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‘The Scarlet A’ : Assassination and the US Official Record from the Cold War to 9/11

Luca Trenta Orcid Logo

The Official Record

Swansea University Author: Luca Trenta Orcid Logo

  • Accepted Manuscript under embargo until: 21st November 2025

DOI (Published version): 10.7765/9781526174338.00008

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the place of assassination in US foreign policy, in its language and in the Official Record. Through a documentary analysis, the chapter highlights how multiple Administrations worked to preserve assassination as a policy option while engaging in a concerted effort to remove...

Full description

Published in: The Official Record
ISBN: 9781526174338 9781526174321
Published: Manchester Manchester University Press 2024
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64988
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last_indexed 2024-11-25T14:15:08Z
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spelling 2024-06-07T12:28:59.3561928 v2 64988 2023-11-14 ‘The Scarlet A’ : Assassination and the US Official Record from the Cold War to 9/11 77a2eaf23b410b1d6a38ea070f14f992 0000-0001-5681-8176 Luca Trenta Luca Trenta true false 2023-11-14 SOSS This chapter focuses on the place of assassination in US foreign policy, in its language and in the Official Record. Through a documentary analysis, the chapter highlights how multiple Administrations worked to preserve assassination as a policy option while engaging in a concerted effort to remove assassination from the Official Record. The chapter starts with an analysis of the 1950s and 1960s by exploring the individuals targeted and the language used by the US government. It highlights the pervasiveness both of assassination and of circumlocutory language, innuendos and euphemisms to describe assassination operations. It also showcases efforts by US officials to distance the US government from assassination, tampering with the Official Record. Starting with the explosive CIA ‘Family jewels’ collection, the next section explores the so-called ‘season of inquiry’. It looks at the Ford Administration’s reaction, including the Rockefeller Commission, the effort to stymie the Church Committee’s investigation and its interim report on assassination. It analyses the establishment of Executive Order 11905 which included a ban on assassination. The vagueness of the ban enabled the Reagan Administration to reinterpret it in ways that permitted the pursuit of its preferred policies. Finally, the influence of the Reagan Administration’s interpretations of the ban in the years prior to 9/11 is explored. The chapter concludes that these political and legal developments permitted the removal of assassination from the language of US foreign policy, opening the way for the proliferation of so-called ‘targeted killings’. Book chapter The Official Record Manchester University Press Manchester 9781526174338 9781526174321 21 5 2024 2024-05-21 10.7765/9781526174338.00008 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University Other 2024-06-07T12:28:59.3561928 2023-11-14T17:58:31.8365950 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations Luca Trenta 0000-0001-5681-8176 1 Under embargo Under embargo 2023-11-14T18:02:17.5650005 Output 247860 application/pdf Accepted Manuscript true 2025-11-21T00:00:00.0000000 true eng
title ‘The Scarlet A’ : Assassination and the US Official Record from the Cold War to 9/11
spellingShingle ‘The Scarlet A’ : Assassination and the US Official Record from the Cold War to 9/11
Luca Trenta
title_short ‘The Scarlet A’ : Assassination and the US Official Record from the Cold War to 9/11
title_full ‘The Scarlet A’ : Assassination and the US Official Record from the Cold War to 9/11
title_fullStr ‘The Scarlet A’ : Assassination and the US Official Record from the Cold War to 9/11
title_full_unstemmed ‘The Scarlet A’ : Assassination and the US Official Record from the Cold War to 9/11
title_sort ‘The Scarlet A’ : Assassination and the US Official Record from the Cold War to 9/11
author_id_str_mv 77a2eaf23b410b1d6a38ea070f14f992
author_id_fullname_str_mv 77a2eaf23b410b1d6a38ea070f14f992_***_Luca Trenta
author Luca Trenta
author2 Luca Trenta
format Book chapter
container_title The Official Record
publishDate 2024
institution Swansea University
isbn 9781526174338
9781526174321
doi_str_mv 10.7765/9781526174338.00008
publisher Manchester University Press
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations
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description This chapter focuses on the place of assassination in US foreign policy, in its language and in the Official Record. Through a documentary analysis, the chapter highlights how multiple Administrations worked to preserve assassination as a policy option while engaging in a concerted effort to remove assassination from the Official Record. The chapter starts with an analysis of the 1950s and 1960s by exploring the individuals targeted and the language used by the US government. It highlights the pervasiveness both of assassination and of circumlocutory language, innuendos and euphemisms to describe assassination operations. It also showcases efforts by US officials to distance the US government from assassination, tampering with the Official Record. Starting with the explosive CIA ‘Family jewels’ collection, the next section explores the so-called ‘season of inquiry’. It looks at the Ford Administration’s reaction, including the Rockefeller Commission, the effort to stymie the Church Committee’s investigation and its interim report on assassination. It analyses the establishment of Executive Order 11905 which included a ban on assassination. The vagueness of the ban enabled the Reagan Administration to reinterpret it in ways that permitted the pursuit of its preferred policies. Finally, the influence of the Reagan Administration’s interpretations of the ban in the years prior to 9/11 is explored. The chapter concludes that these political and legal developments permitted the removal of assassination from the language of US foreign policy, opening the way for the proliferation of so-called ‘targeted killings’.
published_date 2024-05-21T14:29:07Z
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