Dangerous Friendship : Stanley Levison, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Kennedy Brothers

The product of long-concealed FBI surveillance documents, Dangerous Friendship chronicles a history of Martin Luther King Jr. that the government kept secret from the public for years. The book reveals the story of Stanley Levison, a one-time Communist Party–USA leader who became one of King’s closest friends and, effectively, his most trusted advisor. Levison, a Jewish attorney and businessman, became King’s pro bono ghostwriter, accountant, fundraiser, and legal adviser. This friendship, however, created many complications for both men. Because of Levison’s former ties to the Communist Party, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover launched an obsessive campaign, wiretapping, tracking, and photographing Levison relentlessly. By association, King was labeled as “a Communist and subversive,” prompting then–attorney general Robert F. Kennedy to authorize secret surveillance of the civil rights leader. It was this effort that revealed King’s sexual philandering and furthered a breakdown of trust between King, Robert F. Kennedy, and eventually President John F. Kennedy. With stunning revelations, this book exposes both the general attitude of the U.S. government toward the privacy rights of American citizens during those difficult years as well as the extent to which King, Levison, and many other freedom workers were hounded by people at the very top of the U.S. security establishment. The product of long-concealed FBI surveillance documents, Dangerous Friendship chronicles a history of Martin Luther King Jr. that the government kept secret from the public for years. The book reveals the story of Stanley Levison, a well-known figure in the Communist Party–USA, who became one of King's closest friends and, effectively, his most trusted adviser. Levison, a Jewish attorney and businessman, became King's pro bono ghostwriter, accountant, fundraiser, and legal adviser. This friendship, however, created many complications for both men. Because of Levison's former ties to the Communist Party, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover launched an obsessive campaign, wiretapping, tracking, and photographing Levison relentlessly. By association, King was labeled as “a Communist and subversive,” prompting then–attorney general Robert F. Kennedy to authorize secret surveillance of the civil rights leader. It was this effort that revealed King's sexual philandering and furthered a breakdown of trust between King, Robert F. Kennedy, and eventually President John F. Kennedy. With stunning revelations, this book exposes both the general attitude of the U.S. government toward the privacy rights of American citizens during those difficult years as well as the extent to which King, Levison, and many other freedom workers were hounded by people at the very top of the U.S. security establishment. Contents 1 Cousin Stanley 2 A Walk in the Rose Garden 3 From Far Rockaway to Montgomery 4 The Communist 5 In Friendship 6 Harry Belafonte, Janet Levison, and a Totally Different “Kennedy” 7 A Stabbing in Harlem 8 Stanley Knew Better 9 Senator Kennedy Is Calling 10 Martin, Stanley, and Clarence 11 I Am Not Now and Never Have Been a Member of the Communist Party 12 I Have a Dream Today 13 The Same Thing Is Going to Happen to Me 14 Lyndon Johnson, Ping-Pong, and Bobby’s Transformation 15 Selma, Vietnam, and the Gathering Shadows 16 Bobby Prays in Indianapolis; Stanley Weeps in Atlanta Afterword: Negroes Will Not Return to Passivity Notes Sources Acknowledgments