Warren Commission

The Warren Commission was established to investigate the assassination of the American president John F. Kennedy in 1963. The commission took its name from its chairman, Chief Justice Earl Warren. Among the other commissioners were Senators Richard Russell[?] and John Sherman Cooper[?], Representatives Gerald Ford and Hale Boggs, plus former World Bank President John J. McCloy[?] and former CIA Director Allen Dulles.

The Warren Commission has come in for much criticism of its methods and conclusions, in particular its allowing of the destruction of crucial evidence by the law enforcement authorities and intelligence agencies without any adverse comment. Comments were apparently made on this behind closed doors, but this did not reach the published report.

The report concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, was responsible for the assassination of Kennedy. This conclusion has been challenged on many grounds, not least of which being the "Magic Bullet Theory[?]" whereby one bullet not only changed direction and velocity twice, but was responsible for no less than seven separate wounds inflicted upon Kennedy and Governor John Connally[?]. This bullet then emerged pristine to be discovered at a latter time upon Kennedy's stretcher.

Quite how it came to be there, or if indeed it ever originated from the alleged murder weapon has been the subject of much debate.

External Links

• Warren Commission Report (Full Text) (http://www.jfk-assassination.de/WCR/)
• Warren Commission Hearings (Full Text) (http://www.history-matters.com/archive/jfk/wc/wcvols/contents.htm)