Assassination of John F. Kennedy Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Background== ===Kennedy=== {{Main|John F. Kennedy}} {{Further|Presidency of John F. Kennedy}} [[File:John F. Kennedy speaks at Rice University.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|[[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]] delivering his "[[We choose to go to the Moon]]" speech at [[Rice University]], 1962|alt=President Kennedy is pictured speaking behind a podium. Rice University's stadium is visible behind him.]] In 1960, [[John F. Kennedy]], then a [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]] from [[Massachusetts]], was elected the 35th [[president of the United States]] with [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] as his vice presidential running mate.<ref>[[#WhiteHouse|"John F. Kennedy". The White House.]]</ref><ref>[[#Senate|"John F. Kennedy: A Featured Biography". United States Senate.]]</ref><ref name="bugliosixi">[[#Bugliosi2007|Bugliosi (1998)]], p. xi.</ref><ref>[[#Electoral|"1960 Electoral College Results". National Archives.]]</ref> Kennedy's tenure saw the height of the [[Cold War]], and much of his foreign policy was dedicated to countering the [[Soviet Union]] and [[communism]].<ref>[[#Cold|"1960 The Cold War". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.]]</ref><ref>[[#Sabato|Sabato (2013)]], pp. 422β423.</ref> As president, he authorized operations to overthrow [[Fidel Castro]]'s communist government in [[Cuba]],<ref>[[#Hinckle and Turner|Hinckle & Turner (1981)]], pp. ix, 15, 18.</ref> which culminated in the failed [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]] in 1961, during which he declined to directly involve American troops.<ref>[[#Jones|Jones (2008)]], pp. 41, 50, 94.</ref> The following year, Kennedy deescalated the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], an incident widely regarded as the closest that humanity has come to [[nuclear holocaust]].<ref>[[#Borger|Borger (2022)]]</ref> In 1963, Kennedy decided to travel to Texas to smooth over frictions in the [[Texas Democratic Party|state's Democratic Party]] between liberal U.S. Senator [[Ralph Yarborough]] and conservative Governor [[John Connally]].<ref>[[#Bugliosi2007|Bugliosi (2007)]], pp. 13β16.</ref><ref>[[#Bugliosi2008|Bugliosi (2008)]], pp. 17β23.</ref> The visit was first agreed upon by Kennedy, Johnson, and Connally during a meeting in [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]] in June.<ref name="WarrenCommission-Page28">[[#Warren|Warren (1964)]], p. 28.</ref> The motorcade route was finalized on November 18 and announced soon thereafter.<ref name="warren40"/> Kennedy also viewed the Texas trip as an informal launch of his [[1964 United States presidential election|1964 reelection campaign]].<ref>[[#White|White (1965)]], p. 3.</ref> ===Oswald=== {{Main|Lee Harvey Oswald}} {{multiple image | align = right | total_width = 450 | image1 = Pizzo Exh B-Oswald leaflets FPFC-WH Vol21 139.jpg | alt1 = Oswald is pictured passing out pamphlets on a street in New Orleans. Other men, possibly Cuban, are also passing out pamphlets behind him. | caption1 = [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] (center) and others distributing pro-[[Fidel Castro|Castro]] leaflets in New Orleans, August 16, 1963. | image2 = Lee Harvey Oswald with rifle, taken in Oswald's back yard, Neely Street, Dallas Texas, March 1963, CE133A.jpg | alt2 = Oswald is pictured posing in a backyard. He holds rifle in his left hand and a leftist publication in his right. | caption2 = A photograph of Oswald posing with [[John F. Kennedy assassination rifle|his rifle]], holstered pistol, and communist literature{{efn|group=note|This photo and a similar one are known as the "backyard photographs"; according to Bugliosi, it is one of the pieces of evidence most damning for Oswald. Oswald told Dallas police that the photographs were not genuine and that someone must have superimposed his head.<ref>[[#Bugliosi2007|Bugliosi (2007)]], p. 792.</ref> Marina Oswald testified that she took the pictures.<ref>[[#Bugliosi2007|Bugliosi (2007)]], p. 793.</ref>}} }} [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] (born 1939)<ref>[[#Pontchartrain|Pontchartrain (2019)]]</ref> was a former [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine]] who had served in Japan and the Philippines and had espoused communism since reading [[Karl Marx]] at the age of 14.<ref>[[#Warren|Warren (1964)]], p. 683.</ref><ref name="Philippines">[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], p. 28.</ref><ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], pp. 17β19.</ref> After accidentally shooting his elbow with an unauthorized handgun and fighting an officer, Oswald was court-martialed twice and demoted.<ref name="Philippines"/> In September 1959, he received a [[Military discharge|dependency discharge]] after claiming his mother was disabled.<ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], pp. 32β33.</ref> A 19-year-old Oswald sailed on a freighter from [[New Orleans]] to France and then traveled to Finland, where he was issued a Soviet visa.<ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], pp. 32β33, 46.</ref> Oswald [[defection|defected]] to the Soviet Union,<ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], pp. 46β53.</ref>{{efn|group=note|In 1964, KGB Agent [[Yuri Nosenko]] defected to the United States. He divulged that Soviet intelligence surveilled Oswald, regarded him as mentally unstable, and had no association with him.<ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], pp. 34β36.</ref> Although the FBI trusted Nosenko, the CIA believed that he was a [[Mole (espionage)|mole]] and convinced the Warren Commission not to interview him.<ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], pp. 38β39.</ref>}} and in January 1960 he was sent to work at a factory in [[Minsk]], Belarus.<ref>[[#Warren|Warren (1964)]], p. 697.</ref><ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], p. 53.</ref> In 1961, he met and married [[Marina Oswald Porter|Marina Prusakova]],<ref>[[#McMillan|McMillan (1977)]], pp. 64β65.</ref> with whom he had a child.<ref name="Warren 1964, p. 712">[[#Warren|Warren (1964)]], p. 712.</ref> In 1962, he returned to the United States with a repatriation loan from the U.S. Embassy.<ref name="Warren 1964, p. 712"/> He settled in the [[DallasβFort Worth metroplex|Dallas/Fort Worth]] area,<ref>[[#Warren|Warren (1964)]], p. 714.</ref> where he socialized with Russian Γ©migrΓ©sβnotably [[George de Mohrenschildt]].<ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], pp. 82β83, 85, 100.</ref><ref>[[#Summers|Summers (2013)]], pp. 152β160.</ref> In March 1963, a bullet narrowly missed General [[Edwin Walker]] at his Dallas residence; a witness observed two conspicuous men. Relying on Marina's testimony, a note left by Oswald, and ballistic evidence, the [[Warren Commission]] attributed this assassination attempt to Oswald.<ref>[[#Warren|Warren (1964)]], p. 183.</ref> In April 1963, Oswald returned to his birthplace, New Orleans,<ref>[[#Warren|Warren (1964)]], p. 403.</ref> and established an independent chapter of the pro-Castro [[Fair Play for Cuba Committee]], of which he was the sole member.<ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], pp. 125β127.</ref><ref>[[#Warren|Warren (1964)]], pp. 728β729.</ref> While passing out pro-Castro literature alongside unknown compatriots, Oswald was arrested after scuffling with anti-Castro [[Cuban exiles]].<ref>[[#Summers|Summers (2013)]], p. 211.</ref><ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], pp. 151β152.</ref>{{efn|group=note|At Oswald's request, he met with FBI Special Agent John Quigley while in custody. Posner cites this as proof that Oswald was not a government agent, questioning why he might "blow his cover".<ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], pp. 153β155.</ref>}} In late September 1963, Oswald traveled to [[Mexico City]], where, according to the Warren Commission, he visited the Soviet and Cuban embassies.<ref>[[#Posner|Posner (1993)]], pp. 172β190.</ref> On October 3, Oswald returned to Dallas and found work at the [[Texas School Book Depository]] on [[Dealey Plaza]].<ref name="WCR-C1">[[#Warren|Warren (1964)]], pp. 14β15.</ref> During the workweek he lived separately from Marina at [[Lee Harvey Oswald Rooming House|a Dallas rooming house]].<ref name="Saturday2">[[#Bagdikian|Bagdikian (1963)]], p. 26.</ref> On the morning of the assassination, he carried a long package (which he told coworkers contained curtain rods) into the Depository;<ref>[[#Bugliosi2007|Bugliosi (2007)]], pp. 6, 165.</ref>{{efn|group=note|Jack Dougherty, the only witness who saw Oswald enter the Depository on the morning of the assassination, testified to the Warren Commission that he did not remember seeing Oswald with any package.<ref>[[#Bugliosi2007|Bugliosi (2007)]], p. 819.</ref> Bugliosi questioned his reliability as a witness: Dougherty's father told FBI agents on November 23 that his son "had considerable difficulty in coordinating his mental facilities with his speech".<ref>[[#Bugliosi2007|Bugliosi (2007)]], p. 820.</ref>}} the Warren Commission concluded that this package contained Oswald's disassembled rifle.<ref>[[#Warren|Warren (1964)]], pp. 130β135.</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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