LBJ was a real character, but he was not a killer. His lack of killer instinct was what led to the indecisive back and forth in Vietnam. He crippled our air units and cost us thousands of aircraft losses by requiring visual ID to shoot down Vietnamese aircraft. Rolling Thunder was stupid, and the diametric opposite of the sustained obliteration of North Vietnamese facilities that would have caused them to sue for peace. LBJ was a talker, not a killer.
You know, that is an interesting thought.
Here is what I would say.
LBJ was in fact a coward. In the Caro biography, Means of Ascent, he details an anecdote of LBJ on a plane during WWII during something resembling a battle and LBJ was scared out of his wits. OF course later in his rendering of his heroics on the stump, he tells a rather different verison as you would expect. And...many have pointed out that it appears from photographic evidence that LBJ was hunkering down in his limo as soon as it hit Elm Street, ie, before the shooting began. I tend to believe that. Extreme brazenness and cowardice sort of go hand in hand.
So I do think that on one hand, you are on to something when you say that LBJ didn’t have the killer instinct. He was definitely at his core, a coward. Just a basic school yard bully. He was also a control freak (arguably a form of cowardice...) as you note. (He also had other reasons related to the JFK assassination to prolong the war incidentally).
So I think it is entirely possible to accept your points, while still accepting that LBJ is at the top of the org chart that killed Kennedy. It is also entirely possible that he didn’t exactly “give the order” beforehand, but, gave a wink and a nudge to the right people to set it in motion. Then when it happened, he went into control freak mode and micromanaged the cover up which took place in Texas (where he had long controlled) and in DC (which he controlled as of 12;31 on 11-22).
With regards to the idea that he had NEVER been a killer, well, maybe he hadn’t. But google a little on Mac Wallace and see what you think....
But... those in his way are dead meat. Even his own mother.