workplace, Nixon refused the safety of the Secret Service. This latest tried assassination was in line with their confirmed playbook. Use a claimed lone shoot, kill him to ensure there may be by no means a trial, and the issue is eradicated. I’ve typically mentioned that historical past is merely a map to the longer term, for human nature by no means modifications.
There have been assassinations and tried assassinations of Roman emperors by rivals and typically bureaucrats who have been making an attempt to weasel in to seize energy, just like the story of Sejanus, who had the emperor’s son poisoned by his spouse so he might marry her after which take out Tiberius to take the throne. His plot was found and terminated with him. There was additionally the equal of the Secret Service in Roman instances – the Praetorian Guard, they usually weren’t all the time reliable.
Throughout the Republican interval, the equal of the Praetorian Guard have been typically simply bodyguards for elite politicians. It was not till 27 BC that the Senate bestowed the title “Augustus” upon him, and he grew to become the primary emperor of Rome. From then on, the Praetorian Guard was established, they usually grew to become the emperor’s private safety escort—the traditional model of the Secret Service.
Nixon refused the safety of the Secret Service as a result of he was additionally a pupil of historical past. John O’Hurley is popping out this August with a documentary on Watergate, which he hopes will rehabilitate Nixon’s legacy. I met Nixon on the seaside on Lengthy Seashore Island years in the past after he left the White Home. I don’t recall the dialog, however I did get the sense he knew his historical past. I additionally recall he didn’t appear to have Secret Service on the time.
What the Deep State did to Nixon was to discredit him and his legacy to cowl up the darkish aspect of their anti-Democratic thirst for energy. This, Nixon’s historical past, is problematic, for it actually distorts their accomplishments and his combat towards the left and the rising pattern of communism, the place he honed the model of red-baiting, the place he would denounce an opponent as an anarchist, communist, Marxist, socialist, or Stalinist. His well-known 1959 Kitchen Debate with Khrushchev established his perception in freedom and capitalism.
There’s undoubtedly precedent for fearing the Secret Service. Traditionally, 13 Roman Emperors have been assassinated by their Praetorian Guard – the very elite group who have been to protect the emperor. There was roughly a 20.5-year interval on common between these assassinations. It’s three such intervals since Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963 – 61 years to 2024, earlier than apparently the following goal was Trump.
Killed by the Praetorian Guard
Caligula (17-41AD)
Galba (68-69AD)
Commodus (177-192AD)
Pertinax (193AD)
Caracalla (198-217AD)
Elagabalus (218-222AD)
Balbinus (238AD)
Pupienus (238AD)
Gordian III (238-244AD)
Philip II (244-249AD)
Aurelian (270-275AD)
Probus (276-282AD)
Numerian (283-284AD)