Lee Harvey Oswald sits at the top of the Depository building waiting for Kennedy’s car to pass by at the perfect time.1 Time passes, Oswald’s chance becomes closer, he starts to get a clearer view, and he can barely stand the wait. He is about to commit one of the greatest assassinations known in American history.
In order to understand this Oswald and what brought him to that floor of the Depository building that day, let’s take a look into his past and see what life was like for him. When Oswald was a teenager he developed strong left-wing political views and became an avowed Marxist. When he was sixteen he joined the Marines in hopes of emigrating to the Soviet Union. He successfully received dishonorable discharge from the U.S. Marines in 1959 and escaped into Russia.2 Oswald lived in Russia for three years before moving back to Dallas, Texas. Oswald visited New Orleans early in 1963 and founded a pro-Castro organization known as the “Fair Play for Cuba Committee,” in which he was the only member. Oswald then returned to Dallas that October and began a low-paying job at the Texas School Book Depository.3
Although Oswald was successful in getting what he wanted, there were complications in his assassination of Kennedy. He fired three bullets, one only wounding Kennedy, the second wounding Governor John Connally, and a third that struck Kennedy in the head, killing him instantly.4
In the few short moments it took for Oswald to assassinate Kennedy, he knew he needed to get out of that building. He quickly rushed out and during his escape managed to kill another man, Officer J.D. Tippett. After killing the officer, Oswald was arrested in a nearby movie theatre at 1:51 pm, and charged with the murder of officer Tippett.5 Oswald was then taken to jail, and was held there for two days before being moved to the county prison.
A series of unfortunate events occurred as Oswald was being transported to the county prison. As he was being transported, Oswald was shot and killed by the owner of a Dallas night club, Jack Ruby.6 Although some may say that what Ruby did was right in trying to get revenge for Oswald murdering a beloved president, he was found guilty of murder with malice and sentence to death. Ruby was a lucky man though; his lawyers were able to fight hard enough to get him out of facing the death penalty.
Lee Harvey Oswald will forever be known as a murderer and assassin. He can be seen as someone that demoralized Americans, and caused so many people to doubt the true nature of people. Oswald has always been seen as an abnormal person, he did so many things that would’ve been red flags if the government had been watching him before the assassination. Oswald was a man of evil nature and will be talked about in history classes across the country until the end of time.
- William Rubinstein, “Oswald Shoots JFK,” History Today 49, no. 10 (October 1999): 15. ↵
- William Rubinstein, “Oswald Shoots JFK,” History Today 49, no. 10 (October 1999): 15. ↵
- William Rubinstein, “Oswald Shoots JFK,” History Today 49, no. 10 (October 1999): 15. ↵
- Tom Wicker, “Kennedy is Killed By Sniper As He Rides In Car In Dallas; Johnson Sworn In On Plane,” The New York Times (New York City, New York), November 22, 1963. ↵
- William Rubinstein, “Oswald Shoots JFK,” History Today 49, no. 10 (October 1999): 15. ↵
- Kalyan B. Bhattacharyya, “Fredric Andrews Gibbs and the Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy,” Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology 20, no. 2 (April 2017): 103. ↵
52 comments
Christopher King
I would have liked to know more about what the “red flags” were of Oswald. This event is possibly one of the most debated events in U.S. history as to who actually did it. Much of what happened in the assassination is heavily criticized and evidence can be pointed to other people and organizations. I would have liked to know what the evidence against Oswald were.
Edward Cerna
This was a really well written article and I enjoyed reading it. This was a truly tragic event that shocked the nation. I like the amount of research you put into this article and the introduction was well written which really made me want to keep on reading. There is a bunch of conspiracy theories out their saying that there may have been another shooter but that we will never for sure know. Great job on this article.
Ezequiel De La Fuente
Your article was very interesting but sad to read. What happened to John F. Kennedy was truly sad, and what Oswald did was truly horrendous and an act of evil. However, I strongly believe that what Ruby did was also an act of evil. Revenge should never be justified. Surprised to see that he escaped the death penalty though. Like the old saying goes, “before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” I agree with you that something was clearly not right with Oswald and someone should’ve addressed it. Whether it was a mental instability problem or he was just truly evil, a President died. Greatly written and straight to the point.
Evelin Joseph
I have learned about John F. Kennedy’s assassination in history class before, but learning more about the man behind the sad event was something that was definitely welcome. After firing three shots and even killing a police officer, you really want to know why Oswald went to such lengths. It is distressing that he never got a justified punishment for his actions and that instead he was shot by Ruby as he was being transported.
Samuel Stallcup
I like how you kept it short, just like Oswald’s life. It seems that Oswald was relatively secretive with most of his activities, for there just really was not that much information about Oswald’s life. I think his death after the assassination raises questions, and I, like many others, think that it is quite the coincidence that Oswald was killed right after the assassination. This article did a good job at keeping pace and being able to tell the story like it is.
Rebekah Esquivel
This introduction was very good, it grabbed me in to keep on reading the rest of this article. I had heard of Oswald very little growing up. I of course knew who he was and what he did but never really knew the full story behind his motives, and the consequences he faced afterwards. I feel like the man who shot Oswald after he was arrested should have been given a little more leniency as it could be a crime of passion. The man was not thinking very straight and out of emotion. However, I’m glad Oswald was caught and faced the consequences that he deserved.
Valeria Hernandez
The article Grace Bell developed wrote a wonderful article I enjoyed how she gave background information about Oswald. The article is interesting as not a lot of people are interested in the story of Oswald as they are about the JFK story. The article is fascinating because I had never really heard any details about Oswald’s childhood. the flashback and introduction components are a very special touch to the article.
Michelle Falcon
Although the murder of John F. Kennedy has to be one of the most well known assassinations and will continue to be. However to be completely honest i never knew the name of JFK’s assassin until now. Lee Harvey Oswald was always considered an “abnormal person” according to the article. It was very surprising to read about the events that lead up to the assassination. Over all this was a very well written and interesting article.
Benjamin Voy
A great article that really sums up this devastating day in a quick and concise manner. It really doesn’t need a lot of words to create a well written article and this one proved that. I had no Idea that Oswald moved to Russia or that he was a leader of an organisation that only he was involved in. Bonkers! I really think in the day of age, Oswald would have ben a lot more closely watched by the police and FBI, stopping something to this scale every happening again. Great article.
Troy Leonard
Great job on writing this article. when got to the ending about how he was doing thisngs that would get the governments attention he should have already been someone they need to watch on his every move. as far as Ruby the bar owner killing Oswald I don’t think that was the right thing to do because two wrongs don’t make a right no matter the situation,