Warren Commission Report on JFK

With the video containing the interview with Lee Harvey Oswald’s mother, you are in for a treat to watch this!

The video is a transcript of a news broadcast from CBS News on November 22, which was the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The broadcast covers the aftermath of the assassination, including the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man believed to have shot Kennedy.

There are interviews with witnesses who appeared before the Warren Commission, a government inquiry into the assassination, including Oswald’s mother and wife, Mrs. Ruth Payne, who took them in, and Mrs. Roberts, who rented a room to Oswald.

They discuss Oswald’s background and behavior leading up to the assassination. There are also segments discussing the Warren Report, which was released on that day and aimed to answer questions about the assassination and identify whether there was a conspiracy.

Several prominent Americans were appointed to the commission, including Chief Justice Earl Warren, Richard B. Russell, John Sherman Cooper, Hale Boggs, Gerald R. Ford, Allen W. Dulles, and John J. McCloy.

The Warren Report was almost a thousand pages long, and the broadcast covers some of the key findings from the report, such as whether Oswald acted alone, whether he was connected to any groups or individuals, and whether there was a larger conspiracy involved in the assassination.

The broadcast notes that there were many unanswered questions surrounding the assassination and that the report did not necessarily resolve all of them.

At around the 8:10 minute mark on video, Oswald’s mother is asked: “Mrs. Oswald, do you feel that your son was an agent of the CIA?” She responds to the question that she thinks he was. She also got mail in his name from the State Department, suggesting that Oswald was indeed a CIA asset.

Bullet Points

• On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy is shot to death while in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, and the man Dallas police say shot the president, Lee Harvey Oswald, is killed by Jack Ruby.
• President Lyndon Johnson appoints a commission to investigate the assassination and the Warren Report, a document close to a thousand pages, is released 10 months later.
• Witnesses who appeared before the Warren Commission are interviewed by CBS News, including Oswald’s wife, mother, and boarding house keeper.
• Questions arise about Oswald’s motives, career, and whether he acted alone in the assassination or was part of a conspiracy involving right-wingers or foreign powers.
• Oswald’s belongings, including the rifle and pistol used in the murders, are examined and witnesses describe his behavior leading up to the assassination.

Let’s Sing Along

A tale of two men and their fateful paths,
Kennedy and Oswald- a mystery that lasts.
Questions abound, conspiracy or not?
Who held the rifle that fired the shots?

The Warren Commission sought to find,
Justice Earl Warren chaired the line.
Ten-month labor and hundreds of tales,
Witnesses heard, their stories unveiled.

As America mourned, the truth emerged,
Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin, purged.
The War Commission’s report, a thousand pages,
Brought forth answers, a closure to the ages.

YouTube Video