View source for John F. Kennedy assassination

{{Semiprotected|small=yes}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
|title= John F. Kennedy assassination
|image=Kennedyb.jpg|300px
|caption=President Kennedy with his wife, Jacqueline, and [[Texas Governor]] [[John Connally]] in the [[Presidential state car (United States)|presidential limousine]], minutes before his assassination.
|location=[[Dallas]], [[Texas]]
|target=[[John F. Kennedy]]
|date=November 22, 1963
|time=12:30 p.m.
|timezone=
|type=[[Sniper]] [[assassination]]
|fatalities=1 killed (President [[John F. Kennedy]])
|injuries=2 wounded (Governor [[John Connally]] and James Tague)
|perps=[[Lee Harvey Oswald]]
}}
{{Vertical_images_list
|align=
|width= 150px
|boxwidth=
|image1=  DealeyPlazaAerial.jpg
|alt1=
|caption1=  Aerial view of Dealey Plaza showing route of President Kennedy's motorcade
|image2=  Altgens  mary ferrell.jpg|
|alt2=
|caption2= [[Ike Altgens]]'  photo of presidential limousine taken between the first and second shots  that hit President Kennedy. Kennedy's left hand is at his throat and Mrs. Kennedy's left hand is holding his arm.
|image3=  Moorman.jpg
|alt3=
|caption3=  Polaroid photo by [[Mary Moorman]]  taken a fraction of a second after the fatal shot (detail)
|image4= Elm   from 6th fl.jpg
|alt4=
|caption4= Elm Street seen from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository
|image5=  HowardBrennan.jpg
|alt5=
|caption5=  Howard Brennan sitting across from the Texas School Book Depository. Circle  "A" indicates where he saw a  man fire a rifle at the motorcade
|image6=  Dallasjfk.jpg
|alt6=
|caption6=  The assassination site in 2008. White arrows indicate the sixth floor window and the mark on the road where Kennedy was hit the second time
}}
The '''assassination of [[John F. Kennedy]]''', the [[list of US Presidents|thirty-fifth]] [[President of the United States]], took place on Friday, November&nbsp;22, 1963, in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], at 12:30 p.m. [[Central Time Zone (Americas)|Central Standard Time]] (18:30 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]]) in [[Dealey Plaza]]. Kennedy was fatally shot while riding with his wife [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|Jacqueline]] in a Presidential [[motorcade]].

The ten-month investigation of the [[Warren Commission]] of 1963–1964, the [[United States House Select Committee on Assassinations]] (HSCA) of 1976–1979, and other government investigations concluded that the President was [[assassination|assassinated]] by [[Lee Harvey Oswald]]. Oswald was subsequently murdered by [[Jack Ruby]], before he could stand trial. This conclusion was initially met with support among the American public; however, polls conducted from 1966 to 2004 concluded approximately 80% of the American public have held beliefs contrary to these findings.<ref name=langer20031116>{{cite web|url=http://abcnews.go.com/images/pdf/937a1JFKAssassination.pdf|author=Gary Langer|title=John F. Kennedy’s Assassination Leaves a Legacy of Suspicion|publisher=ABC News|date=November 16, 2003|accessdate=May 16, 2010}}</ref><ref>Jarrett Murphy, [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/20/national/main584668.shtml 40 Years Later: Who Killed JFK?], CBS News, November 21, 2003.</ref> The assassination is still the subject of widespread debate and has spawned [[Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|numerous conspiracy theories]] and alternative scenarios. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) found both the original FBI investigation and the Warren Commission Report to be seriously flawed. The HSCA also concluded that there were at least four shots fired, that there was a "high probability" that two gunmen fired at the President, and that it was probable that a conspiracy existed.<ref name="The National Archives">{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/|title=Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives|publisher=The National Archives|year=1979}}</ref> Later studies, including one by the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]],<ref name=nas04>National Academy of Sciences, [http://www.jfk-online.com/nas04.html#7 Report of the Committee on Ballistic Acoustics].</ref> have called into question the accuracy of the evidence used by the HSCA to support its finding of four shots.

==Assassination==
Just before 12:30 p.m. CST, Kennedy’s [[limousine]] entered [[Dealey Plaza]] and slowly approached the [[Texas School Book Depository]]. [[Nellie Connally]], then the First Lady of Texas, turned around to Kennedy, who was sitting behind her, and commented, "Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you." which President Kennedy acknowledged.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0078a.htm Warren Commission Testimony of Nellie Connally], vol. 4, p. 147.</ref><ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0070a.htm Warren Commission Testimony of John B. Connally], vol. 4, pp. 131–132.</ref>

When the Presidential limousine turned and passed the Depository and continued down Elm Street, shots were fired at Kennedy; a clear majority of witnesses recalled hearing three shots.<ref name=Earwitnesses>{{cite web|url=http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/shots.htm |title=Dealey Plaza Earwitnesses |publisher=Mcadams.posc.mu.edu |date=2006-04-24 |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> A minority of the witnesses did recognize the first gunshot blast they heard as a weapon blast, but there was hardly any reaction from a majority in the crowd or riding in the motorcade itself to the first shot, with many later saying they heard what they first thought to be a firecracker or the exhaust [[back-fire|backfire]] of a vehicle just after the president started waving.<ref>Although some close witnesses, dependent on their viewing angle, recalled seeing the limousine slow down, nearly stop, or completely stop, the Warren Commission, based on the Zapruder film, found that the limousine had an average speed of 11.2&nbsp;miles per hour over the 186&nbsp;ft of Elm Street immediately preceding the fatal head shot. [http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-2.html#speed Warren Commission Report, chapter 2, p. 49]</ref><ref>Additional research from the Zapruder film determined the car's speed to specifically slow from 14.4&nbsp;mph to 8.3&nbsp;mph. See the "Limo Speed" notation, written on the upper right Main Street area available on the [http://imgcash2.imageshack.us/img160/7642/dpjpg110508mb6.gif Dealey Plaza map] by [http://droberdeau.blogspot.com/2009/08/1-men-of-courage-jfk-assassination_09.html Donald Roberdeau].</ref>

Within one second of each other, President Kennedy, Texas Governor [[John Connally]], and Mrs. Kennedy, all turned abruptly from looking to their left to looking to their right, between [[Zapruder film]] frames 155 and 169.<ref>Graph of [http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/2508/jackieheadturnsspeeds07ln3.gif Head-facing Directions, Head-facing Changes, & Head-facing Changes in Speeds of the Kennedy's and Connally's at the Start of the Attack] by [http://droberdeau.blogspot.com/2009/08/1-men-of-courage-jfk-assassination_09.html Donald Roberdeau].</ref> Connally, like the president a WWII military veteran (and unlike the president, a longtime hunter), testified he immediately recognized the sound of a high-powered rifle, then he turned his head and torso rightward attempting to see President Kennedy behind him. Connally testified he could not see the president, so he then started to turn forward again, and was hit in his upper right back by a bullet that he testified he did not hear the muzzle blast from. He then shouted, "Oh, no, no, no. My God. They're going to kill us all!"<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.jfk-assassination.de/warren/wch/vol4/page147.php Testimony of Mrs. John Connally]</ref><ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.jfk-assassination.com/warren/wch/vol5/page180.php Testimony of Jacqueline Kennedy]</ref>

Mrs. Connally testified that right after hearing a first loud, frightening noise that came from somewhere behind her and to her right, she immediately turned towards President Kennedy and saw him with his arms and elbows already raised high with his hands already close to his throat. She then heard another gunshot and John Connally started yelling. Mrs. Connally then turned away from President Kennedy towards her husband, then another gunshot sounded and she and the limousine's rear interior were covered with fragments of brain, blood, and bone matter.

According to the Warren Commission<ref>Warren Commission Report, [http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html#conclusions Chapter 1: Summary and Conclusions], p. 18–19.</ref> and the House Select Committee on Assassinations,<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/report/html/HSCA_Report_0036a.htm HSCA Report, p. 41–46].</ref> as President Kennedy waved to the crowds on his right with his right arm upraised on the side of the limo, a shot entered his upper back, penetrated his neck, slightly damaged a spinal vertebra and the top of his right lung, exited his throat nearly centerline just beneath his Adam's apple, then nicked the left side of his suit tie knot. He then raised his arms and clenched fists around his head and neck, then leaned forward and towards his left. Mrs. Kennedy (already facing him) then put her arms around him in concern. Governor Connally also reacted after the [[single bullet theory|same bullet]] penetrated his back creating an oval entry wound, impacted and destroyed four inches of his right, fifth rib bone, exited his chest just below his right nipple creating a two-and-a-half inch oval sucking-air chest wound, then entered just above his right wrist, impacted and cleanly fractured his right wrist bone, exited just below the wrist at the inner side of his right palm, and entered his left inner thigh.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.jfk-assassination.de/warren/wch/vol4/page133.php Testimony of Governor John Connally].</ref><ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0056a.htm Testimony of Dr. Shaw].</ref> The Warren Commission theorized that the "single bullet" struck between Zapruder frames 210 and 225, while the House Select Committee theorized it occurred exactly at Zapruder frame 190.

According to the Warren Commission, a second shot struck at Zapruder film frame 313 (the Commission made no conclusion as to whether this was the second or third bullet fired) when the Presidential limousine was passing in front of the [[John Neely Bryan]] north [[pergola]] concrete structure (the House Select Committee concluded that the final shot was the fourth shot). They each concluded that this shot entered the rear of President Kennedy's head (the House Select Committee determined the entry wound to be four inches higher than the Warren Commission), then exploded out a roughly oval shaped hole from his head's rear and right side. Head matter, brain, blood, and skull fragments covered the interior of the car, the inner and outer surfaces of the front glass windshield and raised sun visors, the front engine hood, the rear trunk lid, the followup Secret Service car and its driver's left arm, and motorcycle officers riding on both sides of the president behind him.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.jfk-assassination.de/warren/wch/vol6/page294.php Testimony of Bobby Hargis]. [http://youtube.com/watch?v=TpicOfFajNE Interview of Abraham Zapruder], WFAA-TV, Dallas, Texas, November 22, 1963.</ref> Mrs. Kennedy then reached out onto the rear trunk lid. After she crawled back into her limousine seat, both Governor Connally and Mrs. Connally heard her say more than once, "They have killed my husband," and "I have his brains in my hand."<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0071b.htm Testimony of John B. Connally], vol. 4, p. 134.</ref><ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0078b.htm Testimony of Mrs. John B. Connally], vol. 4, p. 148.</ref>

[[United States Secret Service]] agent [[Clint Hill]] was riding on the left front [[running board]] of the followup car, immediately behind the Presidential limousine. Hill testified he heard one shot, then, as documented in other films and concurrent with Zapruder frame 308, he jumped off into Elm Street and ran forward to try and get on the limousine and protect the president. (Hill testified to the Warren Commission that after he jumped into Elm Street, he heard two more shots)<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/hill_c.htm Testimony of Clinton J. Hill].</ref>
After the president had been shot in the head, Mrs. Kennedy began to climb out onto the back of the limousine, though she later had no recollection of doing so.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.jfk-assassination.com/warren/wch/vol5/page180.php Testimony of Jacqueline Kennedy].</ref><ref>Zapruder film: frames [http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v2n2/zfilm/zframe370.html 370], [http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v2n2/zfilm/zframe375.html 375], [http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v2n2/zfilm/zframe380.html 380], [http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v2n2/zfilm/zframe390.html 390].</ref> Hill believed she was reaching for something, perhaps a piece of the president's skull.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vol. II, p. 140, [http://www.jfk-assassination.de/warren/wch/vol2/page140.php Testimony of Clinton J. Hill].</ref> He jumped onto the back of the limousine while at the same time Mrs. Kennedy returned to her seat, and he clung to the car as it exited Dealey Plaza and sped to [[Parkland Memorial Hospital]].

===Others wounded===
{{Refimprove|section|date=May 2010}}
Governor Connally, riding in the same limousine in a seat in front of the President, was also critically injured but survived. Doctors later stated that after the governor was shot, his wife pulled him onto her lap, and the resulting posture helped close his front chest wound (which was causing air to be sucked directly into his chest around his collapsed right lung).

[[James Tague]], a spectator and witness to the assassination, also received a minor wound to his right cheek while standing {{convert|531|ft|m|abbr=off}} away from the Depository's sixth floor, far-eastern window, {{convert|270|ft|m|abbr=off}} in front of and slightly to the right of President Kennedy's head facing direction, and more than {{convert|16|ft|m|abbr=off}} below the president's head top. Tague's injury occurred when a bullet or bullet fragment with no copper casing struck the nearby Main Street south curb. When Tague testified to the Warren Commission and was asked which of the three shots he remembered hearing struck him, he stated it was the second or third shot; when the Warren Commission attorney pressed him further, Tague stated he was struck concurrent with the second shot.<ref>[http://www.jmasland.com/wctestimony/dealey/tague.htm James Tague: Warren Commission testimony, 1964].</ref>

===Aftermath in Dealey Plaza===
[[File:Newman Family.jpg|thumb|Bill and Gayle Newman drop to the grass and cover their children, believing they were in the line of fire from behind]]
The Presidential limousine was passing a [[grassy knoll]] on the north side of Elm Street at the moment of the fatal head shot. As the motorcade left the plaza, police officers and spectators ran up the knoll and from a railroad bridge over Elm Street (the Triple Underpass), to the area behind a five-foot (1.5&nbsp;m) high stockade fence atop the knoll, separating it from a parking lot. No sniper was found.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/haygood.htm Testimony of Clyde Haygood].</ref> S. M. Holland, who had been watching the motorcade on the Triple Underpass, testified that "immediately" after the shots were fired, he went around the corner where the overpass joined the fence<ref>See photos 4, 7, and 8, [http://www.kenrahn.com/Photo_shows/Dallas_Nov_01/TU1.html Up by the Triple Underpass 1].</ref> but did not see anyone running from the area.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 6, pp. 244–245, [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/html/WC_Vol6_0127b.htm Testimony of S. M. Holland]. [http://www.kenrahn.com/Photo_shows/Dallas_Nov_01/TU1.html Photographs of the Triple Underpass and rear fence area].</ref>
[[File:Dealey Plaza (1969).jpg|thumb|[[Dealey Plaza]] and [[Texas School Book Depository]] in 1969, looking much as they did in November 1963]]
[[Lee Bowers]], a railroad switchman sitting in a two-story tower,<ref>See photo 1, [http://www.kenrahn.com/Photo_shows/Dallas_Nov_01/TU1.html Up by the Triple Underpass 1].</ref> had an unobstructed view of the rear of the stockade fence atop the grassy knoll during the shooting.<ref>Warren Commission Report, p. 74, Commission Exhibit 2118, [http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0049a.htm View From North Tower of Union Terminal Company, Dallas, Texas].</ref> He saw a total of four men in the area between his tower and Elm Street: a middle-aged man and a younger man, standing {{convert|10|to|15|ft|m|abbr=off}} apart near the Triple Underpass, who did not seem to know each other, and one or two uniformed parking lot attendants. At the time of the shooting, he saw "something out of the ordinary, a sort of milling around," which he could not identify. Bowers testified that one or both of the men were still there when motorcycle officer Clyde Haygood ran up the grassy knoll to the back of the fence.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/bowers.htm Testimony of Lee E. Bowers, Jr.]</ref> In a 1966 interview, Bowers clarified that the two men he saw were standing in the opening between the pergola and the fence, and that "no one" was behind the fence at the time the shots were fired.<ref>Dale K. Myers, ''Secrets of a Homicide: Badge Man'' – [http://www.jfkfiles.com/jfk/html/badgeman_4.htm The Testimony of Lee E. Bowers, Jr.]</ref><ref>Transcript of filmed interview of Lee Bowers, Jr., p.124, Roll GH600, from ''Rush to Judgment'', in the papers of Emile de Antonio, Wisconsin Historical Society Archives.</ref>

Meanwhile, [[Howard Brennan]], a [[steamfitter]] who was sitting across the street from the Texas School Book Depository, notified police that as he watched the motorcade go by, he heard a shot come from above, and looked up to see a man with a rifle make another shot from a corner window on the sixth floor. He had seen the same man minutes earlier looking out the window.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 3, p. 143, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh3/html/WC_Vol3_0076a.htm Testimony of Howard Brennan].</ref> Brennan gave a description of the shooter,<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 3, p. 145, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh3/html/WC_Vol3_0077a.htm Testimony of Howard Brennan].</ref> which was broadcast to all Dallas police at 12:45 p.m., 12:48 p.m., and 12:55 p.m.<ref>[http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dpdtapes/ History in Real Time: The JFK Assassination Dallas Police Tapes].</ref>

As Brennan spoke to the police in front of the building, they were joined by Harold Norman and James Jarman, Jr.,<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 17, p. 209, CE 494, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0118a.htm Photograph of James Jarman, showing his position at a fifth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository].</ref> two employees of the Texas School Book Depository who had watched the motorcade from windows at the southeast corner of the fifth floor.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 17, p. 202, CE 485, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh17/html/WH_Vol17_0114b.htm Photograph of Harold Norman, Bonnie Ray Williams, and James Jarman, Jr. showing their positions on the fifth floor of the Texas School Book Depository as the motorcade passed].</ref> Norman reported that he heard three gunshots come from directly over their heads.<ref>[http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/williams.htm Warren Commission Hearings, Testimony of Bonnie Ray Williams]. [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/m_j_russ/jarman.htm Warren Commission Hearings, Testimony of James Jarman, Jr.]</ref> Norman also heard the sounds of a bolt action rifle and cartridges dropping on the floor above them.<ref>[http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/m_j_russ/norman.htm Warren Commission Hearings, Testimony of Harold Norman].</ref>

Estimates of when Dallas police sealed off the entrances to the Texas School Book Depository range from 12:33 to after 12:50 p.m.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0275b.htm Testimony of Welcome Eugene Barnett].</ref><ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0178b.htm Testimony of Forrest V. Sorrels].</ref>

Of the 104 earwitnesses in Dealey Plaza who are on record with an opinion as to the direction from which the shots came, 54 (51.9%) thought that all shots came from the direction of the Texas School Book Depository, 33 (31.7%) thought that all shots came from the area of the grassy knoll or the Triple Underpass, 9 (8.7%) thought all shots came from a location entirely distinct from the knoll or the Depository, 5 (4.8%) thought they heard shots from two locations, and 3 (2.9%) thought the shots came from a direction consistent with both the knoll and the Depository.<ref name=Earwitnesses/><ref>Not included in the 51.9% are two earwitnesses who though the shots came from the TSBD, but from a lower floor or at street level, and who are thus included in the 8.7%. Included in the 31.7% is a witness who thought the shots came from "the alcove near the benches".</ref>

==Lee Harvey Oswald==
[[File:CE2892.jpg|thumb|right|75 px|[[Lee Harvey Oswald]]]]
{{Main|Lee Harvey Oswald}}
Lee Harvey Oswald, reported missing to the Dallas police by Roy Truly, his supervisor at the Depository,<ref>[http://www.jfk-assassination.de/warren/wch/vol3/page230.php Testimony of Roy Truly], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 3, p. 230.</ref> was arrested an hour and 20&nbsp;minutes after the assassination for killing a Dallas police officer, [[J. D. Tippit]], who had spotted Oswald walking along a sidewalk in the residential neighborhood of [[Oak Cliff]].<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh3/html/WC_Vol3_0158a.htm Testimony of Helen Markham], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 3, p. 307.</ref> Oswald was captured in [[Texas Theatre|a nearby movie theater]] after he was seen sneaking into the theater without buying a ticket.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0006b.htm Testimony of Johnny Calvin Brewer], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 7, p. 4.</ref>

Oswald resisted, attempting to shoot the arresting officer, M.N. McDonald, with a pistol, and was struck and forcibly restrained by the police.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh3/html/WC_Vol3_0154b.htm Testimony of M.N. McDonald], Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits, vol. 3, p. 300.</ref> He was charged with the murders of Tippit and Kennedy later that night.<ref>Tippit murder affidavit: [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0170a.htm text], [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0170b.htm cover]. Kennedy murder affidavit: [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0171a.htm text], [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0171b.htm cover].</ref> Oswald denied shooting anyone and claimed he was a [[Scapegoat|patsy]] who was arrested because he had lived in the Soviet Union.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 20, p. 366, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0193b.htm Kantor Exhibit No. 3 — Handwritten notes made by Seth Kantor concerning events surrounding the assassination].</ref><ref>[http://youtube.com/watch?v=_ZYAIiErTNg&feature=related Lee Oswald claiming innocence] (film), YouTube.com.</ref><ref>[http://youtube.com/watch?v=yuudRsNewsM Lee Oswald's Midnight Press Conference], YouTube.com.</ref> Oswald's case never came to trial because two days later, while being escorted to a car for transfer from Dallas Police Headquarters to the Dallas County Jail, he was shot and killed by Dallas nightclub owner [[Jack Ruby]].

==Carcano rifle==

{{Main|John F. Kennedy assassination rifle}}
A 6.5 x 52&nbsp;mm Italian [[Carcano]] M91/38 bolt-action rifle was found on the 6th floor of the [[Texas Book Depository]] by Deputy [[Constable]] Seymour Weitzman and [[Deputy sheriff]] Eugene Boone soon after the assassination of President Kennedy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jfk-assassination.de/warren/wcr/page645.php |title=John F. Kennedy Assassination Homepage :: Warren Commission :: Report :: Page 645 |publisher=Jfk-assassination.de |date=2004-12-05 |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> The recovery was filmed by [[Tom Alyea]] of [[WFAA-TV]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jfk-online.com/alyea.html |title=Tom Alyea, "Facts and Photos" |publisher=Jfk-online.com |date=1963-12-19 |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> This footage shows the rifle to be a Carcano, and it was later verified by photographic analysis commissioned by the HSCA that the rifle filmed was the same one later identified as the assassination weapon.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol6/html/HSCA_Vol6_0035a.htm HSCA Appendix to Hearings, vol. VI, p. 66–107].</ref> Compared to photographs taken of Oswald holding the rifle in his backyard, "one notch in the stock at [a] point that appears very faintly in the photograph" matched,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html#photograph |title=Warren Commission Report Chapter 4 - Photograph |publisher=Archives.gov |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> as well as the rifle's dimensions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jfkassassination.net/russ/infojfk/jfk6/assass.htm |title=The Assassin |publisher=Jfkassassination.net |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref>

The previous March, the Carcano rifle had been bought by Oswald under the name "A. Hidell" and delivered to a [[post office box]] Oswald rented in Dallas.<ref>Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4: The Assassin, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0071b.htm Purchase of Rifle by Oswald].</ref> According to the Warren Commission Report, a partial palm print of Oswald was also found on the barrel of the gun,<ref>Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4: The Assassin, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0073b.htm Oswald's Palmprint on Rifle Barrel].</ref><ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 4, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0134b.htm Testimony of Lt. J. C. Day].</ref> and a tuft of fibers found in a crevice of the rifle was consistent with the fibers and colors of the shirt Oswald was wearing at the time of his arrest.<ref>Warren Commission Report, Chapter 4: The Assassin, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0074b.htm Fibers on Rifle].</ref><ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 21, p. 467, Shaneyfelt Exhibit No. 24, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/html/WH_Vol21_0246a.htm Chart prepared by Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt establishing identity of shirt worn by Oswald at the time of his arrest].</ref>

A bullet found on Connally's hospital [[gurney]], and two bullet fragments found in the presidential limousine, were [[Ballistic fingerprinting|ballistically matched]] to this rifle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-3.html#bullet |title=Warren Commission Report Chapter 3 - Bullet |publisher=Archives.gov |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref>

==Kennedy declared dead in the emergency room==

{{See|Timeline of the John F. Kennedy assassination}}
The staff at Parkland Hospital's Trauma Room 1 who treated Kennedy observed that his condition was "[[moribund]]", meaning that he had no chance of survival upon arriving at the hospital. Dr. George Burkley,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ggburkle.htm |title=Biographical sketch of Dr. George Gregory Burkley, Arlington National Cemetery |publisher=Arlington National Cemetery |accessdate=2009-04-28}}</ref> the President's personal physician, determined the head wound was the cause of death. Dr. Burkley signed President Kennedy's death certificate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/arrb/master_med_set/md6/html/Image0.htm |title=History Matters Archive - MD 6 - White House Death Certificate (Burkley - 11/23/63), pg |publisher=History-matters.com |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref>

[[Image:Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath of office, November 1963.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as U.S. President aboard Air Force One in Dallas]]
At 1:00 p.m., CST (19:00 [[UTC]]), after all heart activity had ceased and after a priest administered the last rites, the President was pronounced dead. "We never had any hope of saving his life," one doctor said.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/mcclella.htm |title=Testimony Of Dr. Robert Nelson Mcclelland |publisher=Jfkassassination.net |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> The Very Rev. Oscar L. Huber,<ref>Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 110, Number 3, January 2007, pp.380-393 . Retrieved 20 October 2008.</ref> the [[priest]] who administered the last rites to Kennedy told ''[[The New York Times]]'' that the President was already dead by the time Huber had arrived at the hospital, and he had to draw back a sheet covering the President's face to administer the sacrament of [[Anointing of the Sick (Catholic Church)|Extreme Unction]]. Kennedy's death was officially announced by [[White House]] Acting Press Secretary [[Malcolm Kilduff]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/mmkiluffjr.htm |title=Biographical sketch of Malcolm MacGregor Kilduff, Jr. |publisher=Arlington National Cemetery |accessdate=2009-04-28}}</ref> at 1:33 p.m. CST (19:33 [[UTC]]).<ref>Kilduff was serving as the press secretary because the chief press secretary, [[Pierre Salinger]], was traveling to Japan with Secretary of State [[Dean Rusk]] and other Cabinet officers.</ref> Governor Connally, meanwhile, was taken to emergency surgery, where he underwent two operations that day.

A few minutes after 2:00 p.m. CST (20:00 [[UTC]]), and after a confrontation between Dallas police and Secret Service agents, Kennedy's body was placed in a casket and taken from Parkland Hospital and driven to [[Air Force One]]. The casket was then loaded aboard the airplane through the rear door, where it remained at the rear of the passenger compartment, in place of a removed row of seats. The body was removed before a forensic examination could be conducted by the Dallas County coroner (Earl Rose),
which violated Texas state law{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}<!--if one of the cites at the end of this sentence is the appropriate one, pls move it here-->
(the murder was a state crime and occurred under Texas legal jurisdiction). At that time, it was not a federal offense to kill the President of the United States,<ref>Warren Commission Report, Chapter 8: The Protection of the President, [http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-8.html#recommendations Recommendations], pp. 454–455.</ref><ref>Bugliosi, pp. 92f–93f.</ref> although it was a federal crime to conspire to injure a federal officer while he was acting in the line of duty.<ref>[http://law.onecle.com/uscode/18/372.html 18 U.S.C. 372].</ref><ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0239b.htm Recommendations: Assassination a Federal Crime], Warren Commission Report, p. 454.</ref>

[[Lyndon B. Johnson|Vice-President Johnson]] (who had been riding two cars behind Kennedy in the motorcade through Dallas and was not injured) became President of the United States upon Kennedy's initial incapacitation.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html#section1 United States Constitution, Article II, Section 1, Clause 6].</ref> At 2:38 p.m. Johnson [[Lyndon B. Johnson 1963 presidential inauguration|took the oath of office]] on board Air Force One just before it departed from Love Field.

===Autopsy ===
{{Main|John F. Kennedy autopsy}}
[[Image:JFK posterior head wound.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Drawing depicting the posterior head wound of President Kennedy.]]

After Air Force One landed at [[Andrews Air Force Base]], just outside [[Washington, D.C.]], Kennedy's body was taken to [[Bethesda, Maryland|Bethesda]] [[National Naval Medical Center|Naval Hospital]] for an immediate [[autopsy]]. The autopsy (about 8 p.m. to 12 midnight [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] on November 22)<ref>Dr. James Humes testified that the autopsy ended at “approximately 11:00 p.m.” (2 H 349, 374; HSCA Record 180-10097-10151, January
26, 1967, p. 1). However, the consensus of opinion of those in attendance is that the autopsy ended at about midnight. Humes himself indicated that the autopsy may have extended to midnight when he told the Warren Commission that
three bone fragments arrived “later on that evening or very early the next morning while we were all still engaged in continuing our examination” (2 H 354).</ref> was followed by embalming and cosmetic funeral preparation (about 12 midnight to 4 a.m.) in the morgue at Bethesda, in a room adjacent to the autopsy theater. This was done by a team of private mortuary personnel, who made an unusual trip to the hospital for this procedure. The autopsy of President Kennedy performed the night of November 22 at the [[Bethesda Naval Hospital]] led the three examining pathologists to conclude that the bullet wound to the head was fatal, and the bullet had entered slightly above and 2.5&nbsp;cm to the right of the [[external occipital protuberance]], exiting through the right side of the skull above the ear and "carrying with it portions of [[cerebrum]], skull and scalp."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Warren Commission Report. |last=The President's Commission on The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, United States Government |authorlink=Warren Commission |year=1964 |isbn=0760749973 |pages=86, 541 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=TpzGMAmH2LEC }}</ref>

The report addressed a second missile which "entered Kennedy's upper back above the shoulder blade, passed through the strap muscles at the base of his neck, bruising the upper tip of the right lung without puncturing it, then exiting the front (anterior) neck," in a wound that was destroyed by the [[tracheotomy]] incision.<ref>Warren Exhibit 387:[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh16/pdf/WH16_CE_387.pdf Autopsy Protocol, President Kennedy]</ref> This autopsy finding was not corroborated by the President's personal physician, Dr. Burkley, who recorded, on the death certificate, a bullet to have hit Kennedy at "about" the level of the third [[thoracic vertebrae|thoracic vertebra]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/arrb/master_med_set/md6/html/Image0.htm |title=(Image) |publisher=History-matters.com |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> Supporting this location along with the bullet hole in the shirt worn by Kennedy [http://www.jfklancer.com/photos/Evidence/Shirt.jpg (Image)] and the bullet hole in the suit jacket worn by Kennedy [http://www.jfklancer.com/photos/Evidence/jfkjacket.GIF (Image)] which show bullet holes between {{convert|5|and|6|in|cm|abbr=off}} below Kennedy's collar [http://www.jfklancer.com/docs.maps/skeleton.GIF (Image)]. However, photographic analysis of the motorcade, including a new pre-assassination film released in February 2007 [http://www.jfk.org/go/collections/item-detail?fedoraid=sfm:2006.039.0001 (color film)], shows that the President's jacket was bunched below his neckline, and was not lying smoothly along his skin, so the clothing measurements have been subject to historical criticism as being untrustworthy on the matter of the exact location of the back wound.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/bunched2.htm |title=Was Kennedy's Jacket Bunched When He Was Hit in the Back? - 2 |publisher=Mcadams.posc.mu.edu |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> Dr. J. Thornton Boswell's face sheet diagram from the autopsy sheet is sometimes used to support a lower back wound [http://www.jfklancer.com/docs.maps/autopdescript1.gif (Image)]. However, in 1966 Boswell noted that this drawing was never intended to be scale-exact, and he re-drew it for the benefit of ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'' on November 25, 1966, placing an X at the higher spot [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/sun.gif (Image)]. Boswell stated that his measurements of {{convert|5.5|in|cm|abbr=off}} from the ear and shoulder properly locate the wound, and these are inconsistent with a wound at the third thoracic vertebra.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/sbt.htm |title=The JFK Assassination Single Bullet Theory |publisher=Mcadams.posc.mu.edu |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> Moreover, all three Bethesda doctors authenticated for the [[United States House Select Committee on Assassinations|HSCA]] autopsy photographs showing an entry wound at the level of C6 (the sixth [[cervical vertebrae|cervical vertebra]], at the base of the neck), which is the entry level as determined by the HSCA investigation on the basis of photographic and X-ray evidence from the autopsy.

Later federal agencies such as the [[Assassination Records Review Board]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/sgp/advisory/arrb98/index.html |title=Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board |publisher=Fas.org |date=2008-05-30 |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> criticized the autopsy on several grounds including destruction from burning of the original draft of the autopsy report and notes taken by Cmdr. James Humes at the time of the autopsy, and failure to maintain a proper chain of custody of all of the autopsy materials.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/sgp/advisory/arrb98/part09.htm |title=Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board, Chapter 6, Part II |publisher=Fas.org |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref>

==Funeral==
{{Main|State funeral of John F. Kennedy}}

The President's body was brought back to the White House and placed in the East Room in a closed casket for 24&nbsp;hours but was opened privately and briefly viewed during this time by the Kennedy family and some close friends. The Sunday following the assassination, his flag-draped closed casket was moved to the [[United States Capitol Building|Capitol]] for public viewing. Throughout the day and night, hundreds of thousands lined up to view the guarded casket.

Representatives from over 90 countries, including the [[Soviet Union]], attended the funeral on November 25 (which was [[John F. Kennedy, Jr.|John Kennedy Jr.'s]] third birthday). After the service, the casket was taken by [[caisson (vehicle)|caisson]] to [[Arlington National Cemetery]] for burial.

==Recordings of the assassination==
[[Image:Dallas Elm Street.jpg|thumb|375px|Dealey Plaza, with Elm Street on the right and the underpass in the middle]]

No [[radio]] or [[television]] stations broadcast the assassination live because the area through which the motorcade was traveling was not considered important enough for a live broadcast. Most media crews were not even with the motorcade but were waiting instead at the Dallas Trade Mart in anticipation of Kennedy's arrival. Those members of the media who were with the motorcade were riding at the rear of the procession.

The Dallas police were recording their radio transmissions over two channels. A frequency designated as Channel One was used for routine police communications. A second channel, designated Channel Two, was an auxiliary channel, which was dedicated to the president's motorcade. Up until the time of the assassination, most of the broadcasts on this channel consisted of Police Chief Jesse Curry's announcements of the location of the motorcade as it wound through the streets of Dallas.
[[Image:jfk-final-shot.jpg|thumb|Looking south, with the pergola and knoll behind the photographer: the X on the street marks the approximate position of the final head shot (photo taken in July 2006)]]

President Kennedy's last seconds traveling through Dealey Plaza were recorded on silent [[8 mm film]] for the 26.6 seconds before, during, and immediately following the assassination. This famous film footage was taken by garment manufacturer and amateur cameraman [[Abraham Zapruder]], in what became known as the [[Zapruder film]]. Frame enlargements from the Zapruder film were published by [[Life (magazine)|''Life'' magazine]] shortly after the assassination. The footage was first shown publicly as a film at the [[trial of Clay Shaw]] in 1969, and on television in 1975.<ref>''[http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v2n2/zaid-1.html Assassination Archives & Research Center v. The LMH Co.]'', 1998.</ref> According to the Guinness Book of World Records, an arbitration panel ordered the US government to pay $615,384 per second of film to Zapruder's heirs for giving the film to the National Archives. The complete film, which lasts for 26 seconds, is valued at $16m.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/jun/11/1 | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Think you know your film facts? | date=June 11, 2004 | accessdate=May 6, 2010}}</ref>

Zapruder was not the only person who photographed at least part of the assassination; a total of 32 photographers were in Dealey Plaza. Amateur movies taken by [[Orville Nix]], [[Marie Muchmore]] (shown on television in New York on November 26, 1963),<ref>Rick Friedman, "Pictures of the Assassination Fall to Amateurs on Street", ''Editor and Publisher'', Nov. 30, 1963, p. 17. “A World Listened and Watched”, ''Broadcasting'', Dec. 2, 1963, p. 37. Maurice W. Schonfeld, "The Shadow of a Gunman," ''Columbia Journalism Review'', July-August, 1975.</ref> and Charles Bronson (not [[Charles Bronson|the actor]]) captured the fatal shot, although at a greater distance than Zapruder. Other motion picture films were taken in Dealey Plaza at or around the time of the shooting by Robert Hughes, F. Mark Bell, Elsie Dorman, John Martin Jr., Patsy Paschall, Tina Towner, James Underwood, Dave Wiegman, [[Mal Couch]], Thomas Atkins, and an unknown woman in a blue dress on the south side of Elm Street.<ref>A different person than the so-called "[[Babushka Lady]]".</ref> Still photos were taken by [[Phillip Willis]], [[Mary Moorman]], Hugh W. Betzner Jr., Wilma Bond, Robert Croft, and many others. The lone professional photographer in Dealey Plaza who was not in the press cars was [[Ike Altgens]], photo editor for the [[Associated Press]] in Dallas.

An unidentified woman, nicknamed the [[Babushka lady|Babushka Lady]] by researchers, might have been filming the presidential motorcade during the assassination because she was seen apparently doing so on film and in photographs taken by the others.

Previously unknown, color footage filmed on the assassination day by George Jefferies was released on February 20, 2007 by the Sixth Floor Museum, Dallas, Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jfk.org/go/collections/item-detail?fedoraid=sfm:2006.039.0001 |title=Collections Item Detail &#124; The Sixth Floor Museum |publisher=Jfk.org |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> The film does not include depiction of the actual shooting, having been taken roughly 90&nbsp;seconds beforehand and a couple of blocks away. The only detail relevant to the investigation of the assassination is a clear view of Kennedy's bunched suit jacket, just below the collar, which has led to different calculations about how low in the back Kennedy was first shot (see discussion above).

==Official investigations==
===Dallas Police===
After arresting Oswald and collecting physical evidence at the crime scenes, the Dallas Police held Oswald at the police headquarters for interrogation. Oswald was questioned all afternoon about both the Tippit shooting and the assassination of the President. He was questioned intermittently for approximately 12&nbsp;hours between 2:30 p.m., on November 22, and 11 a.m., on November 24.<ref name=Warren181>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html#statements |title=Warren Commission Report pp. 181 |publisher=Archives.gov |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> Throughout this interrogation Oswald denied any involvement with either the assassination of President Kennedy or the murder of Patrolman Tippit.<ref name=Warren181/> Captain Fritz of the homicide and robbery bureau did most of the questioning, keeping only rudimentary notes.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/fritz1.htm Testimony of J.W. Fritz]. Captain Fritz told the Warren Commission that “I kept no notes at the time” of his several interrogations of Oswald (4 H 209). However, many years later, someone discovered a little over two and a half pages of Fritz’s contemporaneous [http://www.jfk-info.com/fritztit.htm handwritten notes] at the National Archives. Fritz also said that “several days later” he wrote more extensive notes of the interrogations (4 H 209).</ref> Days later he wrote a report of the interrogation from notes he made afterwards.<ref>Warren Commission Report, [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0318a.htm Report of Capt. J.W. Fritz, Dallas Police Department], p. 13.</ref> There were no stenographic or tape recordings. Representatives of other law enforcement agencies were also present, including the [[FBI]] and the Secret Service, and occasionally participated in the questioning.<ref name=WarrenOswaldStatements>Warren Commission Report, [http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-4.html#statements Statements of Oswald During Detention].</ref> Several of the FBI agents present wrote contemporaneous reports of the interrogation.<ref>Warren Commission Report, [http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0318b.htm Reports of Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation].</ref>

During the evening of November 22, the Dallas Police Department performed [[paraffin]] tests on Oswald's hands and right cheek in an apparent effort to determine, by means of a scientific test, whether Oswald had recently fired a weapon.<ref name=WarrenOswaldStatements/> The results were positive for the hands and negative for the right cheek.<ref name=WarrenOswaldStatements/> However, because of the unreliability of these tests, the Warren Commission did not rely on the results of the test in making their findings.<ref name=WarrenOswaldStatements/>

Oswald provided little information during his questioning. Frequently, however, he was confronted with evidence which he could not explain, and he resorted to statements which were found to be false.<ref name=WarrenOswaldStatements/> Dallas authorities were not able to complete their investigation into the assassination of Kennedy because of interruptions from the FBI and the murder of Oswald by [[Jack Ruby]].

Police Chief [[Jesse Curry]] was later quoted, "We don't have any proof that Oswald fired the rifle, and never did. Nobody's yet been able to put him in that building with a gun in his hand."<ref>" 'Not Sure' on Oswald Author Curry Indicates", ''[[Dallas Morning News]]'' (Nov. 6, 1969)</ref>

===FBI investigation===
The FBI was the first authority to complete an investigation. On November 24, 1963, just hours after Oswald was murdered, FBI Director, [[J. Edgar Hoover]], said that he wanted "something issued so we can convince the public that Oswald is the real [[assassination|assassin]]."<ref>Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives, [http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-1d.html p. 244].</ref> On December 9, 1963, only 17&nbsp;days after the assassination, the FBI report was issued and given to the Warren Commission. Then, the FBI stayed on as the primary investigating authority for the commission.

The FBI stated that only three bullets were fired during the assassination; the Warren Commission agreed with the FBI investigation that only three shots were fired but disagreed with the FBI report on which shots hit Kennedy and which hit Governor Connally. The FBI report claimed that the first shot hit President Kennedy, the second shot hit Governor Connally, and the third shot hit Kennedy in the head, killing him. In contrast, the Warren Commission concluded that one of the three shots missed, one of the shots hit Kennedy and then struck Connally, and a third shot struck Kennedy in the head, killing him.

====Criticism of FBI====
The FBI's murder investigation was reviewed by the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1979. The congressional Committee concluded:

<blockquote>
*The Federal Bureau of Investigation adequately investigated Lee Harvey Oswald prior to the assassination and properly evaluated the evidence it possessed to assess his potential to endanger the public safety in a national emergency.
*The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a thorough and professional investigation into the responsibility of Lee Harvey Oswald for the assassination.
*The Federal Bureau of Investigation failed to investigate adequately the possibility of a conspiracy to assassinate the President.
*The Federal Bureau of Investigation was deficient in its sharing of information with other agencies and departments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-1d.html#fbi |title=Findings |publisher=Archives.gov |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref></blockquote>

The FBI has received added scrutiny by Kennedy assassination researchers because of the actions of FBI agent [[James Hosty]]. Hosty appeared in Oswald's address book. The FBI provided to the Warren Commission a typewritten transcription of Oswald's address book, in which Hosty's name and phone number were omitted. Approximately 10 days to a week before the assassination, Oswald went to the FBI office in Dallas to meet with Hosty, and when he found that Hosty was not in the office at the time, Oswald left an envelope for Hosty with a letter inside. According to the receptionist at the field office it read:
: Let this be a warning. I will blow up the FBI and the Dallas Police Department if you don’t stop bothering my wife. Signed - Lee Harvey Oswald.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/church/reports/book5/html/ChurchVol5_0051a.htm
|last = Church
|first = Frank
|title=Book V: The Investigation of the Assassination of President J.F.K.: Performance of the Intelligence Agencies, Appendix B
|date=1976-04-23
|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office, Senate, Report 94-755, [[Church Committee]]
|accessdate=2010-04-03
}}</ref>

After Oswald was murdered by [[Jack Ruby]], Hosty's supervisor FBI Special Agent-in-Charge for Dallas [[J. Gordon Shanklin]] ordered Hosty to destroy the letter, and he did so by tearing the letter up and flushing it down the toilet. Months later, when Hosty testified before the Warren Commission, he did not disclose this connection with Oswald. This information became public later and was investigated by the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-1c.html#destruction5 |title=Findings |publisher=Archives.gov |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref>

===Criticism of Secret Service===

Sgt. Davis, of the Dallas Police Department, believed he had prepared stringent security precautions, in an attempt to prevent demonstrations like those marking the [[Adlai Stevenson]] visit from happening again. The previous month, Stevenson, [[United States Ambassadors to the United Nations|the United States Ambassador to the United Nations]], was assaulted by an anti-UN demonstrator. But Winston Lawson of the Secret Service, who was in charge of the planning, told the Dallas Police not to assign its usual squad of experienced homicide detectives to follow immediately behind the President's car. This police protection was routine for both visiting presidents and for motorcades of other visiting dignitaries. Police Chief [[Jesse Curry]] later testified that had his men been in place, they might have been able to stop Oswald before he fired a second shot, because they carried submachine guns and rifles.<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, [http://jfkassassination.net/russ/testimony/curry1.htm Testimony Of Jesse Edward Curry].</ref>

===Warren Commission===
{{Main|Warren Commission}}
[[Image:Lbj-wc.jpg|thumb|right|The Warren Commission presents its report to President Johnson]]

The first official investigation of the assassination was established by President Johnson on November 29, 1963, a week after the assassination. The commission was headed by [[Earl Warren]], [[Chief Justice of the United States]] and became universally (but unofficially) known as the Warren Commission.

In late September 1964, after a 10-month investigation, the Warren Commission Report was published. The Commission concluded that it could not find any persuasive evidence of a domestic or foreign conspiracy involving any other person(s), group(s), or country(ies). The Commission found that [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] acted alone in the murder of Kennedy, and that [[Jack Ruby]] acted alone in the murder of Oswald. The theory that Oswald acted alone is informally called the ''[[Lone gunman theory]]''. The commission also concluded that only three bullets were fired during the assassination and that Oswald fired all three bullets from the Texas School Book Depository behind the motorcade. The Commission also laid out several scenarios concerning the timing of the shots, but that the three shots were fired in a time period ranging from approximately 4.8 to in excess of 7&nbsp;seconds.<ref>Warren Commission Report, [http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-3.html#timespan Chapter 3].</ref>

The commission also concluded that:
* one shot likely missed the motorcade (it could not determine which of the three),
* the first shot to hit anyone struck Kennedy in the upper back, exited near the front of his neck and likely continued on to cause all of Governor Connally's injuries, and
* the last shot to hit anyone struck Kennedy in the head, fatally wounding him.

It noted that three empty shells were found in the sixth floor in the book depository, and a rifle identified as the one used in the shooting — Oswald's Italian military surplus 6.5x52&nbsp;mm Model 91/38 Carcano — was found hidden nearby. The Commission offered as a likely explanation that the same bullet that wounded Kennedy also caused all of Governor Connally's wounds. This theory has become known as the "[[single bullet theory]]" or the "magic" bullet theory (as it is commonly referred to by its critics and detractors). The Commission also looked into other matters beside who killed the President and criticized weaknesses in security, which has resulted in greatly increased security whenever the President travels.

The commission also concluded that had President Kennedy not ordered the Secret Service not to have agents occupy the rear running board positions of the presidential limosine, agents would have jumped on top of the President after the first gunshot wound and would have spared him from receiving the fatal head wound.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703436504574640453995558182.html ]{{dead link|date=July 2010}}</ref>

====Public response to the Warren Report====
Almost immediately after the Warren Commission Report was issued, several researchers began seriously questioning its conclusions. A multitude of books and articles criticizing the Warren Commission's findings have been written. The Commission's conclusions have also gradually but continually lost widespread acceptance from the American public and various prominent government officials.{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}} Fifteen years later, the [[United States House Select Committee on Assassinations]] came to a different conclusion based on [[Dictabelt evidence relating to the assassination of John F. Kennedy|an audio recording]] then made available.

===Ramsey Clark Panel===
In 1968 a panel of four medical experts appointed by [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Ramsey Clark]] met in Washington, D.C. to examine various photographs, X-ray films, documents, and other evidence pertaining to the death of President Kennedy. The Clark Panel determined that Kennedy was struck by two bullets fired from above and behind him, one of which traversed the base of the neck on the right side without striking bone and the other of which entered the skull from behind and destroyed its upper right side.<ref>[http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/clark.txt 1968 Panel Review of Photographs, X-Ray Films, Documents and Other Evidence Pertaining to the Fatal Wounding of President John E Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas].</ref>

===Rockefeller Commission===
The ''[[U.S. President's Commission on CIA activities within the United States]]'' was set up under President [[Gerald Ford]] in 1975 to investigate the activities of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] within the United States. The commission was led by Vice President [[Nelson Rockefeller]], and is sometimes referred to as the Rockefeller Commission.

Part of the commission's work dealt with the Kennedy assassination, specifically the head snap as seen in the [[Zapruder film]] (first shown to the general public in 1975), and the possible presence of [[E. Howard Hunt]] and [[Frank Sturgis]] in Dallas.<ref>[http://er.lib.msu.edu/item.cfm?item=043388 Rockefeller Commission Report].</ref> The commission concluded that neither Hunt nor Sturgis were in Dallas at the time of the assassination, and that the head snap did not necessarily imply a shot from the front.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/hunt_sturgis.htm |title=Were Watergate Conspirators Also JFK Assassins? |publisher=Mcadams.posc.mu.edu |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref>

===United States House Select Committee on Assassinations===
{{Main|United States House Select Committee on Assassinations}}
Fifteen years after the Warren Commission issued its report, a congressional committee named the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) reviewed the Warren Commission report and the underlying FBI report on which the Commission heavily relied. The Committee criticized the performance of both the Warren Commission and the FBI for failing to investigate whether other people conspired with Oswald to murder President Kennedy.<ref>Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives, [http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-1d.html#cia Findings — CIA].</ref> The Committee Report concluded that:

"[T]he FBI's investigation of whether there had been a conspiracy in President Kennedy's assassination was seriously flawed. The conspiracy aspects of the investigation were characterized by a limited approach and an inadequate application and use of available resources." (footnote 12)

The Committee found the Warren Commission's investigation equally flawed: "[T]he subject that should have received the Commission's most probing analysis — whether Oswald acted in concert with or on behalf of unidentified co-conspirators the Commission's performance, in the view of the committee, was in fact flawed." (footnote 13)

The Committee believed another primary cause of the Warren Commission's failure to adequately probe and analyze whether or not Oswald acted alone arose out of the lack of cooperation by the CIA. Finally, the Committee found that the Warren Commission inadequately investigated for a conspiracy because of: "[T]ime pressures and the desire of national leaders to allay public fears of a conspiracy."

The committee concluded that Oswald fired three shots at President John F. Kennedy. The second and third shots he fired struck the President. The third shot he fired killed him. The HSCA agreed with the single bullet theory but concluded that it occurred at a time during the assassination that differed from what the Warren Commission had theorized. Their theory, based primarily on [[Dictabelt evidence relating to the assassination of John F. Kennedy|Dictabelt evidence]], was that President Kennedy was assassinated probably as a result of a [[conspiracy (political)|conspiracy]]. They proposed that four shots had been fired during the assassination; Oswald fired the first, second, and fourth bullets, and that (based on the acoustic evidence) there was a high probability that an unnamed second assassin fired the third bullet, but missed, from President Kennedy's right front, from a location concealed behind the grassy knoll picket fence.

Many years after the House Select Committee on Assassinations issued its report, the attorney G. Robert Blakey for the House Select Committee on Assassinations issued a statement to the news media calling into question the honesty of the CIA in its dealings with the Committee and the accuracy of the information given to it.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}

====Response to the Dictabelt evidence====
Blakey told [[ABC News]] that the conclusion that a conspiracy existed in the assassination was established by both witness testimony and acoustic evidence:
<blockquote>The shot from the grassy knoll is not only supported by the acoustics, which is a tape that we found of a police motorcycle broadcast back to the district station. It is corroborated by eyewitness testimony in the plaza. There were 20 people, at least, who heard a shot from the grassy knoll.<ref>Spartacus Educational, [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKassassinationsC.htm House Selection Committee on Assassinations].</ref></blockquote>
The sole acoustic evidence relied on by the committee to support its conclusion of a fourth gunshot (and a gunman on the grassy knoll) in the JFK assassination, was a Dictabelt recording alleged to be from a stuck transmitter on a police motorcycle in Dealey Plaza during the assassination.<ref name="nas04"/> The evidence was presented by Mark R. Weiss and Ernest Aschkenasy, acoustical experts from [[Queens College]],<ref>Mark R. Weiss and Ernest Aschkenasy, [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/jfkinfo/jfk8/sound.htm An Analysis of Recorded Sounds Relating to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy], 1979.</ref> who were part of the 1974 panel that concluded that the 18½ minute gap in the [[Watergate tapes]] was because that section was erased.<ref>{{cite news |title = A Fourth Shot?|publisher = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date = 1979-01-01|url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916574-1,00.html|accessdate = 2007-03-17}}</ref>

After the committee finished its work, however, an amateur researcher listened to the recording and discovered faint crosstalk of transmissions from another police radio channel known to have been made a minute ''after'' the assassination.<ref name=nas04/> Further, the Dallas motorcycle policeman thought to be the source of the sounds followed the motorcade to the hospital at high speed, his siren blaring, immediately after the shots were fired. Yet the recording is of a mostly idling motorcycle, eventually determined to have been at JFK's destination, the Dallas Trade Mart, miles from Dealey Plaza.

Several years later, in 1981, a special panel of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] (NAS) disputed the evidence of a fourth shot, contained on the police Dictabelt.<ref name=nas04/> The panel concluded it was simply random noise, perhaps static, recorded about a minute after the shooting while Kennedy's motorcade was en route to Parkland Hospital.

The NAS experts, headed by physicist Norman F. Ramsey of Harvard, reached that conclusion after studying the sounds on the two radio channels Dallas police were using that day. Routine transmissions were made on Channel One and recorded on a Dictaphone machine at police headquarters. An auxiliary frequency, Channel Two, was dedicated to the president's motorcade and used primarily by Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry; its transmissions were recorded on a separate [[Gray Audograph]] disc machine.

The conclusion by the NAS was then rebutted in 2001 in a ''Science & Justice'' article by D.B. Thomas, a government scientist and JFK assassination researcher.<ref>D.B. Thomas, [http://www.forensic-science-society.org.uk/Thomas.pdf Echo correlation analysis and the acoustic evidence in the Kennedy assassination revisited].</ref> Thomas concluded the HSCA finding of a second shooter was correct and that the NAS panel's study was flawed. Thomas surmises that the Dictaphone needle jumped and created an overdub on Channel One.<ref>George Lardner Jr., [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A56560-2001Mar25?language=printer Study Backs Theory of 'Grassy Knoll'].</ref> In response to Thomas's findings, Michael O'Dell concluded in his report that the prior reports relied on incorrect timelines and made unfounded assumptions that, when corrected, do not support the identification of gunshots on the recording.<ref>Michael O'Dell, [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/odell/ The acoustic evidence in the Kennedy assassination].</ref>

In 2003, ABC News aired the results of their investigation of the assassination in a news-documentary program called ''[[Peter Jennings]] Reporting: The Kennedy Assassination — Beyond Conspiracy''. Based on computer diagrams and recreations done by [[Dale K. Myers]], ABC News concluded that the sound recordings on the Dictabelt could not have come from Dealey Plaza and that the Police Officer [[H.B. McLain]] was correct in his assertions that he had not yet entered Dealey Plaza at the time of the assassination.<ref>Frank Warner, [http://frankwarner.typepad.com/free_frank_warner/2003/11/more_kennedy_as.html More Kennedy assassination facts in: Oswald acted alone].</ref>

In 2005, an article in ''[[Science & Justice]]'' by Ralph Linsker, [[Richard Garwin]], [[Herman Chernoff]], [[Paul Horowitz]], and [[Norman Foster Ramsey, Jr.]] re-analyzed the acoustic synchronization evidence, rebutting Thomas' 2001 argument as well as correcting errors in the 1982 NAS report, while supporting the NAS report's finding that the sounds alleged to be gunshots occurred about a minute after the assassination.<ref>Ralph Linsker, Richard L. Garwin, Herman Chernoff, Paul Horowitz, Norman F. Ramsey.  Synchronization of the acoustic evidence in the assassination of President Kennedy ''[[Science and Justice]]'' 45'''(4)''':207-26 (2005) PMID 16686272.</ref> Followup articles in ''Science & Justice'' have been published.<ref>[http://www.scienceandjusticejournal.com/issues/contents?issue_key=S1355-0306(06)X8767-1 ''Science & Justice'' 46'''(3)''':199 (2006)]; [http://www.forensic-science-society.org.uk/pdf/correspondence1.pdf Correspondence by Thomas]; [http://fas.org/rlg/RL9b02_WithFigNums&Preamble_RL6818_JFKReply(+FullPageFigures).pdf Reply by Linsker et al.].</ref>

===Sealing of assassination records===
All of the Warren Commission's records were submitted to the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] in 1964. The unpublished portion of those records was initially sealed for 75&nbsp;years (to 2039) under a general National Archives policy that applied to all federal investigations by the executive branch of government,<ref>Vincent Bugliosi, ''Reclaiming History'', endnotes, p. 136&ndash;137.</ref> a period "intended to serve as protection for innocent persons who could otherwise be damaged because of their relationship with participants in the case.”<ref name=Bahmer24>National Archives Deputy Archivist Dr. Robert Bahmer, interview in ''New York Herald Tribune'', December 18, 1964, p.24</ref> The 75-year rule no longer exists, supplanted by the [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] of 1966 and the [[President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992|JFK Records Act]] of 1992. By 1992, 98% of the Warren Commission records had been released to the public.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/arrb/report/contents.htm Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board] (1998), p.2.</ref> Six years later, at the conclusion of the [[Assassination Records Review Board]]'s work, all Warren Commission records, except those records that contained [[tax return (United States)|tax return]] information, were available to the public with only minor [[Sanitization (classified information)|redactions]].<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/arrb/report/html/arrb_fin_027.htm ARRB Final Report], p. 2. Redacted text includes the names of living intelligence sources, intelligence gathering methods still used today and not commonly known, and purely private matters.</ref> The remaining Kennedy assassination related documents are scheduled to be released to the public by 2017, twenty-five years after the passage of the JFK Records Act. The Kennedy autopsy photographs and X-rays were never part of the Warren Commission records and were deeded separately to the National Archives by the Kennedy family in 1966 under restricted conditions.<ref>Assassination Records Review Board, exhibit MD 112, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/arrb/master_med_set/md112/html/md112_0001a.htm Deed-of-Gift Letter from Burke Marshall (Kennedy Family Attorney) to Lawson B. Knott, Jr. (Administrator of General Services) dated October 29, 1966].</ref>

Several pieces of evidence and documentation are described to have been lost, cleaned, or missing from the original chain of evidence (e.g., limousine cleaned out on November 24,<ref>HSCA Record 180-10075-10174, January 6, 1964, p.4, memo from Secret Service chief James J. Rowley to Warren Commission general counsel J. Lee Rankin. Before the interior of the limousine was cleaned, it was photographed, and a metal detector was used to find bullet fragments.</ref> Connally's clothing cleaned and pressed,<ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vo. 5, pp. 63-65, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh5/html/WC_Vol5_0037a.htm Testimony of Robert A. Frazier].</ref> Oswald's military intelligence file destroyed in 1973,<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/report/html/HSCA_Report_0126b.htm HSCA Report, pp.222–224].</ref> Connally's Stetson hat and shirt sleeve gold cufflink missing).

Jackie Kennedy's blood-splattered pink and navy [[Chanel]] suit that she wore on the day of the assassination is in climate controlled storage in the National Archives. Jackie wore the suit for the remainder of the day, stating "I want them to see what they have done" when asked aboard Air Force One to change into another outfit. Not included in the National Archives are the white gloves and pink pillbox hat she was wearing.<ref>Delia M. Rios, Newshouse News Service, November 22, 2003 [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20031122/ai_n11426898 ''In Mrs. Kennedy's Pink Suit, an indelible memory of public grief''.]</ref>

====Assassination Records Review Board====
The [[Assassination Records Review Board]] was not commissioned to make any findings or conclusions. Its purpose was to release documents to the public in order to allow the public to draw its own conclusions. From 1992 until 1998, the Assassination Records Review Board gathered and unsealed about 60,000 documents, consisting of over 4&nbsp;million pages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fas.org/sgp/advisory/arrb98/part06.htm |title=Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board, Chapter 4 |publisher=Fas.org |date=2008-05-30 |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/arrb/tunheim.htm |title=Assassination Records Review Board: Unlocking the Government's Secret Files on the Murder of a President |publisher=Mcadams.posc.mu.edu |date= |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> All remaining documents are to be released by 2017.

==Assassination conspiracy theories==
[[Image:wanted for treason.jpg|thumb|125px|A handbill circulated on November 21, 1963, in Dallas one day before the assassination of John F. Kennedy]]
{{Main|John F. Kennedy assassination cover-up and conspiracy theories}}
An official investigation by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), conducted from 1976 to 1979, concluded that Oswald assassinated President Kennedy as a result of a probable conspiracy.<ref name="The National Archives"/> This conclusion of a likely conspiracy contrasts with the earlier conclusion by the Warren Commission that the President was assassinated by a lone gunman.

In the ensuing four decades since the assassination, theories have been proposed or published that detail organized conspiracies to kill the President. These theories implicate, among others, [[Cuba]]n President [[Fidel Castro]], the anti-Castro Cuban community,<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/01/24/nnp/miami.html James Chace, "Betrayals and Obsession," NY Times, October 25, 1987, on Joan Didion's book MIAMI]</ref><ref>Joan Didion, "MIAMI," New York, Simon & Schuster, 238pp. 1987</ref> Vice President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/10-23-2003-46852.asp|author=Barr McClellan|title=Blood, Money & Power: How L.B.J. Killed J.F.K.|publisher=Buzzle.com|date=October 23, 2003}}</ref> the [[Mafia]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/KAIASS.html|author=David Kaiser|title=The Road to Dallas|publisher=Harvard University Press|date=March 2008}}</ref> the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI), the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA), [[E. Howard Hunt]], and the [[Eastern Bloc]] &ndash; or perhaps some combination of these.

Others claim that Oswald was not involved at all. Shortly after his arrest, Oswald insisted he was a "[[scapegoat|patsy]]". Oswald never admitted any participation in the assassination and was murdered two days after being taken into police custody.

Many researchers have found fault with the official Warren Commission version of events, identifying what they say are inconsistencies and errors in the panel's findings. Some of the authors include Mark Lane, [[Penn Jones, Jr.]], [[Jim Garrison]], [[Jim Marrs]], Gerald McKnight, Henry Hurt, Michael L. Kurtz, David S. Lifton, and David Kaiser.

Penn Jones, Jim Marrs and Ralph Schuster have suggested that the number of deaths of people connected with the investigation of the assassination is suspiciously large.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v1n2/deaths.html|author=Jim Marrs and Ralph Schuster|title=A Look at the Deaths of Those Involved|publisher=Assassination Research|year=2002}}</ref>

Polls have indicated that large numbers of Americans believe there was a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aei.org/article/8008|author=Karlyn Bowman|title=Most Americans Don't Know Much about Fast-Track|publisher=American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research|date=September 4, 1997}}</ref> These same polls also show that there is no agreement on who else may have been involved. A 2003 ABC News poll found that 70% of respondents suspected there was an assassination plot involving more than one person.<ref name=langer20031116 /> A 2004 Fox News poll found that 66% of Americans thought there had been a conspiracy while 74% thought there had been a cover-up.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,102511,00.html|author=Dana Blanton|title=Poll: Most Believe 'Cover-Up' of JFK Assassination Facts|publisher=Fox News|date=June 18, 2004}}</ref>

== Reaction to the assassination ==
{{Main|Reaction to the assassination of John F. Kennedy}}

In America and around the world, there was a stunned reaction to the assassination. Schools across the U.S. dismissed their students early,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/november/22/newsid_3211000/3211055.stm | work=BBC News | title=1963: 'Stunned into silence' by JFK's death | date=November 22, 1963 | accessdate=May 6, 2010}}</ref> and 54% of Americans stopped their normal activities on the day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_2002_Jan_1/ai_82264530 |title=Historical Perspectives - Americans' reactions to Kennedy assassination, September 11 terrorist attacks, charted - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included &#124; American Demographics &#124; Find Articles at BNET.com |publisher=Findarticles.com |date=2002-01-01 |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> In the days following people wept, lost their appetite, had difficulty sleeping, and suffered nausea, nervousness, and sometimes anger.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a781314254~db=all |title=Mourning population: Some considerations of historically comparable assassinations - Death Studies |publisher=Informaworld.com |date=1980-04-02 |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref>

The event left a lasting impression on many people. It is said that everyone remembers where they were when they heard about the Kennedy assassination,<ref>Where Were You When President Kennedy Was Shot?: Memories and Tributes to a Slain President, Abigail Van Buren (Pauline Phillips), Andrews Mcmeel Pub, December 1994, ISBN 978-0-8362-6246-9</ref> as with the [[Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor]] on December 7, 1941 before it, the [[Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster]] on January 28, 1986, and the [[September 11 attacks|attacks waged on September 11, 2001]] afterwards.

Not all recreational and sporting events scheduled for the day of the assassination and during the weekend after were cancelled. Those that went on shared the sentiment NFL Commissioner [[Pete Rozelle]] expressed in deciding to play NFL games that weekend: "It has been traditional...to perform in times of great personal tragedy."<ref>{{cite news|last=Brady|first=Dave|title=It's Tradition To Carry on, Rozelle Says|work=The Washington Post|date=November 24, 1963|page=C2}}</ref>

==Artifacts, museums and locations today==
The plane serving as Air Force One is on display at the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]] in Dayton, Ohio where tours of the aircraft are offered including the rear of the aircraft where Kennedy's casket was placed and the location where [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|Mrs. Kennedy]] stood in her blood stained pink dress while [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] was sworn in as president. The 1961 Lincoln Continental limousine is at the [[Henry Ford Museum]] in Dearborn, Michigan.<ref name=relics>{{cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2009-11-20-jfkrelics20_ST_U.htm?csp=N009|title=JFK Relics Stir Strong Emotions|last=Keen|first=Judy |date=November 20, 2009|publisher=USA Today|accessdate=20 November 2009}}</ref>

Equipment from the trauma room at [[Parkland Memorial Hospital]] where Kennedy was pronounced dead, including a gurney, was purchased by the federal government from the hospital in 1973 and stored by the National Archives at an underground facility in [[Lenexa, Kansas]].  The First Lady's pink suit, the autopsy report and X-rays are stored in the National Archives facility in College Park, Maryland and access is controlled by a representative of the Kennedy family.  The rifle used by Oswald, his diary, bullet fragments, and the windshield of Kennedy's limousine are also stored by the Archives.<ref name="relics" /> The [[catafalque]] which Kennedy's coffin rested on while he lay in state in the Capitol is on display at the [[United States Capitol Visitor Center]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aoc.gov/cc/capitol/catafalque.cfm|title=The catafalque|publisher=Architect of the Capitol|accessdate=21 November 2009}}</ref>

The three acre park within [[Dealey Plaza]], the buildings facing it, the overpass, and a portion of the adjacent railyard including the railroad switching tower were designated part of the [[Dealey Plaza Historic District]] by the National Park Service on October 12, 1993.  Much of the area is accessible to visitors including the park and grassy knoll.  Though still an active city street, the spot where the presidential limousine was located at the time of the shooting is approximately marked with an X on the street.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2164&ResourceType=District |title=Dealey Plaza Historic District |publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=20 November 2009}}</ref> The [[Texas School Book Depository]] now draws over 325,000 visitors each year to the [[Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza]] operated by the Dallas County Historical Foundation.  There is a re-creation of the sniper’s nest on the sixth floor of the building.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jfk.org/go/about/faqs|title=FAQs|work=Sixth Floor Museum|publisher=Dallas County Historical Foundation|accessdate=20 November 2009}}</ref>

Some items were intentionally destroyed by the U.S. government at the direction of [[Robert F. Kennedy]] such as the casket used to transport Kennedy's body aboard Air Force One from Dallas to Washington which was dropped by the Air Force into the sea in an area which would be dangerous for looters to attempt to retrieve it. Other items such as the hat worn by Jack Ruby the day he shot Lee Harvey Oswald and the toe tag on Oswald's corpse are in the hands of private collectors and have sold for tens of thousands of dollars at auctions.<ref name="relics" />

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{Refbegin|2}}

*{{cite book|title=The Warren Commission Report|year=1964|isbn=0-31208-257-6|publisher=United States Government Printing Office}}
*{{cite book|authorlink=Vincent Bugliosi|title=Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy|publisher=Norton|year=2007|isbn=0393045250|first=Vincent|last=Bugliosi}}
*{{cite book|last=Hancock|first=Larry|title=Someone Would Have Talked: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Conspiracy to Mislead History|publisher=JFK Lancer Productions & Publications|year=2006|isbn=978-0977465712}}
*{{cite book|first=James|last=DiEugenio|first2=Lisa|last2=Pease|title=The Assassinations: JFK, MLK, RFK, and Malcolm X|year=2003|isbn=978-0922915828}}
*{{cite book|authorlink=James W. Douglass|last=Douglass|first=James W.|title=JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters|publisher=Orbis Books|year=2008|isbn=978-1570757556}}
*{{cite book|first2=Lamar|last2=Waldron|authorlink=Thom Hartmann|first=Thom|last=Hartmann|title=Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba and the Murder of JFK|year=2005|isbn=0-7867-1441-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Kelin|first=John|title=Praise from a Future Generation: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy and the First Generation Critics of the Warren Report|publisher=Wings Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0916727321}}
*{{cite book|last=Lane|first=Mark|authorlink=Mark Lane (author)|title = Rush to Judgment: A critique of the Warren Commission's inquiry in the murders of John F. Kennedy, Officer J.D. Tippit and Lee Harvey Oswald|publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston|year=1966|isbn=978-0851360119}}
*{{cite book|authorlink=David Lifton|first=David|last=Lifton|title=Best Evidence: Disguise and Deception in the Assassination of John F. Kennedy|year=1980|isbn=0-88184-438-1}}
*{{cite book|first=Harrison Edward|last=Livingstone|title=High Treason 2 — The Great Cover-Up: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy|year=1992|isbn=0-88184-809-3}}
*{{cite book|authorlink=William Manchester|first=William|last=Manchester|title=The Death of a President|year=1967|isbn=0-88365-956-5}}
*{{cite book|first=Jim|last=Marrs|authorlink=Jim Marrs|title=Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy|edition=New|year=1990|ISBN=0-88184-648-1}}
*{{cite book|authorlink=John M. Newman|last=Newman|first=John M.|title=Oswald and the CIA: The Documented Truth Anout the Unknown Relationship Between the U.S. Government and the Alleged Killer of JFK|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-1602392533}}
*{{cite book|authorlink=Gerald Posner|title=Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK|year=1993|isbn=0-679-41825-3|first=Gerald|last=Posner}}
*{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Dick|title=On the Trail of the JFK Assassins: A Revealing Look at America's Most Infamous Unsolved Crime|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-1602393226}}
*{{cite book|first=Larry M.|last=Sturdivan|title=The JFK Myths: A Scientific Investigation of the Kennedy Assassination|year=2005|isbn=1-557-78847-2}}
*{{cite book|first=Josiah|last=Thompson|title=Six Seconds in Dallas|year=1968|isbn=0-425-03255-8}}
*{{cite book|first=Richard B.|last=Trask|title=Pictures of the Pain: Photography and the Assassination of President Kennedy|year=1994|isbn=0-963-85950-1}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Dallas-Fort Worth}}
<!-- BEFORE ADDING LINKS read Wikipedia's External Links policy at [[WP:EL]]-->
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-2}}
*[http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/ JFK Assassination Records Collection at the U.S. National Archives]
*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/system/topicRoot/Assassination_of_John_F__Kenned/ Assassination of John F Kennedy] Original reports and pictures from The Times
*[http://www.britishpathe.com/workspace.php?id=2632&display=list/ British Pathé] Online archive of newsreels relating to the assassination
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/22/newsid_2451000/2451143.stm BBC article on Kennedy's assassination]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/25/newsid_3211000/3211440.stm BBC article on Kennedy's funeral]
*[http://www.jfkassassination.net/home.htm The Kennedy Assassination] by John McAdams
*[http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKindex.htm The Kennedy Assassination Encyclopaedia] by John Simkin
*[http://www.jfk-online.com/ JFK Online: JFK Assassination Resources Online] by David A. Reitzes
*[http://history-matters.com/ History Matters] by Rex Bradford
*[http://www.jfk-assassination.com The John F. Kennedy Assassination Homepage] by Ralph Schuster
{{Col-2}}
*[http://www.wayfaring.com/maps/show/5803 Map of motorcade route]
*[http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/kennedyjf/kennedyjf.htm "Assassination and Funeral of John F. Kennedy"], by Thomas Doherty
*[http://jfkmurderphotos.bravehost.com/photos.html JFK Assassination Photographs and Film archive]
*[http://www.archive.org/details/TheAssassinationOfPresidentKennedyADocumentaryNThe22ndAnniversary The Assassination of President Kennedy: A Radio Documentary] c. 1985
*[http://www.jfkfiles.com/jfk/html/intro.htm Secrets of a Homicide] Computer reconstruction by [[Dale K. Myers]]
*[http://www.kennedyassassinationarchive.com Kennedy Assassination Newspaper Articles Archive]
*[http://karws.gso.uri.edu/JFK/JFK.html Kenneth A. Rahn's Academic JFK Assassination Site]
*[http://www.csicop.org/si/2005-01/strange-world.html "Facts and Fiction in the Kennedy Assassination"] – ''[[Skeptical Enquirer]]''
*[http://www.icue.com/portal/site/iCue/flatview/?cuecard=32654 Breaking news clip of JFK's assassination from NBC News]
*[http://www.jfklancer.com Kennedy Assassination Research Site] 

<!-- BEFORE ADDING LINKS read Wikipedia's External Links policy at [[WP:EL]]-->
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{{Commons|Assassination of John F. Kennedy}}
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[[Category:John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:John F. Kennedy assassination|*]]
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[[eo:Atenco kontraŭ John Fitzgerald Kennedy]]
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[[tr:John F. Kennedy Suikastı]]
[[vi:Vụ ám sát John F. Kennedy]]
[[zh:肯尼迪遇刺案]]
[[Category:2Fix]]