Book Reviews – L.B.J.'s Mortal Wound: The Don Reynolds Story

As someone who appreciates meticulously researched and historically significant narratives, Mortal Wound is an absolute gem. This book offers a front-row seat to one of the most tumultuous political dramas in American history: Don Reynolds’ courageous whistleblowing against Lyndon B. Johnson during the Bobby Baker scandal. The writing balances incredible depth of detail with an enthralling pace, making this both a rich historical document and an unputdownable read. What sets this book apart is its ability to illuminate the enormous personal stakes for Reynolds, his family, and even the fabric of U.S. democracy. The author’s first-hand perspective, as a relative of Reynolds, makes the story deeply intimate, yet it doesn’t shy away from exposing the broader implications of these events. The parallels drawn between Reynolds’ testimony and the assassination of JFK—the timing alone—left me in awe. The way Reynolds testified against Johnson while Kennedy’s motorcade rolled through Dallas is one of the most gripping moments in the book. The narrative doesn’t stop there. From FBI surveillance and death threats to mysterious fires and clandestine escapes, every chapter feels like it was plucked from the pages of a thriller—except it’s all real. The book doesn’t shy away from Reynolds’ flaws either, which only adds to its authenticity. I particularly appreciated the author’s painstaking research, including the use of primary documents, Senate testimonies, and even excerpts from LBJ’s private recordings. The archival depth is staggering but never overwhelming, always contextualized in a way that’s easy to follow. As a marketer and someone who loves storytelling, I was struck by how this book masterfully conveys the emotional weight of whistleblowing at the highest level of government. It’s not just a story about political intrigue; it’s about integrity, courage, and the personal toll of standing up for what’s right in the face of immense power. For anyone fascinated by political history, the Kennedy assassination, or the hidden machinations of power, Mortal Wound is a must-read. It challenges you to think deeply about the cost of truth-telling in a world where politics often trumps justice. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Many readers may not recognize the photo of the man who appears on the cover of this fascinating book or even the name "Don Reynolds". As I discussed with a fellow researcher Phil Singer (who wrote the prologue for this book), people who research/follow the JFK assassination often focus on specific areas of the still unsolved murder mystery---the Zapruder film, the Tippitt murder, Lee Harvey Oswald, etc. Anyone who has researched the personal history of the man who inherited the Oval Office because of Kennedy's death, Lyndon B. Johnson, does recognize the name "Don Reynolds" and does understand that what Reynolds personally knew about certain corrupt activities that were being investigated at the EXACT MOMENT Kennedy was killed should be of interest to every American. Because the author was related to Don Reynolds and knew him well does not mean that he ignored the illegalities that his uncle admitted to. Instead, Bob Nelson had the courage to "tell it like it was". In this book, readers will get a front row seat to the way certain members of our government protected a President while they allowed his associates to be publicly crucified. A copy of this book should be sent to every member of the Senate and the House of Representatives with a note reading "Do NOT allow something like this to happen again!" In the meantime, anyone who is unfamiliar with the name "Don Reynolds" and how his admissions of guilt were redirected so that the most important person involved avoided prosecution while others suffered will find this book fascinating! Even though I was familiar with the story, I, nevertheless, learned much more because it was produced by someone with access to inside information---someone who refused to excuse or cover up a scandal just because his family was involved. Kudos to you, Bob Nelson!

Bob Nelson’s book “L.B.J.’s Mortal Wound” is part history. And part family memoir. But it’s all true. It is the story of Bob’s uncle - Don Reynolds - an insurance salesman. And how he got caught up in some scandals involving Lyndon Johnson - as a Senator, as the Vice-President of the United States and as the President. The book also details how the author, Bob Nelson, was involved as a ten-year-old boy in Munster, Indiana - when the F.B.I. surveilled his house, looking for his uncle. Just as President John F. Kennedy was being assassinated in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963, Mr. Reynolds was giving testimony in Washington, D.C. about kickbacks to Vice President L.B.J. for a life insurance policy. Reynolds’s testimony was cut short as Johnson was now the President of the country. This all led to threats on the life of Reynolds, causing him to flee the country for a number of years. The book is filled with documents and photos and takes you through the very personal story that author Nelson experienced. Many of us have interesting family stories about a cousin or brother or aunt, etc. - but this all-true narrative involves two Presidents of the United States and corruption. The Don Reynolds story is not new. It has been written about in various books and has been shown in several documentary films. But it has never been told in such detail as now. And by a family member, Bob Nelson - the nephew of Mr. Reynolds. I have been working with the author, helping him to get his story out. I contributed four short chapters for the book. If President Kennedy had not been killed in Dallas that dark day, Johnson’s career may have been over. It’s all detailed in the book for you to enjoy. And it’s all true!

MURDER MOST FOUL: LBJ’S MORTAL WOUND By M.C. Armstrong Don Reynolds blew the whistle on Lyndon Johnson. In the new edition of his investigative memoir, LBJ’s Mortal Wound, Bob Nelson, Reynolds’ nephew, tells the story of his “Uncle Buck,” an Air Force veteran who was testifying against LBJ at the very moment JFK was being assassinated in Dallas. In the months leading up to the Kennedy assassination, Bobby “Little Lyndon” Baker was the talk of the town in America, just as Jeffrey Epstein is today. Just weeks before the killing in Texas (LBJ’s home state), the Bobby Baker scandal was the cover story of Life magazine and was scheduled to feature on the cover again on November 22, 1963. Baker, an LBJ adviser, an organizer for the Democratic Party, and the Secretary to the Senate’s Majority Leader, was running a money laundering, sex trafficking, and blackmail operation for Johnson and his cronies, and the media knew it. If Kennedy had lived, Reynolds’ testimony might have led to Johnson facing impeachment or prison. What was the “mortal wound” Uncle Buck threatened to inflict on LBJ, and what price did Reynolds pay for telling the truth? “In the RFK stadium bond deal,” Nelson writes, “my uncle showed illegal money flowing to the 1960 presidential campaign for Johnson. The President engineered a Senate cover-up, which still stands to this day. LBJ illegally used the FBI and IRS to abuse and intimidate my uncle, prevented a key witness, his aide Walter Jenkins, from testifying, and coordinated answers regarding the McCloskey affair, which was a potential obstruction of justice.” This is a story about agency capture, moral courage, and “one nation under blackmail,” to use the phrase coined by Nelson’s fellow Trine Day author,

@_whitneywebb

. Nelson, who was an adolescent during his uncle’s crucible, does a good job of creating a rhythm between personal memories, primary documents, and intelligent reporting on the crimes of “Lyin’ Lyndon.” LBJ’s Mortal Wound introduces readers to two profiles in courage: Uncle Buck and “Honest John” Williams, the Republican senator from Delaware who befriended the whistleblower and stood up for Uncle Buck in public. Nelson’s memoir is a timely account of something we need more of in America: parrhesia. What is parrhesia? This term, which I explore in my most recent book, comes to us from ancient Greece and literally translates to, “say everything.” #Parrhesia means to “speak freely” and with brute honesty, but it’s a much more rigorous concept than the layman’s understanding of “free speech.” To be parrhesiac is to speak bravely; it is to speak truth to power for the common good in a speech situation that puts the speaker at risk. In other words, you’re telling stories that challenge the establishment. Thus, the word’s recurrence in the original Greek of the Bible to describe Christ. Imagine the parrhesiac tradition as one that includes the likes of Christ, Socrates, MLK, JFK, RFK, Malcom X, Nelson Mandela, Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, Cornel West, Aaron Bushnell, and

@Snowden

. This is the space for those who make tremendous sacrifices in the name of the truth. Don Reynolds, as a veteran testifying under oath against his commander-in-chief, is one of the unknown legends of the parrhesiac tradition. My only complaint about this brave book is that it goes by too fast and that the author has come up short in his own search for the truth if, by the truth, one means those 17,000 pages of censored LBJ documents the American government still possesses. And so let this book review be a call to action for the JFK assassination research community and anyone out there who wants a more honest rendering of America’s Cold War history. Bob Nelson, like his Uncle Buck, has started the process of revealing the corruption of Lyndon Johnson and LBJ’s covert network of influence. Don Reynolds, whose farmhouse was burned down during the time of his testimony and who was threatened by Bobby Baker and told to leave the country by J. Edgar Hoover (“If you don’t, LBJ will have you killed”), risked everything to tell the truth. His nephew, with this excellent book, has carried the torch forward. Now it’s time for the rest of us to join the fight. Release the Don Reynolds files.