Who Is Responsible For Kennedy's Assassination

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On May 29, 1917, a very sick baby boy was born to Joseph Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald. That sick little boy, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was sworn in as the 35th President of the United States of America on January 20th, 1961 (C-Span, 1999, p. 1). Less than three years later, on November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. President Kennedy was traveling in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza on the day of his assassination. According to the Warren Commission, established to investigate the assassination, three shots were fired from a 6th floor window of the Texas School Book Depository, one of which went astray and struck a curb, and two of which struck President Kennedy. Senator John Connally was seated directly in front of President Kennedy in the Presidential Limousine and suffered injuries as well. Lee Harvey Oswald…show more content…
Oswald had led a troubled childhood and had enlisted in the US Marina Corps in October, 1956. In 1956 Oswald was tested and scored 212, just barely meeting the qualifications for sharpshooter (Warren Commission, 1964, p.11). Later testing moved him back to ‘marksman’ status (Warren Commission, 1964, p.11). Oswald was not trained as a marksman or sharpshooter in the Marine Corps, though; he was trained as a radar operator. After a brief career in the Marine Corps, Oswald was discharged and defected to the Soviet Union, but later returned to the United States and was employed at the Texas School Book Depository at the time of JFK’s assassination. Oswald was present in the Book Depository on November 22, and a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle was found on the sixth floor (Warren Commission, 1964, p.6, 12). The rifle, according to the Warren Commission, is the weapon used to fatally shoot the President and belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald. A Mannlicher-Carcano is a bolt action rifle and requires a minimum of 2.3 seconds to recycle (Warren Commission, 1964, p.

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