November 29, 2012
WARREN COMMISSION ESTABLISHED 49 YEARS AGO TODAY!
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) The Warren Commission, officially known as The President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, was established 49 years ago today on November 29, 1963.
The commission, chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren of California, included Richard Russell, Jr. (D-GA), John Sherman Cooper (R-Kentucky), Hale Boggs (D-Louisiana), Gerald R. Ford (R-Michigan), Allen Dulles (former CIA director), & John J. McCloy (former president of the World Bank).
On December 9, 1963, the Federal Bureau of Investigation submitted its own report on the assassination which was to become the Warren Commission's primary source.
The FBI concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin of JFK & that there was no evidence of conspiracy.
The FBI report said 3 bullets were fired at JFK. The 1st hit JFK, the 2nd hit Gov. Connally & the 3rd hit JFK in the head.*
*John Connally, who survived, testified before the Warren Commission that he heard the 1st shot & was in the process of turning to see JFK when he was hit by the 2nd shot.
The Warren Report, however, said that 3 bullets were fired but 1 missed, 1 hit both Governor John Connally of Texas & the President, & 1 hit JFK in the head.
The home movie of the assassination proved that both JFK & Connally were hit in less time than it would take a lone gunman to reload the rifle identified with the shooting.
This fact forced the Commission to come up with an alternative. Thus, the single bullet theory was born. One shot missed. One shot hit JFK, passed through him & then hit Gov. Connally. The 3rd shot hit JFK in the head.
On the day Lee Harvey Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover told LBJ "something (needs to be) issued so we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin."
Less than a week after the Warren Report was issued, the FBI informed the White House that "the Commission's report is seriously inaccurate insofar as its treatment of the FBI is concerned."
Earl Warren Gives Report to LBJ
White House Cabinet Room
September 24, 1964
Photo by Cecil Stoughton
LBJ Library Image
