The Kennedy

AssassinationNov. 22, 1963

November 22rd, 1963• In Texas for a little campaigning and to help

reunite a divided Texas Democratic Party.

• Breakfast in Fort Worth

Landing Landing in in

DallasDallas

• President and Mrs. Kennedy in Dallas for early campaigning

Looking toward reelection…

• Met w/ TX Gov. John Connally and wife at airport

• Drove thru Dallas in a convertible

Route publicized so people could watch

Dealey Plaza

The assassin’s view

• Shots fired!

• Both Kennedy and Connally were hit

Rushed to Parkland Hospital

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• Connally eventually recovers

• Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1 p.m.

photos were made at the autopsy

• Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of Kennedy and a

Dallas Police Officer

A communist sympathizer…

A Castro supporter….

“I’m just a patsy…”

• Nov. 24, Oswald was shot by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby

…a nightclub owner….

…ties to the

mob?

…the nation mourns with the family…

Warren CommissionWarren Commission• Nov. 29, 1963, Pres. Johnson appointed the a

committee to “ascertain, evaluate and report upon the facts relating to the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy."

Warren refused to have Ruby moved …so he never told….

Eventually, he pleaded insanity and on March 14, 1964, a jury convicted Jack Ruby of killing Oswald and sentenced him to death.

Jack Ruby died from cancer less than 3 years later….

Oswald was gone, but Oswald was gone, but what about Ruby?what about Ruby?

Jack Ruby told Earl Warren that he would "come clean" if he was moved from Dallas and allowed to testify in Washington. He told Warren "my life is in danger here". He added: "I want to tell the truth, and I can't tell it here.”

• After 3 months, the Warren Commission concludes that Oswald acted alone in killing the President

• There was no conspiracy.

Questions!?• Did Oswald really act alone?

– The Russians?– Pro- Castro Cubans?

• Was he set up?– The Mob?– The CIA?– Anti-Castro Cubans?

• Who had the most to gain?• Why did Ruby kill Oswald before he could stand trial?

• Was Oswald really the killer, were Was Oswald really the killer, were other shots fired from other other shots fired from other locations?locations?–The grassy knoll?The grassy knoll?–Manhole?Manhole?

• Who had motive?Who had motive?• Pro-Castro Cubans? Pro-Castro Cubans? • Anti-Castro Cubans?Anti-Castro Cubans?• Soviets?Soviets?• Mafia?Mafia?• LBJ?LBJ?• Jackie?Jackie?

The United States House of The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Representatives Select Committee on

Assassinations (HSCA)Assassinations (HSCA)

The Committee reopened the The Committee reopened the investigation and in 1978 investigation and in 1978

concluded that Kennedy was concluded that Kennedy was very very likely assassinated as a result of likely assassinated as a result of

a conspiracy. a conspiracy.

Did Assassination change Did Assassination change JFK’s legacy?JFK’s legacy?

popular culture

JFK’s Legacy

Impact

JFKs Popularity

Entertainment

LBJ

Modern Presidency

1968 MLK

James Earl RayPleads guilty to escape

death penalty but continues to proclaim

innocence.Dies in prison but in 1999 his family is awarded

$100 in a wrongful death suit

Theory #1: James Earl RayWas James Earl Ray, a career criminal and known racist, nothing more than a patsy for someone even shadier?

Theory #2: Government Memphis police as well as federal agencies

Theory #3: Evidence of "Raul"Donald Wilson, a retired FBI employee, found pieces of paper in Ray's car after the 1968 shooting that had the name "Raul" written on them.

Theory #4: The Memphis Bar ManMemphis bar owner Lloyd Jowers did it.

Sirhan Sirhan• RFK had just won the

California primary.• Second gunman

• Manchurian candidate (Sirhan was hypnotized…)

• The woman in the polka-dot dress (Kennedy campaign workers reported seeing a girl in a polka dot dress running from the scene with a man accompanying her, and claimed that the girl exclaimed, "We shot him! We shot him!".

• CIA involvementCIA involvement