Peter Jennings (Voice Over) It was 40 years ago in this small plaza that John F. Kennedy was murdered. What happened in Dallas that day shook America every bit as much as Pearl Harbor and, more recently, the events of 9/11
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Robert Oswald Brother
He wanted the attention by being unique. And if the rest of the world had been a Marxist, he would have been American. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Lee's outspoken support of Communism did not prevent him from joining the marine corps at 17. He did it to get away from his mother. He didn't hide his infatuation with Communism, even though it turned other marines against him. He began to teach himself Russian. He praised Cuba's new Communist leader, Fidel Castro. Robert Oswald Brother
When he was in the marine corps, he was going the opposite direction from the rest of the troops. He wanted to be different from the crowd, stand out from the crowd. And whatever it took, he was willing to do it. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Oswald learned to shoot in the marines. He reached the grade of sharpshooter. He was able to fire rapidly with accuracy at a target 200 yards away. He stayed in the marines for just under three years. And nine days after being discharged, he was on his way to the Soviet Union, where he intended to defect. He arrived in Moscow on a tourist visa on October the 16th, 1959. Priscilla Johnson McMillan Author, "Marina and Lee" I heard from a friend in the American embassy that there was a young defector staying in my hotel. Everything about him spelt loneliness and aloneness. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Priscilla McMillan, who would later become Oswald's biographer, met him in Moscow where she was working as a journalist. Priscilla Johnson McMillan Author, "Marina and Lee" He told me he wanted to defect because there were a lot of things in the United States which he did not like, particularly capitalism and raCIAl discrimination. He said he was a Marxist, and this was it, the Communist paradise. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) It was a rare American who thought the Soviet Union was paradise. "The New York Times" reported on Oswald's desire to stay in the Soviet Union. But the Russians were skeptical of any would-be defector, espeCIAlly one barely 20 years old. Oleg Kalugin Former Major General, KGB The initial reaction to any foreigner in the old USSR was to view them as CIA or some other intelligence agents. But after some research, we found out he was not good for the CIA. So, we thought maybe we'll turn him into a Soviet agent eventually. But he was no good, either. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Six days after he got to Moscow, the Russians decided they didn't want him and told him to leave. Oleg Kalugin Former Major General, KGB Oswald, to us, looked like a misfit, an unhappy man. The man who did not know what to do, the man who was looking for something. And he did not know himself what he was looking for. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) But the Soviets underestimated Oswald's determination and his flare for the dramatic. When Oswald heard he'd been rejected, he went to his hotel room and slit his wrist. Priscilla Johnson McMillan Author, "Marina and Lee" He made a hysterical gesture. Probably didn't want to kill himself, really, but he wanted to force them to let him stay. And believe it or not, he succeeded. He blackmailed them, as he did everybody. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) The Soviet authorities caved in and allowed Oswald to settle in the City of Minsk, where he was given an apartment and a job in a factory. Oswald stood out in Minsk. As an American, he was different. He enjoyed people's curiosity. He met and married a Russian girl, Marina. They had a child. But they lived the life of ordinary workers. And the bare facts of Oswald's life clashed with the image he had of himself. He was without education, without skills, but seething with ambition. People who met him throughout his life were often startled by it. Volkmar Schmidt Knew Oswald He was so extremely fixed on making an impression with his life. Enormously ambitious. Ambitious to achieve something beyond the normal. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) But in June 1962, disappointed in Russia, Lee and Marina left the Soviet Union and headed for Dallas, Texas. Lee was convinced that when they arrived at Love Field, he'd be greeted by curious reporters. Robert Oswald Brother
One of the first things he said was "what, no reporters?" He seemed definitely disappointed. He had his notes, how he was going to answer the reporters, and why this and why that. Why he went to Russia and why he came back. But there was nobody to talk to. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Home again in the United States, Oswald was a man of no importance to anyone but himself. He found work demeaning. He had very little money. He had no deep connections to other people except Marina, and he was physically abusing her. In January 1963, using an alias, "A. Hidell," Oswald ordered a revolver, a Smith & Wesson .38, the gun that killed Officer Tippit. In March, he ordered a rifle, using the same alias. A Mannlicher Carcano, 6.5 millimeters, the gun that killed John Kennedy. He asked Marina to take his photograph. Michael Paine Knew Oswald When I first met him and brought him over to the house, the first thing he showed me was a picture of himself, holding a rifle. And I could see he was proud of that picture. I had the strong impression that it was an icon of himself that he liked. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Michael and Ruth Paine showed kindness to Lee and Marina. Ruth and Marina spoke Russian together and became friends. Lee kept his distance. Ruth Paine Knew Oswald He had these fantasies about who he was and what he could do and that nobody was really paying attention or noticing or feeling that he was important. Michael Paine Knew Oswald He'd been spending his life, the later half of his life, trying to be a revolutionary, trying to have an effect, trying to be important, make a mark on the world. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) No one knows the exact moment that Lee Oswald decided to become a political assassin. But in April 1963, he was ready to be one. When we come back, the Walker assassination. COMMERCIAL BREAK Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Lee Harvey Oswald had committed himself to being a political assassin months before he killed the president. Gerald Posner Author, "Case Closed" Oswald had decided that he was going to commit himself in his young life, at the age of 23, to political assassination. He would put himself in the history books. And the way he would go in the history books was not by killing Jack Kennedy, but was by killing Edwin Walker. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Retired General Edwin A. Walker was a segregationist and vehemently anti-Communist. He had a growing following in Dallas and elsewhere in the south. Oswald spent more than a month plotting to kill him. He photographed Walker's home. He worked out an escape route, he left Marina instructions, in Russian, about what to do if he didn't come back. Priscilla Johnson McMillan Author, "Marina and Lee" The Walker attempt of April 10th, 1963, is the Rosetta Stone of the Kennedy assassination because it showed Lee getting ready to shoot someone and what went into it. And the feelings that he projected onto public figures. And that is what you have to study to understand the Kennedy assassination. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Using his mail-order rifle, Oswald fired at General Walker who was sitting inside his house. The bullet was deflected by the window frame. The world did not know any of this until after Oswald died. Ruth Paine Knew Oswald This was entirely on his own. There wasn't anybody that he worked with. Nobody knew about it except Marina, and she was keeping very quiet. Wallace Heitman FBI, 1940 - 1970 Marina told me that she was in fear all the time of what he might do. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) FBI Agent Wally Heitman spent months after the Kennedy assassination with Marina Oswald, learning about Lee. Wallace Heitman FBI, 1940 - 1970 Lee Harvey was on his route then. He, it seems to me, was determined to make himself somebody. He was going to have to assassinate somebody. And that somebody would have to be big. They subsequently went to New Orleans. And one of the principal reasons that they went to New Orleans was that Marina thought that if she could get Lee Harvey out of Dallas, maybe he would not have all of these strange ideas. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) But returning to his birthplace turned out to be another twist of fate. New Orleans was teeming with thousands of anti-Castro Cubans. Oswald launched a one-man, pro-Castro campaign. He became the New Orleans chapter of the National Fair Play for Cuba Committee. He stood out enough that local television filmed him handing out leaflets. In August, he was arrested after fighting with anti-Castro Cubans. Again, he stood out. And the local radio station interviewed him. Lee Harvey Oswald Kennedy Assassin However, I and the Fair Play for Cuba Committee does think that the United States government, through certain agencies, mainly the State Department and the CIA, has made monumental mistakes in its relations with Cuba. Ed Butler Radio Talk Show Host When I listened, I couldn't believe my ears, because this was the most effective presentation of the Castro line that I had ever heard. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Ed Butler debated Oswald on the radio. Ed Butler Radio Talk Show Host Is it a secret society? Lee Harvey Oswald Kennedy Assassin No, Mr. Butler, it is not. Peter Jennings He was not a stupid guy. He was a competent, and I think, very effective propagandist for that point of view. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Oswald appeared on television answering questions about Cuba. Interviewer In your work with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, what are you advocating? Lee Harvey Oswald Kennedy Assassin We advocate restoration of diplomatic trade and tourist relations with Cuba. Interviewer Are you a Marxist? Lee Harvey Oswald Kennedy Assassin Well, I have studied Marxist philosophy. Yes, sir. And also other philosophers. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) But the attention was fleeting. And his composure in public masked the turmoil in his private life. Marina was pregnant again. And they were living on unemployment benefits. In September 1963, Lee tried to convince Marina to help him hijack a plane to Cuba. Wallace Heitman FBI, 1940 - 1970 A Russian woman who can't hardly speak English, with a baby in tow, to hijack a plane. She thought that was the craziest idea that she had ever heard. She was able to convince him that that just would not work. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) In late September, Marina went back to Texas with Ruth Paine. Lee and Marina would never live together again. Ruth Paine Knew Oswald Lee seemed really sad when we drove off. So, I felt he cared. It's just that he didn't, didn't really know how or, nothing seemed to be working well for him. Priscilla Johnson McMillan Author, "Marina and Lee" Lee's life leading up to November of 1963 was just a series of disappointments. He had very boring jobs. He'd barely been able to support a wife and children. And he figured he'd run out his string. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) On September the 25th, Lee traveled alone to Mexico City. He had told Marina that he really wanted to help the Cuban revolution. But at the Cuban consulate there, they turned him away. He went to the Soviet embassy and asked to return to Russia. They turned him down, as well. Priscilla Johnson McMillan Author, "Marina and Lee" In a way, this cut off his last exit, in a way. And when he left Mexico City, to go back to Dallas, he went in a spirit of defeat and desperation. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Oswald arrived back in Dallas, where Marina was living, on October the 3rd. He had no job and no prospects. Ruth Paine Knew Oswald I saw Lee. He'd come out on the weekends to see Marina. I realize I, I hadn't known anything about him in that sense of knowing. I had no idea he was dangerous. I didn't know he had made the attempt on General Walker in April. And I didn't really realize how unstable he was. Peter Jennings Knew Oswald (Voice Over) Oswald rented a room in Dallas for $8 a week and looked for work. It was Ruth Paine who arranged for him to get a job at the Texas School Book Depository. He started work on the 16th of October. On November the 19th, the route of the Kennedy motorcade was published in the Dallas newspapers. The route went right past the building where Oswald had a job. On November the 21st, the night before the assassination, Lee visited Marina at Ruth Paine's house. It was the only time he had ever arrived unannounced.
Knew Oswald One of the things he did when he left that Friday morning was put most of the money that he had on the dresser for Marina with a little note, "get some shoes for Junie." And then he took off his ring, and put it in a cup. Ah, and I have wondered, I think he was pretty discouraged about how things weren't going well for him. He wasn't changing the world or whatever it was he thought he was supposed to be doing. Robert Oswald Brother
He had problems at home. He was completely frustrated about what was going on around him. This is not excusing what he did. This is understanding what he did. He wanted to be somebody. And this opportunity came about, coincidental, nothing planned, nothing organized. It happened that way. It's one of those happenstances of history. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) On the morning of the 22nd, Lee Harvey Oswald went to work at the Book Depository carrying a long object wrapped in brown paper. He told another worker it was curtain rods. COMMERCIAL BREAK Reporter The suspect is coming down the aisle and into this interrogation room. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) On November the 23rd, 12 hours after the president's assassination, the world's press was descending on Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald Kennedy Assassin Well, I was questioned. Questioned by a judge. However, I protested at that time that I was not allowed legal representation. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Twenty-four year-old Lee Harvey Oswald was finally somebody. Reporter Did you kill the president? Lee Harvey Oswald Kennedy Assassin No, I have not been charged with that. In fact, nobody has said that to me yet. First thing I heard about it was when the newspaper reporters in the hall asked me that question. Michael Paine Knew Oswald When I saw him there, he looked like the cat that swallowed the canary. That he was, he was proud of what he had done. Lee Harvey Oswald Kennedy Assassin A policeman hit me. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Throughout that weekend, Oswald was questioned by the police, the FBI and the secret service. He never confessed to killing the president. His brother, Robert, went to see him in custody. Robert Oswald Brother
I'm looking into his eyes. I'm looking for some sign, something. And he says, "brother, you won't find anything there." And he was absolutely right. There was nothing there. There was no emotion that you could see. Whatsoever. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Even without a confession, the District Attorney Henry Wade said he was confident. Reporter Do you figure you have a good case? Henry Wade District Attorney I figure we have sufficient evidence to convict him. Reporter Is there any indication that this was an organized plot, or was it just one man? Henry Wade District Attorney We had no one else but him. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Oswald would never go to trial. Reporter Now, this is the armored truck that will carry Lee Oswald from the basement here of Dallas police headquarters downtown to the Dallas county jail. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) On Sunday, November the 24th, the press had been told they could cover Oswald's transfer from police headquarters to the county jail, to be at the basement loading dock by 10:00 AM. James R. Leavelle Dallas Homicide Detective, 1950 - 1976 The captain instructed me to handcuff Oswald's right arm to my left arm. And while I was doing all this, I said to him in jest more than anything else, I said, "Lee, if anybody shoots at you, I hope they're as good a shot as you are." Meaning of course, they'd hit him and not me. He kind of laughed and said, "Ah, you're being melodramatic," or something to that effect. He said, "Nobody's going to shoot at me." Reporter There is Lee Oswald. He's been shot. He's been shot. Lee Oswald has been shot. James R. Leavelle Dallas Homicide Detective, 1950 - 1976 I pulled on Oswald, jerked on him trying to pull him behind me. But I was too close to him to move him. So, I turned his body so that the bullet, instead of it hitting him dead center, it hit him about four inches to the left of the navel. Hugh Aynesworth Reporter, the Dallas Morning News, 1960-1966 It was like a cartoon almost, where you see a foot there and a hand there and a gun there and a head there and, it was a little scary. But, but very fast, he was down. And I didn't know who it was. I didn't know for probably five minutes who it was. And then, when I found out, I went, "My God. I know that man." And I'm not really that surprised. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) The shooter was Jack Ruby. The police and the press in Dallas knew him well. Reporter Why did you do it? Why did you do it, Jack? Hillel Silverman Jack Ruby's Rabbi He said, "I did it for the people of America. He was my president. This man," he never said the name Oswald, by the way, never. He said, "This man killed my president." Breck Wall Friend of Jack Ruby The first thing out of his mouth is, "I'm a hero." And that's what really floored me, because everyone was still in shock over what happened. He said, "I'm a hero," and I went, "No, you're not." Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Jack Ruby was 52. The tough operator of a local strip club. People knew he carried a gun. Some people speculated that Ruby was a hit man sent to silence Oswald, that he was part of a conspiracy. Hugh Aynesworth Reporter, the Dallas Morning News, 1960-1966 Jack Ruby was a wannabe/never-was. But it's really a joke if you think Jack Ruby could be involved in a conspiracy. This is a man, if he knew anything, I guarantee you, he'd tell somebody within one block. He wanted to be important. Joyce Gordon Former Exotic Dancer All the people who know him know him as an emotional person. He does blow off easily. Reporter You're an exotic dancer at the Carousel owned and operated by Jack Ruby. Joyce Gordon Former Exotic Dancer That's right. Reporter How long have you been working for Jack Ruby? Joyce Gordon Former Exotic Dancer Uh, let me see. I had been working for Jack maybe three months at that time. I was 20 years old. If you knew Jack, and a lot of people say this, that Jack did a lot of things 'cause he thought he'd get a pat on the back, a medal, be praised for what he was doing. Hillel Silverman Jack Ruby's Rabbi I believe that Jack Ruby deep down, was a decent man. Very proud of President Kennedy. Very thankful for the opportunity the United States gave him to be a businessman. His problem was that Jack Ruby was Jack Ruby's worst enemy. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Jack Ruby grew up in Chicago, where he got the nickname Sparky because of his temper. Jack Clarke Investigative Consultant, Chicago Police, 1950 -1973 I knew Sparky in the '40s and in the, in the '50s. He was in all the gymnasiums with all the boxers. It was well known that Jack Ruby was meshuga. He was not playing with a full deck. He was a nice guy. But he just wasn't playing with a full deck. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) Ruby's early days in Chicago led many people to suspect that he had ties to organized crime. Jack Clarke Investigative Consultant, Chicago Police, 1950 -1973 The Chicago mob had nothing to do with Jack Ruby. Jack Ruby was working with the ragtag guys on the street, downtown Chicago. Some of them were bookmakers. They were just, you know, guys who made a buck through their wit and charm in some cases. But they were not the gangsters. The gangsters would have nothing to do with Jack Ruby. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) In Dallas, Ruby achieved a measure of respectability, but his temper was his trademark. Breck Wall Friend of Jack Ruby I saw him get mad at customers where he'd be talking and nice and just very fine. And all of a sudden, if he didn't like the way the guy was behaving, rather than asking him to get up and leave, he would grab him, from the very back, and throw him out the door. And I mean literally, no bouncers, nothing. He would do it. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) The Carousel club was well known, and some of its regular clientele were police. Burt W. Griffin Warren Commission Staff Lawyer Ruby was a guy who hung out with the police. He, he had to make friends with the police because he was running an operation that could be shut down by the police. Joyce Gordon Former Exotic Dancer He kept coffee and sandwiches in the back for them. They were always in and out. And he was always down there. He liked to know what was going on. Peter Jennings (Voice Over) And because Jack Ruby knew the police, he could come and go at police headquarters. Hillel Silverman Jack Ruby's Rabbi He knew that what happened on that Friday afternoon was something that will never be forgotten in American history. And being Jack Ruby, he wanted be part of it. He knew that there was gonna be action. And he wanted to be where action was. |