THIS DAY IN HISTORY – Warren Commission Report Delivered to President Johnson – 1964 – The Burning Platform

Via History.com

On September 24, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson receives the report of a special commission into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which took place on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.

Because the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was killed almost immediately after Kennedy’s assassination by a man named Jack Ruby, Oswald’s motive for killing the president remained unknown. Seven days after the assassination, Johnson appointed the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy to investigate Kennedy’s death. The commission was headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren and became known as the Warren Commission. The commission concluded that Oswald had acted alone and that the Secret Service had made poor preparations for JFK’s visit to Dallas and had failed to adequately protect him.

The circumstances surrounding Kennedy’s death, however, have since given rise to a variety of conspiracy theories involving such diverse characters as the Mafia, Cuban exiles, military leaders, and even Lyndon Johnson. The Warren Commission’s conclusion that Oswald was a “lone gunman” did not satisfy some who witnessed the attack, and others who, in their investigation, found contradictory details in the commission’s report.

Critics of the Warren Commission report argued that the conclusions of additional ballistics experts and a home movie filmed at the scene contradicted the theory that three bullets fired from Oswald’s gun could have caused Kennedy’s fatal wounds, as well as those of Texas Governor John Connally, who was riding in an open car with the president as he passed through Dallas’ Dealey Plaza that fateful day. The controversy was so persistent that another congressional investigation was conducted in 1979; that commission reached the same conclusion as the Warren Commission.

During its nearly year-long investigation, the Warren Commission reviewed reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Secret Service, Department of State, and the Texas Attorney General. The commission also delved into Oswald’s personal history, political leanings, and military record. In all, the Warren Commission heard testimony from 552 witnesses and even traveled to Dallas several times to visit the site where Kennedy was shot.

The vast amount of documentation from the investigation was placed in the National Archives, and much of it is now available to the public. Access to Kennedy’s autopsy reports, however, is severely restricted. Viewing them requires membership on a presidential or congressional committee or permission from the Kennedy family.