There was a rumor that JFK [President Kennedy] survived the
assasination, and may have lived several years afterwards. One
evidence for this is that Jackie, Kennedy's wife, visited a certain
hospital room, far more often than she visited his grave. Can you find
out about this rumor? Any info.

Second, President Johnson created a memo or papers on the
assasination, which contained information that he said would be too
hard for Americans to know. So he authorized its release in 1990s or
after 2000.  I later heard that [President Ford?] extended the release
until later. I would like general info on the papers and when they
would get released.

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 20 Nov 2003 15:26 PST

I have found information on the rumor in the first part of your
question.  I can't say whether it has any basis, but at least I have
the specific information behind that rumor.

As for the second part of your question, I have found information that
President Johnson sealed some records for seventy-five years, though
other records were released.  Some of the remaining records were
released, and the delay in release for the remaining documents was
shortened, by a law signed under President George H.W. Bush.

Would this information be a sufficient answer?

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Clarification of Question by terrasatellite-ga on 20 Nov 2003 16:18 PST

That is exactly what I and searching for... yes, that is good.

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 20 Nov 2003 16:23 PST

The information I have found on the records also includes a few
investigations during the Ford administration.  The papers for one of
these investigations were secret and kept in the Ford Presidential
Library until the passage of the law by the first President Bush.

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 20 Nov 2003 16:24 PST

I was posting while you were, apparently.  Okay, I will answer the question.

Hello terrasatellite,

The information I have found on the rumor is contained here:

"The Gemstone Files", by Virginia McCullough (2001)
NewsMakingNews
http://www.newsmakingnews.com/vmgemstonejfkalivepics.htm

Among other things, it cites a nurse who "said Kennedy was the only
patient in Onassis' private hospital ..."  It also talks about alleged
pictures of Jackie Onassis visiting Kennedy.

As for the records relating to the assassination, the following
document explains the history of the investigations and the records,
and the enactment of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination
Records Collection Act of 1992, which required the release of many of
the secret records, and established the year 2017 as the presumptive
release date for other records.

"Chapter 1 - The Problem of Secrecy and the Solution of the JFK Act",
from the  Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board Final Report
(1998)
U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (NARA)
http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/assassination_records_review_board/arrb_review_board_report/arrb_report_chapter_01.pdf

While this report notes that President Johnson authorized the release
of most records from the Warren Commission, the National Archivist
noted in 1988 that some records had been sealed for 75 years.  (That
has now changed under the 1992 law.)

"Documenting and Preserving Our National Heritage Through the National
Archives", address by Don W. Wilson, Archivist of the United States
(October 4, 1988) [question and answer at bottom of page 11]
Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Kansas City [University of
Missouri-Kansas City]
http://www.umkc.edu/whmckc/PUBLICATIONS/MCP/MCPPDF/Wilson-10-4-88.pdf

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott


Search terms used on Google:

"jfk did not die" hospital
"warren commission" sealed

[I tried other searches as well, but these were the most successful. 
I also browsed NARA's pages on the JFK Assassination Papers (
http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/index.html ), which you
might find interesting.]

A few clarifying comments:

"until the passage of the law by the first President Bush"
The first President Bush not only did NOT have anything to do with the
successful passage of this law, he apparently opposed it. Although the
law directed him to immediately appoint a panel for the AARB
(Assassination Records Review Board) within 90 days, he in fact
stonewalled on this. He received nominations for the Board, but
refused to take any action whatsoever on them -- other than to make
sure that the list was no longer present in the White House when he
left office after failing to be re-elected.

It took some time after President Clinton took office to obtain a copy
of that list, but once he did, he appointed highly-capable and
respected Americans to fill those positions.

Under the Chairpersonship of the Honorable John R. Tunheim (who became
a US District Judge in December 1995), from his confirmation in
February 1994 until the Board's Final Report was issued in September
1998, the Board proceeded under the directive that ALL documents were
to be fully released unless the government agency(ies) responsible for
a specific document could demonstrate clear and overriding proof that
full release would endanger a) an active government operation or b)
the life of an involved person. In those cases (and there were not
many of them), all but a few of the documents were still released from
classification immediately, and only the most critical information was
redacted from them.

In all, the ARRB effected the release of more than 4 MILLION pages of
documents which had previously been classified until the year 2039, in
addition to many other major accomplishments which are listed in the
Executive Summary at:

http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/assassination_records_review_board/arrb_review_board_report/arrb_report_summary.pdf


For more information and the contents of the ARRB's report in its
entirety, visit this site:

The JFK Assassination Records division of the National Archives / The
Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board
http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/assassination_records_review_board/arrb_report.html

Regards,

aceresearcher

If Aceresearcher's comment is accurate, then I may have read too much
into the statement in the chapter on the JFK Act, at page 7, that
"President George [H.]W. Bush signed the bill into law on October 26,
1992, just days before the
1992 federal election ...."  The remainder of that statement notes
that Bush "left the appointment of the Review Board to his successor,
President William J. Clinton."

According to the US Constitution, Congress, not the President, passes
the laws in this country.

Public Law No 102-526,
The John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act,
passed the Senate unanimously on July 27, 1992, and the House
unanimously on September 30, 1992, and it was cleared for the White
House on that day; however it was not actually presented to President
George H.W. Bush until October 15. Bush sat on it for 10 days before
signing it -- at which point his signature was a moot point, as the
bill automatically became law on that day, with or without his
signature.

It's not really a major point, but I think that President Bush's
signature did mean something in this case.

Article I, Section 7, of the Constitution states: "If any bill shall
not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted)
after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in
like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their
adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law." 
Assuming that Congress had not adjourned, the first part of the
sentence is the significant part.

On Monday October 26, 1992 -- ten days (not including Sunday the 25th)
after being presented the bill -- President Bush could have signed it
or returned it.  He signed it, so it became law.

I should note that Aceresearcher properly corrects my mistake (in one
of my Requests for Clarification) of suggesting that President Bush
passed the law.  In fact, as Aceresearcher explains, Congress passed
it; President Bush could only sign or veto it.