Few date in American account receive as much aid as Nov. 22 , 1963 . On that Friday , U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedydied as a result of two gunshot wound to his upper body . More than four decades afterwards , historians , government officials , conspiracy theorybuffs and the general public still question exactly what pass .
If you were to gather all of the reports , books , articles , editorials , films and television specials about the JFK character assassination in one place , you ’d have enough stuff to fill a library . Every year , more books about the event strike store shelves . Forensics expert proceed to review every shred of evidence in an effort to determine what happened on that day .
The bit of kit and caboodle about JFK ’s death should come in as no surprise . He was a democratic chairperson who has become an almost mythological chassis after his death . After his assassination , the lead investigation left some multitude unsatisfied . Inconsistencies among eyewitness reports and tenuous connections between key human body involved in the event fueled dozens of different theories .
Lyndon B. Johnson , who formally became president of the United States at 2:38 p.m. aboard the presidential airplane , ordered a full investigating into the assassination . Chief Justice Earl Warren was the lynchpin of the result fact-finding body , which became known as the Warren Commission . The Commission submitted a full report to President Johnson on Sept. 24 , 1964 . The report traverse several hundred page . The Commission also published disc of all of the hearings it carry over the course of almost 10 months . Those hearing occupy up 26 volumes .
The story from the Warren Commission conclude that Lee Harvey Oswald , acting alone , shot President Kennedy from the 6th flooring of the Texas School Book Depository as the president ’s motorcade traveled through Dealey Plaza in Dallas , Texas . The report also put forward thatJack Rubykilled Oswald on Sunday , Nov. 24 , 1963 . The commission found no grounds indicate Ruby was act on behalf of another individual or organisation .
Is there a mystery around JFK ’s death ? Is the prescribed story of a lone gun for hire really a cover for a conspiracy of high - visibility individuals ? Were foreign powers involved in the shooting ? Was the mafia responsible for ? Or could the character assassination be the result of faithless program formulated by theCIA ? And why are there so many question about the assassination and the findings of the Warren Commission ?
The JFK Assassination Timeline
To understand the blackwash , it avail to see at a timeline of events . And to really get down to the bottom of why so manyconspiracy theoriesexist , you ask to start well before Nov. 22 , 1963 .
Five months before his sojourn to Texas , Kennedy meet withVice PresidentJohnson and John B. Connally Jr. , governor of Texas . The purpose of the visit was to pad Kennedy ’s popularity in Texas and to present a commix party front in the state . Governor Connally had been feuding with Senator Richard Yarborough . Bothmenwere Democrats , as was Kennedy . Kennedy as theyoungest presidenthad hop-skip that by tour the state with both military man , he could aid unite the company and increase his chances of being re - elect in 1964 .
On Nov. 8 , 1963 , the Secret Service take of the pop the question route from Love Field , where thepresident ’s sheet would land on the 22nd , to the site of a political luncheon . On November 18 , the White House approved the route . On November 19 , Dallas papers publicized the road .
When the chairman get in at Love Field , he took a can in the presidentiallimousine . He was joined by the First Lady , Governor Connally , Connally ’s wife and two Secret Service agents . Other railcar take more Secret Service factor , Senator Yarborough and Vice President Johnson follow . They begin their itinerary at 11:50 a.m. to the luncheon site , which was just beyond Dealey Plaza .
The motorcade entered Dealey Plaza a few minutes behind schedule after the president stopped to recognize friendly crowds . At or so 12:30 p.m. , the assassin fired the first guessing . At least two more shots followed . One shot missed the motorcade – there ’s still a debate concern which of the shot missed . One slam hit the president at the base of his neck opening . The fastball travel through his neck and out through the base of his throat . Another shot strike the president in the back of his head . This was the fateful bullet train . The assassin had fire three shots in just a few second – appraisal graze from around four to eight second .
The presidential limousine immediately rush to Parkland Memorial Hospital , which was four miles ( 6.4 kilometers ) forth . aesculapian stave attempted to keep the chairman ’s lifetime , but doctors pronounced John F. Kennedy bushed at 1 p.m.
The Initial JFK Investigation
Eyewitness accounts at the time of the shooting are inconsistent . The building surrounding Dealey Plaza reflect audio , pee it difficult to ascertain the ancestry of the shots . Some citizenry thought the shots fired come from the grassy mound . But others find a humanity with a rifle terminate out of a southeasterly corner window , six story up , at the Texas School Book Depository .
Four minutes after the shot , Dallas police identified the depositary as thesniper ’s possible placement . An eyewitness name Howard L. Brennan saw a name in the window and give policemen a verbal description of the sniper . At 12:45 p.m. , police began to distribute a verbal description based on Brennan ’s observations . The verbal description fit Lee Harvey Oswald .
Meanwhile , police force officer Marrion L. Baker was already investigating the repository , entering the construction less than two minutes after the president was shoot . He met the building ’s superintendent , Roy Truly . Baker and Truly then meet Lee Harvey Oswald on the 2d floor . sincerely vouched for Oswald and the two proceed up the step . Meanwhile , Oswald left the edifice .
Just before 1 p.m. , Captain J. Will Fritz arrived at the scene to take charge . He machinate a search of the depository . On the sixth floor , the search squad discovered several great boxes arranged to form a sniper ’s nest . They also find three spent rifle cartridge and a thunderbolt - action rifle with atelescopic sight .
During this clock time , Oswald point to the house where he rented a elbow room , arriving there around 1 post meridiem He retrieved a pistol and leave the household , walking away from Dealey Plaza . At about 1:15 p.m. , he encountered Patrolman J. D. Tippit . fit in to eyewitnesses , Oswald shot Tippit four time , pop him instantly . Oswald attempt to evade capture but was eventually apprehended at the Texas Theatre at 1:45 p.m. fit in to Patrolman M. N. MacDonald , Oswald said " Well , it ’s all over now " as he was take into detainment [ source : Warren Commission Report ] .
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was born on Oct. 18 , 1939 . His father died two months before Oswald was bear . He had an previous half - brother and an old brother . He and his brothers lived in an orphans' asylum for a year while their mother worked . In 1944 , his female parent pluck Lee and his crony from the orphanhood . She remarry in 1945 but separated from her husband in 1946 .
The Oswald category moved around a lot . Oswald go to school in Texas , Louisiana and New York . While in New York City , Lee began to exhibit behavioral problems in schooltime . A social worker deemed him to be an median student who was emotionally lust . He often had fantasies in which he held business leader over other citizenry [ source : Warren Commission Report ] .
At 16 , Oswald drop out of school and tried to join theMarine Corps . The Marines decline his software because of his young eld . He worked odd jobs and begin to readcommunistliterature . He wrote to theSocialistParty of America when he was 17 to verbalize his enthusiasm for Marxism .
Six days after he turned 17 , he re - hold to the Marines and was swallow . Oswald qualified as a sharpshooter during the boot encampment . by and by , he would take a similar test and pace only as crack shot , one rank grim than sharpshooter . Oswald wait on in the Marines from 1956 until 1959 . Much of his time in the Marines was spend overseas . While in the Marines , Oswald taught himself Russian and go on to study the Soviet Union .
Three days after leaving the Marines , Oswald left home on a long trip to the Soviet Union . He had garble an program to the Albert Schweitzer College in Switzerland to obtain apassport . Once in Moscow , he enforce for Soviet citizenship . Soviet officials denied his request and arrange him to get out Moscow . On Oct. 21 , 1959 , Oswald slashed his left wrist in an unmistakable suicide attempt . Soviet functionary order Oswald could stay in the Soviet Union on a yr - to - twelvemonth basis . While Oswald give tongue to pursuit in renouncing his American citizenship , he never made it official .
Oswald met , fall in honey with and married Marina Nikolaevna Prusakova . After his marriage , Oswald wrote to the Soviet and American embassy , seek a paying back to the United States . He had become disenchanted with the reality of the Soviet Union , which conk out to meet his anticipation . The pair left Moscow on June 1 , 1962 .
Oswald Back in the States
Upon his payoff , Oswald persist with his chum and then his female parent before securing an apartment . TheFBIinterviewed Oswald regarding his decision to move to the Soviet Union and subsequent decision to pass to the United States . Oswald agree to inform the FBI should any representative from the Soviet Union require him to lease inespionageactivities .
Oswald ’s wife Marina spoke small English and feel isolated . The Oswalds contact a small residential district of Russian - speak people in Dallas . Lee Harvey Oswald continue to criticize the United States andcapitalism . Marina became close friends with a woman named Ruth Paine , who feel sympathy for the young Bridget .
On April 10 , 1963 , four days after losing his task , Lee Harvey Oswald attempted to bump off Major General Edwin A. Walker . Oswald used a rifle he had purchased through mail monastic order using a false name . The attempt failed , and the Oswalds decided to give township before the authorities could discover the assailant . The two leave behind Texas for New Orleans .
In Louisiana , Oswald tried to found a chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee . Oswald was the sole member of the chapter , though he attempted to pass on out flier and give interview as though it were a large organization . In September 1963 , Marina left New Orleans to live on with Ruth Paine in Texas . Meanwhile , Oswald traveled to Mexico City in an effort to visit the Cuban and Russian embassies .
After several failed attack to secure a visa to travel to Cuba and the Soviet Union , Oswald returned to the United States and moved to Dallas . He secured a job with the Texas School Book Depository on Oct. 16 , 1963 . A little over a month afterwards , he would charge thepresidentof the United States . Two twenty-four hours afterward , Jack Ruby shoot and killed Oswald as constabulary set up to transport him to a dependable location . Oswald drop dead in the same hospital as JFK – Parkland Memorial .
It seems as though Oswald felt he was an foreigner and was never quenched with his surround . He leave the United States for the Soviet Union , raise disenchanted with the realities ofcommunism , take back to the United States and then assay to get back to the U.S.S.R. From various reports and interviews , it seems as though Soviet and Cuban officials were unimpressed with Oswald . ground on these and other numerous facts , the Warren Commission reason out that Oswald move as the lone gunslinger .
JFK Conspiracy Theories
Not everyone is slaked with the Warren Commission ’s paper . Some think Oswald play on behalf of another organization . Others think Oswald was speaking the true statement when he cried out " I ’m just a patsy " to the media . There are enough inconsistencies and strange coincidences in Oswald ’s background to sow the seeds of misgiving .
Someconspiracy theoristssuggest that the Soviet Union – in the form of the KGB – or Cuba contracted Oswald to assassinate the chairperson . No essential grounds on either of these charge exists . The Warren Commission look into Oswald ’s pecuniary resource dating back a class and half before the assassination – long before any trip to Dallas was design . The result of the investigating was the find of a trivial more than $ 160 in disagreement – not enough to merit further concern .
Part of the reason these conspiracy theories subsist despite the lack of evidence is motor . Both the Soviet Union and Cuba had reasons to target JFK . The Soviet Union and the United States were at the tallness of the Cold War . Cuba and the United States had lately been tangle in a controversial struggle – the Bay of Pigs . In addition , theCIA , evidently acting under its own sanction , had been trying to assassinate Fidel Castro for months .
But other theory abound . One links Jack Ruby to the mafia , paint a picture that the mob was behind the president ’s death . It ’s true that Robert Kennedy , JFK ’s brother , was attorney worldwide and had pledged to pursue organized crime with relentless doggedness . This hypothesis hinge on either Oswald being a soft touch or working for the mob . If he was a patsy , Ruby was place to kill Oswald before Oswald had a chance to tattle to authority .
Again , trivial evidence exists to link Oswald or Ruby to themafia . Oswald had an uncle get in touch to the family in New Orleans , but no grounds suggests the two corresponded . Jack Ruby was a cabaret owner who had some shady business practices but no confirmed maffia connections . While the motif fits nicely with the criminal offence , the evidence just does n’t come .
Perhaps the most controversial conspiracy is that it was an inner job , perhaps ordered byVice PresidentJohnson . Kennedy had criticized the CIA ’s intelligence exercise . He was also considering scale down the United States ' involvement in Vietnam . Some suggest that Johnson and the CIA worked together to get Kennedy out of the way before he could enact these change . But again , no hard grounds links them to Kennedy ’s assassination .
Of naturally , with conspiracy theories , some contend that a lack of grounds is cogent evidence of interest . It remains that the most conclusive evidence : autopsyresults , a rifle with Oswald ’s fingerprints that Oswald himself had ordered under a imitation name , the spent cartridges and Oswald ’s response when he was apprehended all peak to him as the perpetrator .
Official JFK Inquiries and Investigations
Some people have accused the Warren Commission of performing shoddy work and covering up evidence . The official write up is several hundred page long and supported by 26 book of testimonial sense of hearing . It ’s uncommitted at the National Archives World Wide Web land site . The report detail a thorough investigation of the blackwash .
Butconspiracy theoriesand mistrust in the authorities were on the rise after Kennedy ’s assassination . Many taper to the ill-famed Zapruder film , footage taken by Abraham Zapruder of the motorcade at the time of the blackwash . From the footage , it reckon as though Kennedy ’s organic structure be active in a path that is discrepant with being hit from behind . The United States government responded to concerns about the Warren Commission by forming the House Select Committee on Assassinations ( HSCA ) . In 1976 , the committee investigated the JFK assassination .
The HSCA ’s finding complicated affair . The investigation reveal recordings that seemed to signal four snapshot rather than three . This take the commission to resolve that there was a second shooter in the JFK assassination but that the 2d shooter missed . after examinations of the acoustical grounds hint that the HSCA was mistaken and that there were only three shot fired . The HSCA die to retrieve any connexion between Oswald and a co - plotter .
In 1975 , another investigating touched on the events of Nov. 22 , 1963 . The fact-finding body was known as the Rockefeller Commission and its task was to examine claim ofCIAmisbehavior . Part of that investigation centered on the result skirt JFK ’s blackwash . This investigation annul the " three tramps " hypothesis , which stated that the police stay three hobos who were really CIA agents . In truth , the three gentleman’s gentleman were transient .
The U.S. politics has released 100 of chiliad of records regarding the assassination . While conspiracy theorists still search for proof that Kennedy was killed as part of a conspiracy , no hard grounds has yet to show up . What has come to light is that agencies like the CIA and theFBIattempted to bury misapprehension and questionable acts . But it still looks like the Warren Commission ’s report was accurate . Perhaps we just find it hard to consider that a lone hired gun with no perceivable motive could shoot down one of the most brawny masses in the world .
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