the assassination of john fitzgerald...
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 8 W The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy 145
8The areas of focus for this author-developed case study are:
W� Kennedy in November 1963
W� Death of a president: Dallas, Texas, 22 November 1963
W� Impact and aftermath of the Kennedy assassination
W� The Warren Report — evidence and conspiracy theories
The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Source 8.1
A famous photograph of the Kennedy family at the funeral on 25 November 1963 of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. John Kennedy Jnr, on his third birthday, salutes his father’s coffin as it leaves St Matthew’s Cathedral.
* This author-developed case study of Kennedy’s assassination provides some background from which to embark
on the study of the History Extension topic on Kennedy’s presidency.
KEY CONCEPTS
Key concepts relevant to this chapter are:W communism W democracy
W racism
KEY DATES
1961
January John F. Kennedy becomes 35th US President
1963
22 November Assassination of President Kennedy24 November Jack Ruby kills Lee Harvey Oswald25 November President’s funeral
1964
24 September Warren Commission Report published
1967
DA Jim Garrison charges Clay Shaw with conspiring to kill Kennedy
1976
September House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) appointed to review evidence
1979
Committee delivers conclusions
1991
Oliver Stone releases movie JFK
1992
President John F. Kennedy
Assassination Records
Collection Act
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
Retrospective146
Introduction
Where were you when you heard the news of . . . ?There are events in world history that are so
dramatic, unexpected, shocking and/or momentous
that people for years afterwards remember where
they were and what they were doing when they
heard the news, and how they and others around
them felt and reacted.
On 11 September 2001, there was
the terrorist attack on the World Trade
Center in New York. On 31 August 1997,
there was the car accident in Paris
that resulted in the death of Princess
Diana. In November 1989, people
all over the world watched in
amazement at the fall of the Wall
that had divided Berlin for over
28 years. On 5 September 1972, members
of the Black September organisation took
hostage, and ultimately murdered, 11 Israeli
athletes and coaches at the Olympic village in
Munich. On 22 November 1963, at 12.31 pm, in
Dallas, Texas, there was the assassination
of US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Source 8.3
An extract from a 2003 interview on CBS’s The Early Show in which renowned US broadcaster Walter Cronkite, around the fortieth anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination, recalls making the announcement on 22 November 1963
Most people old enough to remember the third week of November in 1963 can recall
the exact moment they heard that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated.
And for millions, the word came from CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite . . .
[The soap opera] ‘As The World Turns’ was interrupted by a CBS special bulletin.
The anchor, Walter Cronkite, said: ‘Here is a bulletin from CBS News. In Dallas,
Texas, three shots were fi red at President Kennedy’s motorcade in downtown
Dallas. The fi rst reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded
by this shooting.’ . . .
[Cronkite’s] composure wavered only once: at the moment when the
unthinkable was confi rmed . . .
His report: ‘From Dallas, Texas, the fl ash — apparently offi cial — President
Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. Central standard time, 2 p.m. Eastern standard time,
some 38 minutes ago.’
Cronkite tells The Early Show, ‘My gosh, the president’s dead. John Kennedy,
this young president, is cut down, is dead. And it hit me pretty hard, just for that
moment, while I gathered myself together, and went on again, beginning to think
about, now where do we go?’ . . .
Extract from CBS News, ‘Cronkite Remembers JFK’, New York, 20 November 2003.
assassination W�the murder of someone important, usually someone powerful in the political world. The assassin’s purpose might be the pursuit of an ideological or political goal or revenge.
assassination W�the murder of someone important, usually someone powerful in the political world. The assassin’s purpose might be the pursuit of an ideological or political goal or revenge.
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. What does source 8.3 indicate about Walter Cronkite’s attitude at the time of delivering the news bulletin announcing Kennedy’s death?
2. Where were you and what were you doing when you heard news of the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001? How did you feel about this?
3. Survey five people of different age groups, asking them to name two events (other than 9/11) that they remember as being momentous historical events. Ask what it was about these events that made them so memorable. Share your findings with the class.
Source 8.2
Photograph of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, New York, on 11 September 2001
Chapter 8 W The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy 147
Kennedy in November 1963President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the thirty-fifth president of the Unit
ed States. He belonged to the Democratic Party and came from a wealthy and
powerful Massachusetts family.
In November 1963, Kennedy had been in office for almost three years and
was beginning to campaign for a second term. He projected an image of style,
charm, wit, good humour and intelligence. At 43, he was a relatively young
president, married to a glamorous young wife, Jacqueline, with two young
children, Caroline and John.
Many Americans found Kennedy to be an inspiring leader. They admired
the values in his 1961 inaugural address and in his ‘New Frontier’ program;
his leadership skills, especially at the time of the 1962 confrontation between
the US and the Soviet Union known as the Cuban Missile Crisis; and his
determination to have an American on the moon by the end of the decade.
Kennedy was not universally popular. Many people in the southern states
of the US disliked him, partly because of his support for the Civil Rights
Movement. Many right-wing groups there (and elsewhere) judged him to be
‘soft on’ communism.
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. From sources 8.3 and
8.4, describe the general
reaction to news of John F.
Kennedy’s assassination.
2. Ask people aged at least 50
how they heard the news
of Kennedy’s assassination
and what they felt about it.
Source 8.4
A photograph from 22 November
1963 of New Yorkers crowding
around a convertible to hear
breaking news on the radio of the
assassination of the President
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. From sources 8.3 and
8.4, describe the general
reaction to news of John F.
Kennedy’s assassination.
2. Ask people aged at least 50
how they heard the news
of Kennedy’s assassination
and what they felt about it.
Source 8.4
A photograph from 22 November
1963 of New Yorkers crowding
around a convertible to hear
breaking news on the radio of the
assassination of the President
SOURCE QUESTION
White House photographers
took sources 8.5 and 8.6 in the
White House in October 1963.
How do you think critics of
Kennedy would have reacted
to these photographs?
Source 8.5
Photograph showing President
Kennedy with his son, John, in
the West Wing colonnade of the
White House on 10 October 1963
SOURCE QUESTION
White House photographers
took sources 8.5 and 8.6 in the
White House in October 1963.
How do you think critics of
Kennedy would have reacted
to these photographs?
Source 8.5
Photograph showing President
Kennedy with his son, John, in
the West Wing colonnade of the
White House on 10 October 1963
communism W�a political ideology and economic system, developed by Karl Marx (1818–1883), in which people share equally the ownership of their society’s resources, contribute to its work according to their abilities and are provided for according to their neeeds
communism W�a political ideology and economic system, developed by Karl Marx (1818–1883), in which people share equally the ownership of their society’s resources, contribute to its work according to their abilities and are provided for according to their neeeds
Source 8.6
Photograph
showing
President
Kennedy
signing the
Limited
Nuclear Test
Ban Treaty
in the White
House on
7 October
1963
Source 8.6
Photograph
showing
President
Kennedy
signing the
Limited
Nuclear Test
Ban Treaty
in the White
House on
7 October
1963
Retrospective148
Death of a president: Dallas, Texas, 22 November 1963President Kennedy’s two-day trip to Texas in November 1963 was part of
a strategy, in the build-up to the 1964 presidential election, to improve his
popularity in the South. His Vice President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, a proud
Texan and former senator for that state, accompanied Kennedy.
At the time of the presidential visit, the John Birch Society placed an anti-
Kennedy advertisement in the Dallas Morning News. Other right-wing groups
distributed leaflets labelling Kennedy a ‘traitor’ for his attempts to improve
the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union and Cuba.
The Citizens’ Council of Dallas, dominated by businessmen active in the oil
industry, was very powerful. It wanted the US democracy to serve its inter-
ests. It resented Kennedy’s conciliatory attitude towards communist powers
and his agreement with the Soviet Union to ban nuclear weapons testing.
John Birch Society W�an ultra right-wing society founded by Robert Welch in 1958. Named for John Birch, who had been killed by Chinese communists in 1945, it was against communism, liberalism, civil rights, the UN and John Kennedy. In 1964, it employed 200 people and had a budget of US$3 million at its disposal.
John Birch Society W�an ultra right-wing society founded by Robert Welch in 1958. Named for John Birch, who had been killed by Chinese communists in 1945, it was against communism, liberalism, civil rights, the UN and John Kennedy. In 1964, it employed 200 people and had a budget of US$3 million at its disposal.
Source 8.7
Handbill entitled ‘Wanted for
Treason’ that Kennedy critics
distributed in Dallas at the time
of the Kennedy visit
Source 8.7
Handbill entitled ‘Wanted for
Treason’ that Kennedy critics
distributed in Dallas at the time
of the Kennedy visit
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. What was the traditional
use of ‘Wanted’ posters?
2. What evidence does source
8.7 provide of the author’s
attitude towards Kennedy?
3. Which groups in the
United States might have
supported this viewpoint?
Which groups might have
been hostile to it?
4. What arguments should a
newspaper editor consider
when deciding whether or
not to publish material of
this kind?
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. What was the traditional
use of ‘Wanted’ posters?
2. What evidence does source
8.7 provide of the author’s
attitude towards Kennedy?
3. Which groups in the
United States might have
supported this viewpoint?
Which groups might have
been hostile to it?
4. What arguments should a
newspaper editor consider
when deciding whether or
not to publish material of
this kind?
Chapter 8 W The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy 149
On 22 November, Kennedy’s day began with breakfast at Fort Worth, a
seven-minute plane ride from Dallas. He discussed the dangers he might face
and commented that the Secret Service could not really protect him against
an assassin: ‘All one had to do was get a high building some day with a
telescopic rifle’.
SOURCE QUESTION
What caption would you create for this photograph in view of the fact that Kennedy
was assassinated less than an hour later? What would this reveal about your
perspective?
Source 8.8
Photograph showing President
and Mrs Kennedy on their arrival
at Love Field airport, Dallas,
Texas, on 22 November 1963
Source 8.8
Photograph showing President
and Mrs Kennedy on their arrival
at Love Field airport, Dallas,
Texas, on 22 November 1963
Retrospective150
After a flight to Dallas and a motorcade through the town, the Presi-
dent was due to go to the Dallas Trade Mart for a luncheon with over 2500
supporters. The presidential party arrived at Love Field airport, Dallas, at
11.38 am. After meeting with local officials, the group took their seats for the
motorcade, which comprised over twenty cars and buses interspersed with
an escort of Dallas police on motorcycles.
The first car carried Dallas police observers. Then came the ‘lead’ car with
police officials and Secret Service agents. After this was the presidential car
— an open-top Lincoln limousine. President and Mrs Kennedy sat in the back
seat, Texas Governor John Connally and his wife sat in front of them and the
driver and another Secret Service agent occupied the front seat. Eight Secret
Service agents (two on each of the running boards) travelled with White House
officials in the next ‘follow-up’ car. Vice President and Mrs Johnson were in the
next car and after them their ‘follow-up’ car and the remainder of the group.
At 11.50 am, the motorcade set off. Many workers had come out at lunch-
time to see the President. People crowded the Dallas pavements, eagerly
waiting for the motorcade to pass.
SOURCE QUESTION
What does this photograph indicate about the difficulties involved in ensuring the
President’s safety?
Source 8.9
Photograph showing President
and Mrs Kennedy in the
presidential limousine with
Governor and Mrs Connally,
shortly before the assassination
Source 8.9
Photograph showing President
and Mrs Kennedy in the
presidential limousine with
Governor and Mrs Connally,
shortly before the assassination
Chapter 8 W The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy 151
In the downtown area, large crowds of spectators gave the President a
tremendous reception . . .
Mrs. Connally, elated by the reception, turned to President Kennedy and said,
‘Mr. President, you can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you.’ The President replied, ‘That
is very obvious.’
At 12:30 p.m., e.s.t., as the President’s open limousine proceeded at approximately
11 miles per hour along Elm Street toward the Triple Underpass, shots fired from a
rifle mortally wounded President Kennedy and seriously injured Governor Connally.
One bullet passed through the President’s neck; a subsequent bullet, which was
lethal, shattered the right side of his skull. Governor Connally sustained bullet
wounds in his back, the right side of his chest, right wrist, and left thigh . . .
Mrs. John F. Kennedy, on the left of the rear seat of the limousine, looked
toward her left and waved to the crowds along the route. Soon after the
motorcade turned onto Elm Street, she heard a sound similar to a motorcycle
noise and a cry from Governor Connally, which caused her to look to her right. On
turning she saw a quizzical look on her husband’s face as he raised his left hand
to his throat. Mrs. Kennedy then heard a second shot and saw the President’s
skull torn open under the impact of the bullet. As she cradled her mortally
wounded husband, Mrs. Kennedy cried, ‘Oh, my God, they have shot my husband.
I love you, Jack.’
Governor Connally was certain that he was hit by the second shot, which he
stated he did not hear ...
Roy Kellerman, in the right front seat of the limousine, heard a report like a
firecracker pop. Turning to his right in the direction of the noise, Kellerman heard
the President say ‘My God, I am hit,’ and saw both of the President’s hands move
up toward his neck. . . . Kellerman grabbed his microphone and radioed ahead to
the lead car, ‘We are hit. Get us to the hospital immediately.’
Special Agent Hill . . . jumped from the follow-up car and ran to the President’s
automobile. At about the time he reached the President’s automobile, Hill heard a
second shot, approximately 5 seconds after the first, which removed a portion of
the President’s head.
In the final instant of the assassination, the Presidential motorcade began a
race to Parkland Memorial Hospital, approximately 4 miles from the Texas School
Book Depository Building . . . the Presidential limousine arrived at the emergency
entrance of the Parkland Hospital at about 12:35 p.m. . . .
In the absence of any neurological, muscular, or heart response, the doctors
concluded that efforts to revive the President were hopeless . . . At approximately
1 p.m., after last rites were administered to the President by Father Oscar L.
Huber, Dr. Clark pronounced the President dead . . . the time was fixed at 1 p.m., as
an approximation, since it was impossible to determine the precise moment when
life left the President. President Kennedy could have survived the neck injury,
but the head wound was fatal. From a medical viewpoint, President Kennedy was
alive when he arrived at Parkland Hospital; the doctors observed that he had
a heart beat and was making some respiratory efforts. But his condition was
hopeless, and the extraordinary efforts of the doctors to save him could not help
but to have been unavailing . . .
At approximately 1:20 p.m., Vice President Johnson was notified by O’Donnell
that President Kennedy was dead . . .
Extracts from ‘The Assassination’, chapter 2 of the Report of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (Warren Commission
report), US Government Printing Office, 1964.
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. Use the information in source 8.10 to create a timeline of the sequence of events it relates.
2. What information does source 8.10 provide regarding the nature and source of the wounds sustained by President Kennedy and Governor Connally?
3. Which witnesses does the source cite and what does it indicate is common to the experience of all of them?
4. What information does the source provide about the efforts and conclusions of the doctors treating Kennedy?
5. Which parts of this account appear to be fact and which opinion?
6. What do you think was the writer’s aim in the information provided on events in Parkland Memorial Hospital?
7. Go to the website for this book and access the Warren Commission weblink for this chapter (see ‘Weblinks’, page viii). Use it to read the full account of the motorcade and events at Parkland Hospital. What additional information does this provide?
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. Use the information in source 8.10 to create a timeline of the sequence of events it relates.
2. What information does source 8.10 provide regarding the nature and source of the wounds sustained by President Kennedy and Governor Connally?
3. Which witnesses does the source cite and what does it indicate is common to the experience of all of them?
4. What information does the source provide about the efforts and conclusions of the doctors treating Kennedy?
5. Which parts of this account appear to be fact and which opinion?
6. What do you think was the writer’s aim in the information provided on events in Parkland Memorial Hospital?
7. Go to the website for this book and access the Warren Commission weblink for this chapter (see ‘Weblinks’, page viii). Use it to read the full account of the motorcade and events at Parkland Hospital. What additional information does this provide?
Source 8.10
Extracts from the 1964 Warren Commission Report (see page 158) describing the events and journey of the motorcade through Dallas
Source 8.10
Extracts from the 1964 Warren Commission Report (see page 158) describing the events and journey of the motorcade through Dallas
Retrospective152
Kennedy had no chance of surviving his head wound. Hospital staff
declared him dead at 1 pm CST (Central Standard Time). At 1.33 pm CST,
White House Acting Press Secretary, Malcolm Kilduff, announced officially
that the President was dead.
At 2 pm CST, Secret Service men placed Kennedy’s body in a coffin and
delivered it to the presidential plane, Air Force One, at Love Field. Shortly
afterwards, Vice President Johnson took the oath of office, making him the
Source 8.11
A 1967 aerial photograph of Dealey Plaza in Dallas where the President’s motorcade travelled. It shows the Texas School Depository, a square brick building at top right (with the Hertz sign on the roof), and Elm Street, in front of it, leading to the Triple Underpass under the freeway
Source 8.11
A 1967 aerial photograph of Dealey Plaza in Dallas where the President’s motorcade travelled. It shows the Texas School Depository, a square brick building at top right (with the Hertz sign on the roof), and Elm Street, in front of it, leading to the Triple Underpass under the freeway
Source 8.12
A frame from the Zapruder film (see page 160) showing President Kennedy reacting to the first shot that hit him in the neck
Source 8.12
A frame from the Zapruder film (see page 160) showing President Kennedy reacting to the first shot that hit him in the neck
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. Use sources 8.10 and 8.11
to work out the route the
presidential motorcade
took on 22 November 1963.
2. Identify and explain the
actions you think security
personnel needed to take
to ensure the President’s
protection along this route.
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. Use sources 8.10 and 8.11
to work out the route the
presidential motorcade
took on 22 November 1963.
2. Identify and explain the
actions you think security
personnel needed to take
to ensure the President’s
protection along this route.
SOURCE QUESTION
In what ways does
source 8.12 support the
description provided in
source 8.10?
SOURCE QUESTION
In what ways does
source 8.12 support the
description provided in
source 8.10?
Chapter 8 W The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy 153
thirty-sixth President of the United States (see source 8.13). The plane then
departed Love Field for the journey back to Washington DC, where doctors
at the Bethesda Naval Hospital would perform an autopsy on the President’s
body. Dallas police had protested the removal of the body. They argued that
Texas law required that the Dallas City Coroner perform an autopsy on the
body before it left Texas jurisdiction.
From the time of the assassination onwards, the actions and motivations
of everyone around Kennedy that day potentially became the subject of sus-
picion, analysis and controversy. In the years that followed, people came to
question the role of the Secret Service; the actions of the doctors who treated
Kennedy; the accuracy of the autopsy report; the rationale for not having
it performed in Dallas; the nature and efficiency of police and government
enquiries; and the use made of eyewitness testimony.
The impact and aftermath of the Kennedy assassination
The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy had a similar impact on the
public to that of the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. People
sat watching their TV sets for the latest updates on events. Regular program-
ming ceased. Television stations embarked on what became four days of
virtually around the clock coverage of the impact of the assassination and
hastily assembled tributes to Kennedy. Many (even those who had not been
Kennedy supporters), both in the United States and around the world, felt a
sense of shock and loss and felt that the world would not be the same again.
People had difficulty in thinking of Lyndon Johnson as the new President of
the United States.
Source 8.13
Photograph taken on
22 November 1963 showing
Lyndon Baines Johnson taking
the oath of office aboard Air
Force One at Love Field, Texas,
with his wife ‘Ladybird’ Johnson
shown at left and Jacqueline
Kennedy at right
Source 8.13
Photograph taken on
22 November 1963 showing
Lyndon Baines Johnson taking
the oath of office aboard Air
Force One at Love Field, Texas,
with his wife ‘Ladybird’ Johnson
shown at left and Jacqueline
Kennedy at right
SOURCE QUESTION
What messages could be taken
from this photograph?
SOURCE QUESTION
What messages could be taken
from this photograph?
Retrospective154
Lee Harvey OswaldThe Dallas Police Department (DPD) arrested and later released several sus-
pects. At about 1.50 pm, 80 minutes after the assassination, police arrested Lee
Harvey Oswald in a cinema. They believed he had killed a policeman, J. D.
Tippit, over an hour earlier. When they learned that Oswald worked in the Texas
School Book Depository, from where witnesses reported shots had been fired,
they began to suspect him of the Kennedy assassination. They found a rifle and
spent bullets on the sixth floor and claimed that these were Oswald’s.
At 7 pm on 22 November, the DPD charged Lee Harvey Oswald with the
murder of Tippit and, with FBI and Secret Service representatives, interrog-
ated him for several hours over Kennedy’s assassination. Oswald claimed he
was a ‘patsy’ — that he was innocent and had been framed. It was not until
days later that Captain Fritz, the main interrogator, wrote up notes of his
interrogation of Oswald. There were no written transcripts or voice record-
ings of Oswald’s interrogation.
Source 8.14
A photograph showing New York
commuters studying the
newspapers following the shock
assassination of the President
Source 8.14
A photograph showing New York
commuters studying the
newspapers following the shock
assassination of the President
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. What could you conclude
from source 8.14 about
the way the people of
New York felt about the
President’s death?
2. What do you think was the
photographer’s purpose in
taking the photo?
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. What could you conclude
from source 8.14 about
the way the people of
New York felt about the
President’s death?
2. What do you think was the
photographer’s purpose in
taking the photo?
Source 8.15
A photograph showing Oswald in
police custody on 23 November
after he was arrested and
interrogated in relation to the
assassination of President
Kennedy. The photograph shows
him with a cut on his forehead
and a blackened eye.
Source 8.15
A photograph showing Oswald in
police custody on 23 November
after he was arrested and
interrogated in relation to the
assassination of President
Kennedy. The photograph shows
him with a cut on his forehead
and a blackened eye.
SOURCE QUESTION
What questions would you ask
the Dallas Police Department
in response to this photograph
of Lee Harvey Oswald?
SOURCE QUESTION
What questions would you ask
the Dallas Police Department
in response to this photograph
of Lee Harvey Oswald?
Chapter 8 W The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy 155
Oswald never came to trial on charges related to the assassination. On
24 November 1963, police (with NBC providing live TV coverage of the event)
were transporting him via the DPD basement car park to the Dallas County
Jail. Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner, came forward and shot Oswald
in the stomach. Oswald died following surgery at the Parkland Memorial
Hospital and was buried on 25 November 1963, the same day as the Presi-
dent. In the absence of anyone else, journalists served as his pallbearers.
SOURCE QUESTION
What different responses might people have had to the event portrayed in
source 8.16?
Lee Harvey Oswald was 24 years old when he died. In early October 1963,
he had gained temporary employment at the Texas School Book Depository
in Dallas. On 22 November, he carried a long parcel into work. He said it was
curtain rods. A work colleague later reported seeing Oswald by himself on
the sixth floor of the Book Depository, 35 minutes before the assassination.
Police, FBI and Secret Service sources suggested that he was emotionally
troubled with passive–aggressive tendencies and had trained in the Marine
Corps (from where he was dismissed as ‘undesirable’). Sources also sug-
gested that he spoke Russian, had lived in the Soviet Union for nearly three
years and attempted unsuccessfully to gain Soviet citizenship, had tried to
murder US General Edwin Walker (a member of the John Birch Society) and
was a committed supporter of Cuban communist leader, Fidel Castro. The
implication was that he had assassinated Kennedy because of his own mental
instability, or because he wanted to show support for the Soviet Union, or
because he was one of many people angered that Kennedy approved a 1961
CIA attempt to overthrow Castro.
Source 8.16
A photograph showing the scene (broadcast live) in the DPD car park as Jack Ruby (in right foreground) lunges forward to shoot Lee Harvey Oswald
Source 8.16
A photograph showing the scene (broadcast live) in the DPD car park as Jack Ruby (in right foreground) lunges forward to shoot Lee Harvey Oswald
Retrospective156
Source 8.17
Extracts from the 1964 Warren Commission Report (see page 158) outlining parts of the evidence regarding Lee Harvey Oswald’s movements around the time of the President’s assassination on 22 November 1963
Additional testimony linking Oswald with the point from which the shots were
fired was provided by the testimony of Charles Givens, who was the last known
employee to see Oswald inside the [Texas School Book Depository] prior to the
assassination. During the morning of November 22, Givens was working with the
floor-laying crew in the southwest section of the sixth floor. At about 11:45 a.m.
the floor-laying crew used both elevators to come down from the sixth floor.
The employees raced the elevators to the first floor. Givens saw Oswald standing
at the gate on the fifth floor as the elevator went by. Givens testified that after
reaching the first floor, ‘I discovered I left my cigarettes in my jacket pocket
upstairs, and I took the elevator back upstairs to get my jacket with my cigarettes
in it.’ He saw Oswald, a clipboard in hand, walking from the southeast corner of the
sixth floor toward the elevator . . .
Givens said to Oswald, ‘Boy are you going downstairs? ... It’s near lunch time.’
Oswald said, ‘No, sir. When you get downstairs, close the gate to the elevator.’
Oswald was referring to the west elevator which operates by pushbutton and only
with the gate closed. Givens said, ‘Okay,’ and rode down in the east elevator. When
he reached the first floor, the west elevator — the one with the gate was not there.
Givens thought this was about 11:55 a.m. None of the Depository employees is
known to have seen Oswald again until after the shooting.
The significance of Givens’ observation that Oswald was carrying his clipboard
became apparent on December 2, 1963, when an employee, Frankie Kaiser, found
a clipboard hidden by book cartons in the northwest corner of the sixth floor at
the west wall a few feet from where the rifle had been found. This clipboard had
been made by Kaiser and had his name on it. Kaiser identified it as the clipboard
which Oswald had appropriated from him when Oswald came to work at the
Depository. Three invoices on this clipboard, each dated November 22, were for
Scott-Foresman books, located on the first and sixth floors. Oswald had not filled
any of the three orders . . .
Extracts from ‘The Assassin’, chapter 4 of the Report of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (Warren Commission report),
US Government Printing Office, 1964.
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. What is the message of source 8.17 and what evidence does it provide in support of this?
2. Identify the Warren Commission Report evidence in source 8.17 supporting the view that Oswald assassinated Kennedy. Visit the website for this book and click on the Warren Commission weblink for this chapter. What other supporting evidence did the Warren Commission Report provide? In particular, check what it said about:
(a) Oswald’s shooting ability and his willingness to use violence
(b) the weapon used and its links to Oswald
(c) inaccuracies in the testimony Oswald gave during his interrogation
(d) the reliability of the information provided.
Chapter 8 W The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy 157
The funeral of President John KennedyPresident John F. Kennedy’s funeral was an international event with rep-
resentatives of 90 countries, including heads of state, key politicians and
members of royal families all in attendance. His casket was placed in the
East Room of the White House early on Saturday 23 November and family
members, friends, foreign diplomats and politicians came there to pay their
respects. On Sunday 24 November, Kennedy’s body lay in state at the US
Capitol so that members of the public could file past. Despite bitterly cold
weather, 250 000 people waited as long as 10 hours for their opportunity to
show their respect.
President Johnson declared 25 November — the day of the funeral — a
National Day of Mourning, so that only people in essential or emergency
services were expected to go to work. One million people waited along the
funeral route and millions more followed the proceedings on their television
screens. A military guard took the casket first back to the White House, then
on to St Matthew’s Cathedral for a requiem mass (see source 8.1, page 145)
and finally on to the burial site at Arlington National Cemetery. Jacqueline
Kennedy lit an eternal flame to burn continuously over her husband’s grave.
SOURCE QUESTION
What image of Kennedy does this source suggest and what would be the value of linking him to Lincoln with the inclusion of the riderless horse following the casket? (Read more about ‘Black Jack’ by accessing the website for this book and clicking on the Black Jack weblinks for this chapter.)
Source 8.18
A photograph of Kennedy’s
horse-drawn casket and
funeral procession arriving at
Arlington National Cemetery on
25 November 1963. Behind the
casket was a riderless horse,
‘Black Jack’, with the boots
placed backwards in the stirrups,
symbolic of the death of a fallen
leader — one of many elements
modelled on the April 1865
funeral of Abraham Lincoln.
Source 8.18
A photograph of Kennedy’s
horse-drawn casket and
funeral procession arriving at
Arlington National Cemetery on
25 November 1963. Behind the
casket was a riderless horse,
‘Black Jack’, with the boots
placed backwards in the stirrups,
symbolic of the death of a fallen
leader — one of many elements
modelled on the April 1865
funeral of Abraham Lincoln.
Retrospective158
The Warren Report — evidence and conspiracy theoriesOn 29 November 1963, President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) appointed a nine-
member commission, headed by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Earl
Warren, to investigate the assassination. On 24 September 1964, the Commis-
sion submitted 26 volumes, known as the Warren Report, containing its find-
ings and sources of evidence (see sources 8.10 and 8.17 for extracts). President
Johnson ordered that the Warren Commission files remain sealed until 2039
— that is, 75 years later. The Warren Report concluded that:
Lee Harvey Oswald had killed Kennedy using the 6.5 mm Mannlicher-
Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository
he had acted alone
Oswald had fired three shots, one of which had missed. The three bullets
had all been fired from behind Kennedy and from the Texas School
Book Depository.
the bullet that first wounded Kennedy had struck him in the back, exited
his throat and had then gone on to hit Governor Connally in the back,
from where it travelled through Connally’s chest and right wrist before
settling in his left thigh
another bullet was the one which caused Kennedy’s fatal head wound
one bullet missed its target
the Secret Service had failed to take essential security precautions and as
a result had facilitated the assassination
the open car in which the President travelled had not provided him
with any protection and he should have been provided with an enclosed
bulletproof car
Oswald, while trying to make a getaway, had killed Officer J. D. Tippit
Jack Ruby had shot Oswald in order to save Jacqueline Kennedy the
ordeal of Oswald’s trial
Ruby had not, as some conspiracy theorists claimed, acted to prevent
Oswald revealing that he had been hired by someone else to do the killing
Ruby had not needed any help to get into the underground car park
where he killed Oswald. He had just walked down the ramp.
Jack Ruby’s murder of Lee Harvey Oswald meant that there was no court
case through which evidence about Oswald’s actions could be put forward and
tested. Conspiracy theories flourished in the years following the assassination.
Critics accused the Warren Commission of having failed in its methodology
and failed to address the issue of why government officials had destroyed or
not retained some potentially key evidence. For example, staff members organ-
ised the cleaning of both Connally’s suit and the presidential limousine before
forensic experts could examine them. Some autopsy photographs have been lost,
as has the official record of Lee Harvey Oswald’s service in the Marine Corps.
Over time, a number of key questions took hold in the public imagination:
Was Lee Harvey Oswald guilty or just a ‘patsy’ as he had claimed?
Had gunshots come from more than one direction and therefore from
more than one shooter?
Did Jack Ruby kill Oswald to prevent him revealing other people’s
involvement in the assassination?
The growth of conspiracy theories challenging the Commission’s find-
ings was a symptom of the public’s increasing scepticism — especially in the
Vietnam War era — about the degree to which the US government could be
W
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conspiracy W�a secret agreement between two or more people to commit an illegal act
conspiracy W�a secret agreement between two or more people to commit an illegal act
Chapter 8 W The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy 159
trusted to tell the truth. This trend also reflected the fact that many people
did not believe one person alone could have carried out the assassination.
In September 1976, the US House of Representatives created the House
Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) to review the evidence and con-
clusions of the initial investigation. Its initial findings supported the Warren
Commission view that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone. Many of its find-
ings differed from those of the Warren Commission. It concluded that:
Kennedy’s death was the result of a conspiracy (possibly from within the
Mafia), not the desire of a lone assassin
there were four shots fired and that one of these, coming from the area
known as the ‘grassy knoll’, did not reach its target
the recording from the dictabelt of a nearby patrolman supported this to
the level of 95 per cent certainty. (Note that, in 1992, the US government
accepted critics’ view that this evidence was ‘unreliable’.)
Jack Ruby had possibly been hired to make a ‘hit’ on Oswald. Ruby
had links with the Mafia and therefore a possible motive to prevent
Oswald from talking.
Ruby entered the DPD car park from somewhere other than the ramp and
was perhaps assisted by someone on the police force itself
Ruby had frequently made telephone contact with and visited someone in
communist Cuba in the weeks preceding the assassination and had later
lied about this to the Warren Commission
the CIA, the FBI and the Warren Commission had all failed to investigate
all the evidence and theories that might have revealed the motives for
and perpetrator(s) of the assassination and, in the case of the latter two,
had failed to supply all the evidence available to them
security for the motorcade had been inadequate
the autopsy of Kennedy’s body had not been either sufficiently thorough
or well-documented
photographic evidence indicated that Kennedy must have been hit by a
bullet coming from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository,
even if the gunman’s vision would have been obscured by an oak tree at
the time the shot was fired
that one bullet had caused Kennedy’s back and throat wound as well as
all of Connally’s injuries
that Oswald killed Tippit.
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dictabelt W�a device that records sound for playback at a later time
dictabelt W�a device that records sound for playback at a later time
Source 8.19
Diagram included as an exhibit
for the House Select Committee
on Assassinations in 1976.
The diagram indicates the
Warren Report’s finding that
a single bullet had caused all
of Governor Connally’s wounds
and one of Kennedy’s.
SOURCE QUESTION
What is the lower part of the
diagram shown in source 8.19
indicating in relation to the
‘single bullet’?
Source 8.19
Diagram included as an exhibit
for the House Select Committee
on Assassinations in 1976.
The diagram indicates the
Warren Report’s finding that
a single bullet had caused all
of Governor Connally’s wounds
and one of Kennedy’s.
SOURCE QUESTION
What is the lower part of the
diagram shown in source 8.19
indicating in relation to the
‘single bullet’?
Governor Connally
President Kennedy Texas School Book Depository
Grassy knoll area
Governor Connally
President Kennedy Texas School Book Depository
Grassy knoll area
Retrospective160
Jim Garrison’s 1967 conspiracy caseIn 1967, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison charged Clay Shaw,
a prominent local businessman, with having conspired to kill President
Kennedy. The ensuing court case is the only one in which anyone has
ever been tried on any charge related to Kennedy’s assassination. The case
attracted huge publicity and provided more sources of enquiry for conspiracy
buffs. While the jury acquitted Shaw, the case brought to public attention a
key piece of evidence — the Zapruder film.
The Zapruder filmOn 22 November 1963, Abraham Zapruder, owner of a Dallas clothing store,
positioned himself on a concrete pergola in the area of Elm Street known as
the grassy knoll. This elevated position enabled him to get a good view of
the Kennedy motorcade and record it through the zoom lens of his Bell and
Howell movie camera.
The Zapruder film, effectively an 8 mm colour home movie, contains the
clearest and most complete known footage of the assassination itself. It com-
prises 486 frames, each lasting about one-eighteenth of a second (see source
8.12). The film follows the presidential limousine turning into Elm Street
until the disappearance of the motorcade under the railway overpass. The
sequence lasts 26.6 seconds and the president’s car is visible in 18.7 seconds of
these. At the time Kennedy received the fatal head shot, the car was virtually
level with Zapruder. Researchers have since labelled every frame using the
letter ‘Z’ followed by the relevant number in the frames’ sequence.
Observers of the film argue about frames Z140 to Z313. Some say the film
proves the presence of two or more gunmen; others support the Warren
Commission’s interpretation that it shows evidence of only one. The HSCA
identified four places where the film showed evidence of shots being fired:
Z157–161, Z187–191, Z295–296 and finally the head shot at Z312–320. Had there
been a lone gunman, as the Warren Report concluded, the film shows that he
would have had between 5.6 and 9 seconds to get off three shots, depending
upon when the first one was actually fired. The Warren Commission believed
the first shot came at Z210 and that the second shot failed. This would mean
that the gunman had fired all three shots in 5.6 seconds — something others
argued required a better rifle than a Mannlicher-Carcano and a more skilled
marksman than Lee Harvey Oswald.
In the Clay Shaw court case, Jim Garrison used frames Z313–320 to argue
that the direction of Kennedy’s response to the shot showed that it had not
come from behind — thus suggesting the presence of another gunman on
the grassy knoll.
Zapruder originally sold his film to Life magazine for $US150 000 (now
nearly one million US dollars). Life sold it back to him for $1 in 1975 and
the US government purchased it from the Zapruder family for $16 000 000
in 1998. The film, deemed ‘culturally significant’, has been entered into the
National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
Since 1963, writers, researchers, makers of films and documentaries have
all addressed the public’s ongoing interest in the subject of who had killed
Kennedy and what had been the motivation. Oliver Stone’s 1991 film JFK
based its plot on information provided in the HSCA report and also on Jim
Garrison’s 1988 book On the Trail of the Assassins and Jim Marrs’ 1989 book
Crossfire: the Plot that Killed Kennedy. Critics panned its allegations of a con-
spiracy involving Lyndon Johnson, the FBI, the CIA, the Mafia, pro Castro
supporters and weapons manufacturers.
Visit the website of this book
and click on the Zapruder
film weblink for this chapter,
to view each frame.
Visit the website of this book
and click on the Zapruder
film weblink for this chapter,
to view each frame.
Chapter 8 W The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy 161
[The] Kennedy assassination remains one of the murkier chapters of American history. Almost all the crucial ‘facts’ are open to dispute, with everyone from coroners who were on the scene to forensic specialists from across the country arguing over the veracity of the autopsy photos and the correct interpretation of Abraham Zapruder’s horrifying 5.6-second film of the mortal wounding of Kennedy. Much of what passes for evidence — such as the ‘magic bullet’ that struck Kennedy, changed directions twice and then hit Governor John Connally Jnr., who’d been sitting in front of Kennedy — defies logic . . .
If there was more than one shooter, there was a conspiracy of some kind, and consequently also a cover-up . . .
‘I believe the Warren Commission [finding] is a great myth, and in order to fight a myth, maybe you have to create another one,’ says [JFK director Oliver] Stone. ‘The Warren Commission [report] was accepted at the time of its release for its soothing Olympian conclusion that a lone nut committed this murder. I suppose our movie is a countermyth: that the man was killed by larger political forces, with
more nefarious and sinister objectives’ . . .
From Jennet Conant, ‘The man who shot JFK’, in GQ magazine, January 1992, pp. 61–7.
SOURCE QUESTION
What, according to source 8.20, were Oliver Stone’s goals in making his 1991 movie
JFK? How would this affect the value of JFK as a historical source?
Conspiracy theorists continued to question the validity of the Warren Com-
mission’s findings. They generally came to believe one or more of the following:
Lee Harvey Oswald had either not committed the assassination or had not
acted alone. They stated that he lacked the shooting ability to fire three
shots within six to nine seconds and have two of them hit a moving target
one shot had come from in front of the limousine perhaps from the
grassy knoll
several bystanders on the grassy knoll claimed to have seen gunsmoke
there and smelled gunpowder and believed that a shot had been fired
from there. This would at least mean that Oswald had had an accomplice.
that it was ludicrous to think that there had been a ‘magic bullet’ that
could travel in a number of different directions to inflict the damage that
it had supposedly inflicted on Kennedy and Connally (see source 8.21)
the autopsy report had covered up evidence of a large wound in the right
rear of Kennedy’s head. Many members of the Parkland Hospital staff
and security personnel had apparently witnessed this. The location of the
wound would prove that Kennedy had been shot from the front.
Oswald had been ‘set up’ over a period of months to prevent suspicion
falling on the real assassin(s). This had been done by having people
posing as Oswald to create the impression that he was pro-communist
and hostile to Kennedy’s 1961 attempt to overthrow the Cuban communist
leader, Fidel Castro.
the Zapruder film shows evidence of there having been more than three shots
officials had cooperated in a cover-up of the nature of the assassination
and the identity of the assassin in order to maintain the illusion that only
one assassin had killed Kennedy.
In 1992, Congress passed the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records
Collection Act (the JFK Act). Its purpose was to address public concerns that
the government was hiding the truth about Kennedy’s assassination,
especially in view of the allegations made in Oliver Stone’s movie JFK.
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Source 8.20
Extract from Jennet Conant’s 1991 article ‘The man who shot JFK ’, in which film director Oliver Stone provides his interpretation of the story
Source 8.20
Extract from Jennet Conant’s 1991 article ‘The man who shot JFK ’, in which film director Oliver Stone provides his interpretation of the story
Source 8.21
Diagram showing the path of the single bullet as interpreted by conspiracy theorists who labelled it the ‘magic bullet’
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. Why do you think this gained the label of the ‘magic bullet’ theory?
2. What does this indicate that some people believed in relation to this aspect of the Warren Commission’s
The ‘magic bullet’:
1 enters Kennedy’s back, 14.5 cm below collar
2 exits through knot in tie
3 enters Connally’s back near right armpit
4 exits right side of chest
5 shatters right wrist
6 wounds left thigh.
1
2
3
5
6
4
Governor
Connally
President
Kennedy
Source 8.21
Diagram showing the path of the single bullet as interpreted by conspiracy theorists who labelled it the ‘magic bullet’
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. Why do you think this gained the label of the ‘magic bullet’ theory?
2. What does this indicate that some people believed in relation to this aspect of the Warren Commission’s
The ‘magic bullet’:
1 enters Kennedy’s back, 14.5 cm below collar
2 exits through knot in tie
3 enters Connally’s back near right armpit
4 exits right side of chest
5 shatters right wrist
6 wounds left thigh.
1
2
3
5
6
4
Governor
Connally
President
Kennedy
Retrospective162
Congress addressed these concerns by advancing the release date of sources
of evidence that would allow the public to decide for itself. All remaining
documents will be released by 2017. In 1998, the Assassination Records
Review Board reported this had made considerable progress in addressing
the ‘excessive secrecy of the past’ and restoring public confidence in the gov-
ernment. In the mid twenty-first century, the Kennedy Library will release an
oral history of the event that Jacqueline Kennedy made shortly before her
death in 1994.
Postscript: ‘Camelot’ and the shaping of historyJacqueline Kennedy was determined that history portray her husband as a
heroic president. She invited journalist Theodore H. White to write up an inter-
view with her for publication in Life magazine. The interview, on 29 November
1963, took place over four hours at her home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
The theme of the interview
was that Kennedy’s presi-
dency had been ‘one brief
shining moment’ in US
history. The phrase came
from the theme song of
the popular 1960 musical
Camelot (see source 8.22).
This play, based on the novel
The Once and Future King,
depicted the noble ideals
that united the legendary
ruler, King Arthur, and his
Knights of the Round Table.
At 2 am, after taking
45 minutes to put the story
together, White rang through
the article to the Life editors.
They had been holding up
publication, at overtime costs
of $30 000 an hour, so that
the story, ‘For President Ken-
nedy: An Epilogue’, could be
included in their next issue.
White later admitted that
he had allowed his work to be the vehicle for Jacqueline Kennedy’s attempt
to shape the historical interpretation of John Kennedy and his presidency. In
the ensuing years, many writers viewed Kennedy through the rose-coloured
glasses of the ‘Camelot view’. This view was well received in the atmosphere
of emotive pro-Kennedy nostalgia that, after the assassination, came to per-
meate many interpretations of the Kennedy presidency. For many historians,
the question of how and why Kennedy died developed into the question of to
what extent emotional responses to the tragic manner of his death mitigated
against objective analyses of the nature of the Kennedy presidency.
ARTHUR:
Each evening, from December to December,
Before you drift to sleep upon your cot,
Think back on all the tales that you remember
Of Camelot.
Ask ev’ry person if he’s heard the story,
And tell it strong and clear if he has not,
That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory
Called Camelot . . .
Camelot! Camelot!
Now say it out with pride and joy!
TOM:
Camelot! Camelot!
ARTHUR:
Yes, Camelot, my boy!
Where once it never rained till after sundown,
By eight a.m. the morning fog had flown . . .
Don’t let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment that was known
As Camelot.
©1960 Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe For Australia And New Zealand: Alfred Publishing (Australia) Pty Ltd.
ARTHUR:
Each evening, from December to December,
Before you drift to sleep upon your cot,
Think back on all the tales that you remember
Of Camelot.
Ask ev’ry person if he’s heard the story,
And tell it strong and clear if he has not,
That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory
Called Camelot . . .
Camelot! Camelot!
Now say it out with pride and joy!
TOM:
Camelot! Camelot!
ARTHUR:
Yes, Camelot, my boy!
Where once it never rained till after sundown,
By eight a.m. the morning fog had flown . . .
Don’t let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment that was known
As Camelot.
©1960 Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe For Australia And New Zealand: Alfred Publishing (Australia) Pty Ltd.
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. What message might
people take from this
song in relation to
Kennedy’s presidency and
assassination?
2. How would the
circumstances of
Kennedy’s death influence
people’s willingness to
accept this message?
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1. What message might
people take from this
song in relation to
Kennedy’s presidency and
assassination?
2. How would the
circumstances of
Kennedy’s death influence
people’s willingness to
accept this message?
Source 8.22
The words of the reprise of the
theme song of Alan Jay Lerner
and Frederick Loewe’s 1960
musical Camelot, based on
Terence Hanbury White’s novel
The Once and Future King. King
Arthur, facing battle, speaks to a
young boy whom he charges to
carry on his legacy.
Source 8.22
The words of the reprise of the
theme song of Alan Jay Lerner
and Frederick Loewe’s 1960
musical Camelot, based on
Terence Hanbury White’s novel
The Once and Future King. King
Arthur, facing battle, speaks to a
young boy whom he charges to
carry on his legacy.
Chapter 8 W The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy 163
Meeting objectives and outcomes
Key features, issues, individuals and events P1.1 and P1.2
1. Describe the role of each of the following in the aftermath of the
Kennedy assassination. (P1.1)
(a) Lyndon Baines Johnson
(b) Jacqueline Kennedy
(c) Lee Harvey Oswald
(d) Jack Ruby
(e) Earl Warren
2. If you were asked to write a news article for the first anniversary
of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, what features and/or issues
related to this event would you want to highlight? Give reasons
for your answer. (P1.2)
Change and continuity over time P2.1
3. Research and report on the extent to which there has been change
and continuity in the official findings on the assassination of John
Fitzgerald Kennedy.
The process of historical inquiry P3.1–P3.5
4. What questions do you consider to have been essential to ask
(and investigate) in relation to the assassination of President
John Kennedy? (P3.1)
5. Copy and complete the following table to identify and evaluate five
different types of sources on the Kennedy assassination. Be sure to
provide detailed information under each heading. (P3.2–P3.5)
Source Content Author and perspective Usefulness Reliability
6. Collect 10–20 visual sources that you can use to explain the main
events related to the Kennedy assassination. Present your selection,
with appropriate oral commentary, to a small group. (P3.5)
7. Conduct your own investigation of sources on the Kennedy
assassination and answer the following question: To what extent does
the evidence support the view that President John F. Kennedy was
assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, a lone gunman? (P3.1, P3.5)
8. The Warren Commission Report concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald
assassinated President Kennedy and that, in doing so, he had acted
alone. You can view the Report on the US Government’s National
Archives website. Go to the website for this book and click on the
Warren Commission Report weblink for this chapter.
Work in pairs or small groups to investigate different sections of
this Report using the following guidelines.
Retrospective164
(a) Click on ‘Chapter 3’ and use the references shown in brackets
below to find out the main points it provides in answer to the
following questions.
(i) What led the Commission to conclude that the shots had
come from the Texas Book Depository? (pages 61, 63–5, 68,
70–1)
(ii) What was the evidence that shots had also come from other
areas and why did the Warren Commission reject this?
(pages 68, 70–2, 76)
(iii) What evidence did investigators produce regarding the
weaponry and bullets used in the assassination and where
did they find it? What did the Warren Commission conclude
from this? (pages 79, 81, 84–95)
(b) Click on ‘Chapter 4’ and use the references shown in brackets
below to find out the main points it provides in answer to the
following questions.
(i) What led the Commission to conclude that Lee Harvey
Oswald was the owner of the assassination weapon and that
he had used it to kill Kennedy? (pages 118–19, 121–5, 127–31,
133–7)
(ii) What was the importance of the sixth floor of the Texas
Book Depository and what evidence from there also seemed
to incriminate Oswald? (pages 141, 143–7, 149, 152, 156)
(iii) What did the Report state that Oswald did in between the
assassination and his arrest? (pages 157, 159–63, 165–9, 171–2,
175–6, 178–80)
(iv) What parts of Oswald’s testimony to the Dallas Police did
the Warren Commission find to be untrue? (pages 180–3)
(v) What information does the Report provide about Oswald’s
‘Prior Attempts to Kill’ and what was the significance of
this? (pages 183–9)
(vi) What did the Warren Commission conclude regarding Lee
Harvey Oswald’s ability to assassinate the President using
the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found at the Texas Book
Depository? (pages 189–95)
(c) Discussion topic: Based on your shared answers to these
questions, if there had been a trial of Lee Harvey Oswald,
which case do you think would have been easier to argue
— the case for the defence or the case for the prosecution?
Give reasons for your answer.
Communicating an understanding of history P4.1, P4.2
9. Essay topic: Explain why the Kennedy assassination has remained
a source of interest for many people.
Your response should be about three A4 pages in length.
Remember to incorporate appropriate historical terms and concepts. (P4.1, P4.2)