Pierre Salinger
Encyclopedia
Pierre Emil George Salinger (June 14, 1925 – October 16, 2004) was a White House Press Secretary
to U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy
and Lyndon B. Johnson
. He later became known for his work as an ABC News
correspondent, and in particular for his stories on the American hostage crisis in Iran
, the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
over Lockerbie Scotland, and his claims as to the cause of the explosion of TWA flight 800
.
Salinger served as a United States Senator
in 1964 and was campaign manager
for the Robert F. Kennedy presidential campaign.
. His father, Herbert Salinger, was a New York City
-born mining engineer, and his mother, Jehanne (née Biétry), was a French
-born journalist. His maternal grandfather, Pierre Biétry
, was a member of the French National Assembly and devised Yellow socialism
. Salinger was raised in his mother's Catholic
religion, though his father was Jewish. Salinger attended public magnet Lowell High School. After serving with the United States Navy
to Lieutenant, junior grade
during World War II
, Salinger earned a B.S. from the University of San Francisco
in 1947.
Salinger then began his journalism career as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle
and as a contributing Editor to Collier's in the 1940s and 1950s.
became President of the United States
, he hired Salinger as his press secretary
. When JFK was assassinated
, Salinger was on a plane flying with six Cabinet members, including Secretary of State
Dean Rusk
, going to Tokyo
. Salinger's visit was to have been for an economic conference, and to start working on a visit JFK was going to take in February 1964 as the first American president to visit Japan
since World War II
. Salinger was retained by President Lyndon Johnson
as Press Secretary after JFK's death.
Following his service in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, Salinger returned to California and ran for the Senate. He defeated then California State Controller
Alan Cranston
in a contentious Democratic Primary. Governor of California
Pat Brown
, who had supported Cranston in the Primary, appointed Salinger a Democratic United States Senator
to fill the vacancy resulting from the July 30, 1964 death of retiring Senator Clair Engle
; he took office on August 4, 1964. In his bid for a full six-year term in the 1964 election, he was defeated by former actor George Murphy
following a campaign in which Salinger's only recent return to his native state became an issue, his legal residency even being challenged in court. Salinger was also hurt at the polls by his adamant support (despite advice from his political managers) of legislation banning racial housing discrimination.
Salinger resigned from the Senate on December 31, 1964, only three days before his term was to expire. Senator-elect Murphy, who was to take office on January 3, 1965, was appointed to fill the remaining two days of Salinger's term, giving Murphy a slight advantage in seniority in the Senate over other members of the "class of 1964" at a time when seniority was even more vital in Senate affairs than now.
Salinger appeared in a third season episode of Batman
, "The Joke's on Catwoman," broadcast on ABC on January 4, 1968. In the episode, Salinger portrays "Lucky Pierre," a lawyer who successfully defends Catwoman (Eartha Kitt
) and Joker (Cesar Romero
) by fixing the case, stacking the jury with former henchmen of Catwoman. However, the scam is foiled, and all guilty parties are sent to prison. In Salinger's first scene, he is sitting at his desk with a photo of a young Richard Nixon
prominently displayed, and in an amusing epilogue, Batman Adam West
laments Lucky Pierre's fate by saying, "If he hadn't gone so wrong, he might have had a fine career in politics, won a gubernatorial race, and the White House even."
Salinger was one of the managers of Robert F. Kennedy
's 1968 presidential campaign. When Senator Kennedy was shot to death
in June, Salinger was 10 to 12 ft (3 to 3.7 m) away from him. Salinger claims that Jim McManus, who was also working on the campaign, said to him, "I've got to get the message to Los Angeles, under no circumstances should Bobby go through that (Ambassador Hotel) kitchen ... there's usually grease on the floor. He's going to fall or something." Salinger was devastated by RFK's assassination
and moved to France
as a correspondent for L'Express
.
(In 1970, Salinger told a columnist for Newspaper Enterprise Association that JFK asked him in 1963 what he would like to do during his second administration. Salinger said he told Kennedy he wanted to be appointed U.S. Ambassador to France.)
as its Paris
bureau chief. He became the network's chief European correspondent based in London
in 1983.
In 1981, he was bestowed with a George Polk award for his scoop that the US government was secretly negotiating to free the Americans held hostage by Iran
.
In 1989, Salinger provided commentary on the Tour de France for ABC Sports.
In 1991, two Libyans were indicted over the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
in 1988, but Salinger believed Libya had been set up. In a 1989 ABC Prime Time Live Special, he and his producer, Lex Coleman named the so-called "Kenya
n Three" as the masterminds of the bombing. The program won an Emmy Award
.
After the August 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq
, ABC started work on a special program about the invasion and sent Salinger to the Middle East
, where he obtained a transcript in Arabic of a conversation between Saddam Hussein
and U.S. Ambassador
to Iraq April Glaspie
, in which Glaspie famously told Saddam: "We have no opinion on your Arab-Arab conflicts," interpreted by some as giving Saddam the green light to invade Kuwait, which he did days later.
, and became an executive with the Burson Marsteller
public relations firm before returning to France
in 2000. Until the late 80s, Salinger had been a popular TV pundit
in France, and was a frequent guest on French news and public affairs shows when someone was needed to explain or interpret American events for French viewers. Salinger even hosted a program for the cable network A&E
in the early 1990s called Dining in France.
Salinger later became known for his claims in November 1996 that friendly fire
from the United States Navy
was the cause of the TWA Flight 800
crash.
In November 2000, he became exasperated when he was denied permission to give exonerating evidence as part of his testimony before the Scottish Court in the Netherlands
to try two Libya
ns for the downing on December 21, 1988, of Pan Am Flight 103
over Lockerbie, Scotland. Salinger stated that he knew who the real bombers were, but was told by trial judge
, Lord Sutherland: "If you wish to make a point you may do so elsewhere, but I'm afraid you may not do so in this court."
He later made a permanent move to France, making good on his promise that, "If Bush
wins, I'm going to leave the country and spend the rest of my life in France."
Salinger died in October 2004 of heart failure in Cavaillon
hospital near his home in Le Thor
, France, at the age of 79. He is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery
across the Potomac River
from Washington, DC.
White House Press Secretary
The White House Press Secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the government administration....
to U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
. He later became known for his work as an ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
correspondent, and in particular for his stories on the American hostage crisis in Iran
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
, the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
over Lockerbie Scotland, and his claims as to the cause of the explosion of TWA flight 800
TWA Flight 800
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 , a Boeing 747-131, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 20:31 EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff, killing all 230 persons on board. At the time, it was the second-deadliest U.S...
.
Salinger served as a United States Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 1964 and was campaign manager
Campaign manager
A campaign manager is a paid or volunteer individual, whose role is to coordinate the campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote , and other activities supporting the effort, directly.Apart from the candidate, they are often a campaign's most visible leader...
for the Robert F. Kennedy presidential campaign.
Early life
Salinger was born in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. His father, Herbert Salinger, was a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-born mining engineer, and his mother, Jehanne (née Biétry), was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-born journalist. His maternal grandfather, Pierre Biétry
Pierre Biétry
Pierre Biétry was a French syndicalist and politician who initially followed orthodox socialism before moving to the right. He was the pioneer of 'Yellow socialism', a movement that has been portrayed as a forerunner of fascism...
, was a member of the French National Assembly and devised Yellow socialism
Yellow socialism
Yellow socialism has two meanings. It is primarily a system of government devised by Pierre Biétry in 1904, that offers the working classes a contrasting alternative to "red socialism" . It was prominent in the early twentieth century prior to World War I, competing with Marxism for the minds of...
. Salinger was raised in his mother's Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
religion, though his father was Jewish. Salinger attended public magnet Lowell High School. After serving with the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to Lieutenant, junior grade
Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, United States Merchant Marine USMM, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Salinger earned a B.S. from the University of San Francisco
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco , is a private, Jesuit/Catholic university located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1855, USF was established as the first university in San Francisco. It is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California and the tenth-oldest university of...
in 1947.
Salinger then began his journalism career as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
and as a contributing Editor to Collier's in the 1940s and 1950s.
1960s: The Kennedy years, Presidential Press Secretary, U.S. Senator
In 1961, when John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
became President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, he hired Salinger as his press secretary
Press secretary
A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage....
. When JFK was assassinated
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
, Salinger was on a plane flying with six Cabinet members, including Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
Dean Rusk
Dean Rusk
David Dean Rusk was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Rusk is the second-longest serving U.S...
, going to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. Salinger's visit was to have been for an economic conference, and to start working on a visit JFK was going to take in February 1964 as the first American president to visit Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Salinger was retained by President Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
as Press Secretary after JFK's death.
Following his service in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, Salinger returned to California and ran for the Senate. He defeated then California State Controller
California State Controller
The State Controller is the Chief Financial Officer of the State of California in the United States. The post has broader responsibilities and authority than the California State Treasurer...
Alan Cranston
Alan Cranston
Alan MacGregor Cranston was an American journalist and Democratic Senator from California.-Education:Cranston earned his high school diploma from the old Mountain View High School, where among other things, he was a track star...
in a contentious Democratic Primary. Governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
Pat Brown
Pat Brown
Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr. was the 32nd Governor of California, serving from 1959 to 1967, and the father of current Governor of California Jerry Brown.-Background:...
, who had supported Cranston in the Primary, appointed Salinger a Democratic United States Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
to fill the vacancy resulting from the July 30, 1964 death of retiring Senator Clair Engle
Clair Engle
Clair Engle was an American politician of the Democratic Party and a United States Senator from California.- Early years :Engle was born in Bakersfield...
; he took office on August 4, 1964. In his bid for a full six-year term in the 1964 election, he was defeated by former actor George Murphy
George Murphy
George Lloyd Murphy was an American dancer, actor, and politician.-Life and career:He was born in New Haven, Connecticut of Irish Catholic extraction, the son of Michael Charles "Mike" Murphy, athletic trainer and coach, and Nora Long. He was educated at Peddie School, Trinity-Pawling School, and...
following a campaign in which Salinger's only recent return to his native state became an issue, his legal residency even being challenged in court. Salinger was also hurt at the polls by his adamant support (despite advice from his political managers) of legislation banning racial housing discrimination.
Salinger resigned from the Senate on December 31, 1964, only three days before his term was to expire. Senator-elect Murphy, who was to take office on January 3, 1965, was appointed to fill the remaining two days of Salinger's term, giving Murphy a slight advantage in seniority in the Senate over other members of the "class of 1964" at a time when seniority was even more vital in Senate affairs than now.
Salinger appeared in a third season episode of Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, "The Joke's on Catwoman," broadcast on ABC on January 4, 1968. In the episode, Salinger portrays "Lucky Pierre," a lawyer who successfully defends Catwoman (Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
) and Joker (Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
) by fixing the case, stacking the jury with former henchmen of Catwoman. However, the scam is foiled, and all guilty parties are sent to prison. In Salinger's first scene, he is sitting at his desk with a photo of a young Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
prominently displayed, and in an amusing epilogue, Batman Adam West
Adam West
William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...
laments Lucky Pierre's fate by saying, "If he hadn't gone so wrong, he might have had a fine career in politics, won a gubernatorial race, and the White House even."
Salinger was one of the managers of Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
's 1968 presidential campaign. When Senator Kennedy was shot to death
Robert F. Kennedy assassination
The assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, a United States Senator and brother of assassinated President John F. Kennedy, took place shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles, California...
in June, Salinger was 10 to 12 ft (3 to 3.7 m) away from him. Salinger claims that Jim McManus, who was also working on the campaign, said to him, "I've got to get the message to Los Angeles, under no circumstances should Bobby go through that (Ambassador Hotel) kitchen ... there's usually grease on the floor. He's going to fall or something." Salinger was devastated by RFK's assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
and moved to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
as a correspondent for L'Express
L'Express (France)
L'Express is a French weekly news magazine. When founded in 1953 during the First Indochina War, it was modelled on the US magazine TIME.-History:...
.
(In 1970, Salinger told a columnist for Newspaper Enterprise Association that JFK asked him in 1963 what he would like to do during his second administration. Salinger said he told Kennedy he wanted to be appointed U.S. Ambassador to France.)
ABC
In 1978, he was hired by ABC NewsABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
as its Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
bureau chief. He became the network's chief European correspondent based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1983.
In 1981, he was bestowed with a George Polk award for his scoop that the US government was secretly negotiating to free the Americans held hostage by Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
In 1989, Salinger provided commentary on the Tour de France for ABC Sports.
In 1991, two Libyans were indicted over the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
in 1988, but Salinger believed Libya had been set up. In a 1989 ABC Prime Time Live Special, he and his producer, Lex Coleman named the so-called "Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n Three" as the masterminds of the bombing. The program won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
.
After the August 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, ABC started work on a special program about the invasion and sent Salinger to the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, where he obtained a transcript in Arabic of a conversation between Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
and U.S. Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Iraq April Glaspie
April Glaspie
April Catherine Glaspie is a former American diplomat, best known for her role in the events leading up to the Persian Gulf War of 1991.-Early life and career:...
, in which Glaspie famously told Saddam: "We have no opinion on your Arab-Arab conflicts," interpreted by some as giving Saddam the green light to invade Kuwait, which he did days later.
Life after ABC
After leaving ABC, Salinger moved back to Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and became an executive with the Burson Marsteller
Burson-Marsteller
Burson-Marsteller is a global public relations and communications firm headquartered in the United States. Burson-Marsteller operates 67 wholly owned offices and 71 affiliate offices in 98 countries across six continents...
public relations firm before returning to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 2000. Until the late 80s, Salinger had been a popular TV pundit
Pundit (politics)
A pundit is someone who offers to mass media his or her opinion or commentary on a particular subject area on which they are knowledgeable. The term has been increasingly applied to popular media personalities...
in France, and was a frequent guest on French news and public affairs shows when someone was needed to explain or interpret American events for French viewers. Salinger even hosted a program for the cable network A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
in the early 1990s called Dining in France.
Salinger later became known for his claims in November 1996 that friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
from the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
was the cause of the TWA Flight 800
TWA Flight 800
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 , a Boeing 747-131, exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 20:31 EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff, killing all 230 persons on board. At the time, it was the second-deadliest U.S...
crash.
In November 2000, he became exasperated when he was denied permission to give exonerating evidence as part of his testimony before the Scottish Court in the Netherlands
Scottish Court in the Netherlands
The Scottish court in the Netherlands was the special High Court of Justiciary set up under Scots law in a former United States Air Force base called Camp Zeist in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, for the trial of two Libyans charged with 270 counts of murder in connection with the bombing of Pan Am...
to try two Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
ns for the downing on December 21, 1988, of Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
over Lockerbie, Scotland. Salinger stated that he knew who the real bombers were, but was told by trial judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, Lord Sutherland: "If you wish to make a point you may do so elsewhere, but I'm afraid you may not do so in this court."
He later made a permanent move to France, making good on his promise that, "If Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
wins, I'm going to leave the country and spend the rest of my life in France."
Salinger died in October 2004 of heart failure in Cavaillon
Cavaillon
Cavaillon is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-Geography:The Calavon, a tributary of the Durance locally called Coulon, flows westward through the middle of the commune....
hospital near his home in Le Thor
Le Thor
Le Thor is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.It has an attractive Romanesque church, Notre-Dame-du-Lac.-External links:*...
, France, at the age of 79. He is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
across the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
from Washington, DC.