On November 22nd 1963, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States was assassinated in Dallas, Texas by accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald (Oswald was never officially convicted of the crime due to his own assassination). On November 29th the newly sworn in President, Lyndon Johnson created the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by means of Executive Order 11130. The group of men, lead by Earl Warren, were assigned with the sole purpose to investigate and report the findings regarding the assassination of Kennedy.
Sonja Foss in her book Rhetorical Criticism explains how Kenneth Burke created the Pentad method for critical analysis. She explains how Burke felt that this model would better help understand actions taken by certain individuals. These actions represent rhetoric as symbolic actions (383-385). Oswald’s slaying of President Kennedy could be considered a symbolic act for something else. He explains that actions are choices and those actions we choose to make either consciously or unconsciously. Assuming that all actions are rhetoric, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and its ensuing aftermath is a perfect case to study to understand actions as symbolic rhetoric.
Kenneth Burke said that “Humans choose symbols to reflect world views.” This symbolic act turned the direction of the United States towards new leadership in a Cold War world. The rhetoric of the Warren Report itself, as well as the words reflected through Oswald’s actions reflects the world view that Burke was speaking of.
Despite the United States government originally stood firmly behind the commission’s findings (later the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations disagreed with the findings of the Warren Report and stated that a conspiracy to kill the President was likely), no motive was explained. This study of a man who killed one of the most important figures of the 1960s is clearly important. This action shaped the way the world is today. To look at the Warren Report as words chosen to represent one mans plot and actions to kill a president, and not find a clear motive is simply unacceptable. In third world country’s a leaders murder is brought to justice. This is the United States of America and the report investigating this crime found no evidence as to motive.
The Warren Report encompassed sworn testimony from 489 witnesses, 61 sworn affidavits from witnesses, and over 3,100 pieces of evidence. In the end they concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing the President of the United States. This document as well as the act of murder itself can be used as the artifact for study.
Based off the Warren Report descriptions as well as several analyses of the report a motive could be and should be determined. Oswald’s life, his words, and his actions that day, is packed with symbols relating to that day. Looking at Oswald’s actions described by the Warren report, it could be determined that Oswald killed Kennedy to prove his worth by showing his power to the people who have ignored him in the past as well as the groups that accepted him.
The Warren Commission explains in great details the events that took place that day. At 11:40 a.m. on November 22nd, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline Kennedy landed at Dallas Love Field in Dallas Texas. The Presidential Motorcade traveled through Dallas heading toward the Dallas Trade Mart. The Presidential Motorcade headed down Main Street and then at 12:29 p.m. the Motorcade turned onto Houston Street. At 12:30 the Presidents car faced the Texas Book Depository at the corner of Houston and Elm. The car slowed down to a crawls pace of 10 miles per hour as it turned onto Elm and passed the Depository.
Three shots were fired between the time that the Presidents car turned onto Elm and the time he reached the later infamous Grassy Knoll. President Kennedy was struck with the first bullet through his throat. The bullet tore open Kennedy’s throat and also stuck Governor John Connaly. The bullet traveled through Kennedy’s throat into Connally’s shoulder and out the other side, into his wrist, which shatter it into several pieces, following exiting the wrist the bullet entered Connally’s thigh. Later the bullet was found on a stretcher in Parkland Hospital. The second bullet missed and hit a nearby curb. The final and fatal bullet hit Kennedy in the back of his head. Jackie Kennedy jumped out of her seat and tried to grab either secret service agent Clint Hill or a piece of her husband’s skull. Neither has been determined. Jackie claimed she blacked out and does not remember anything she had done.
The Motorcade sped to Parkland Hospital and the President was taken into surgery to try and save his life. Kennedy received his last rights by the Catholic Church and he was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m. Later that day Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States, aboard Air Force One. Kennedy’s body had been taken from Dallas along side Jackie who stood beside Johnson in her blood soaked dress while he was being sworn in (57-112).
Separate from the act of the assassination itself, Lee Harvey Oswald was investigated in great detail. Oswald awoke on the morning on November 22nd and traveled in a carpool to his job at the Texas Book Depository. Oswald was carrying a large brown package in which he claimed carried curtains for his new home. Following the assassination Oswald was seen on the second floor lunchroom. This occurred no more than 90 seconds after the final shot. Marion Baker, a police officer verified Oswald’s identity and let him leave the building at 12:33. Oswald then got onto a bus at 12:40 where he was noticed by his former landlord. Several blocks later Oswald got off the bus and into a taxi which took him to his house.
Despite a mix up of times in which Oswald’s next actions took place, at approximately 1:15 Oswald shot and killed police officer J.D. Tippit less than a mile from his house. Several witnesses saw Oswald running away from the scene towards the Texas Theater. Oswald snuck into the Theater without paying. Two dozen officers arrived moments later and arrested Oswald after raiding a library on a similar tip that Tippit’s killer was inside. Before Oswald was arrested a fight took place between Oswald and the officers in which Oswald reportedly claimed “it was all over.”
At an impromptu media session, Oswald claimed that he had not been informed that he was arrested with the murder of the President. Oswald was booked for both the murder of Tippit as well as Kennedy by the end of the night. Oswald claimed two different stories for his whereabouts during the shooting. First he claimed he was downstairs eating and then went up to the second floor. Later he changed his story saying he was upstairs and went down. Oswald claimed to the media that he “was a patsy” On November 24th Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby while being transfer to the Dallas County Jail, he died shortly after at Parkland Hospital (113-183).
Many points have been brought up about the Warren Report’s final version of the crime. To this day most Americans still believe that Oswald either did not kill or did not act alone in killing the President. Despite the overwhelming evidence against the ruling on the assassination itself, very few differences can be found about Oswald’s true character and what the Commission reported.
Following Kenneth Burke’s Pentad Analysis, the act itself was the assassination of John F. Kennedy. At the time President Kennedy was touring the country preparing and campaigning for the 1964 election. Texas, the home state of Lyndon Johnson was never extreme supporters of the Kennedy administration. Kennedy rode through Dallas, heading towards the Dallas Trade Mart to give a speech. His wife Jackie traveled with the president for the first time since the death of their infant son in August. Dallas was extremely harsh towards Adali Stevenson, an ambassador to the United Nations. Despite warnings of a possible assassination attempt, Kennedy continued with plans for the trip and even forced the secret service to allow him to keep the top off of the convertible.
The Agent as designated by the Warren Report was Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald himself was the most interesting character in the entire situation. Born in New Orleans, without a father, he was the youngest in his family. He spent time in orphanages when money became too tight for his mother. He moved around a lot, and never truly made full connections with other children. Oswald dropped out of school in the 9th grade, and never graduated. Oswald was placed under psychological evaluations in which he was described as being moody and having fantasies about power and domination. Oswald served in the military for the Marines; however there are varying perceptions of how well he did. Some say he was a poor solider only doing minimal work. Other claim he was a top spy for the United States leading him to be sent to the Soviet Union.
In 1959 Oswald traveled to the Soviet Union, and renounced his citizenship to the United States. Following what appeared to be an attempt at suicide, Oswald once again found himself under Psychiatric evaluations. The KGB recommended that Oswald be forced out of the country, but he was not. Oswald met his future wife Marina and returned to the United States in 1962. Oswald jumped from jobs in the United States many co-workers felt his was lazy and undedicated. Jumping around city to city, Oswald found himself in Dallas working for the Texas Book Depository.
Though there was limited amount of time after the assassination before Oswald himself was killed he adamantly denied the assassination claiming he was “a patsy”. The circumstances surrounding his arrest were also suspect. Oswald was arrested for the murder of another police officer in a Texas theater; however he was swarmed by massive amounts of FBI agents in a very short amount of time. Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby in the Dallas police station and the trial of Lee Harvey Oswald never took place.
The Agency portion of the Pentad Analysis is Oswald firing three shots at President Kennedy from a sixth story window from the Texas Book Depository, with an Italian Carcano riffle. One of the three shots missed and hit a curb under the triple underpass a few hundred feet away. The other two shots claimed by the Warren Report hit Kennedy, one was the Magic Bullet, and the other the fatal head shot. Oswald had worked at the Depository since October 20th and was scene carrying a large object covered in paper into the building earlier that day. The shots rang out and Oswald was seen 75 seconds later in the lunchroom four floors down.
The Scene was Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. Texas was known for being hostile towards Kennedy, but Kennedy felt it was important for a 1964 re-election. Kennedy toured Dallas in the open top convertible, The motorcade turned off of Main street onto Houston, the headed directly towards the Book Depository then turned onto Elm, slowing down to only ten miles per hour. Many feel this fact alone disproves Oswald as the killer because the shot on Houston would have given him many more chances than the shots on Elm did. Shortly after the convertible passed the Depository and approached the Triple Underpass.
The Rhetor of the Pentad Analysis is the Warren Commission concluding that Oswald had no definitive motive and acted alone. The Warren Report to this day is still falls under extreme criticism. This being due to the lack of investigative work, other findings as well as general public disapproval of the commission itself and its findings. If the Warren Report indeed was correct and Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, why was no obvious motive explained?
Several relations can be drawn between the points of Kenneth Burke’s Pentad to prove Oswald’s motive. If you compare the agent and the agency you see some of these points. Oswald used a twelve dollar riffle bought from a magazine to kill the country’s most powerful man. Vincent Bugliosi, in a Time magazine interview explains points from his investigative book on the assassination, “The Assassination: Was it a Conspiracy? No”. Bugliosi explains that while in the Marines Oswald’s vision and hope of power was clear. He claimed at one point that he would do something that the “world would remember for 10,000 years” (66-67). If a man is able to use a poor quality riffle to kill a man that is not only moving, but high protected, the world would remember.
After getting away from the Book Depository without getting caught Oswald had no way to prove what he had done. Killing Tippit in broad daylight gave him attention that he did not get from killing Kennedy until later. Oswald after killing Kennedy escaped under panic of what he had done. He then realized that he got away and killed Tippit to bring the attention back towards him. Tippit had power being a police officer, and Oswald killed him at point blank range.
Further beyond using a poor weapon to kill the president to make Oswald famous, there is more to the agent agency relation. The Warren Commission claimed that Oswald was a near sharpshooter in the Marines with a fairly high security clearance. Many people disagree with the amount of success Oswald had with a riffle, one of which was the Soviet Union. As the commission describes, when defecting to the Soviet Union, many there did not want to let him in. Many Soviets felt he was mentally unstable and not worth the risk of letting a former Marine into their country.
Gerald Posner in his novel “Case Closed,” asked questions disproving a conspiracy and explaining possible motives for Oswald. One of which was why a country at war with another, would welcome a traitor with military experience and expertise into their country? Especially when he had fairly high military clearance? Oswald, now back in the states looked for redemption for the failures that he had previously experienced. Hitting Kennedy from that distance with the riffle he used proved he deserved more recognition that he had received from the Soviets. Despite the fact that they let him into the country, they did not treat him well, causing him to flee with his wife (20-55).
Looking in depth at the agent with the acts before the assassination as well as the act itself, you can see Oswald’s instability. Oswald as a man who has already been evaluated as described as having fantasies of power could describe many of his actions. Oswald never had power; he never excelled in anything he did. Despite joining the Marines, possible to gain closeness with others, he still felt isolated; leaving America perhaps gave Oswald the chance to gain a new life. However returning to America, he searched for more chances to be more than Lee Harvey Oswald.
Sylvia Meagher explains in her novel “Accessories After the Fact” that in Dallas, Oswald was able to create another identity for himself. Alek James Hidell. Much like Jeanne Fisher described in her analysis of the White-Blank Case, changing his name gave him a new identity (163). Oswald purchased the two weapons he had, the riffle that was used to kill Kennedy and the Revolver used to kill Tippi. It was not Oswald that was seeking the new power, it was Hidell.
One could assume that when Oswald denied the killing of Kennedy, perhaps Oswald was telling the truth, it was Alek Hidell that killed Kennedy. Scapegoating is used to pass blame from one person to another. Meagher explained that while Oswald was being brought into custody, he refused to cover his face from the reporting cameras. She explains that when most people are public arrested and brought in for a crime, the adamantly deny the crime as well as cover their face. Oswald did no such thing. Oswald asked the arresting officer who told him to cover his face, “Why would I cover my face, I have done nothing wrong, I am innocent” (246-248). Oswald, when confronted later, passes the blame to someone else and away from the unimportant Lee Harvey Oswald.
The act and the scene relation are important as well. Oswald (A. Hidell) created a pro-Castro/communism group in New Orleans in which he was the only member. Passing out flyers in opposition of Kennedy, Oswald tried to create a following. Kennedy was the main focus of the group that gave him meaning. Perhaps Oswald killed Kennedy to prove to everyone the means and resolve of the group that he belonged to and pushed him to the forefront of everyone’s conversations. Oswald’s convictions on the issue forced his hand to bring attention to his cause.
James Hosty explains in “Assignment Oswald” the hostile area that is Dallas. Dallas was an extremely hostile area for President Kennedy and Oswald knew this. The President Wanted for Treason flyers were scattered across Dallas the days before the president’s arrival (6-8). Oswald lived in Dallas for a brief time previously, and now had been in the town since early October. If Oswald was going to create a large following, Dallas would be the place to do so. The Motorcade happened to pass his place of business and he felt that this was the best time to thrust his idea onto the front page.
This moment in time is one of the most significant points in history, every aspect deserves to be investigated. It is clear that the report itself should have determined a clear motive for Oswald’s actions. In his efforts to gain acceptance and control over those who previously doubted him, he killed a man with more power than anyone else in the country. These actions symbolically put Oswald on the top of the mountain of power. He took down the man who had the power asserting him as the new leader in control. Thousands of years from now when looking back at Ancient America, you will see a footnote, Lee Harvey Oswald the murderer of the President of that time.
Bibliography
Bugliosi, Vincent. "The Assassination: Was it a Conspiracy? No". Time 2007: 66-67.
Fisher, Jeanne Y. "A Burkean Analysis of the Rhetorical Dimensions of a Multiple Murder and Suicide." Quarterly Journal of Speech 60 (1974): 175-89.
Foss, Sonja. Rhetorical Criticism. Long Grove: Waveland Press, 2004.
Hosty, James. Assignment Oswald. New York: Arcade Publishing, 1996.
Lane, Mark. Rush to Judgement. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 1992.
Meagher, Sylvia. Accessories After the Fact. New York: Vintage Books, 1967.
Newseum, The President has Been Shot. Naperville: SourceBooks, 2003.
Posner, Gerald. Case Closed. New York: Anchor Books, 1993.
Warren, Earl. Report of the Warren Commission on the Assassination of President
Kennedy. New York: New York Times, 1964.
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