Earl
Warren, the son of an Norwegian immigrant
who worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad, was born in Los
Angeles, California, in 1891.
Warren obtained a law degree
from the University of California in 1912. He worked as a lawyer in
California before being elected as
district attorney of Alameda County in 1925.
In November 1938 Culbert
Olsen was elected as Governor of California, the first member
of the Democratic Party, to hold this
office for forty-four years. The following year, Warren, a member
of the Republican Party, was appointed
California's attorney general.
One of Olsen's first acts
was to pardon Tom Mooney, a trade union
leader who had been convicted of a bombing which occurred in San Francisco
in 1916. Although strong evidence existed that the District Attorney
of the time, Charles Fickert, had framed
Mooney, the Republican governors during this period refused to order
his release. In October 1939, Olsen pardoned Warren
Billings, a friend of Mooney's who had also been imprisoned for
the bombing.
Warren had disagreed with
Olsen's actions. As a member of the state Judicial Qualifications
Commission, he blocked confirmation of the Olsen's nominee to the
state Supreme Court, Max Radin, a man he considered to be too radical
for this post.
Warren also upset liberals
and supporters of human rights by the role he played in dealing with
people of Japanese descent during the Second World
War. Most of these people lived in California. After the bombing
of Pearl Harbor, these people were classified
as enemy aliens. Warren, as attorney general, urged that these people
should be interned.
On 29th January 1942, the
U.S. Attorney General, Francis Biddle, established a number of security
areas on the West Coast in California. He also announced that all
enemy aliens should be removed from these security areas. Three weeks
later President Franklin
D. Roosevelt authorized the construction of relocation camps for
Japanese Americans being moved from
their homes.
Over the next few months
ten permanent camps were constructed to house more than 110,000 Japanese
Americans that had been removed from security areas. These people
were deprived of their homes, their jobs and their constitutional
and legal rights. Warren later confessed: "I have since deeply
regretted the removal order and my own testimony advocating it, because
it was not in keeping with our American concept of freedom and the
rights of citizens. Whenever I thought of the innocent little children
who were torn from home, school friends and congenial surroundings,
I was conscience-stricken."
Warren's extreme views
on internment was popular with most people in California and this
enabled him to defeat Culbert Olsen as
governor in 1943. He held the post for the next ten years. He was
also selected as running-mate for Thomas Dewey
in 1948. However, Dewey was defeated by Harry
S. Truman in the election.
Warren hoped to become
the Republican Party's candidate in the 1952 presidential election.
He lost out to Dwight D. Eisenhower
who went on to become president. Warren was rewarded for his loyalty
by being appointed by Eisenhower to the post of chief justice of Supreme
Court.
Over the next few years
Warren made it clear he supported the civil rights campaign and voted
for the banning segregation in America's schools. He now became a
target of right-wing groups and Robert Welch, the leader of the John
Birch Society, described Warren as being a member of a Communist conspiracy.
Other white supremacists such as George
Wallace and James Eastland joined
in these attacks. At one rally in Los
Angeles there
were calls for Warren to be lynched.
After
the death of John F. Kennedy in 1963
his deputy, Lyndon
B. Johnson,
was appointed president. He immediately set up a commission to "ascertain,
evaluate and report upon the facts relating to the assassination of
the late President John F. Kennedy." Johnson asked Warren if
he would be willing to head the commission. Warren refused but it
was later revealled that Johnson blackmailed him into accepting the
post. In a telephone conversation with Richard
B. Russell Johnson claimed: " Warren told me he wouldn't
do it under any circumstances... I called him and ordered him down
here and told me no twice and I just pulled out what Hoover told me
about a little incident in Mexico City...
And he started crying and said, well I won't turn you down... I'll
do whatever you say."
Other
members of the commission included Gerald Ford,
Allen W. Dulles, John
J. McCloy, Richard B. Russell, John
S. Cooper and Thomas H. Boggs.
The
Warren Commission reported to President
Johnson ten months later. It reached the following conclusions:
(1)
The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally
were fired from the sixth floor window at the southeast corner of
the Texas School Book Depository.
(2)
The weight of the evidence indicates that there were three shots fired.
(3)
Although it is not necessary to any essential findings of the Commission
to determine just which shot hit Governor Connally, there is very
persuasive evidence from the experts to indicate that the same bullet
which pierced the President's throat also caused Governor Connally's
wounds. However, Governor Connally's testimony and certain other factors
have given rise to some difference of opinion as to this probability
but there is no question in the mind of any member of the Commission
that all the shots which caused the President's and Governor Connally's
wounds were fired from the sixth floor window of the Texas School
Book Depository.
(4)
The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally
were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald.
(5)
Oswald killed Dallas Police Patrolman J. D. Tippit approximately 45
minutes after the assassination.
(6)
Within 80 minutes of the assassination and 35 minutes of the Tippit
killing Oswald resisted arrest at the theater by attempting to shoot
another Dallas police officer.
(7)
The Commission has found no evidence that either Lee Harvey Oswald
or Jack Ruby was part of any conspiracy, domestic or foreign, to assassinate
President Kennedy.
(8)
In its entire investigation the Commission has found no evidence of
conspiracy, subversion, or disloyalty to the US Government by any
Federal, State, or local official.
(9)
On the basis of the evidence before the Commission it concludes that,
Oswald acted alone.
In
1966 Warren made another landmark decision when he ruled that criminal
suspects be informed of their rights before being questioned by the
police.
Earl Warren retired from
the Supreme Court in 1969, and died in
1974, at age 83.
The
Warren Commission
Open
Debate on the Kennedy Assassination
(1)
Telephone conversation between Lyndon
B. Johnson and Richard
B. Russell (8.55
p.m 29th November, 1963)
Richard Russell: I know I don't have to tell you of my
devotion to you but I just can't serve on that Commission. I'm highly
honoured you'd think about me in connection with it but I couldn't
serve on it with Chief Justice Warren. I don't like that man. I don't
have any confidence in him at all.
Lyndon
B. Johnson: It has already been announced and you can serve with anybody
for the good of America and this is a question that has a good many
more ramifications than on the surface and we've got to take this
out of the arena where they're testifying that Khrushchev
and
Castro did this and did that and chuck us into a war that can kill
40 million Americans in an hour....
Richard
Russell: I still feel it sort of getting wrapped up...
Lyndon
B. Johnson: Dick... do you remember when you met me at the Carlton
Hotel in 1952? When we had breakfast there one morning.
Richard
Russell: Yes I think so.
Lyndon
B. Johnson: All right. Do you think I'm kidding you?
Richard
Russell: No... I don't think your kidding me, but I think... well,
I'm not going to say anymore, Mr. President... I'm at your command...
and I'll do anything you want me to do....
Lyndon
B. Johnson: Warren told me he wouldn't do it under any circumstances...
I called him and ordered him down here and told me no twice and I
just pulled out what Hoover told me about a little incident in Mexico
City and I say now, I don't want Mr. Khrushchev
to be told tomorrow (censored) and be testifying before a camera that
he killed this fellow and that Castro killed him... And he started
crying and said, well I won't turn you down... I'll do whatever you
say.
(2)
Joachim
Joesten,
The Dark Side of Lyndon Baines Johnson
(1968)
He (H. L. Hunt) was shocked because Johnson had appointed Chief Justice
Warren to head the Commission
three days after the Communist Daily Worker, in a front-page statement,
had suggested it. That Johnson did not follow this advice in order
to accommodate the Communists, but for a truly Machiavellian purpose,
was something bound to escape the limited intellect of an H. L. Hunt.
Hunt was scared to death,
and for apparently good reason, for Earl Warren had, immediately after
the assassination, publicly expressed the opinion that this foul deed
was the work of right-wing extremists. His anxiety grew when investigators
for the Warren Commission found out that one of his boys, Nelson,
had paid for that despicable ad in The Dallas Morning News,
while another, Lamar, maintained a cozy business and social relationship
with the notorious pimp and murderer Jack Ruby.
What the old man didn't
realize is that the Commission, in this as in a score of other cases,
simply sought to establish the damaging facts in order to be better
able to suppress them and to shield effectively those responsible
for the assassination. How Lyndon B. Johnson ever managed to get a
man like Earl Warren so abjectly to prostitute his great name and
prestige, remains the only real mystery of Dallas. But he did it and
thus managed to fool, at least for a few years, public opinion throughout
America and the world.
After the Warren Report
had been released, Hunt heaved a deep sigh of relief. When reporters
asked him how he felt about it, Hunt replied, 'It's a very honest
document.' And that, coming from H. L. Hunt, is about the most damning
thing anybody has ever said about the Warren Report.
(3)
The Warren Commission Report (September,
1964)
(1) The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor
Connally were fired from the sixth floor window at the southeast corner
of the Texas School Book Depository. This determination is based upon
the following:
Witnesses
at the scene of the assassination saw a rifle being fired from the
sixth-floor window of the Depository Building, and some witnesses
saw a rifle in the window immediately after the shots were fired.
The
nearly whole bullet found on Governor Connally's stretcher at Parkland
Memorial Hospital and the two bullet fragments found in the front
seat of the Presidential limousine were fired from the 6.5-millimeter
Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found on the sixth floor of the Depository
Building to the exclusion of all other weapons.
The
three used cartridge cases found near the window on the sixth floor
at the southeast corner of the building were fired from the same rifle
which fired the above - described bullet and fragments, to the exclusion
of all other weapons.
The
windshield in the Presidential limousine was struck by a bullet fragment
on the inside surface of the glass, but was not penetrated.
The
nature of the bullet wounds suffered by President Kennedy and Governor
Connally and the location of the car at the time of the shots establish
that the bullets were fired from above and behind the Presidential
limousine, striking the President and the Governor as follows:
President
Kennedy was first struck by a bullet which entered at the back of
his neck and exited through the lower front portion of his neck, causing
a wound which would not necessarily have been lethal. The President
was struck a second time by a bullet which entered the right-rear
portion of his head, causing a massive and fatal wound.
Governor
Connally was struck by a bullet which entered on the right side of
his back and traveled downward through the right side of his chest,
exiting below his right nipple. This bullet then passed through his
right wrist and entered his left thigh where it caused a superficial
wound.
There
is no credible evidence that the shots were fired from the Triple
Underpass, ahead of the motorcade, or from any other location.
(2)
The weight of the evidence indicates that there were three shots fired.
(3)
Although it is not necessary to any essential findings of the Commission
to determine just which shot hit Governor Connally, there is very
persuasive evidence from the experts to indicate that the same bullet
which pierced the President's throat also caused Governor Connally's
wounds. However, Governor Connally's testimony and certain other factors
have given rise to some difference of opinion as to this probability
but there is no question in the mind of any member of the Commission
that all the shots which caused the President's and Governor Connally's
wounds were fired from the sixth floor window of the Texas School
Book Depository.
(4)
The shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally
were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald. This conclusion is based upon the
following:
The
Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5 - millimeter Italian rifle from which the shots
were fired was owned by and in the possession of Oswald.
Oswald
carried this rifle into the Depository Building on the morning of
November 22, 1963.
Oswald,
at the time of the assassination, was present at the window from which
the shots were fired.
Shortly
after the assassination, the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle belonging to
Oswald was found partially hidden between some cartons on the sixth
floor and the improvised paper bag in which Oswald brought the rifle
to the Depository was found close by the window from which the shots
were fired.
Based
on testimony of the experts and their analysis of films of the assassination,
the Commission has concluded that a rifleman of Lee Harvey Oswald's
capabilities could have fired the shots from the rifle used in the
assassination within the elapsed time of the shooting. The Commission
has concluded further that Oswald possessed the capability with a
rifle which enabled him to commit the assassination.
Oswald
lied to the police after his arrest concerning important substantive
matters.
Oswald
had attempted to kill Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker (Resigned, U.S. Army)
on April 10, 1963, thereby demonstrating his disposition to take human
life.
(5)
Oswald killed Dallas Police Patrolman J. D. Tippit approximately 45
minutes after the assassination. This conclusion upholds the finding
that Oswald fired the shots which killed President Kennedy and wounded
Governor Connally and is supported by the following:
Two
eyewitnesses saw the Tippit shooting and seven eyewitnesses heard
the shots and saw the gunman leave the scene with revolver in hand.
These nine eyewitnesses positively identified Lee Harvey Oswald as
the man they saw.
The cartridge cases found at the scene of the shooting were fired
from the revolver in the possession of Oswald at the time of his arrest
to the exclusion of all other weapons.
The
revolver in Oswald's possession at the time of his arrest was purchased
by and belonged to Oswald.
Oswald's
jacket was found along the path of flight taken by the gunman as he
fled from the scene of the killing.
(6)
Within 80 minutes of the assassination and 35 minutes of the Tippit
killing Oswald resisted arrest at the theater by attempting to shoot
another Dallas police officer.
(7)
The Commission has reached the following conclusions concerning Oswald's
interrogation and detention by the Dallas police:
Except
for the force required to effect his arrest, Oswald was not subjected
to any physical coercion by any law enforcement officials. He was
advised that he could not be compelled to give any information and
that any statements made by him might be used against him in court.
He was advised of his right to counsel. He was given the opportunity
to obtain counsel of his own choice and was offered legal assistance
by the Dallas Bar Association, which he rejected at that time.
Newspaper,
radio, and television reporters were allowed uninhibited access to
the area through which Oswald had to pass when he was moved from his
cell to the interrogation room and other sections of the building,
thereby subjecting Oswald to harassment and creating chaotic conditions
which were not conducive to orderly interrogation or the protection
of the rights of the prisoner.
The
numerous statements, sometimes erroneous, made to the press by various
local law enforcement officials, during this period of confusion and
disorder in the police station, would have presented serious obstacles
to the obtaining of a fair trial for Oswald. To the extent that the
information was erroneous or misleading, it helped to create doubts,
speculations, and fears in the mind of the public which might otherwise
not have arisen.
(8)
The Commission has reached the following conclusions concerning the
killing of Oswald by Jack Ruby on November 24, 1963:
Ruby
entered the basement of the Dallas Police Department shortly after
11:17 a.m. and killed Lee Harvey Oswald at 11:21 a.m.
Although
the evidence on Ruby's means of entry is not conclusive, the weight
of the evidence indicates that he walked down the ramp leading from
Main Street to the basement of the police department.
There
is no evidence to support the rumor that Ruby may have been assisted
by any members of the Dallas Police Department in the killing of Oswald.
The
Dallas Police Department's decision to transfer Oswald to the county
jail in full public view was unsound.
The arrangements made by the police department on Sunday morning,
only a few hours before the attempted transfer, were inadequate. Of
critical importance was the fact that news media representatives and
others were not excluded from the basement even after the police were
notified of threats to Oswald's life. These deficiencies contributed
to the death of Lee Harvey Oswald.
(9)
The Commission has found no evidence that either Lee Harvey Oswald
or Jack Ruby was part of any conspiracy, domestic or foreign, to assassinate
President Kennedy. The reasons for this conclusion are:
The
Commission has found no evidence that anyone assisted Oswald in planning
or carrying out the assassination. In this connection it has thoroughly
investigated, among other factors, the circumstances surrounding the
planning of the motorcade route through Dallas, the hiring of Oswald
by the Texas School Book Depository Co. on October 15, 1963, the method
by which the rifle was brought into the building, the placing of cartons
of books at the window, Oswald's escape from the building, and the
testimony of eyewitnesses to the shooting.
The
Commission has found no evidence that Oswald was involved with any
person or group in a conspiracy to assassinate the President, although
it has thoroughly investigated, in addition to other possible leads,
all facets of Oswald's associations, finances, and personal habits,
particularly during the period following his return from the Soviet
Union in June 1962.
The
Commission has found no evidence to show that Oswald was employed,
persuaded, or encouraged by any foreign government to assassinate
President Kennedy or that he was an agent of any foreign government,
although the Commission has reviewed the circumstances surrounding
Oswald's defection to the Soviet Union, his life there from October
of 1959 to June of 1962 so far as it can be reconstructed, his known
contacts with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and his visits to the
Cuban and Soviet Embassies in Mexico City during his trip to Mexico
from September 26 to October 3, 1963, and his known contacts with
the Soviet Embassy in the United States.
The
Commission has explored all attempts of Oswald to identify himself
with various political groups, including the Communist Party, U.S.A.,
the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, and the Socialist Workers Party,
and has been unable to find any evidence that the contacts which he
initiated were related to Oswald's subsequent assassination of the
President.
All
of the evidence before the Commission established that there was nothing
to support the speculation that Oswald was an agent, employee, or
informant of the FBI, the CIA, or any other governmental agency. It
has thoroughly investigated Oswald's relationships prior to the assassination
with all agencies of the U.S. Government. All contacts with Oswald
by any of these agencies were made in the regular exercise of their
different responsibilities.
No
direct or indirect relationship between Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack
Ruby has been discovered by the Commission, nor has it been able to
find any credible evidence that either knew the other, although a
thorough investigation was made of the many rumors and speculations
of such a relationship.
The
Commission has found no evidence that Jack Ruby acted with any other
person in the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald.
After
careful investigation the Commission has found no credible evidence
either that Ruby and Officer Tippit, who was killed by Oswald, knew
each other or that Oswald and Tippit knew each other. Because of the
difficulty of proving negatives to a certainty the possibility of
others being involved with either Oswald or Ruby cannot be established
categorically, but if there is any such evidence it has been beyond
the reach of all the investigative agencies and resources of the United
States and has not come to the attention of this Commission.
(10)
In its entire investigation the Commission has found no evidence of
conspiracy, subversion, or disloyalty to the U.S. Government by any
Federal, State, or local official.
(11)
On the basis of the evidence before the Commission it concludes that,
Oswald acted alone. Therefore, to determine the motives for the assassination
of President Kennedy, one must look to the assassin himself. Clues
to Oswald's motives can be found in his family history, his education
or lack of it, his acts, his writings, and the recollections of those
who had close contacts with him throughout his life. The Commission
has presented with this report all of the background information bearing
on motivation which it could discover. Thus, others may study Lee
Oswald's life and arrive at their own conclusions as to his possible
motives. The Commission could not make any definitive determination
of Oswald's motives. It has endeavored to isolate factors which contributed
to his character and which might have influenced his decision to assassinate
President Kennedy. These factors were:
His
deep-rooted resentment of all authority which was expressed in a hostility
toward every society in which he lived;
His
inability to enter into meaningful relationships with people, and
a continuous pattern of rejecting his environment in favor of new
surroundings;
His
urge to try to find a place in history and despair at times over failures
in his various undertakings;
His
capacity for violence as evidenced by his attempt to kill General
Walker;
His
avowed commitment to Marxism and communism, as he understood the terms
and developed his own interpretation of them; this was expressed by
his antagonism toward the United States, by his defection to the Soviet
Union, by his failure to be reconciled with life in the United States
even after his disenchantment with the Soviet Union, and by his efforts,
though frustrated, to go to Cuba. Each of these contributed to his
capacity to risk all in cruel and irresponsible actions.
(12)
The Commission recognizes that the varied responsibilities of the
President require that he make frequent trips to all parts of the
United States and abroad. Consistent with their high responsibilities
Presidents can never be protected from every potential threat. The
Secret Service's difficulty in meeting its protective responsibility
varies with the activities and the nature of the occupant of the Office
of President and his willingness to conform to plans for his safety.
In appraising the performance of the Secret Service it should be understood
that it has to do its work within such limitations. Nevertheless,
the Commission believes that recommendations for improvements in Presidential
protection are compelled by the facts disclosed in this investigation.
The
complexities of the Presidency have increased so rapidly in recent
years that the Secret Service has not been able to develop or to secure
adequate resources of personnel and facilities to fulfill its important
assignment. This situation should be promptly remedied.
The
Commission has concluded that the criteria and procedures of the Secret
Service designed to identify and protect against persons considered
threats to the president were not adequate prior to the assassination.
The
Protective Research Section of the Secret Service, which is responsible
for its preventive work, lacked sufficient trained personnel and the
mechanical and technical assistance needed to fulfill its responsibility.
Prior
to the assassination the Secret Service's criteria dealt with direct
threats against the President. Although the Secret Service treated
the direct threats against the President adequately, it failed to
recognize the necessity of identifying other potential sources of
danger to his security. The Secret Service did not develop adequate
and specific criteria defining those persons or groups who might present
a danger to the President. In effect, the Secret Service largely relied
upon other Federal or State agencies to supply the information necessary
for it to fulfill its preventive responsibilities, although it did
ask for information about direct threats to the President.
The
Commission has concluded that there was insufficient liaison and coordination
of information between the Secret Service and other Federal agencies
necessarily concerned with Presidential protection. Although the FBI,
in the normal exercise of its responsibility, had secured considerable
information about Lee Harvey Oswald, it had no official responsibility,
under the Secret Service criteria existing at the time of the President's
trip to Dallas, to refer to the Secret Service the information it
had about Oswald. The Commission has concluded, however, that the
FBI took an unduly restrictive view of its role in preventive intelligence
work prior to the assassination. A more carefully coordinated treatment
of the Oswald case by the FBI might well have resulted in bringing
Oswald's activities to the attention of the Secret Service.
The
Commission has concluded that some of the advance preparations in
Dallas made by the Secret Service, such as the detailed security measures
taken at Love Field and the Trade Mart, were thorough and well executed.
In other respects, however, the Commission has concluded that the
advance preparations for the President's trip were deficient.
Although the Secret Service is compelled to rely to a great extent
on local law enforcement officials, its procedures at the time of
the Dallas trip did not call for well-defined instructions as to the
respective responsibilities of the police officials and others assisting
in the protection of the President.
The
procedures relied upon by the Secret Service for detecting the presence
of an assassin located in a building along a motorcade route were
inadequate. At the time of the trip to Dallas, the Secret Service
as a matter of practice did not investigate, or cause to be checked,
any building located along the motorcade route to be taken by the
President. The responsibility for observing windows in these buildings
during the motorcade was divided between local police personnel stationed
on the streets to regulate crowds and Secret Service agents riding
in the motorcade. Based on its investigation the Commission has concluded
that these arrangements during the trip to Dallas were clearly not
sufficient.
The
configuration of the Presidential car and the seating arrangements
of the Secret Service agents in the car did not afford the Secret
Service agents the opportunity they should have had to be of immediate
assistance to the President at the first sign of danger.
Within
these limitations, however, the Commission finds that the agents most
immediately responsible for the President's safety reacted promptly
at the time the shots were fired from the Texas School Book Depository
Building.
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