J.F.K. Essay, Research Paper
JFK; Killed by the Warren Commission.
On November 22, 1963, while being driven through the streets of Dallas Texas, in his open car, President John F. Kennedy was shot dead. Lee Harvey Oswald, was suspected to be the sole assassin. It has been the most controversial case in modern American history. Did Lee Harvey Oswald kill John Kennedy by himself, or did a conspiracy do it? If a conspiracy did it, did the conspiracy include Oswald? Most Americans believe that a conspiracy killed Kennedy. Few Americans accepted that Lee Harvey Oswald killed John F. Kennedy, because that is what the government concluded to be the right answer to give the American people. Now if you are not of the few Americans, you have not accepted what the government stated as facts, you believe that there is another piece to the puzzle to be solved, or to be revealed (The Kennedy Assassination Home Page). There are many theories that have been proposed as to who killed the president and why they killed him. Our own government came up with it s own theory, and since the government produced the theory who can tell them otherwise? This is why some people believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was not the lone gunman, because nobody can judge the government. And on the flip side of the coin that is why people believe Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole assassin, by accepting what the government revealed. Because if the government came up with the theory then they would have the power to get all the facts and to determine the truth using all possible resources, (The Kennedy Assassination Home Page). Personally I believe that the government did not get the full truth out of the assassination, I feel they covered up the assassination or did not reveal the full truth as to who was behind the assassination. Based on the fact that were published by the Warren Commission, I feel they have failed in determining what really happened on that day in Dallas.
The Warren Commission was a group of seven proponent Americans, hired or asked to come together and sort all the evidence, interview all the witnesses and determine a synopsis of what happened that day in Dallas. Most of the evidence was over looked and disregarded. The facts of the assassination are very vague, meaning that most of the facts can be argued into another answer. The basic facts of the assassination are that John F. Kennedy was shot twice, once in the head and once in the neck, also Governor Conoley was also shot in the back. The Warren Commission stated that three shots were fired, one missed, one hit the President in the head and then maneuvered over and stuck Governor Conoley in the back. This statement has been the single most controversial issue of the assassination. The single bullet theory is what was published to be the truth, but too most people this was a theory made up to cover up a second gun-man. The Warren commission said that the bullet struck Kennedy in the back of the head, blowing it open upon entering the head, then it exited the front of the head leaving a small hole to the skull. The bullet then made a 90-degree turn and another 90-degree turn and then striking the Governor in the back then exiting his chest and hitting his wrist, crushing it, then hit his leg. After all the detours and hits the bullet was found and had seemed to be in perfect condition with no signs of it being compacted (Who Killed JFK; Facts not Fiction).
Sketch of Magic Bullet Theory.
This is what the Warren Commission published for the American people to believe. If this fact were not true than there must have been a second bullet that hit Kennedy, and if this second bullet had came from the front it would make it easier to believe that the fatal head wound came from the front.
When Kennedy was shot in the head it is clearly seen on the Zappruder film that Kennedy s head is violently swung backward. Based on the published facts of the Warren Commission the shot came from the back, so how could his head be shot in a backward direction if it was shot from the rear? A more logical answer would be that Kennedy was shot from the front causing his head to be shot in backward direction (Beyond JFK The question of Conspiracy).
Picture of the Fatal Head Shot.
(Picture form Zapruder film.)
With this fact in play in the assassination there must have been a second gunman. There were many witnesses that remember seeing a puff of smoke behind the grassy-knoll, and remember hearing a shot coming from that direction.
The grassy knoll was just in front of the motorcade as it was coming up the road. Seconds after the shooting many people ran toward the grassy knoll, and trained police officers who know what a gun shot would sound like, ran toward the grassy knoll. Witnesses remember hearing a shot come from the direction and also seeing a puff of smoke rise above the white picked fence. In the Warren Report there was no investigation of the grassy knoll. With many eyewitnesses distinctively remember hearing and seeing smoke from the grassy knoll, why was not any investigation of the people who were around the grassy knoll at the time of the shooting. It is puzzling why the Warren Commission would not investigate the possibility of there being a second gunman. And if there was a second gunman it would have made it easier to believe that the three shots were fired in a matter of five point six seconds (Beyond JFK the Question of Conspiracy).
With only one gunman involved in the shooting and having shot off three shots in less than six seconds makes It impossible to believe that Oswald and Oswald alone shot Kennedy. The Warren Commission could not replicate the shot being fired in the same time frame with the same gun, also having the same accuracy; none of the tests passed. If none of the government s marksman could pull of the shots then, could Oswald have done it? So why would the Warren Commission publish the fact that Oswald was the lone assassin?
Even if Oswald was involved we will never know because Oswald never lived to be put on trial. While being transferred Oswald was shot by Ruby, a local Dallas club owner. Ruby shot Oswald for reasons we will never know. Ruby s brother said that he did it because he wanted to be a hero, to avenge the death of Kennedy. There is no evidence that Oswald and Ruby had any relation to each other, but few witnesses say that they remember seeing Ruby and Oswald in one of the local clubs. Killing Oswald ended the whole case, if Oswald would have lived to be put on trial I believe that some of our government institutions would have been shaken, such as the CIA and the military. This is my belief because if Kennedy would have lived his plans were to eliminate the CIA institution totally (Assassination of JFK and Warren Report Fraud).
Only one trial ever took place on the assassination of JFK. New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison was the only man to bring a trial up on the assassination. Garrison put on trial two men who he believed were involved in the aiding in the assassination; the two men were David Ferry, and Clay Shaw. They were both found innocent (The Truth is Redacted). The American people accepted what the Warren Commission published, what most people don t know is that the commission was the judge and jury in determining the facts, so in a sense they held there own trial without a defense.
What the Warren Commission published could not be questioned because they were the people who would determine the facts and truth. The Warren Commission was nothing but an answer to dish out to American people to chew on and believe. I believe that all the Warren Commission s function was to deliver an answer to the public as to who killed Kennedy, which they failed to deliver. The real truth of what happened that day in Dallas is blurry as to who killed Kennedy, but the fact that Oswald was the lone assassin is not a fact in my book. There is no physical way Oswald could have fired three shots from a twenty five-dollar rifle in less then six seconds (JFK; Facts not Fiction). If none of the FBI s sharpshooters could match what the Warren Commission found Oswald had done, then there had to have been a second gunman. The man or woman who shot the fatal headshot was the person standing behind the fence on the grassy knoll. Also Oswald was shot to put an end to any further investigation. I feel Ruby killed Oswald because he did not want any trial to bring out any investigation of his involvement in the assassination, because I believe that Ruby had an aid in planning of the assassination. So with Oswald dead and unable to be questioned and put on trial the investigation in the assassinations is solved, with know one else connected to the assassination, Oswald is blamed for the whole assassination.
I agree that Oswald had a part in the assassination, but I do not feel that he planned it and acted it out all by himself. Oswald was framed to take the whole blame of the assassination, and the second assassin behind the fence will remain unknown, to protect the organization behind the assassination such as the CIA mainly. I also agree with what Earl Warren once said, We would only discover the truth of the assassination in seventy-five years, because if the truth was to be know then it would rattle our hallowed government agencies. (Beyond JFK The Question of Conspiracy) I believe the reason for Earl Warren belief is the in seventy-five years everyone who was involved in the assassination will no longer be living, therefore there will be know one alive involved in the assassination to take the blame. Although the truth is not truthfully know, we can make many assumptions about what really happened, and most of the assumptions that people make are all saying along the same basic line, the Warren Commission was nothing but a cover up.
So why should we care about who killed Kennedy? We should care because if it is a government agency, which I believe is the CIA, is responsible for the death of Kennedy then what else have they done that we don t know about? The American people have a right to know what such an agency does because we live under a democratic government with democratic rules, which gives us the right to know what goes on in our government.
Work Cited
1. Who Killed JFK? Facts, not Fiction Dir. CBS
2. Beyond JFK The Question of Conspiracy Directed by Danny Schechter and Barbra Kopple, Producers, Danny Schechter and Rory O connor
3. The Kennedy Assassination Home Page . The Kennedy Assassination Home Page Online. October 15, 1999
4. Coward, Wheaton Miller, Assassination of JFK and the Warren Report
Fraud”. Assassination of JFK and the Warren Report Fraud. Online
October 15, 1999.
5. Adams, Bill The Truth is Redacted The Truth is Redacted Website online
http://www.redacted.com November 6, 1999
Thesis Page
JFK: Killed by the Warren Commission.
Process Page
I choose to research on the JFK assassination because it has been a big interest to me, an interest to find out who really killed JFK, and why JFK was killed. I didn t waste any time getting started on the paper due to the amount of interest involved. I did not read the whole Warren Commission, because that would take to long to read, but I have read many other papers, watched many documentaries, and have done some interviewing, to get peoples opinions as to what they feel what happened. Putting the paper together was rather easy, but to write the paper and keep a neutral opinion was difficult.