Introduction
While this crime has happened decades ago, it still haunts the minds of investigators, experts, and historians. The assassination of John F. Kennedy is one of the mysteries that has remained unraveled until these days. Myriads of conspiracy theories linking together the CIA, FBI, KGB, Cuba, and Lyndon B. Johnson, were the result of, as experts admitted, an ambiguous and negligent official report. The assassination of JFK was particularly sudden and shocking for the American people, which required a close and meticulous examination. On November, 1963 President of the U.S. Lyndon B. Johnson has created a special commission for the investigation of this crime, which later on has become known as Warren Commission after the chairman, Earl Warren. On September 1964 the Commission has presented its final report to Johnson and soon after was available to the public. Right after its publication, the report was found controversial and vague due to several major gaps in it.
First of all, it is necessary to mention that several members opposed to the assignment of the Commission claiming that it will generate controversy rather than find direct evidence; Earl Warren was the most vivid example of opposition (Canal 6). Warren considered that the development of the special commission may create the discrepancies in the legislation (Canal 6). It became one of the initial issues in the case of assassination. The idea of a separate entity that investigates the crime apart from the other agencies created suspicions. At the same time, the creation of the Commission was explained as the exclusive measure for the resolution of an exclusive case. Yet, the existence of the Warren Commission was not the only controversy in this story. It was not the first case when an American President was attempted to or to be assassinated and the examples include Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley. However, only the case of JFK still remains a controversy. The main reason for this phenomenon is several discrepancies in the official report.
Discussion
Major gaps in the Warren Commission report were the indication of Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone gunman; insisting that one bullet has killed JFK and John Connally, who was a Texas governor during those days; claiming that there was no conspiracy in the assassination; and failing to identify the real motives behind Oswald’s actions. Also, the Commission underlined that the secret service was negligent in its responsibility to protect the President. The reaction to the report was mixed, as initially only 56 percent of the Americans believed the official report and in two years this figure decreased to 36 percent (Oliver and Marion 115). Two major problems indicated by the experts and the followers of the conspiracy theories were the medical evidence, as the so-called theory of “lone gunman” did not comply with the facts; and the killing of Oswald himself.
The report claimed that Oswald fired three shots as he traveled by motorway where JFK and his cortege were proceeding. Some conspiracy advocates believe that the shots were fired from different directions, which could lead to the conclusion of several gunmen (Kaiser 123). At the same time, the majority of them came to a conclusion that JFK had three wounds, namely one with an entry in the upper part of the back, the second wound was fired in the lower third of his throat, and the last one was in his head (Kaiser 129). The last wound is supposed to be the one that killed JFK. According to the report, all wounds, including the ones of Connally, were inflicted by two bullets. It was also claimed that Oswald missed the third time. However, when the authorities discovered the rifle, alleged to be Oswald’s, the third bullet has never been found. Also, some experts challenged the ballistic report presented by the Commission, claiming that the entrance of the bullet points that the shot was fired in front of the President, not behind him. At this point, it is difficult to question the autopsy report, as the actual pictures of the body were not made public, so as some of the witness statements. Therefore, the evidence generated by the Warren Commission will be difficult to challenge.
The motives of alleged killer, Lee Harvey Oswald remained unclear in the report as well as to the public. The main explanation proposed by the report based on Oswald’s sympathy to the communists and his personal delusions. As he was soon assassinated after his initial questioning, it was difficult to determine his reasons, reactions, and explanations. According to Oswald, he was a patsy and he also denied shooting anyone (Knight 71). His killing was quite odd, as it made public and was executed by a random club owner, Jack Ruby, who later stated that his motive was the distraught over JFK’s death. Weak explanation and odd execution of Oswald led to the conclusion that the alleged killer was targeted by the real conspirators and/or secret service agencies. On the one hand, Oswald’s death may be the reason of JFK’s fan; from the other hand, is assassination could have been convenient for the third parties involved.
Oswald’s biography was far from ordinary, which became one of the main issues in the case of assassination. He served in the Marine Corp, at some point Oswald defected to the Soviet Union, and later was noticed to be vouching for the communism in general. Advocates for the conspiracy theory claimed that Oswald’s connections to communism were profitable for the agencies and it was easy to create a scapegoat on the basis of opposite ideology. At the same time, the evidence of Oswald’s connection to the communism was supported. Oswald lived in the Soviet Union for several years, though not in Moscow as he desired, but in Minsk. Some experts connect him to Stanislau Shuchkevich, a well-known Belarus communist, who worked at the same factory as Oswald (Knight 76). Yet, there is no solid evidence to this acclamation. The alleged killer was known for launching radio conversations in favor of Fidel Castro and disseminating the letters that supported the Cuban leader.
Simultaneously, certain experts connect Oswald to the U.S. intelligence agencies. One of the supporting arguments was the easiness with which he spoke Russian and traveled in and out Soviet Union. While the end of 50s and the beginning of 60s the Cold War was not that intense, travelling to the Union was a difficult procedure that raised certain questions and suspicions. In Oswald’s case, he was not either questioned or investigated regarding his links to the Soviet Union. Another Oswald’s connection that was allegedly linked to CIA as well as Nazi was George DeMohrenschildt, who was his close friend (Marrs 112). The nature of DeMohrenschildt’s links to CIA was not determined, but the thinkers who follow conspiracy theories insist that this person was directly connected to the intelligence agency and so did Oswald (Marrs 119). Also, the strong evidence supporting Oswald’s connection to CIA was the small Minox camera that was not available to the general public at that time and was famous for being used as the spying equipment by the intelligence officers (Marrs 175).
Another evidence linking Oswald to spies was his scheme of defection to the Soviet Union. It was claimed that the program followed by him was the exact copy of the program designed by the Office of Naval Intelligence during the 50s (Canal 24). Of course, there is no direct evidence linking Oswald to the CIA or any other intelligent agencies. However, there is no information connecting him to the communists. Overall, the Warren Commission report emphasized that the motives of Oswald were personal, not supported by the external agents. The report claimed that the reasons for the assassination were a delusional crusade of one man. One of the issues here creates certain discrepancy. First of all, despite the fact that Oswald lived in the Soviet Union and denounced his U.S. citizenship, he managed to return to the U.S. without serious problems. Secondly, there were no reports of is investigation regarding this fact or the attempts to link him to the communists. Thirdly, Oswald managed to bring his Russian wife into the U.S., which apparently did not inflict any troubles. Finally, his involvement in open communist propaganda did not raise any suspicions in the respective agencies.
Conclusion
Apparently, Warren Commission contains series of huge gaps and discrepancies. Due to the fact that a lot of materials are still sealed, it is difficult to challenge the final report. The case of JFK’s assassination will remain a mystery for the general public and experts, as there are still a lot of questions and several possible answers on each of them. There are physical evidence supporting the fact of assassination, as the rifle and the bullets that were found in Kennedy’s body. The ballistic report still requires a reexamination, which will be only possible in case of exhumation of JFK’s body. The statements of the witnesses and the background of Oswald’s environment have to be reevaluated one more time, as there are certain gaps in the story. Overall, the evidence and arguments presented by both the Commission and the theorists are quite ambiguous mostly because they are in some instances far-fetched rather than based on the clear evidence. Also, Oswald’s death put an end to the ability of finding out the truth at first hand.
Words Cited
Canal, John A. Silencing the Lone Assassin. St. Paul, MN: Paragon House, 2000.
Kaiser, David. The Road to Dallas: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 2008.
Knight, Peter. The Kennedy Assassination. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2007.
Marrs, Jim. Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy. New York: Basic Books, 2013.
Oliver, Willard M., and Nancy E. Marion. Killing the President: Assassinations, Attempts, and Rumored Attempts on U.S. Commanders-in-Chief. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2010.
