View source for US History - Assassination of John F. Kennedy

{{redirect|Kennedy assassination|the assassination of John's brother Robert|Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
|title= Assassination of John F. Kennedy
|image=JFK limousine.png|350px
|caption=President Kennedy with his wife, Jacqueline, and [[Governor of Texas]] [[John Connally]] in the [[Presidential state car (United States)|presidential limousine]], minutes before the President's assassination
|location=[[Dealey Plaza]], [[Dallas]], [[Texas]]
|target=[[John F. Kennedy]]
|date={{start date|1963|11|22}}
|time=12:30 p.m. ([[Central Time Zone|CST]])
|timezone=  [[Central Time Zone]]
|coordinates= {{Coord|32.77903|N|96.80867|W|region:US-TX_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|type=[[Sniper]] style [[assassination]]
|weapons=[[6.5×52mm Mannlicher-Carcano|6.5&nbsp;×&nbsp;52&nbsp;mm]] [[Italy|Italian]] [[Carcano|Carcano M91/38]] [[bolt-action rifle]]
|fatalities=1 killed ([[John F. Kennedy|President Kennedy]])
|injuries=2 wounded ([[John Connally|Governor Connally]], [[James Tague]])
|perp=[[Lee Harvey Oswald]]
}}

[[John F. Kennedy|John Fitzgerald Kennedy]], the [[List of Presidents of the United States|35th]] [[President of the United States]], was [[assassination|assassinated]] at 12:30&nbsp;p.m. [[Central Time Zone (North America)|Central Standard Time]] (18:30 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]]) on Friday, November 22, 1963, in [[Dealey Plaza]], [[Dallas]], [[Texas]].<ref name="nellieconnally">{{cite web |title=Testimony of Mrs. John Bowden Connally, Jr |url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0077b.htm |work=Warren Commission Hearings, Volume IV|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center |accessdate=2012-11-26|pages=146–149}}</ref><ref name="johnconnally">{{cite web|title=Testimony of Gov. John Bowden Connally, Jr |url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0069a.htm |work=Warren Commission Hearings, Volume IV|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center|accessdate=2012-11-26|pages=129–146}}</ref> Kennedy was fatally shot by a sniper while traveling with his wife [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|Jacqueline]], [[Governor of Texas|Texas Governor]] [[John Connally]], and Connally's wife [[Nellie Connally|Nellie]], in a presidential [[motorcade]]. A ten-month investigation from November 1963 to September 1964 by the [[Warren Commission]] concluded that Kennedy was assassinated by [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], acting alone, and that [[Jack Ruby]] also acted alone when he killed Oswald before he could stand trial.<ref>{{cite web|title= Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy,
Chapter 1: Summary and Conclusions|url=http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/chapter-1.html#conclusions}}</ref>

Although the Commission's conclusions were initially supported by a majority of the American public,<ref>{{cite web|last=Fonzi|first=Gaeton|title=The Warren Commission, The Truth, and Arlen Specter |url=http://karws.gso.uri.edu/JFK/The_critics/Fonzi/WC_Truth_Specter/WC_Truth_Specter.html |work=Greater Philadelphia Magazine|publisher=University of Rhode Island|accessdate=November 26, 2012|date=August 1, 1966}}</ref> polls conducted between 1966 and 2003 found that as many as 80 percent of Americans have suspected that there was a plot or [[cover-up]].<ref name="langer20031116">{{cite news|url=http://abcnews.go.com/images/pdf/937a1JFKAssassination.pdf|first=Gary |last=Langer |title=John F. Kennedy's Assassination Leaves a Legacy of Suspicion|publisher=ABC News|date=November 16, 2003|accessdate=2010-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Murphy |first=Jarrett |title=40 Years Later: Who Killed JFK?|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/21/national/main585090.shtml|publisher=CBS News|accessdate=2012-11-26|date=November 21, 2003}}</ref> A 1998 CBS News poll showed that 76% of Americans believed the President had been killed as the result of a conspiracy.<ref>{{cite news|title=CBS Poll: JFK Conspiracy Lives|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-215_162-23166.html|date=February 11, 2009|publisher=[[CBS News]]|accessdate=November 1, 2013}}</ref> A 2013 AP poll showed, that although the percentage had fallen, more than 59% of those polled still believed that more than one person was involved in the President's murder.<ref>{{cite news|title=New Poll Finds that Belief in Conspiracy Still Strong, But Slipping Slightly|url=http://ap-gfkpoll.com/featured/our-latest-story-3|accessdate=November 1, 2013|publisher=Associated Press|date=May 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Poll: Continued belief in JFK conspiracy|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57584061/|date=May 11, 2013|publisher=[[CBS News]]|agency=Associated Press|accessdate=November 1, 2013}}</ref> A [[Gallup Poll]] in mid-November 2013 showed 61% believed in a conspiracy and 30% thought Oswald did it alone.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/165893/majority-believe-jfk-killed-conspiracy.aspx |title=Majority in U.S. Still Believe JFK Killed in a Conspiracy: Mafia, federal government top list of potential conspirators |publisher=Gallup, Inc. |date=November 15, 2013}}</ref>

In contrast to the conclusions of the Warren Commission, the [[United States House Select Committee on Assassinations]] (HSCA) concluded in 1978 that Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.{{sfn|Stokes|1979|p=2}} The HSCA found the original FBI investigation and the Warren Commission Report to be seriously flawed. While agreeing with the Commission that Oswald fired all the shots which caused the wounds to Kennedy and Connally, the HSCA stated that there were at least four shots fired (only three of which could be linked to Oswald) and that there was "...a high probability that two gunmen fired at [the] President." The HSCA conclusion was based only on acoustical evidence that was later discredited.{{sfn|Stokes|1979|pp=90–93}}<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/report/html/HSCA_Report_0048a.htm House Select Committee on Assassinations Final Report], pp. 65-75.</ref>

The HSCA did not identify any other person or group involved in the assassination besides Oswald, but they did specifically say the [[CIA]], the [[Soviet Union]], [[organized crime]], and several other groups were not involved, although they could not rule out the involvement of individual members of those groups. Kennedy's assassination is still the subject of widespread debate and has spawned [[John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|numerous conspiracy theories]] and alternative scenarios.

==Route to Dealey Plaza==
{{multiple image | direction = vertical | width = 250
|image1= DealeyPlazaAerial.jpg
|alt1=
|caption1= An [[aerial view]] of [[Dealey Plaza]] showing the route of President Kennedy's motorcade
|image2= Altgens mary ferrell.jpg|
|alt2=
|caption2= [[Ike Altgens]]' photo of the Presidential limousine taken between the first and second shots that hit President Kennedy. President Kennedy's left hand is in front of 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= Clint Hill on the limousine.jpg
|alt4=
|caption4= [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] Special Agent [[Clint Hill (Secret Service)|Clint Hill]] climbs onto the Presidential limousine, seconds after the fatal shot.
|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 of the Texas School Book Depository, and the mark on Elm Street is where Kennedy was hit in the head. The building seen close to the Depository is the [[Dal-Tex Building]].
|video1= <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/623JsZCgjm8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
|alt7=
|caption7= Zapruder film matched up with dictabelt recording taken remotely from a Dallas Police motorcycle present at the assassination.
}}
{{main|Timeline of the John F. Kennedy assassination}}
President Kennedy's motorcade route through Dallas was planned to give him maximum exposure to Dallas crowds before his arrival,<ref name="odonnell">{{cite web|title=Testimony of Kenneth P. O'Donnell|url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0224b.htm|work=Warren Commission Hearings, Volume VII|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center|accessdate=2012-11-26|pages=440–457}}</ref> along with Vice-President Lyndon Johnson and Texas Governor John Connally, at a luncheon with civic and business leaders in that city. The [[White House]] staff informed the Secret Service that the President would arrive in Dallas via a short flight from [[Carswell Air Force Base]] in [[Fort Worth]] to [[Dallas Love Field]] airport.<ref name="odonnell"/>{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 2, p. 31}}

The [[Dallas Trade Mart]] had been preliminarily selected for the luncheon and the final decision of the Trade Mart as the end of the motorcade journey was selected by President Kennedy's friend and appointments secretary [[Kenneth O'Donnell]].<ref name="odonnell"/>{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 2, p. 31}} Leaving from Dallas' Love Field, 45&nbsp;minutes had been allotted for the motorcade to reach the Dallas Trade Mart at a planned arrival time of 12:15&nbsp;p.m. The actual route was chosen to be a meandering 10-mile (16-km) route from Love Field to the Trade Mart which could be driven slowly in the allotted time.

Special Agent Winston G. Lawson, a member of the White House detail who acted as the advance Secret Service Agent, and Secret Service Agent Forrest V. Sorrels, Special Agent In Charge of the Dallas office, were most active in planning the actual route. On November 14, Lawson and Sorrels attended a meeting at Love Field and drove over the route which Sorrels believed best suited for the motorcade. From Love Field, the route passed through a portion of suburban Dallas, through the downtown area along Main Street, and finally to the Trade Mart via a short segment of the [[Stemmons Freeway]].{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 2, p. 40}}

For the President's return to Love Field, from which he planned to depart for a fund-raising dinner in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]] later in the day, the agents selected a more direct route, which was approximately 4 miles, or 6.4 kilometers (some of this route would be used after the assassination). The planned route to the Trade Mart was widely reported in Dallas newspapers several days before the event, for the benefit of people who wished to view the motorcade.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 2, p. 40}}

To pass through downtown Dallas, a route west along Dallas' Main Street, rather than Elm Street (one block to the north) was chosen, because this was the traditional parade route, and provided the maximal building and crowd views. The Main Street route precluded a direct turn onto the Fort Worth Turnpike exit (which served also as the Stemmons Freeway exit), which was the route to the Trade Mart, because this exit was accessible only from Elm Street. The planned motorcade route thus included a short one-block turn at the end of the downtown segment of Main Street, onto Houston Street for one block northward, before turning again west onto Elm, in order to proceed through [[Dealey Plaza]] before exiting Elm onto the Stemmons Freeway. The [[Texas School Book Depository]] was situated at this corner of Houston and Elm.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/route.htm|title= Changed Motorcade Route in Dallas? |first= John |last=McAdams|year=2012|work= The Kennedy Assassination |publisher=Marquette University |accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref>

Three vehicles were used for secret service and police protection in the Dallas motorcade. The first car, an unmarked white Ford (hardtop), consisted of Dallas police chief Jesse Curry, secret service agent Win Lawson, Sheriff Bill Decker and Dallas field agent Forrest Sorrels. The second car, a 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible, consisted of driver agent Bill Greer, SAIC Roy Kellerman, governor John Connally, Nellie Connally, President Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy.<ref name="Blaine, G. 2003 p. 196">Blaine, G. (2003). The Kennedy Detail. New York: Gallery Books. p. 196.</ref>

The third car, a 1955 Cadillac convertible code-named "Halfback," contained driver agent Sam Kinney, ATSAIC Emory Roberts, presidential aides Ken O'Donnell and Dave Powers, driver agent George Hickey and PRS agent Glen Bennett. Secret service agents Clint Hill, Jack Ready, Tim McIntyre and Paul Landis rode on the running boards. There was an AR-15 rifle in the third vehicle.<ref name="Blaine, G. 2003 p. 196"/>

On November 22, after a breakfast speech in Fort Worth, where President Kennedy had stayed overnight after arriving from [[San Antonio]], [[Houston]] and [[Washington, D.C.]] the previous day,<ref>{{cite web |title=November 22, 1963: Death of the President|url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/November-22-1963-Death-of-the-President.aspx|publisher=[[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]]|accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref> the president boarded [[Air Force One]], which departed at 11:10 and arrived at Love Field 15 minutes later. At about 11:40, the presidential motorcade left Love Field for the trip through Dallas, which was running on a schedule about 10 minutes longer than the planned 45 minutes, due to enthusiastic crowds estimated at 150,000–200,000 people, and two unplanned stops directed by the president.<ref>{{cite web|last=Carr|first=Heather|title=What time was President Kennedy shot? When was Lee Harvey Oswald arrested?|url=http://dallas.about.com/od/history/f/JFKTimeline.htm |publisher=About.com Dallas |accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref> By the time the motorcade reached Dealey Plaza they were only 5&nbsp;minutes away from their planned destination.

==Shooting in Dealey Plaza==
At 12:29&nbsp;p.m. CST, as President Kennedy's uncovered [[Presidential state car (United States)|limousine]] entered [[Dealey Plaza]], Nellie Connally, then the First Lady of Texas, turned around to President Kennedy, who was sitting behind her, and commented, "Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you," which President Kennedy acknowledged by saying "No, you certainly can't."<ref name="nellieconnally"/><ref name="johnconnally"/> Those were the last words ever spoken by John F. Kennedy. He gave his reply just after the Main-to-Houston Street turn (with photos and films even showing him leaning in towards Mrs. Connally on Houston Street to reply to her).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.jfklancer.com/jbk_wc.html |title=Testimony of Mrs. John F. Kennedy |work=[[Warren Commission]] |page=179 |accessdate=20 December 2013}}</ref>

From Houston Street, the presidential limousine made the planned left turn onto Elm Street, allowing it access to the Stemmons Freeway exit. As it turned on Elm, the motorcade passed the [[Texas School Book Depository]]. Shots were fired at President Kennedy as they continued down Elm Street. About 80% of the witnesses recalled hearing three shots.<ref name="Earwitnesses">{{cite web |url=http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/shots.htm |title=Dealey Plaza Earwitnesses|year=2012 |first= John |last=McAdams|work= The Kennedy Assassination |publisher=Marquette University |accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref>

A minority of the witnesses recognized the first gunshot blast they heard as a weapon blast, but there was hardly any reaction to the first shot from a majority of the people in the crowd or those riding in the motorcade. Many later said 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>{{harvnb|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 2, p. 49}}. Although some close witnesses 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.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/3966/dppluschartsupdated1111.gif |title= The Dealey Plaza Map|last1=Roberdeau |first1=Donald |date=November 11, 2012|work=Men of Courage: JFK Assassination Evidence, Discoveries & Suspects|page=5|accessdate=2012-12-17|quote=Additional research from the Zapruder film has determined that the car's speed to specifically slow from 14.4&nbsp;mph to 8.3&nbsp;mph. See the "Limo Speed" notations, written on Main Street in the upper right map area.}}</ref>

Within one second of each other, President Kennedy, Governor 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>{{cite web |url=http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/2508/jackieheadturnsspeeds07ln3.gif |title= Graph of Head-facing Directions, Head-facing Changes, & Head-facing Changes in Speeds of the Kennedy's and Connally's<!-- The grocer's apostrophes (Kennedy's and Connally's) are in the original --> at the Start of the Attack |last1=Roberdeau |first1=Donald|date=August 2009 |work=Men of Courage: JFK Assassination Evidence, Discoveries & Suspects|page=2|accessdate=2012-11-27}}</ref> Connally, like the President a [[World War II]] military veteran (and, unlike him, 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. Governor Connally testified he could not see the President, so he then started to turn forward again (turning from his right to his left). Connally testified that when his head was facing about 20 degrees left of center,<ref name="johnconnally"/> he was hit in his upper right back by a bullet he did not hear fired. The doctor who operated on Connally measured his head at the time he was hit as turned 27 degrees left of center.<ref name="johnconnally"/> After Connally was hit he shouted, "Oh, no, no, no. My God. They're going to kill us all!"<ref name="jacqueline">{{cite web |title=Testimony of Mrs. John F. Kennedy |url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh5/html/WC_Vol5_0094b.htm|work=Warren Commission Hearings, Volume V|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center|accessdate=2012-11-26|pages=178–181|date=June 5, 1964}}</ref>

Mrs Connally testified that just after hearing a first loud, frightening noise that came from somewhere behind her and to her right, she turned toward President Kennedy and saw him with his arms and elbows raised high, with his hands in front of his face and throat. She then heard another gunshot and then Governor Connally yelling. Mrs. Connally then turned away from President Kennedy toward her husband, at which point another gunshot sounded and she and the limousine's rear interior were covered with fragments of skull, blood, and brain.

According to the Warren Commission,{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 1, pp. 18–19}} and the House Select Committee on Assassinations,{{sfn|Stokes|1979|pp=41–46}} 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, and exited his throat nearly centerline just beneath his larynx, nicking the left side of his suit tie knot. He raised his elbows and clenched his fists in front of his face and neck, then leaned forward and left. Mrs. Kennedy, facing him, then put her arms around him in concern.<ref name="johnconnally"/><ref name="aarclibrary.org">{{cite web|title=Testimony of Dr. Robert Roeder Shaw |url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0055a.htm|work=Warren Commission Hearings, Volume IV|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center|accessdate=2012-11-26|pages=101–117|date=April 21, 1964}}</ref>

Governor Connally also reacted after the [[single bullet theory|same bullet]] penetrated his back just below his right armpit, creating an oval entry wound, impacted and destroyed four inches of his right fifth rib, exited his chest just below his right nipple, creating a two-and-a-half inch oval sucking-air chest wound, entered his arm just above his right wrist, cleanly shattered his right radius bone into eight pieces, exited just below the wrist at the inner side of his right palm, and finally lodged in his left inner thigh.<ref name="johnconnally"/><ref name="aarclibrary.org"/> The Warren Commission theorized that the "single bullet" (see [[single bullet theory]]) struck sometime between Zapruder frames 210 to 225, while the House Select Committee theorized that it struck exactly at Zapruder frame 190.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Monroe |first1=Monte L. |date=January–February 2012 |title=Waggoner Carr investigates the JFK assassination |journal= Texas Techsan |pages= 23–31|publisher= [[Texas Tech Alumni Association]] |location =Lubbock |quote=Texas Attorney General [[Waggoner Carr]] attempted a state-level investigation but received no cooperation from the Warren Commission. In the end, Carr generally endorsed the Warren Commission's findings.}}</ref>

According to the Warren Commission, a second shot struck the President at Zapruder film frame 313. The Commission made no conclusion as to whether this was the second or third bullet fired. The presidential limousine was then passing in front of the [[John Neely Bryan]] north [[pergola]] concrete structure. Meanwhile, the House Select Committee concluded that a fourth shot was then fired at almost the same time, from a separate sniper, but that it missed. Each body concluded that the second shot to hit the president entered the rear of his head (the House Select Committee placed the entry wound four inches higher than the Warren Commission placed it) and, passing in fragments through his head, created a large, "roughly ovular" [sic] hole on the rear, right side. The president's blood and fragments of his scalp, brain, and skull landed on 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>{{cite web |title=Testimony of Bobby W. Hargis|url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/html/WC_Vol6_0152a.htm|work=Warren Commission Hearings, Volume VI|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center|accessdate=2012-11-26|pages=293–296|date=April 8, 1964}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|id=ohi_oFeTktU|title=Abraham Zapruder WFAA-TV Interview (Friday 11/22/1963)}}</ref>

[[United States Secret Service]] [[Special Agent]] [[Clint Hill (Secret Service)|Clint Hill]] was riding on the left front [[running board]] of the follow-up car, which was immediately behind the Presidential limousine. Hill testified that 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 to 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 name="cjhill">{{cite web|title=Testimony of Clinton J. Hill, Special Agent, Secret Service |url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh2/html/WC_Vol2_0070b.htm|work=Warren Commission Hearings, Volume II|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center|accessdate=2012-11-26|pages=132–144}}</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 name="jacqueline"/><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 name="cjhill"/> 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 accelerated, speeding to [[Parkland Memorial Hospital]].

After Mrs. Kennedy 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 name="nellieconnally"/><ref name="johnconnally"/> In a long-redacted interview for ''Life'' magazine days later, Mrs. Kennedy recalled, "All the ride to the hospital I kept bending over him saying, 'Jack, Jack, can you hear me? I love you, Jack.' I kept holding the top of his head down trying to keep the..." The President's widow could not finish her sentence.<ref>{{cite book|last=Summers|first=Anthony|title=Not in Your Lifetime|year=2013|publisher=Open Road|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4804-3548-3|page=8}}</ref>

===Others wounded===
Governor Connally, riding in the same limousine in a seat in front of the President and three inches more to the left than 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}} away from the Depository's sixth floor, easternmost window, {{convert|270|ft|m}} in front of and slightly to the right of President Kennedy's head facing direction, and more than {{convert|16|ft|m}} below the top of the President's head. 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>{{cite web |title=Testimony of James Thomas Tague|url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0280b.htm|work=Warren Commission Hearings, Volume VII|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center|accessdate=2012-11-26|date=July 23, 1964|pages=552–558}}</ref>

===Aftermath in Dealey Plaza===
[[File:Newman Family.jpg|thumb|right|Bill and Gayle Newman drop to the grass and cover their children.]]
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>{{cite web|title=Testimony of Clyde A. Haygood |url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh6/html/WC_Vol6_0153b.htm |work=Warren Commission Hearings, Volume VI|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center|accessdate=2012-11-26|pages=296–302|date=April 9, 1964}}</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, 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].</ref><ref name="kenrahn">{{cite web |url=http://www.kenrahn.com/Photo_shows/Dallas_Nov_01/TU1.html |title=Up by the Triple Underpass 1 |last1=Rahn |first1= Kenneth A., Sr. |date=November 2001 |work=Ken and Greg's Excellent Adventure: Dallas |accessdate=2012-11-27 |quote=See photos 1, 4, 7, and 8.}}</ref>

[[Lee Bowers]], a railroad switchman sitting in a two-story tower,<ref name="kenrahn"/> had an unobstructed view of the rear of the stockade fence atop the grassy knoll during the shooting.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh24/html/WH_Vol24_0283b.htm|title= Commission Exhibit 2118: View From North Tower of Union Terminal Company, Dallas, Texas|page=548 |work= Warren Commission Hearings, Volume XXIV|publisher= Assassination Archives and Research Center |accessdate=2012-11-25}}</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}} 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>{{cite web |last=Myers |first=Dale K. |title=The Testimony of Lee Bowers, Jr|url=http://www.jfkfiles.com/jfk/html/badgeman_4.htm|work=Secrets of a Homicide: Badge Man|publisher=Oak Cliff Press|accessdate=2012-11-26|year=2008|authorlink=Dale K. Myers}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Myers|first=Dale K.|title=Lee Bowers: The Man Behind the Grassy Knoll |url=http://jfkfiles.blogspot.com/2007/09/lee-bowers-man-behind-grassy-knoll.html|work=Secrets of a Homicide: JFK Assassination|publisher=Oak Cliff Press|accessdate=2012-11-26 |authorlink=Dale K. Myers|date=September 14, 2007}}</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 said 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> and Dallas police subsequently broadcast descriptions at 12:45&nbsp;p.m., 12:48&nbsp;p.m., and 12:55&nbsp;p.m.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dpdtapes/|title=The JFK Assassination Dallas Police Tapes: History in Real Time|date=November 22, 1963 |first= John |last=McAdams|work= The Kennedy Assassination |publisher=Marquette University |accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref> After the second shot was fired, Brennan recalled, "This man I saw previous was aiming for his last shot&nbsp;... and maybe paused for another second as though to assure himself that he had hit his mark."<ref>{{cite book|last=Summers|first=Anthony|title=Not in Your Lifetime|year=2013|publisher=Open Road|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4804-3548-3|page=62}}</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&nbsp;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>

Additionally, the Warren Commission said of the three shots they concluded were fired that "a substantial majority of the witnesses stated that the shots were not evenly spaced. Most witnesses recalled that the second and third shots were bunched together."{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 3, p. 110}}

==Lee Harvey Oswald==
{{Main|Lee Harvey Oswald}}

[[File:Pappas Exh1-murder Oswald-21-19.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Jack Ruby]] prepares to shoot and kill Oswald, who is being escorted by police to be sent to Dallas County jail.]]
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 approximately 70&nbsp;minutes after the assassination for the murder of Dallas police officer [[J. D. Tippit]]. According to witness Helen Markam, Tippit had spotted Oswald walking along a sidewalk in the residential neighborhood of [[Oak Cliff]],<ref name="Testimony of Helen Markham">[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> three miles from Dealey Plaza. Officer Tippit had earlier received a radio message which gave a description of the suspect being sought in the assassination and called Oswald over to the patrol car.

Helen Markam testified that after an exchange of words, Tippit got out of his car and Oswald shot him four times.<ref name="Testimony of Helen Markham"/> Oswald was next seen by shoe store manager Johnny Brewer "ducking into" the entrance alcove of his store. Suspicious of this activity, Brewer watched Oswald continue up the street and slip into the nearby [[Texas Theatre]] without paying.<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0006a.htm Testimony of Johnny Calvin Brewer], 7 H 3–5.</ref> Brewer alerted the theater's ticket clerk, who telephoned police<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh7/html/WC_Vol7_0010a.htm Testimony of Julia Postal], 7 H 11.</ref> at about 1:40&nbsp;p.m.

According to one of the arresting officers, M.N. McDonald, Oswald resisted arrest and was attempting to draw his pistol when he 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 President Kennedy and Officer Tippit 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 [[Scapegoating|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&nbsp;— 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. {{Wayback|url=http://youtube.com/watch?v=yuudRsNewsM|date =20110718144907}}</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 mortally wounded by Dallas nightclub owner [[Jack Ruby]], live on American television. Arrested immediately after the shooting, Ruby later said that he had been distraught over the Kennedy assassination and that killing Oswald would spare "...Mrs. Kennedy the discomfiture of coming back to trial."<ref>[http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh5/html/WC_Vol5_0104b.htm Testimony of Jack Ruby], Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 5, pp. 198–200.</ref>

==Carcano rifle==
{{Main|John F. Kennedy assassination rifle}}
A [[6.5×52mm Mannlicher-Carcano]] Italian [[Carcano]] M91/38 bolt-action rifle was found on the 6th floor of the [[Texas School 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=December 5, 2004 |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=December 19, 1963 |accessdate=2010-07-31| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100725083008/http://www.jfk-online.com/alyea.html| archivedate= 2010-07-25 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</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>{{cite web|title=Addendum: Report on an Examination of Photographs of the Rifle Associated with the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy|url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol6/html/HSCA_Vol6_0036b.htm|work=HSCA Appendix to Hearings - Volume VI|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center|accessdate=2012-11-26|pages=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,{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, pp. 125–126}} as well as the rifle's dimensions.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, p. 129}}

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.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, p. 118}} According to the Warren Commission Report, a partial palm print of Oswald was also found on the barrel of the gun,{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, p. 122}}<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh4/html/WC_Vol4_0134b.htm|title= Testimony of Lt. J. C. Day|page=260 |work= Warren Commission Hearings, Volume IV|publisher= Assassination Archives and Research Center |accessdate=2012-11-25}}</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.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, p. 124}}<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/html/WH_Vol21_0246a.htm|title=Shaneyfelt Exhibit No. 24|page=467 |work= Warren Commission Hearings, Volume XXI|publisher= Assassination Archives and Research Center |accessdate=2012-11-25}}</ref>

A bullet found on Governor Connally's hospital [[gurney]], and two bullet fragments found in the Presidential limousine, were [[Ballistic fingerprinting|ballistically matched]] to this rifle.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 3, p. 79}}

==President Kennedy declared dead in the emergency room==
{{Further|Timeline of the John F. Kennedy assassination}}
The staff at Parkland Hospital's Trauma Room 1 who treated President Kennedy observed that his condition was "moribund" (a [[mortal wound]]), 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, stated that a gunshot wound to the skull 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&nbsp;— MD 6 – White House Death Certificate (Burkley – 11/23/63), pg |publisher=History-matters.com |accessdate=2010-07-31| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20100729074805/http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/arrb/master_med_set/md6/html/Image0.htm| archivedate= 2010-07-29 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

[[File:Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath of office, November 1963.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Lyndon B. Johnson]] is sworn in as U.S. President aboard [[Air Force One]] in Dallas.]]
At 1:00&nbsp;p.m., CST (19:00 [[UTC]]), after all heart activity had ceased and after [[Priest#Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy|Father Oscar Huber]]<ref name="Southwestern Historical Quarterly 2007, pp. 380-393">Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 110, Number 3, January 2007, pp. 380–393. Retrieved 2008-10-20.</ref> had 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 |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> Father Huber<ref name="Southwestern Historical Quarterly 2007, pp. 380-393"/> told ''[[The New York Times]]'' that the President was already dead by the time he 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]]. President Kennedy's death was officially announced by [[White House]] Acting Press Secretary [[Malcolm Kilduff]] at 1:33&nbsp;p.m. CST (19:33 [[UTC]]).<ref>{{harvnb|Associated Press|1963|page=15}}</ref><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| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090329075939/http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/mmkiluffjr.htm| archivedate= 2009-03-29 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref> Kilduff was acting press secretary on the trip because [[Pierre Salinger]] was traveling to Japan with half the Cabinet, including Secretary of State [[Dean Rusk]].<ref>{{harvnb|Associated Press|1963|page=19}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Rusk|first=Dean|editor1-first=Richard|editor1-last=Rusk|editor2-first=Daniel S.|editor2-last=Papp|title=As I Saw It|year=1990|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|isbn=0-393-02650-7|location=New York|page=296|authorlink=Dean Rusk}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|quote=Mr. Kilduff was the White House press man in charge at Dallas because Pierre Salinger, the chief press secretary, was traveling to Japan with members of the Cabinet.|title=Johnson Feared a Plot in Dallas|date=December 24, 1963|newspaper=The New York Times|agency=Associated Press|page=6}}</ref> Governor Connally, meanwhile, was taken to emergency surgery, where he underwent two operations that day.

By Texas law, the President's body could not legally be removed from the hospital before an autopsy had been performed. This caused a brief scuffle between Dallas officials and members of the President's security detail. The impasse ended when Secret Service agents put the officials against the wall at gunpoint.<ref>{{cite book|last=Summers|first=Anthony|title=Not in Your Lifetime|year=2013|publisher=Open Road|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4804-3548-3|page=14}}</ref>

A few minutes after 2:00&nbsp;p.m. CST (20:00 [[UTC]]), President Kennedy's body was 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 (coroner)|Earl Rose]], who had jurisdiction. At that time, it was not a federal offense to kill the President of the United States,{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|pp=92f–93f}} although it was a federal crime to conspire to injure a federal officer while he was acting in the line of duty.<ref>{{usc|18|372}}</ref>{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 8, pp. 454–456}} [[Vice-President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], who became President upon President Kennedy's death,<ref>[[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Clause 6: Vacancy and disability|Article II of the United States Constitution, Section 1, Clause 6]]</ref> and had been riding two cars behind President Kennedy in the motorcade, refused to leave for Washington without President Kennedy and his widow.

At 2:38&nbsp;p.m. CST (20:38 [[UTC]]), Vice-President Johnson [[First inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson|took the oath of office]] on board Air Force One just before it departed from Love Field, with Jacqueline Kennedy at his side.

===Autopsy===
[[File:JFK posterior head wound.jpg|thumb|upright|Drawn replication of a photograph depicting the posterior head wound of President Kennedy]]
{{Main|John F. Kennedy autopsy}}
The [[John F. Kennedy autopsy|autopsy]] was performed, beginning at about 8&nbsp;p.m. and ending at about midnight EST at the [[National Naval Medical Center|Bethesda Naval Hospital]] in Bethesda, [[Maryland]]. The choice of autopsy hospital in the Washington, D.C. area was made at the request of [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|Mrs. Kennedy]], on the basis that John F. Kennedy had been a [[naval officer]].<ref>{{harvnb|Associated Press|1963|pages=29–31}}</ref>

==Funeral==
{{Main|State funeral of John F. Kennedy}}
The [[State funeral of John F. Kennedy|state funeral]] took place in Washington, DC during the three days that followed the assassination.<ref>{{cite book|title=Four Days: The Historical Record of the Death of President Kennedy|author=United Press International|coauthor=''American Heritage'' Magazine|publisher=American Heritage Publishing Company|year=1964}}</ref>

The body of President Kennedy was brought back to Washington, D.C. and placed in the [[East Room|East Room of the White House]] for 24 hours.<ref>{{cite news|title=President's Body Will Lie in State|first=Jack|last=Raymond|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 23, 1963|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Kennedy's Body Lies in the White House|first=Jack|last=Raymond|newspaper=New York Times|date=November 24, 1963|page=1}}</ref> On the Sunday after the assassination, his coffin was carried on a horse-drawn [[Limbers and caissons|caisson]] to the U.S. [[United States Capitol|Capitol]] to [[Lying in state|lie in state]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Grieving Throngs View Kennedy Bier|date=November 25, 1963|first=Tom|last=Wicker|newspaper=The New York Times|page=1|authorlink=Tom Wicker}}</ref> Throughout the day and night, hundreds of thousands lined up to view the guarded casket.<ref>{{Harvnb|Associated Press|1963|page=91}}</ref> Representatives from over 90 countries attended the state funeral on Monday, November 25.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kennedy Laid to Rest in Arlington|date=November 26, 1963|first=Tom|last=Wicker|newspaper=The New York Times|page=1}}</ref> After the [[Requiem Mass]] at [[Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle|St. Matthew's Cathedral]], the late President was laid to rest at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] in Virginia.

==Recordings of the assassination==

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{{Citation needed|date=February 2014}}. Most media crews were not even with the motorcade but were waiting instead at the Dallas Trade Mart in anticipation of President 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; Channel Two was an auxiliary channel dedicated to the President's motorcade. Up until the time of the assassination, most of the broadcasts on the second channel consisted of Police Chief Jesse Curry's announcements of the location of the motorcade as it wound through the city.

President Kennedy's last seconds traveling through Dealey Plaza were recorded on silent [[8 mm film]] for the 26.6&nbsp;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>{{cite web |last1=Zaid |first1=Mark |authorlink1=Mark Zaid|title=Zapruder Film Civil Suit Filed |url=http://www.assassinationresearch.com/v2n2/zaid-1.html|work=Assassination Research|accessdate=2012-11-27|author2=James Lesar|author3=Charles Sanders|date=November 23, 1998}}</ref> According to the Guinness Book of World Records, an arbitration panel ordered the U.S. 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&nbsp;seconds, was valued at $16 million.<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=2010-05-06 |first=James |last=Inverne |authorlink=James Inverne}}</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>{{cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=Rick |date=November 30, 1963 |title=Pictures of the Assassination Fall to Amateurs on Street |journal=[[Editor & Publisher]] |page=17}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=December 2, 1963 |title=A World Listened and Watched |journal=Broadcasting |pages=36–40, 46 |publisher=Broadcasting Publications|location=Washington, DC |url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1963/1963-12-02-BC.pdf |accessdate=2012-11-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schonfeld |first1=Maurice W. |date=July–August 1975 |title=The shadow of a gunman |journal=[[Columbia Journalism Review]] |url=http://www.cjr.org/fiftieth_anniversary/the_shadow_of_a_gunman.php?page=all |accessdate=2012-11-27}}</ref> and photographer Charles Bronson 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]] by researchers, might have been filming the Presidential motorcade during the assassination. 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 19, 2007 by the Sixth Floor Museum, Dallas, Texas.<ref>{{cite web|title=George Jefferies Film |url=http://www.jfk.org/go/collections/item-detail?fedoraid=sfm:2006.039.0001|work=George Jefferies Collection|publisher=Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza|accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title= Museum Releases Newly Discovered Film of JFK Motorcade|date=February 19, 2007|publisher= Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza |location= Dallas, Texas|url= http://www.jfk.org/go/about/press/view-release/2007-02-19-museum-releases-newly-discovered-film-of-jfk-motorcade|accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref> The film does not include the 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 President Kennedy's bunched suit jacket, just below the collar, which has led to different calculations about how low in the back President 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&nbsp;p.m., on November 22, and 11&nbsp;a.m., on November 24.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, p. 180}} Throughout this interrogation Oswald denied any involvement with either the assassination of President Kennedy or the murder of Patrolman Tippit.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, p. 180}} Captain Fritz of the homicide and robbery bureau did most of the questioning, keeping only rudimentary notes.<ref name="fritz"/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.jfklancer.com/Fritzdocs.html |title= Captain Will Fritz's notes of LHO interrogation|publisher= JFK Lancer Productions & Publications |accessdate=2012-11-25|quote=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 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 name="fritz">{{cite web |url= http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0312a.htm|title= Report of Capt. J. W. Fritz, Dallas Police Department|pages=599–611 |work= Warren Report|publisher= Assassination Archives and Research Center |accessdate=2012-11-25}}</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.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, pp. 180–195}} Several of the FBI agents present wrote contemporaneous reports of the interrogation.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wr/html/WCReport_0318b.htm|title=Reports of Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation|pages=612–625 |work= Warren Report|publisher= Assassination Archives and Research Center |accessdate=2012-11-25}}</ref>

During the evening of November 22, the Dallas Police Department performed [[paraffin test]]s 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.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, pp. 180–195}} The results were positive for the hands and negative for the right cheek.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, pp. 180–195}} Because of the unreliability of these tests, the Warren Commission did not rely on the results of the test in making their findings.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, pp. 180–195}}

Oswald provided little information during his questioning. When confronted with evidence which he could not explain he resorted to statements which were found to be false.{{sfn|Warren|1964|loc=chpt. 4, pp. 180–195}}<ref>For testimony relating to the interrogation sessions, see 4 H 152–153, 157 (Curry); 4 H 207–211, 217, 221–231, 239–240 (Fritz); 4 H 355–357 (Winston Lawson); 4 H 466–470 (James Hosty, Jr.); 7 H 123–127 (Elmer Boyd); 7 H 164–182 (Sims); 7 H 309–318 (James Bookhout); 7 H 320–321 (Manning Clements); 13 H 58–62 (Sorrels); 7 H 590 (Kelley); 7 H 296–306 (Holmes); CE 1982.</ref> Dallas authorities were not able to complete their investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy because of interruptions from the FBI and the murder of Oswald by Jack Ruby.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

===FBI investigation===
The FBI was the first authority to complete an investigation. On December 9, 1963, the FBI issued a report and gave it to the Warren Commission.

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

===Warren Commission===
[[File:Lbj-wc.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Warren Commission]] presents its report to President Johnson]]
{{Main|Warren Commission}}
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 29, 1963, by President Lyndon Johnson to investigate the assassination.<ref>{{cite news|title=Warren Heads Probe into Assassination|date=November 30, 1963|first=Jerry T.|last=Baluch|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}</ref> Its 888-page final report was presented to President Johnson on September 24, 1964,<ref>{{cite news|title=Johnson Gets Assassination Report|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Charles|last=Mohr|date=September 25, 1964|page=1}}</ref> and made public three days later.<ref>{{cite news|title=Warren Report Says Oswald Acted Alone; Raps FBI, Secret Service|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Chalmers M.|last=Roberts|date=September 28, 1964|page=A1}}</ref> It concluded that [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] acted alone in the killing of President Kennedy and the wounding of Texas [[Governor of Texas|Governor]] [[John Connally]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Warren Commission Finds Oswald Guilty and Says Assassin and Ruby Acted Alone|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 27, 1964|page=1|first=Anthony|last=Lewis|authorlink=Anthony Lewis |url=http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0927.html#article}}</ref> and that [[Jack Ruby]] also acted alone in the murder of Oswald.<ref>{{cite news|title=Commission Says Ruby Acted Alone in Slaying|first=John D.|last=Pomfret|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 28, 1964|page=17}}</ref> The Commission's findings have since proven controversial and been both challenged and supported by later studies.

The Commission took its unofficial name, "The Warren Commission", from its chairman, [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[Earl Warren]]. According to published transcripts of Johnson's presidential phone conversations, some major officials were opposed to forming such a commission, and several commission members took part only with extreme reluctance.<ref name="Conversations">{{cite news|title=Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1963-1964|last=Beschloss|first=Michael R.|location=New York|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1997|authorlink=Michael Beschloss|isbn=0-684-80407-7}}</ref> One of their chief reservations was that a commission would ultimately create more controversy than consensus, and those fears ultimately proved valid.<ref name="Conversations"/> The Commission's report was printed by [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Paperback Version is Fast Seller Here|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 28, 1964|page=14}}</ref>

===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 about the death of President Kennedy. The Clark Panel determined that President 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 F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas]. {{WebCite|url=http://www.webcitation.org/5QivShfp7|date =July 30, 2007}}</ref>

===Rockefeller Commission===
The ''[[United States 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>{{cite web|title=Rockefeller Commission Report |url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/contents/church/contents_church_reports_rockcomm.htm|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center|accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref> The commission concluded that neither Hunt nor Sturgis was in Dallas at the time of the assassination.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/hunt_sturgis.htm |title=E. Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis: Were Watergate Conspirators Also JFK Assassins? |first= John |last=McAdams|work= The Kennedy Assassination |publisher=Marquette University |accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref>

===Church Committee===
[[Church Committee]] is the common term referring to the ''United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities'', a [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] committee chaired by Senator [[Frank Church]], to investigate the illegal intelligence gathering by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) and [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) after the [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] incident. It also investigated the CIA and FBI conduct relating to the JFK assassination.

Their report concluded that the investigation on the assassination by FBI and CIA were fundamentally deficient and the facts which have greatly affected the investigation had not been forwarded to the Warren Commission by the agencies. It also found that the FBI, the agency with primary responsibility on the matter, was ordered by Director [[J. Edgar Hoover|Hoover]] and pressured by unnamed ''higher government officials'' to conclude its investigation quickly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/church/reports/book5/html/ChurchVol5_0006b.htm|title=Book V: The Investigation of the Assassination of President J.F.K.: Performance of the Intelligence Agencies|publisher=Assassinations Archive and Research Center|accessdate=2011-02-06}}</ref> The report hinted that there was a possibility that senior officials in both agencies made conscious decisions not to disclose potentially important information.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/church/reports/book5/html/ChurchVol5_0007a.htm|title=Book V: The Investigation of the Assassination of President J.F.K.: Performance of the Intelligence Agencies|publisher=Assassinations Archive and Research Center|accessdate=2011-02-06}}</ref>

===United States House Select Committee on Assassinations===
{{Main|United States House Select Committee on Assassinations}}
As a result of increasing public pressure caused partly by the finding of the Church Committee, the '''United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations''' '''(HSCA)''' was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of President Kennedy and [[Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.|Martin Luther King, Jr.]] and the shooting of Governor [[George Wallace]].  The committee was both controversial and divided among themselves.  The first chairman, [[Thomas N. Downing]] of Virginia retired in January 1977 and was replaced by [[Henry B. Gonzalez]] on February 2, 1977.  Gonzalez sought to replace Chief Counsel Richard Sprague.  Eventually both Gonzalez and Sprague resigned and [[Louis Stokes]] became the new chairman. [[G. Robert Blakey]] was then appointed Chief Counsel and his deputy [[Robert K. Tanenbaum]] resigned soon afterwards.

The Committee investigated until 1978, and in 1979 issued its final report, concluding that President John F. Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a [[conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy]].  The Committee concluded that previous investigations properly investigated Oswald's responsibility but did not adequately investigate the possibility of a conspiracy, and that the Warren Commission presented its conclusions too definitively.  The Committee also found that the FBI and CIA were deficient in sharing information.  Furthermore the Secret Service did not properly analyze information it possessed prior to the assassination and was inadequately prepared to protect the President.

Although the HSCA concluded that President Kennedy was "probably" assassinated as the result of a conspiracy it did not offer the name of any person or group it thought had conspired with Oswald.  Instead the HSCA listed several organizations that it did not think were involved, including the governments of the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Cuba]], [[organized crime]] groups and anti-[[Fidel Castro|Castro]] groups, but noted that it could not rule out the involvement of any individuals of these groups.

Four of the twelve committee members wrote dissenting opinions.{{sfn|Stokes|1979|pp=483–511}} [[Chris Dodd]] did not think that Oswald fired all three shots from the depository and wanted more investigation into the matter.  Three other members did not think there was a second shooter or a conspiracy.  According to [[Robert W. Edgar]] the committee was swayed at the last minute by the introduction of acoustic analysis of a [[Dictabelt]] recording of radio transmissions made by the Dallas Police Department.  Prior to that a draft of the committee's report said "the available scientific evidence is insufficient to find that there was a conspiracy."  The final report said: "Scientifically, the existence of the second gunman was established only by the acoustical study, but its basic validity was corroborated or independently substantiated by the various other scientific projects."{{sfn|Stokes|1979|p=84}} Three dissenters, Edgar, Devine and Sawyer, were not convinced by the Dictabelt analysis.  Subsequent examinations of the recording by the [[National Academy of Sciences]], by the FBI, and by the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] disputed the Dictabelt evidence, and in turn the NAS's analysis was contested by Donald Thomas, see [[Dictabelt evidence relating to the assassination of John F. Kennedy]]. The back and forth on the acoustics evidence continues to this day.<ref>{{cite book|last=Summers|first=Anthony|title=Not in Your Lifetime|year=2013|publisher=Open Road|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4804-3548-3|page=28}}</ref>

The HSCA made several accusations of deficiency against the Secret Service, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA and the Warren Commission.{{sfn|Stokes|1979|pp=227–261}} The accusations encompassed organizational failures, miscommunication, and a desire to keep certain parts of their operations secret.  Furthermore, the Warren Commission expected these agencies to be forthcoming with any information that would aid their investigation.  But the FBI and CIA only saw it as their duty to respond to specific requests for information from the commission.  The HSCA found the FBI and CIA were deficient in performing even that limited role.

The House Select Committee on Assassinations was conducted mostly in secret.  They issued a public report but much of its evidence was sealed for 50 years under Congressional rules.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.fas.org/sgp/advisory/arrb98/part03.htm|chapter=1. The Problem of Secrecy and the Solution of the JFK Act|title=Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board|date=September 1998}}</ref> In 1992, Congress passed legislation to collect and open up all the evidence relating to Kennedy's death, and created the [[Assassination Records Review Board]] to further that goal.

The Technical Services Division of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] studied the acoustical data and issued a report on December 1, 1980 (dated November 19, 1980).  The FBI report concluded that the HSCA failed to prove that there were gunshots on the recording and also failed to prove that the recording was made in Dealey Plaza.  In fact, using the techniques of the previous investigators, the FBI matched a gunshot recorded in Greensboro, NC in 1979 with the sound that was supposedly a shot from the grassy knoll - proving that the initial investigation's methods were invalid.<ref>Vincent Bugliosi, ''Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy'', 2007, ISBN 978-0-393-04525-3, endnotes p. 199.</ref>

After the FBI disputed the validity of the acoustic evidence, the [[U.S. Department of Justice|Justice Department]] paid for a review by the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]], a U.S. corporation operating with a [[Title 36 of the United States Code|Title 36]] congressional charter. A panel of scientists headed by Dr. [[Norman Ramsey]] issued a report in 1982 which agreed with Barber and determined that there was no compelling evidence for gunshots on the recording and that the HSCA's suspect impulses were recorded about a minute after the shooting happened.<ref>http://www.jfk-online.com/nas00.html</ref> In 2005, Ralph Linsker and several members of the original NAS team reanalyzed the timings of the recordings and reaffirmed in an article in ''Science & Justice'' the earlier conclusion of the NAS report that the alleged shot sounds were recorded approximately one minute after the assassination.<ref>Linsker R., Garwin R.L., Chernoff H., Horowitz P., Ramsey N.F., [http://jfk-records.com/ScienceAndJustice_45%284%29_207-226%282005%29.pdf "Synchronization of the acoustic evidence in the assassination of President Kennedy"]. ''Science & Justice'', vol. 45(4), 2005, pp. 207–226.</ref>

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

* 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.{{sfn|Stokes|1979|pp=227–261}}

====Criticism of Secret Service====
An investigation by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) in 1979 concluded that "the Secret Service was deficient in the performance of its duties."{{sfn|Stokes|1979|p=227}} The HSCA stated:<blockquote>

*That President Kennedy had not received adequate protection in Dallas.
*That the Secret Service possessed information that was not properly analyzed, investigated, or used by the Secret Service in connection with the President's trip to Dallas.
*That the Secret Service agents in the motorcade were inadequately prepared to protect the President from a sniper.{{sfn|Stokes|1979|pp=229–35}}</blockquote>

The HSCA specifically noted:

<blockquote>No actions were taken by the agent in the right front seat of the Presidential limousine [ [[Roy Kellerman]] ] to cover the President with his body, although it would have been consistent with Secret Service procedure for him to have done so. The primary function of the agent was to remain at all times in close proximity to the President in the event of such emergencies.{{sfn|Stokes|1979|pp=234–35}}</blockquote>

===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,{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|pp=136–137}} 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 H. 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. Among the items most sought after by researchers are some 1,171 documents still closed by the CIA on national security grounds.<ref>{{cite book|last=Summers|first=Anthony|title=Not in Your Lifetime|year=2013|publisher=Open Road|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4804-3548-3|page=xiii}}</ref>

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>{{cite web|title=Testimony of Robert A. Frazier |url=http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh5/html/WC_Vol5_0037a.htm|work=Warren Commission Hearings, Volume V|publisher=Assassination Archives and Research Center|accessdate=2012-11-26|pages=63–65}}</ref> Oswald's military intelligence file destroyed in 1973,{{sfn|Stokes|1979|pp=222–224}} Connally's Stetson hat and shirt sleeve gold cufflink missing).

Jackie Kennedy's blood-splattered [[Pink Chanel suit of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy|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 to Jack"<ref>Justine Picardie, ''Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life'', London: HarperCollins, 2010, p. 306.</ref> 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=May 30, 2008 |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 |accessdate=2010-07-31}}</ref> All remaining documents are to be released by 2017.

===Conspiracy theories===
[[File:JFK Wanted Dallas 1963.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Flyer (pamphlet)|handbill]] circulated on November 21, 1963 in Dallas, one day before the assassination of John F. Kennedy]]
[[File:JFK Wooden Fence.jpg|thumb|right|The wooden fence atop the grassy knoll, and the Triple Underpass with the highway sign, which at the time of the assassination read "Fort Worth Turnpike Keep Right," as seen in the [[Zapruder film]]. The knoll is where many conspiracy theorists believe another gunman stood. ]]
{{Main|John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories}}

From the day of the assassination, many Americans suspected that a [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy]], and not a lone gunman, was responsible for President Kennedy's death. Polls taken from that day through to November 27, 1963 by [[Gallup (company)|Gallup]] showed 52 percent believing "some group or element" was behind the assassination.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=989f}}

Before the Warren Commission issued its report which concluded Oswald acted alone, several books had already been published suggesting a conspiracy was behind the assassination.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=990}} Within a few months of the assassination, lawyer [[Mark Lane (author)|Mark Lane]], who had been hired by Oswald’s mother Marguerite to represent Oswald’s interests before the Warren Commission, had formed his Citizens' Committee of Inquiry on the assassination and was speaking in the [[United States]] and [[Europe]] in early 1964, challenging the work of the Warren Commission, even before it had published its findings.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|pp=1001–02}}

Upon the publication of the Warren Report in September 1964, only a minority 31.6 percent of Americans rejected the conclusion that Oswald had acted alone, with 55.5 percent accepting the Report's conclusion.<ref>''The Washington Post'', October 19, 1964.</ref> But since then, public opinion has consistently shown majorities, often large majorities, believing a conspiracy had been in place.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=xv}} In 1966, Lane's ''[[Rush to Judgment]]'' was published, spending six months on ''[[The New York Times]]'' best-seller list.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=1002}} The book accused the Warren Commission of "being biased towards its conclusions before the facts were known,"<ref>{{cite book |last=Lane |first=Mark|title=[[Rush to Judgment|Rush to Judgment: A Critique of the Warren Commission's Inquiry into the Murders of President John F. Kennedy, Officer J. D. Tippit and Lee Harvey Oswald]]|year=1966|publisher=Bodley Head|location=London|lccn=66067594|authorlink=Mark Lane (author)|page=71}}</ref> and cited evidence found within the 26 volumes of the Warren Report and in his interviews with witnesses which seemed to suggest bullets coming from multiple directions striking the president and hence a conspiracy. The [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] was also passed that year, which had the effect of permitting researchers greater access to once-secret government files, particularly those connected to the Warren Commission.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=993}}

Many researchers were now investigating the assassination, most of whom believed the Warren Report was at best inaccurate and at worst a lie. In July 1966, in commenting on [[Edward Jay Epstein]]'s book ''Inquest'', which focused on the inner workings of the Warren Commission, [[Richard N. Goodwin]] became the first of Kennedy’s inner circle to publicly call for a review of the Warren Report.<ref>''The New York Times'', July 24, 1966, p. 25.</ref> That November, former assistant to the president and Pulitzer-prize winning author [[Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.]] called on [[United States Congress|Congress]] to initiate a new inquiry.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=994}} That same month, ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine called for a new investigation as did ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]'' the following January. ''The New York Times'', in an editorial dated November 25, 1966, did not call for a re-investigation, but said that the Warren Commission and its staff should address "the many puzzling questions that have been raised... There are enough solid doubts of thoughtful persons."

In 1967, ''Six Seconds in Dallas'' by Josiah Thompson was published. The book was the first to focus on many technical aspects not previously discussed by other authors, such as [[firearm]]s, [[bullet]] trajectories, medical and photographic evidence. Thompson, who was a consultant to ''Life'' magazine, had unique access to a first-generation print of the Zapruder film and was the first to suggest that President Kennedy was struck by two near-simultaneous bullets to the head, one from the rear, the other from the right front.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=994}}

That March, [[New Orleans]] [[District Attorney]] [[Jim Garrison]] announced he would prosecute local businessman [[Clay Shaw]] for the murder of President Kennedy, and, galvanized, many Warren Commission critics descended on New Orleans.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=995}} Public interest in the trial was high, with a [[Harris Interactive|Harris]] poll that May showing nearly two of three Americans saying they were following the investigation. The same poll indicated 66 percent believed there was a conspiracy, compared to 44 percent who believed that in a Harris poll done in February.<ref>"66% in Poll Accept Kennedy Plot View," ''The New York Times'', May 30, 1967, p. 19.</ref>

Garrison was also notable for being among the first to assert that there were two conspiracies: The first conspiracy being the one which engineered the assassination of the president; the second conspiracy being the deliberate cover-up by the Warren Commission to hide the true facts of the assassination.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=xx}}

Shaw was acquitted in March 1969, and the conspiracy movement was dealt a blow as Garrison’s trial was widely seen as a debacle, with many researchers denouncing Garrison as a fraud and megalomaniac.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=995}} Further, as conspiracy theorist Robert Anson put it, because of Garrison, "bills in Congress asking for a new investigation were quietly shelved."<ref>{{cite book|last=Anson|first=Robert S.|title=They've Killed the President!: The Search for the Murderers of John F. Kennedy|year=1975|publisher=Bantam Books|location=New York|lccn=77373985|page=119}}</ref> Nevertheless, the trial opened new avenues of investigations for the movement, particularly with previously unexplored New Orleans connections and links of others to Oswald.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=995}}

The year 1973 saw the release of the film ''[[Executive Action (film)|Executive Action]]'' starring [[Burt Lancaster]], the first [[Hollywood]] depiction of events surrounding the assassination.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=996}} In the film, three gunmen shoot President Kennedy in a conspiracy led by right-wing elements and military/industrial interests. That year also saw the formation of the Assassination Information Bureau. The influential group spoke to ever-growing audiences at hundreds of colleges throughout the United States, urging a reopening of the investigation, and was ultimately instrumental in the realization of that goal in 1977.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=996}}

In March 1975, ''Good Night America'' broadcast, for the first time, the Zapruder film, with an audience of millions watching.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=996}} Almost immediately, with the film showing a backward snap of President Kennedy’s head, indicating to many a shot from the right front and hence a conspiracy, there were new demands for a re-investigation. The findings of the Rockefeller Commission that year and the Church Committee the next year added impetus to calls for a new inquiry, which was realized by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) from 1977 to 1979. That investigation concluded President Kennedy "was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy".{{sfn|Stokes|1979|p=2}}

While the HSCA's conclusion was welcomed by many in the conspiracy community, the HSCA’s inability to name any players in the conspiracy they identified, and their actions in sealing much of their documentation, left many in the community frustrated.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=996}}

Numerous books, television shows and articles continued to appear. Writing in 2007, [[Vincent Bugliosi]] said, "close to one thousand books" had been published on the subject of the assassination,{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=974}} of which "over 95 percent" were pro-conspiracy.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=xiv}} Some notable books to 1990 were Anthony Summers' ''Conspiracy'' (later revised and published as ''Not in Your Lifetime''), [[David Lifton]]'s best-selling ''Best Evidence'', both published in 1980, and Henry Hurt's ''Reasonable Doubt'' in 1985. The Summers and Hurt books explore many of the prominent conspiracy theories, while Lifton argues that President Kennedy’s wounds were altered before the autopsy to frame Oswald. [[Jim Marrs]] published ''Crossfire'' in 1989, the same year ''High Treason'', by [[Robert J. Groden]] and Harrison Livingstone was published. The latter book argued the autopsy photos were altered to give the appearance that wounds were caused by shots from a single gunman.

By the late '80s, interest in the subject among the general public was waning.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=997}} One theory for this from writer [[Pete Hamill]] was that by 1988, "an entire generation had come to maturity with no memory at all of the Kennedy years."<ref>{{cite book |last=Zelizer |first=Barbie |title=Covering the Body: The Kennedy Assassination, the Media, and the Shaping of Collective Memory |year=1992|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=0-226-97970-9|page=121}}</ref> In 1991, [[Oliver Stone]]'s film ''[[JFK (film)|JFK]]'' introduced the subject – and many of the attendant conspiracy theories – to a new generation of Americans. The sudden renewed interest in the assassination led to the passage by Congress of the [[President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992|JFK Records Act]] in 1992.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=997}} The Act created the Assassination Records Review Board to implement the Act’s mandate to release all sealed documents related to the assassination. Thousands of documents were released between 1994 and 1998, providing new material for researchers.

To date, there is no consensus on who, among many players, may have been involved in a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. Those often mentioned as being part of a conspiracy include Jack Ruby, organized crime as an organization or organized crime individuals, the CIA, the FBI, the Secret Service, the KGB, right-wing groups or right-wing individuals, President Lyndon Johnson, pro- or anti-Castro Cubans, the military and/or industrial groups allied with the military.

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

The assassination evoked stunned reactions worldwide. Before the President's death was announced, the first hour after the shooting was a time of great confusion. Taking place during the [[Cold War]], it was at first unclear whether the shooting might be part of a larger attack upon the U.S., and whether Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, who had been riding two cars behind in the motorcade, was safe.

The news shocked the nation. People wept openly and gathered in department stores to watch the television coverage, while others prayed. Traffic in some areas came to a halt as the news spread from car to car.<ref>{{Harvnb|Associated Press|1963|page=16}}</ref> Schools across the U.S. dismissed their students early.<ref>{{Harvnb|Associated Press|1963|page=29}}</ref> Anger against Texas and Texans was reported from some individuals. Various [[Cleveland Browns]] fans, for example, carried signs at the next Sunday's home game against the [[Dallas Cowboys]] decrying the city of Dallas as having "killed the President".<ref>{{cite news|title=Browns Set Back Cowboys, 27 to 17|date=November 25, 1963|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=The New York Times|page=35|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60C15FB3D5B1A7B93C7AB178AD95F478685F9}}{{Subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ruby is Regarded as 'Small-Timer{{'-}}|date=November 25, 1963|first=Joseph A.|last=Loftus|newspaper=The New York Times|page=12|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C1EFA3D5B1A7B93C7AB178AD95F478685F9}}{{Subscription required}}</ref>

The event left a [[Flashbulb memory|lasting impression]] on many Americans. As with the December 7, 1941 [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] before it and the [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001 attacks]] after it, asking "Where were you when you heard about President Kennedy's assassination" would become a common topic of discussion.<ref>{{cite book|title=Brinkley's Beat: People, Places, and Events That Shaped My Time |first=David|last=Brinkley|location=New York|publisher=Knopf|year=2003|authorlink=David Brinkley|isbn=978-0-375-40644-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Making of the President, 1964|last=White|first=Theodore H.|location=New York|publisher=Atheneum Publishers|year=1965|authorlink=Theodore H. White|page=6|lccn=65018328}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=A Shock Like Pearl Harbor|first=Joseph F.|last=Dinneen|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=November 24, 1963|page=10|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/1793798052.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+24%2C+1963&author=JOSEPH+F+DINNEEN&pub=Boston+Globe+(1960-1979)&edition=&startpage=10&desc=A+Shock+Like+Pearl+Harbor}} {{Subscription required |via=Boston Globe Archive}}</ref>

==Artifacts, museums and locations today==
[[File:Dealey Plaza (1969).jpg|thumb|[[Dealey Plaza]] and [[Texas School Book Depository]] in 1969, looking much as they did in November 1963.]]
[[File:Dallas Elm Street.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Dealey Plaza]], with Elm Street on the right and the underpass in the middle.]]
[[File:jfk-final-shot.jpg|thumb|250px|Looking southeast, with the pergola and knoll behind the photographer: the X on the street marks the approximate position of President Kennedy in the limousine at the moment he and Governor Connally were shot (photo taken in July 2006).]]
The [[VC-137C SAM 26000|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 President Kennedy's casket was placed and the location where [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|Mrs. Kennedy]] stood in her blood stained pink dress while Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president. The [[SS-100-X|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|work=USA Today|accessdate=2009-11-20}}</ref>

Equipment from the trauma room at [[Parkland Memorial Hospital]], where President 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, the X-rays, President Kennedy's jacket, shirt and tie 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, revolver, bullet fragments, and the windshield of Kennedy's limousine are also stored by the Archives.<ref name="relics" /> The [[Lincoln Catafalque]], which President 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|title=The Catafalque|url=http://www.aoc.gov/nations-stage/catafalque|work=History of Capitol Hill|publisher=[[Architect of the Capitol]]|accessdate=2012-11-26}}</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 approximate spot where the presidential limousine was located at the time of the shooting is marked with an X on the street.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dealey Plaza Historic District|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2164&ResourceType=District|work=National Historic Landmarks Program|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|accessdate=2012-11-26}}</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|title=Q: Why is it called The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza?|url=http://www.jfk.org/go/about/faqs#faq-cat-f01-general|work=Frequently Asked Questions|publisher=[[Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza]]|accessdate=2012-11-26}}</ref>

At the Historic Auto Attractions museum in Roscoe, Illinois, are permanently displayed items related to the assassination such as the catalogue Oswald used to order the rifle, a hat and jacket that belonged to Jack Ruby and the shoes he wore when he shot Oswald, and a window from the Texas School Book Depository. The Texas State Archives have the clothes Governor Connally wore on November 22, 1963.

Some items were intentionally destroyed by the U.S. government at the direction of [[Attorney General]] [[Robert F. Kennedy]], such as the casket used to transport President Kennedy's body aboard Air Force One from Dallas to Washington, which was dropped by the Air Force into the sea as "its public display would be extremely offensive and contrary to public policy".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklancer.com/LNE/coffin.html |title=Documents State JFK's Dallas Coffin Disposed At Sea |publisher=JFK Lancer Independent News Exchange|accessdate=2012-10-02}}</ref> 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" />

Jack Ruby's gun, owned by his brother Earl Ruby, was sold by the Herman Darvick Autograph Auctions in New York City on December 26, 1991, for $220,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1991/Jack-Ruby-s-Gun-Sold-For-$220-000/id-c5bc4667fa920d169cd246a913701305|date=December 26, 1991|accessdate=2013-02-15|title=Jack Ruby's Gun Sold For $220,000|first=Barbara|last=Goldberg|publisher=Associated Press}}</ref>

{{Clear}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Dallas-Fort Worth|Criminal justice|1960s|Death}}
* [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy in popular culture]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book|title=The Torch Is Passed: The Associated Press Story of the Death of a President|author=Associated Press|year=1963|publisher=Associated Press|location=New York|lccn=64001351|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book| last = Bugliosi| first = Vincent| authorlink = Vincent Bugliosi| title = [[Reclaiming History|Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy]]| year = 2007| publisher = Norton |location=New York | isbn = 978-0-393-04525-3|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book| last = Kelin| first = John|others=foreword by H. C. Nash| title =Praise from a Future Generation: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy and the First Generation Critics of the Warren Report| year =2007| publisher = Wings Press|location=San Antonio, Tex| isbn = 978-0-916727-32-1}}
* {{cite book| last = Manchester| first = William| authorlink = William Manchester| title =[[The Death of a President|The Death of a President: November 20-November 25, 1963]]| year = 1967| publisher =Harper & Row|location=New York| lccn= 67010496}}
* {{cite web |first=Louis |last=Stokes|authorlink=Louis Stokes|title=Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives|year=1979|publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, DC|url=http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/ |ref=harv}}
* {{cite book| last = Sturdivan| first = Larry M.| title = The JFK Myths: A Scientific Investigation of the Kennedy Assassination| year =2005| publisher = Paragon House|location=St. Paul, MN| isbn = 978-1-55778-847-4 }}
* {{cite book| last = Summers| first = Anthony| title = [http://www.anthonysummers.com/portfolio.html Not in Your Lifetime]| year =2013| publisher =Open Road|location=New York| isbn = 978-1-4804-3548-3|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book| last = Thompson| first = Josiah| title =Six Seconds in Dallas: A Micro-Study of the Kennedy Assassination| year =1967| publisher =Bernard Geis Associates|location=New York|lccn =67023577}}
* {{cite book| last = Trask| first = Richard B.| title = Pictures of the Pain: Photography and the Assassination of President Kennedy| year = 1994| publisher = Yeoman Press|location=Danvers, Mass| isbn = 978-0-9638595-0-1}}
* {{cite book| last2 = Hartmann| first2 = Thom| last1 = Waldron| first1 = Lamar| authorlink2 = Thom Hartmann| title = Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK| year =2005| publisher =Carroll & Graf|location=New York| isbn = 978-0-7867-1441-4 }}
* {{cite web |first=Earl|last=Warren|authorlink=Earl Warren|title=Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy|year=1964|publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, DC|url=http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/index.html |ref=harv}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* Philipps, Maurice (1996). ''De Dallas à Montréal: la filière montréalaise dans l'assassinat de J.F.K''. Montréal: Éditions de l'homme. ISBN 2-7619-1310-8

==External links==
{{Commons|Assassination of John F. Kennedy}}
* [http://www.jfk.org/go/home The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza] - a museum that chronicles the assassination and legacy of President Kennedy
* [http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/ The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection] - [[National Archives and Records Administration]]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/feature/jfk-assassination/ JFK Assassination:A look back at the death of President John F. Kennedy 50 years ago] - [[CBS News]]
* {{cite web|title=November 22, 1963: Death of the President|url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/November-22-1963-Death-of-the-President.aspx|publisher=[[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]]}}
* [http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/jfk-one-pm-central-standard-time-watch-the-full-episode/1091/ "JFK: One PM Central Standard Time"] - documentary produced by the [[PBS]]
* [http://archive.org/details/TheAssassinationOfPresidentKennedyADocumentaryNThe22ndAnniversary "The Assassination of President Kennedy"] - classic radio documentary by Mike Swickey
* [http://www.jfkassassination.ca/JFK Assassination Photo Chronology]

{{Assassination of John F. Kennedy|state=expanded}}
{{John F. Kennedy}}
{{US Presidential Assassinations}}
{{US history}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assassination Of John F. Kennedy}}
[[Category:Assassination of John F. Kennedy| ]]
[[Category:1963 in politics]]
[[Category:1963 in Texas]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Texas]]
[[Category:History of Dallas, Texas]]
[[Category:John F. Kennedy]]
[[Category:1963 murders in the United States]]