The Warren Commission and the JFK Conspiracy Theories

Directions:Evaluate the Warren Commission and their investigative report; then consider the validity of various conspiracy theories related to the assassination of President Kennedy.

  • The Warren Commission
  • After the death of John F. Kennedy, his deputy, Lyndon B. Johnson, was appointed president. He immediately set up a commission to "ascertain, evaluate and report upon the facts relating to the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy." The seven man commission was headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren and included Gerald Ford, Allen W. Dulles, John J. McCloy, Richard B. Russell, John S. Cooper and Thomas H. Boggs.
  • Lyndon B. Johnson also commissioned a report on the assassination from J. Edgar Hoover. Two weeks later the Federal Bureau of Investigation produced a 500 page report claiming that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole assassin and that there was no evidence of a conspiracy. The report was then passed to the Warren Commission. Rather than conduct its own independent investigation, the commission relied almost entirely on the FBI report.
  • The Warren Commission was published in October, 1964. It reached the following conclusions:
  • (1) The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired from the sixth floor window at the southeast corner of the Texas School Book Depository.
  • (2) The weight of the evidence indicates that there were three shots fired.
  • (3) Although it is not necessary to any essential findings of the Commission to determine just which shot hit Governor Connally, there is very persuasive evidence from the experts to indicate that the same bullet which pierced the President's throat also caused Governor Connally's wounds. However, Governor Connally's testimony and certain other factors have given rise to some difference of opinion as to this probability but there is no question in the mind of any member of the Commission that all the shots which caused the President's and Governor Connally's wounds were fired from the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.
  • (4) The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired by Oswald.
  • (5) Oswald killed Dallas Police Patrolman J. D. Tippit approximately 45 minutes after the assassination.
  • (6) Within 80 minutes of the assassination and 35 minutes of the Tippit killing Oswald resisted arrest at the theater by attempting to shoot another Dallas police officer.
  • (7) The Commission has found no evidence that either Lee Harvey Oswald or Jack Ruby was part of any conspiracy, domestic or foreign, to assassinate President Kennedy.
  • (8) In its entire investigation the Commission has found no evidence of conspiracy, subversion, or disloyalty to the U.S. Government by any Federal, State, or local official.
  • (9) On the basis of the evidence before the Commission it concludes that, Oswald acted alone.
  • The Single Bullet Theory….
  • The Single Bullet Theory was introduced by the Warren Commission to explain how three shots made by Lee Harvey Oswald resulted in the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy.
  • The theory, generally credited to Warren Commission staffer Arlen Specter[1] (now a U.S. Senator.), posits that a single bullet, known as "Warren Commission Exhibit 399" (also known as "CE399"), caused all of the non-fatal wounds in both President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally. The fatal head wound to the President was caused by another bullet.
  • According to the single bullet theory, a one-inch long, copper jacketed, lead core 6.5 millimeter rifle bullet fired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository passed through President Kennedy’s neck, Governor Connally’s chest and wrist and embedded itself in the Governor’s thigh. In doing so, the bullet traversed 15 layers of clothing, 7 layers of skin, approximately 15 inches of tissue, struck a tie knot, removed 4 inches of rib and shattered a radius bone. The bullet that is supposed to have done all this damage was found on a stretcher in the corridor at the Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas that the Warren Commission found was the one used by Governor Connally [13]. It became a key Commission exhibit, identified as CE399. Its copper jacket was completely intact. The bullet’s nose appeared normal, but the tail was compressed laterally on one side.
  • In its conclusion, the Warren Commission found persuasive evidence from the experts that a single bullet caused the President's neck wound and all the wounds in Governor Connally.[2] It acknowledged that there was a "difference of opinion" among members of the Commission "as to this probability" but stated that the theory was not essential to its conclusions and that all members had no doubt that all shots were fired from the sixth floor window of the Depository building.
  • The 1978 House of Representatives' Select Committee on Assassinations agreed with the Single Bullet Theory but differed on the time frame. The Single Bullet Theory has been staunchly defended by those who believe the Warren Commission’s finding was correct and roundly criticized by those who disagree

Now, below, you can read about various JFK and the Conspiracy Theories:

There are numerous conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The conspiracy theories started surfacing immediately following the death of Kennedy and have continued to evolve in the forty five years since. The theories reflect America’s frustration with the unanswered questions and inconsistencies surrounding one of our nation’s greatest tragedies. These theories have implicated various groups of people, government agencies and high ranking government officials. The only thing that is consistent among all the conspiracy theories is that they view the Warren Commission report as an inadequate explanation. As you read the theories below keep in mind that the to this day the most thorough investigation of the assassination is the Warren Commission Report and that none of conspiracy theories fully and accurately explains the event.

JFK, the CIA, and Conspiracies…

The Oliver Stone movie JFK resulted in cries of indignation and outrage from many Americans. Why? Why do so many People consider it beyond the realm of reasonable political certainty that the president's assassination was planned by top-level United States governmental officials? I do not know who killed John F. Kennedy or who planned his murder. But I do know that the so-called conspiracy theorists, based only on the evidence that the government has permitted them to see, have raised many disturbing facts and questions about the government's so-called "lone-nut them" of the assassination. Some of the leading books are Rush to Judgment and Plausible Denial by Mark Lane, Crossfire by Jim Marrs, High Treason and High Treason 2 by Harrison E. Livingstone, Best Evidence by David S. Ufton, On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison, and JFK: Conspiracy of Silence by Charles A. Crenshaw.

For example, why was Lee Harvey Oswald permitted to return to the U.S. after defecting to the Soviet Union, with virtually no questions asked?

Why was Oswald's office in New Orleans at the same location as that of former officials of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation? Why did Oswald request to see a FBI agent after his arrest for disturbing the peace in New Orleans? How did Oswald happen to secure employment in a building that, shortly afterward, turned out to be a convenient location for the assassination? Why was the Dallas parade route changed at the last minute? How were the police and FBI able, to arrest Oswald within only an hour and a half of the assassination? Why did the Secret Service wash down the president's limousine right after the assassination? Why were John Connally's clothes sent to the cleaners just after the shooting? Why did the Texas authorities claim that Oswald had FBI connections? Why did the Secret Service, on threat of using force against the Dallas physicians, refuse to permit an autopsy to be performed in Texas? Why were non-forensic pathologists ordered to perform the autopsy at BethesdaNavalCenter?

Many Americans resent the asking of these types of questions. Why? Part of the answer lies in the "Watergate syndrome" — that is, the notion that the Watergate conspiracy was the act of a few lone nuts acting together on a one-time basis — and, therefore, that it is inconceivable that governmental officials would conspire to perform wrongful acts either before or after Watergate.

But the facts belie this attitude. For example, consider some of the undisputed conspiracies involving the CIA:

1. At the end of World War II organizers of the CIA conspired to retain the services of members of the Nazi SS.

2. CIA officials conspired to overthrow the presidents or prime ministers of Iran, Guatemala, Indonesia, Cuba, South Vietnam, and Nicaragua.

3. CIA officials conspired to use American citizens, without their knowledge or consent, for experiments with dangerous, mind-altering drugs.

4. CIA officials conspired to retain the services of the Mafia.

5. CIA officials conspired to assist in the invasion of Cuba, without a declaration of war from Congress.

6. CIA officials conspired to murder Fidel Castro.

What has been the justification for these CIA conspiracies? The answer lies in the much ballyhooed "national security," a term which has come to justify just about any political wrongdoing, as well as the cover-up of such wrongdoing. And for the past several decades, the CIA has been vested with virtually unlimited authority to take whatever actions it deems necessary for "national security," as the CIA defines "national security."

What about motive, it is asked? What motive would the CIA have to use its talents and abilities to oust or kill the president of the United States?

The CIA actually had much more motive to get rid of Kennedy than Oswald had. In fact, it is still difficult to understand what Oswald's motive would have been. If he was, in fact, a true lone-nut assassin who was trying to have his day of fame and glory, as the government alleges, then why would he try to escape and then later deny having committed the murder?

But the CIA's motive is much clearer Kennedy was a threat to the "national security" of the United States and, therefore, had to be eliminated. Kennedy betrayed the CIA and the anti-Castro Cubans during the Bay of Pigs invasion by not delivering the promised air support; this resulted in many of the invaders being killed or captured; and it also resulted in the humiliation of the CIA. Soon afterward, Kennedy fired Allen Dulles as head of the CIA (he would later be appointed to the Warren Commission) and his chief deputy Charles Cabell for the bungling of the Bay of Pigs invasion. Kennedy also promised to "smash the CIA into a thousand pieces." Kennedy promised Khruschev that there would be no further attempts to invade Cuba; and, pursuant to that promise, Kennedy forcibly closed down American anti-Castro training centers, which had CIA links. Kennedy entered into a nuclear test-ban treaty with the Soviets, thereby confining his being "soft on communism." And, just before his assassination, he ordered the withdrawal of 1,000 troops from Vietnam, thereby threatening to cause the fall of the Vietnam "domino" to the communists.

It is not difficult to see, then, that, in the mind of the high-level, paranoid CIA official, Kennedy presented a real threat to "national security," as the CIA defined that term — and that the nation needed protection from Kennedy's "irresponsible" acts.

What is perhaps most perplexing of all, however, is how the JFK assassination was investigated. For example, compare the JFK investigation to that which took place after the assassination of Federal Judge John Wood of San Antonio. In the Wood case, the government left no stone unturned in trying to determine every single person who was possibly involved in that assassination. 'Me same vigilant, relentless pursuit took place in the investigation of the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena. The idea has always been this: if you kill a U.S. governmental official, you will have unloaded upon yourself all of the investigatory and prosecutorial might of the U.S. government.

Not so in the Kennedy case. The government quickly concluded that Oswald assassinated the president; and it just as quickly eliminated the possible involvement of others in the murder. For example, about fifty witnesses in DealeyPlaza were convinced that at least one shot came from the "grassy knoll." Yet, many of these witnesses were either ignored or, even worse, abused, threatened, and bullied by U.S. governmental officials. (The most heart-rending story of governmental mistreatment is recounted by Jean Hill, one of the DealeyPlaza witnesses, in her book The Last Dissenting Witness. ) And to this day, the government cannot explain — and has no desire to explain — who the men were on the grassy knoll who identified themselves as Secret Service agents after the shooting. And what is most weird is how the government chose to develop the contorted theory of the "magic bullet" rather than actively and vigorously pursuing the possibility of a gunman at the knoll.

But governmental officials could never keep secret such a conspiracy, it is asserted. If that's true, then why doesn't the government open all classified files after, for example, ten years? What would be the harm, since the government could not possibly have kept secret for so long the matters contained in those files? The reason that governmental files are kept closed, sometimes even for decades (i.e., the World War II files), is that the government continues to maintain perfectly the secrecy of many items that it considers important.

Why do many Americans refuse even to consider the possibility that the CIA has engaged in seriously wrongful conduct? Because, despite reality, they continue to view the world from the false perspective they were taught in their public schools: that America is a free-enterprise society in which Jack Webb and Eliot Ness are fighting to protect and defend the American people. Thus, they immediately disregard any data which conflicts with that paradigm — i.e., that several decades ago, through the welfare state and regulated economy, the U.S. adopted the economic policies of the Nazis, fascists, and socialists — and some of their political tactics as well. Since World War 11, we have been told by U.S. governmental officials that the communist threat required the U.S. to adopt communist methods, including the operation of our own KGB. But the Cold War is now over, and the communist threat to America has ended. Therefore, it is time to abolish, not "modernize," the CIA. And it also is time to open not only the JFK files, but all of the CIA files. Only in this way can we — the American people — purge our nation of the wrongdoing that has been committed over the past several decades.

By Mr. Jacob G. Hornberger President of The Future of Freedom Foundation.

Norman Mailer's Oswald's Tale…

Norman Mailer's Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery (1995) concludes that Oswald was guilty, but holds that the evidence may point to a second gunman on the grassy knoll, who, purely by coincidence, was attempting to kill JFK at the same time as Oswald. "If there was indeed another shot, it was not necessarily fired by a conspirator of Oswald's. Such a gun could have belonged to another lone killer or to a conspirator working for some other group altogether."

Cuban Exiles…

Richard Helms, director of the CIA's Office of Special Operations, had reason to be hostile to Kennedy since when first elected, Kennedy supported invading Cuba and then only later changed his mind about how to approach the matter. After the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba sponsored by the CIA, Kennedy changed his mind about an invasion, earning the hatred of the Cuban exile community. Thus, Helms was immediately put under pressure from President Kennedy and his brother Robert (the Attorney General) to increase American efforts to get rid of the Castro regime. Operation Mongoose had nearly 4,000 operators involved in attacks on Cuban economic targets.

The House Select Committee on Assassinations believed evidence existed implicating certain violent Cuban exiles may have participated in Kennedy's murder. These exiles worked closely with CIA operatives in violent activities against Castro's Cuba. In 1979, the committee reported this:

President Kennedy's popularity among the Cuban exiles had plunged deeply by 1963. Their bitterness is illustrated in a tape recording of a meeting of anti-Castro Cubans and right-wing Americans in the Dallas suburb of Farmer's Branch on October 1, 1963. (37)