Jim Garrison - Legacy

Legacy

Some suggest that Garrison will be remembered positively, including political analyst Carl Oglesby who was quoted as saying, "...I have done a study of Garrison: I come out of it thinking that he is one of the really first-rate class-act heroes of this whole ugly story, which suffers so badly for heroes."

Garrison was later viewed as an embarrassment by writer Gerald Posner, who believes Oswald acted alone. However, several researchers, including Jim DiEugenio, William Davy, and Joan Mellen have defended Garrison.

Garrison came under contemporary criticism from writers including Sylvia Meagher, who in 1967 wrote: "...as the Garrison investigation continued to unfold, it gave cause for increasingly serious misgivings about the validity of his evidence, the credibility of his witnesses, and the scrupulousness of his methods. The fact that many critics of the Warren Report have remained passionate advocates of the Garrison investigation, even condoning tactics which they might not condone on the part of others, is a matter of regret and disappointment." According to Clay Shaw's defense team, witnesses, including Perry Russo, claimed to have been bribed and threatened with perjury and contempt of court charges by Garrison in order to make his case against Shaw. However, in a later interview with public radio, Perry Russo stated: "Well the truth of the matter was that Garrison was very sincere. Walter Sheridan tells me and threatens me that he's gonna take Garrison out and take me with him.