The Warren Commission Report: Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (Paperback)

~ President's Commission on The Assassination (Author) "THE ASSASSINATION of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22, 1963, was a cruel and shocking act of violence directed against a man, a family, a..." (more)
Key Phrases: followup car, lookout card, jail office door, Secret Service, Marina Oswald, President Kennedy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"President Lyndon B. Johnson, by Executive Order No. 11130 dated November 29, 1963, of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States. The President directed the Commission to evaluate all the facts and circumstances surrounding the assassination and the subsequent killing of the alleged assassin and to report its findings and conclusions to him.

The subject of the Commission's inquiry was a chain of events which saddened and shocked the people of the United States and of the world. The assassination of President Kennedy and the simultaneous wounding of John B. Connally, Jr., Governor of Texas, has been followed within an hour by the slaying of Patrolman J. D. Tippit of the Dallas Police Department. In the United States and abroad, these events evoked universal demands for an explanation." --From the Foreword
-- Review

Review

"President Lyndon B. Johnson, by Executive Order No. 11130 dated November 29, 1963, of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States. The President directed the Commission to evaluate all the facts and circumstances surrounding the assassination and the subsequent killing of the alleged assassin and to report its findings and conclusions to him.

The subject of the Commission's inquiry was a chain of events which saddened and shocked the people of the United States and of the world. The assassination of President Kennedy and the simultaneous wounding of John B. Connally, Jr., Governor of Texas, has been followed within an hour by the slaying of Patrolman J. D. Tippit of the Dallas Police Department. In the United States and abroad, these events evoked universal demands for an explanation." --From the Foreword

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Product Details

• Paperback: 912 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; Unabridged edition (February 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312082576
• ISBN-13: 978-0312082574
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #436,606 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Warren Commission Report's Conclusion Satnds the Test of Time, August 17, 2005

By	James Koenig "konedog" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

The Warren Commission's findings have been critically assailed since their findings were released in September of 1964, less than a year after the investigation began. Conspiracy theorists called the Commission's finds a "government whitewash" and contested and derided the findings without end. As a result of the overwhelming trashing by critics, the Warren Commission's findings have fallen into disrepute. This is unfortunate, as the Commission's findings and conclusion's have stood the test of time. Recently, computer simulations have documented the feasibility and likelihod of the so-called "Magic Bullet" theory, and have virtually proven that Kennedy's wounds came from the upper reaches of the Texas Schoolbook Depository, where Oswald sat in the southeast corner window of the 6th floor. So, although extensively trashed by critics, the Warren Commission findings have proven the test of time and are a vital component to any serious Kennedy assassination library.

As a Kennedy assassination buff myself, I was impressed with the voluminous hard physical evidence collected by Dallas police and the FBI. Too many conspiracists tend to sweep this evidence under the rug, as much of it contradicts their pet conspiracy theories. Yet, the evidence cannot be so easily swept away, and this is the profound importance of the Warren Commission's findings. The Commission lays out the evidence in stepwise fashion and comes to the logical (though very controversial) conclusion that Oswald acted alone in killing Kennedy.

This volume is essential to any Kennedy assassination reader, as it lays the groundwork for the assassination discussion. One cannot propose other conspiracy outcomes without having a thorough working knowledge of the Commission's findings. Get this volume for it's information on the evidence, for it is through the evidence that a "murder" case is decided.

Jim "Konedog" Koenig, Kennedy Assassination Buff

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The starting point for JFK enthusiasts, December 1, 2005

By	Christopher K. Halbower "Christopher Halbower" (Muskegon, MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Warren Report was the official report on the assassination of JFK. Because Lee Harvey Oswald was shot 2 days after the assassination by Jack Ruby, there was no trial. The American people would not stand for this, so President Johnson authorized the Warren Commission to determine what happened on November 22, 1963.

This book is an important work in American history, regardless of which side you take: lone assassin or conspiracy. It is fairly easy to follow; the authors sum up their conclusions in each sub-chapter, make their case and then dismiss what they believe is "uncredible."

Unfortunately, the book I have has no index and no table of contents. I'm not sure if this edition that I'm reviewing does or not; I suspect it also is lacking this critical apparatus. This makes reviewing their notes and conclusions somewhat muddled. Some would say that this was deliberate, all part of the conspiracy and coverup. I can't draw that conclusion.

The Warren Report doesn't prove that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. It proves that Lee Harvey Oswald COULD HAVE acted alone. Many leads are dismissed out of hand. For example: a Dallas cop saw Oswald running down Houston Avenue moments after the shooting, getting into the passenger side of a station wagon. Later that afternoon, that cop saw Oswald in the captain's office being interrogated. He told his chief that's the guy he saw. The chief dismissed this and said that a little old lady saw him board a bus after the shooting. Therefore there was no getaway car.

One of the reasons that Oswald was pinned down to the Kennedy killing was that he took a shot at General Walker. They pinned this crime to him in December of 1963; the shooting took place in March. The day before the shooting, a friend of Walker's saw 2 men peeking in Walker's windows. The day of the shooting, a teenager saw 2 men get into seperate cars, parked next door to Walker's house, and drive away. If Oswald did take a shot at Walker, then what of the other man? This is what I mean when I say the Warren Report proves Oswald COULD HAVE killed Kennedy. Many leads like this are not followed up.

This book should be the starting point of any serious reader who wants to know what happened to JFK. Read it and take a grain of salt. Then read one of the conspiracy books that dismisses the Warren Report out of hand. Then take another grain of salt.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coming full circle..., November 29, 2005

By	John Wykes - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The killing of President Kennedy is seared into the American conscience. It is quite understandable that so many competing theories of what actually happened that day would persist for so many years.
I read the Warren Commission report many years ago...back in 1974 and 1975. At that time I was convinced that the Commission's findings were accurate.
Over time, however, my feelings changed. Oswald seemed to have ties to Cuba and to the USSR. Ruby seemed to have ties to the underworld. I began reading conspiracy books and began to believe them. The "magic bullet" theory began to seem unbelievable, and the idea of more than one shooter seemed credible.
Over the years, I read about many conspiracy theories. Nixon, for example, was in Dallas that morning -- did he have something to do with it? Then there is that mysterious man with the umbrella, and the shadow by the grassy knoll, and, of course, Lyndon Johnson, who may have had something to do with it. Some even suggested that the driver of the presidential limosine was the shooter!
More recently, I have looked at the evidence again. The other reviewer is right -- the Warren Commission Report has stood the test of time. It seems so very clear to me now that Oswald is the one who did the shooting that day, that he fired three times, and that he probably acted alone.
The evidence of the conspiracy theorists includes hearsay, rumors, and blurred shadows. They speak with great authority as if they had been there -- some of them were probably not even born at the time.
The evidence of the Warren Commission is substantial and solid -- eyewitness testimony, autopsy reports, bullet fragments, a bullet, a gun, and a man who worked in the Texas School Book Depository who owned the gun.
I remember reading a memorable interview with a doctor who worked on President Kennedy at Parkland Hospital. He said (and I am paraphrasing here) that he felt exasperated by conspiracy theorists who insisted that the fatal bullet entered the front of Kennedy's head and exited out the rear. He felt frustrated because, as he put it, he was there -- he saw the President in the flesh, he saw the wounds, he saw the entrance wound and exit wound. And he is a doctor, he said, someone who actually went through medical school and finished medical school. He knows from his own lived experience, from what he saw, that Kennedy's head wounds indicated a rear entry and an explosive exit towards the right front. And, sure enough, that is exactly what the Zapruder film shows. But the doctor, in the interview, puzzled over why people refuse to believe him.
Conspiracy theorists have derided this report for years and years, but I remain impressed by the calm and mature manner in which the Warren Commission presents its evidence. And the evidence is solid. I have been researching this subject for over thirty years now, and no conspiracy theorist has yet to produce anything more solid that what we find in the Warren Commission.
I think some people have a mental block -- for them, the Warren Commission conclusions must not be believed because something greater than a lone gunman had to have been involved in killing the president of the United States. But you don't need a conspiracy to kill a president. All you need is a gun. Lee Harvey Oswald had one and he knew how to use it. And he did. There is no mystery here. None at all.
I have admired President Kennedy for years. It seems almost disgusting that his life should be brought to an end by some loner looking for attention. But that is exactly what happened.
For me, the case is closed. Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy on November 22, 1963. He used his rifle and shot three times from the sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository. He missed the first time, wounded both the president and the governor with the second shot, and killed the president with the third shot. He acted alone. And, as the Warren Commission puts it, there is no credible evidence of a conspiracy.
My sincerest admiration for the Warren Commission and their fine work.