Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

by United States. Warren Commission

CHAPTER VIII

[C8-1] See [app. VII] for a fuller discussion of prior assassination attempts.

[C8-2] C. Rossiter, “The American Presidency” 18 (1960).

[C8-3] 30 “Writings of George Washington” 496 (Fitzpatrick ed. 1939).

[C8-4] Rossiter at 17, 92-93.

[C8-5] M. Smith, “A President Is Many Men” 232 (1948).

[C8-6] 7 H 442 (Kenneth O’Donnell): see 7 H 460 (Lawrence F. O’Brien).

[C8-7] CE 866; see 5 H 106-107, 116-119 (J. Edgar Hoover).

[C8-8] See [app. VII].

[C8-9] 4 H 295-297 (Robert I. Bouck).

[C8-10] CE 761; 4 H 299 (Bouck).

[C8-11] Id. at 301.

[C8-12] Statistical data set forth in CE 762, p. 1.

[C8-13] Ibid.

[C8-14] 4 H 303 (Bouck).

[C8-15] CE 763.

[C8-16] See 4 H 302 (Bouck).

[C8-17] CE 1021, p. 1.

[C8-18] 4 H 307 (Bouck).

[C8-19] Id. at 310-311.

[C8-20] Id. at 307-308.

[C8-21] CE 762.

[C8-22] Ibid.

[C8-23] 4 H 306 (Bouck).

[C8-24] Id. at 309.

[C8-25] Ibid.

[C8-26] Ibid.

[C8-27] Id. at 310.

[C8-28] Ibid.

[C8-29] Ibid.

[C8-30] Ibid.

[C8-31] Id. at 309; see CE 765.

[C8-32] 4 H 308-309 (Bouck); see 18 U.S.C. sec. 871. The Secret Service prepared for the Commission abstracts of several cases illustrating the achievement of the goal of eliminating risks by imprisonment or hospitalization, CE 766.

[C8-33] 5 H 466 (James J. Rowley).

[C8-34] See p. 30 supra.

[C8-35] 4 H 304 (Bouck).

[C8-36] Ibid.

[C8-37] Id. at 303-304.

[C8-38] CE 836, attachment 2.

[C8-39] See CE 1354, p. 1.

[C8-40] See CE 1355.

[C8-41] 4 H 304 (Bouck).

[C8-42] Id. at 316.

[C8-43] CE 836, p. 2.

[C8-44] CE 1356.

[C8-45] 4 H 403 (John W. Fain); 4 H 431 (John L. Quigley); 4 H 440 (James P. Hosty, Jr.); 5 H 97 (Hoover); 5 H 1 (Alan H. Belmont).

[C8-46] 5 H 120 (John A. McCone); 5 H 121 (Richard M. Helms).

[C8-47] CE 834 is a list of each item in the FBI’s file on Oswald from the opening of the file until the assassination.

[C8-48] CE 833, p. 1.

[C8-49] Ibid.

[C8-50] Id. at pp. 1-2 of attachment; see also CE 821; 4 H 405-409 (Fain).

[C8-51] CE 822, 834.

[C8-52] CE 833, p. 1, p. 2 of attachment.

[C8-53] 4 H 428 (Fain); Id. at 441-442 of the text of Oswald’s letter appears at p. 463 infra.

[C8-54] 4 H 415 (Fain).

[C8-55] Id. at 417.

[C8-56] CE 823, p. 13; 4 H 416-417 (Fain).

[C8-57] Id. at 419.

[C8-58] CE 824; 4 H 418-424 (Fain).

[C8-59] 1 H 20 (Marina Oswald).

[C8-60] 4 H 422 (Fain); CE 824, p. 6.

[C8-61] 4 H 423-426 (Fain).

[C8-62] Id. at 424; relevant administrative procedures are described at 5 H 2-6 (Belmont).

[C8-63] 4 H 428 (Fain); Id. at 441-442 (Hosty).

[C8-64] Ibid.

[C8-65] CE 829, pp. 1-2; 4 H 441-442 (Hosty).

[C8-66] Id. at 442.

[C8-67] Id. at 441-442.

[C8-68] See id. at 444.

[C8-69] Ibid.

[C8-70] Ibid.

[C8-71] Id. at 444-445; see [pp. 406-407] supra, where the possibility that Oswald had been distributing pamphlets in Dallas for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee is discussed.

[C8-72] 4 H 442 (Hosty).

[C8-73] Id. at 443.

[C8-74] CE 833, p. 6.

[C8-75] Id. at 9.

[C8-76] Details regarding the issuance of the passport are set forth in [app. XV].

[C8-77] CE 833, p. 13.

[C8-78] Ibid.

[C8-79] 4 H 432 (Quigley).

[C8-80] Ibid.

[C8-81] Id. at 435.

[C8-82] Ibid.

[C8-83] Id. at 438; Agent Quigley’s memorandum of his interview with Oswald appears at pp. 6-10 of the report on Oswald of Agent Milton R. Kaack. CE 826.

[C8-84] See CE 833, p. 8.

[C8-85] 4 H 434 (Quigley).

[C8-86] Id. at 437.

[C8-87] CE 833, p. 8.

[C8-88] Ibid; CE 826, p. 11.

[C8-89] See 4 H 435-438 (Quigley); see also 5 H 9-10 (Belmont).

[C8-90] Id. at 9.

[C8-91] CE 834, p. 7.

[C8-92] CE 826, p. 12.

[C8-93] CE 834, p. 7; 4 H 445-446 (Hosty).

[C8-94] CE 833, p. 12.

[C8-95] Ibid; 4 H 446-447 (Hosty).

[C8-96] Ibid.

[C8-97] Ibid.

[C8-98] CE 834, p. 8.

[C8-99] 4 H 447 (Hosty); CE 833, pp. 12-13.

[C8-100] Id. at 13.

[C8-101] CE 952, 2075; 11 H 203 (Carroll H. Seeley. Jr.).

[C8-102] Id. at 203-204; 11 H 192-193 (James L. Ritchie); CE 948, “Question 16.” See app. XV at p. 777.

[C8-103] CE 826, p. 2.

[C8-104] 4 H 448 (Hosty).

[C8-105] Id. at 448-449.

[C8-106] Id. at 450.

[C8-107] Ibid; see also CE 830.

[C8-108] 4 H 450 (Hosty).

[C8-109] Ibid.

[C8-110] Id. at 451.

[C8-111] Id. at 450.

[C8-112] Id. at 452.

[C8-113] Ibid.

[C8-114] Id. at 453-454 (Hosty).

[C8-115] Id. at 453.

[C8-116] 3 H 95-109 (Ruth Paine).

[C8-117] CE 826.

[C8-118] 4 H 459 (Hosty).

[C8-119] Ibid.

[C8-120] Ibid.

[C8-121] See CE 834, pp. 9-10.

[C8-122] 4 H 459 (Hosty).

[C8-123] 4 H 311-314 (Bouck).

[C8-124] Id. at 312-313.

[C8-125] Ibid.

[C8-126] 4 H 460 (Hosty).

[C8-127] Id. at 459-461.

[C8-128] Id. at 460.

[C8-129] Id. at 473-474.

[C8-130] Id. at 473.

[C8-131] Id. at 472-473.

[C8-132] Id. at 461-462.

[C8-133] Id. at 462.

[C8-134] Agent Hosty’s testimony appears at 4 H 463-465; Lieutenant Revill’s at 5 H 34-39.

[C8-135] Id. at 34-35.

[C8-136] Id. at 35.

[C8-137] CE 709.

[C8-138] 7 H 405 (Mary Jane Robertson).

[C8-139] 4 H 194 (Jesse E. Curry); 5 H 216 (Henry Wade).

[C8-140] CE 831; 4 H 463-464 (Hosty).

[C8-141] 5 H 58 (V. J. Brian).

[C8-142] 5 H 112 (Hoover).

[C8-143] Id. at 104.

[C8-144] Id. at 111; 5 H 10 (Belmont).

[C8-145] Id. at 28-29.

[C8-146] See [pp. 747-749], [778] infra (regarding his dealings with officials at the Embassy in Moscow); [pp. 710-711] infra supra (regarding protests of his discharge from the Marine Corps Reserve); [pp. 434-435] supra (regarding his antipathy for the FBI).

[C8-147] CE 833.

[C8-148] CE 836, attachment 2.

[C8-149] See p. 441 supra.

[C8-150] See [pp. 461-462] infra.

[C8-151] CE 836, pp. 3-4; CE 1021, p. 4.

[C8-152] CE 836, attachment 4.

[C8-153] See p. 30 supra.

[C8-154] See pp. 29, 31 supra.

[C8-155] 4 H 329 (Winston G. Lawson).

[C8-156] Agent Lawson’s interim and final reports on the Dallas trip are CE 767 and 768.

[C8-157] See 4 H 346-347 (Lawson).

[C8-158] CE 1021, p. 5; see also 4 H 348-349 (Lawson).

[C8-159] 7 H 333-334 (Forrest V. Sorrels).

[C8-160] CE 768, p. 11.

[C8-161] Ibid.

[C8-162] For the Commission’s recommendations on this point, see [pp. 465-466] infra.

[C8-163] 12 H 22-23 (Charles Batchelor); 6 H 250-251 (J. W. Foster); 4 H 327 (Lawson). See the discussion in ch. III at [pp. 71-72].

[C8-164] 12 H 22 (Batchelor).

[C8-165] 4 H 329 (Lawson).

[C8-166] Id. at 333.

[C8-167] 5 H 467 (Rowley).

[C8-168] See ch. II at [p. 42], supra.

[C8-169] 7 H 338 (Sorrels).

[C8-170] 5 H 578 (C. Douglas Dillon).

[C8-171] 4 H 329 (Lawson); 5 H 459 (Rowley).

[C8-172] 4 H 328 (Lawson).

[C8-173] WFAA-TV reel PKT 24.

[C8-174] CE 1358, p. 1.

[C8-175] Id., attachment 2.

[C8-176] Ibid.

[C8-177] 7 H 580-581, 584 (P. W. Lawrence).

[C8-178] 7 H 532-535 (J. M. Smith); 540-541 (W. E. Barnett); 565-567 (E. L. Smith, Jr.).

[C8-179] 7 H 343 (Sorrels).

[C8-180] Id. at 342.

[C8-181] 4 H 330 (Lawson).

[C8-182] Ibid.

[C8-183] 2 H 110-111 (Kellerman).

[C8-184] 5 H 451 (Rowley).

[C8-185] CE 1020. This exhibit covers the complete investigation by the Secret Service, and includes statements of each agent involved, statements by their supervisors, statements and voluntary reports by witnesses, and the final report of the investigation. In addition to furnishing the Commission the results of the investigation, the Secret Service responded to the Commission’s request for information about this occurrence in its letter of May 5, 1964. CE 1019. Chief James J. Rowley, the head of the Secret Service, gave testimony before the Commission concerning this incident. 5 H 451-462 (Rowley).

[C8-186] CE 1020, tab E.

[C8-187] CE 1020, tab F (statement of Richard J. Mackie).

[C8-188] CE 1020, tabs B and E; see CE 1020, tab G, which explains liquor practices at the Cellar Coffee House.

[C8-189] CE 1020, tab E.

[C8-190] See 5 H 460-461 (Rowley).

[C8-191] Ibid.

[C8-192] CE 1020. tab E (statement of Paul A. Burns).

[C8-193] 5 H 460 (Rowley).

[C8-194] CE 1020, tab D.

[C8-195] 5 H 452-453, 459-460 (Rowley).

[C8-196] CE 1020, tab D.

[C8-197] 5 H 452-453 (Rowley).

[C8-198] CE 1018.

[C8-199] Ibid.

[C8-200] 5 H 453-454 (Rowley).

[C8-201] Testimony and other evidence regarding Love Field arrangements appear at 4 H 339-341 (Lawson); CE 768, pp. 4-5; CE 769.

[C8-202] Television tapes of the arrival at Love Field furnished to the Commission by Dallas television stations provide a good record of the security measures at Love Field. See KRLD-TV reels 1 and 8; WFAA-TV reel PKT 4.

[C8-203] See p. 46 supra.

[C8-204] See p. 43 supra.

[C8-205] CE 1021, p. 5.

[C8-206] CE 2067; 5 H 579 (Dillon). J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, has recommended that the President never ride in an open car, 5 H 107, 117 (Hoover); CE 866.

[C8-207] CE 1021, p. 6.

[C8-208] See [pp. 51-52] supra.

[C8-209] 15 H 699 (Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt).

[C8-210] Ibid.

[C8-211] CE 1021, p. 7.

[C8-212] 18 U.S.C. sec. 372.

[C8-213] 18 U.S.C. sec. 871.

[C8-214] 18 U.S.C. sec. 2385.

[C8-215] 18 U.S.C. sec. 1114.

[C8-216] 18 U.S.C. sec. 3056; United States v. Sheba Bracelets, Inc., 248 F. 2d 134 (2d Cir. 1957), cert. denied, 355 U.S. 904.

[C8-217] CE 1030, pp. 4-5.

[C8-218] 18 U.S.C. secs. 3052, 3053.

[C8-219] S. 3653, 57th Cong., 1st sess. (1902); H.R. 10386, 57th Cong., 1st sess. (1901); H.R. 3896, 73d Cong., 1st sess. (1933).

[C8-220] 36 Cong. Rec. 2961-2964 (1902).

[C8-221] E.g., S. 2330, 88th Cong., 1st sess. (1963). (Introduced by all members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary).

[C8-222] Even in the failure of the House and the Senate to agree, in 1902, as to whether this “line of duty” element was a constitutional requisite to covering officers in the line of succession, there was agreement in conference that this test need not be applied in the case of the President or Vice President, 36 Cong. Rec. 2407 (1902).

[C8-223] See “Report on Bills To Make Assassination of the President a Federal Crime,” The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Reports of Committees Concerned With Federal Legislation, vol. 3, Bulletin No. 2, pp. 54-55 (July 1964).

[C8-224] 35 Cong. Rec. 2431 (1902).

[C8-225] See CE 1030.

[C8-226] 5 H 115 (Hoover).

[C8-227] See id. at 115-116.

[C8-228] 50 U.S.C. sec. 402.

[C8-229] See 5 H 583 (Dillon).

[C8-230] See generally the discussion in [app. VII].

[C8-231] Id. at 514.

[C8-232] CE 1021, pp. 9-11.

[C8-233] Id. at p. 10.

[C8-234] 5 H 481 (Rowley).

[C8-235] See [pp. 429-433] supra.

[C8-236] 5 H 464-469, 478 (Rowley).

[C8-237] See id. at 466; see also 5 H 580 (Dillon).

[C8-238] The planning document is CE 1053A and the transmittal letter to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget is 1053B.

[C8-239] CE 836, attachment 5, p. 2.

[C8-240] 5 H 18 (Belmont).

[C8-241] Ibid.

[C8-242] 5 H 465 (Rowley).

[C8-243] 5 H 12, 21 (Belmont).

[C8-244] 5 H 113-114 (Hoover); 5 H 18-21 (Belmont).

[C8-245] 5 H 465 (Rowley).

[C8-246] CE 1023.

[C8-247] Ibid.

[C8-248] 5 H 465-469 (Rowley).

[C8-249] Id. at 469 (Rowley).

[C8-250] Folsom DE 1, p. 65.

[C8-251] See 5 H 467-469 (Rowley).

[C8-252] See [app. VII].

[C8-253] 5 H 464-466 (Rowley); 5 H 585 (Dillon).

[C8-254] Id. at 581.

[C8-255] Id. at 577.

[C8-256] Ibid; CE 1053A, pp. 6-7.

[C8-257] CE 1053C.

[C8-258] CE 1053A, p. 5; see 5 H 576-577 (Dillon).

[C8-259] CE 1053A, pp. 7-8.

[C8-260] CE 1027, p. 4.

[C8-261] CE 1053A, pp. 3-4.

[C8-262] 5 H 480-481 (Rowley).

[C8-263] Ibid.

[C8-264] See p. 447 supra.

[C8-265] CE 1027, p. 5.

[C8-266] 5 H 578 (Dillon).

[C8-267] Ibid; CE 1027, p. 1.

[C8-268] 5 H 482 (Rowley).

[C8-269] 5 H 24-25 (Belmont).

[C8-270] 5 H 483 (Rowley).

[C8-271] CE 1027, p. 5; 5 H 478 (Rowley).

[C8-272] CE 2765.

[C8-273] 5 H 475-478 (Rowley).

[C8-274] CE 1053A, 1053B.

[C8-275] E.g., hearings before Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations, Treasury Department Appropriations for 1963, 87th Cong., 2d sess., p. 448 (1962).

[C8-276] CE 1027, p. 1; 5 H 473 (Rowley).

[C8-277] CE 1027, p. 1.

[C8-278] CE 836, p. 5.

[C8-279] 5 H 24-25 (Belmont).

[C8-280] 5 H 579 (Dillon).

[C8-281] 5 H 24-25 (Belmont); CE 1027, pp. 1-2.

[C8-282] See 5 H 474-475 (Rowley).

[C8-283] See Id. at 475-476.

[C8-284] CE 1053D.