The Warren Commission
The Warren Commission Report is a surprisingly gripping piece of literature, full of colorful detail about Dallas circa 1963, the key players in the assassination and a wide assortment of tangential witnesses, bystanders and unusual characters. It is an essential starting point for anyone interested in learning more about the events of Nov. 22, 1963.
Within a week of the assassination, President Johnson established the Warren Commission in an effort to thoroughly investigate and (ideally) put to rest a growing body of questions about what happened, as well as concern that the assassination would literally lead to World War III. Led by iconic U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, the commission produced its 889-page report on September 24, 1964. Among its controversial findings: Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing Kennedy and wounding Gov. Connally and that Ruby acted alone in killing Oswald two days later. Many members of the commission were reluctant participants at best. “I can’t put you in jail, but you’re going to do it goddamnit,” LBJ can be heard in a recorded phone call with Sen. Richard Russell, who tried mightily (and unsuccessfully) to get out of this duty to his country. LBJ notes in this conversation that Justice Warren himself had initially refused to be involved.
The Warren Commission report did little to resolve key questions. President Johnson scoffed at the single-bullet theory – that a single gunshot made seven entry or exit wounds between Kennedy and Connally – and it remains hotly debated today. In addition to LBJ’s doubts, Robert Kennedy and four of the seven commission members each expressed skepticism over the years about the commission’s findings. Commissioner member and former U.S. President Gerald Ford, for example, said the CIA destroyed or kept from investigators critical secrets connected to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He said the commission's probe put "certain classified and potentially damaging operations in danger of being exposed." The CIA's reaction, he added, "was to hide or destroy some information, which can easily be misinterpreted as collusion in JFK's assassination."
The Warren Commission Report is a surprisingly gripping piece of literature, full of colorful detail about Dallas circa 1963, the key players in the assassination and a wide assortment of tangential witnesses, bystanders and unusual characters. It is an essential starting point for anyone interested in learning more about the events of Nov. 22, 1963.
Within a week of the assassination, President Johnson established the Warren Commission in an effort to thoroughly investigate and (ideally) put to rest a growing body of questions about what happened, as well as concern that the assassination would literally lead to World War III. Led by iconic U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, the commission produced its 889-page report on September 24, 1964. Among its controversial findings: Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing Kennedy and wounding Gov. Connally and that Ruby acted alone in killing Oswald two days later. Many members of the commission were reluctant participants at best. “I can’t put you in jail, but you’re going to do it goddamnit,” LBJ can be heard in a recorded phone call with Sen. Richard Russell, who tried mightily (and unsuccessfully) to get out of this duty to his country. LBJ notes in this conversation that Justice Warren himself had initially refused to be involved.
The Warren Commission report did little to resolve key questions. President Johnson scoffed at the single-bullet theory – that a single gunshot made seven entry or exit wounds between Kennedy and Connally – and it remains hotly debated today. In addition to LBJ’s doubts, Robert Kennedy and four of the seven commission members each expressed skepticism over the years about the commission’s findings. Commissioner member and former U.S. President Gerald Ford, for example, said the CIA destroyed or kept from investigators critical secrets connected to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He said the commission's probe put "certain classified and potentially damaging operations in danger of being exposed." The CIA's reaction, he added, "was to hide or destroy some information, which can easily be misinterpreted as collusion in JFK's assassination."
In a 2013 visit to Dallas,
Robert Kennedy Jr. said his father Attorney General Robert Kennedy who publicly
supported the commission privately felt it was a "shoddy piece of
craftsmanship" and doubted that the assassination was the work of one man.
Significantly, the 1978 House Select Committee on Assassinations reexamined the
commission’s work and came back with shocking conclusions. While the HSCA
agreed that Oswald killed Kennedy, the act was likely the result of a
conspiracy between unknown other parties. The HSCA also concluded that an
unknown shooter fired a fourth shot(it missed) from near the picket fence above
the grassy knoll.