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Howard P. Willens
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Howard P. Willens
Howard Penney Willens (born May 27, 1931) is a lawyer and author who served as Assistant Counsel to the Warren Commission from December 1963 to September 1964. In that role, Willens worked with the lawyers and agents conducting the investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, reviewed the lawyers’ memoranda for submission to members of the commission, and edited the material that became the Report of the commission. His book, History Will Prove Us Right: Inside the Warren Commission Report on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, published in 2013, relied on previously undisclosed primary sources to document the methods and strategies underlying the "most massive, detailed and convincing piece of detective work ever undertaken."
Willens was born in Oak Park, Ill., on May 27, 1931. He received his bachelor's degree, with high distinction, from the University of Michigan in 1953 and his Bachelor of Laws in 1956 from Yale Law School where he was an editor on the Yale Law Journal. Willens then served in the U.S. Army from 1956 to 1958 at Fort Lewis, Washington.
In late 1958, Willens joined the law firm of Kirkland, Ellis, Hodson, Chaffetz & Masters in Washington, D.C. At that time, the U.S. Senate's McClellan Committee was engaged in public hearings led by Robert F. Kennedy concerning the influence of organized crime in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and possible criminal conduct by the IBT president, Jimmy Hoffa. Separately, a lawsuit filed in 1957 by dissident union members resulted in a consent decree requiring Hoffa and other IBT officials to address evidence of corruption. The court created a three-member Board of Monitors to supervise and enforce the implementation of the consent decree.
In 1960, the Board of Monitors hired Kirkland Ellis to handle several disputes between the Board and the IBT concerning the union's compliance with the consent decree. Willens joined a team of lawyers headed by Herbert J. ("Jack") Miller, Jr. to investigate various allegations against Hoffa relating to the disappearance of IBT records and the misuse of union funds.
Following President Kennedy's election, Robert Kennedy was appointed Attorney General in 1961. He selected Jack Miller to serve as head of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, and Willens became Second Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division. They hired more lawyers to handle several investigations of Hoffa that were already underway in the Justice Department based on information collected by the McClellan Committee and the FBI. These investigations resulted in several indictments against Hoffa and his affiliates.
When Justice Department lawyers learned that Hoffa attempted to tamper with the jury in one of those cases, Robert Kennedy sent Willens to Tennessee to handle the Government's response. Hoffa was convicted of jury tampering in 1964 and sentenced to eight years in prison. When Hoffa appealed his conviction to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Willens represented the Government and obtained an order affirming the conviction in 1965.
On November 29, 1963, one week after President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed a seven-member commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren to conduct the federal government's investigation. Willens participated in early meetings inside the Justice Department concerning the law-enforcement response to the assassination. On December 5, he obtained one of the few copies of the FBI's preliminary report identifying Lee Harvey Oswald as the likely assassin, and prepared a summary noting critical errors in the FBI's work.
On December 17, Willens was assigned by Nicholas Katzenbach to join the staff of the Warren Commission, reporting to the chief counsel, Lee Rankin. Willens worked full-time on the commission's investigation until its report was issued on September 24, 1964. In the early days, his work focused on hiring lawyers and investigators; gathering and reviewing the records collected by the FBI and local police concerning the assassination; and preparing a rough outline of topics to be investigated and reported to the commission. Willens personally recruited several lawyers to join the staff, including Arlen Specter.
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Howard P. Willens
Howard Penney Willens (born May 27, 1931) is a lawyer and author who served as Assistant Counsel to the Warren Commission from December 1963 to September 1964. In that role, Willens worked with the lawyers and agents conducting the investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, reviewed the lawyers’ memoranda for submission to members of the commission, and edited the material that became the Report of the commission. His book, History Will Prove Us Right: Inside the Warren Commission Report on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, published in 2013, relied on previously undisclosed primary sources to document the methods and strategies underlying the "most massive, detailed and convincing piece of detective work ever undertaken."
Willens was born in Oak Park, Ill., on May 27, 1931. He received his bachelor's degree, with high distinction, from the University of Michigan in 1953 and his Bachelor of Laws in 1956 from Yale Law School where he was an editor on the Yale Law Journal. Willens then served in the U.S. Army from 1956 to 1958 at Fort Lewis, Washington.
In late 1958, Willens joined the law firm of Kirkland, Ellis, Hodson, Chaffetz & Masters in Washington, D.C. At that time, the U.S. Senate's McClellan Committee was engaged in public hearings led by Robert F. Kennedy concerning the influence of organized crime in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and possible criminal conduct by the IBT president, Jimmy Hoffa. Separately, a lawsuit filed in 1957 by dissident union members resulted in a consent decree requiring Hoffa and other IBT officials to address evidence of corruption. The court created a three-member Board of Monitors to supervise and enforce the implementation of the consent decree.
In 1960, the Board of Monitors hired Kirkland Ellis to handle several disputes between the Board and the IBT concerning the union's compliance with the consent decree. Willens joined a team of lawyers headed by Herbert J. ("Jack") Miller, Jr. to investigate various allegations against Hoffa relating to the disappearance of IBT records and the misuse of union funds.
Following President Kennedy's election, Robert Kennedy was appointed Attorney General in 1961. He selected Jack Miller to serve as head of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, and Willens became Second Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division. They hired more lawyers to handle several investigations of Hoffa that were already underway in the Justice Department based on information collected by the McClellan Committee and the FBI. These investigations resulted in several indictments against Hoffa and his affiliates.
When Justice Department lawyers learned that Hoffa attempted to tamper with the jury in one of those cases, Robert Kennedy sent Willens to Tennessee to handle the Government's response. Hoffa was convicted of jury tampering in 1964 and sentenced to eight years in prison. When Hoffa appealed his conviction to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Willens represented the Government and obtained an order affirming the conviction in 1965.
On November 29, 1963, one week after President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed a seven-member commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren to conduct the federal government's investigation. Willens participated in early meetings inside the Justice Department concerning the law-enforcement response to the assassination. On December 5, he obtained one of the few copies of the FBI's preliminary report identifying Lee Harvey Oswald as the likely assassin, and prepared a summary noting critical errors in the FBI's work.
On December 17, Willens was assigned by Nicholas Katzenbach to join the staff of the Warren Commission, reporting to the chief counsel, Lee Rankin. Willens worked full-time on the commission's investigation until its report was issued on September 24, 1964. In the early days, his work focused on hiring lawyers and investigators; gathering and reviewing the records collected by the FBI and local police concerning the assassination; and preparing a rough outline of topics to be investigated and reported to the commission. Willens personally recruited several lawyers to join the staff, including Arlen Specter.
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