Existing comment:
"Great shooting General -- You hit every front page!"
"Walker"
"John Birch Society"
by William Canfield
Edwin Walker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edwin Anderson Walker (November 10, 1909 – October 31, 1993) -- known as Ted Walker -- was a United States Army officer who served in World War II and the Korean War. He became known for his staunch conservative political opinions and was criticized by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower for promoting a personal political opinion while in uniform. Walker resigned his commission during 1959, but Eisenhower refused to accept his resignation and gave Walker a new command of the 24th Infantry Division in Augsburg, Germany. Walker again resigned his commission during 1961 after being publicly and formally admonished by the Joint Chiefs of Staff for allegedly referring to Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman as "pink" in print and for violating the Hatch Act of 1939 by attempting to influence the votes of his troops. President John F. Kennedy accepted his resignation, making Walker the only US general to resign during the 20th century.
During early 1962, Walker campaigned for Governor of Texas and lost the Democratic primary election to the eventual winner, John Connally. During October 1962, Walker was arrested for promoting riots at the University of Mississippi in protest against admitting a black student, James Meredith, into the all-white university. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ordered Walker committed to a mental asylum for a 90-day evaluation in response to his role in the Ole Miss riot of 1962, but psychiatrist Thomas Szasz protested and Walker was released in five days. Attorney Robert Morris convinced a Mississippi grand jury not to indict Walker.
Walker was the target of an assassination attempt in his home on April 10, 1963, but escaped serious injury by the attack when a bullet fired from outside hit a window frame and fragmented. After its investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Warren Commission concluded that Walker's assailant had been Lee Harvey Oswald. |