Why Did Lee Harvey Oswald Kill JFK? Norman Mailer Interview (1995)

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Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 -- November 24, 1963) was, according to four government investigations, the sniper who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was a former U.S. Marine who defected to the Soviet Union in October 1959. He lived in the Soviet Union until June 1962, at which time he returned to the United States. Oswald was initially arrested for the murder of police officer J. D. Tippit, who was killed on a Dallas street approximately 45 minutes after President Kennedy was shot. Oswald would later be charged with the assassination of President Kennedy as well, but denied involvement in either of the killings. Two days later, while being transferred from police headquarters to the county jail, Oswald was shot and killed by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby in full view of television cameras broadcasting live. In 1964, the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone in assassinating Kennedy, firing three shots, a conclusion also reached by prior investigations carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Dallas Police Department. Despite forensic, ballistic, and circumstantial evidence, the lone gunman theory has been rejected by much of the U.S. public over the years.[1] In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that Oswald fired the shots which killed Kennedy, but differed from previous investigations in concluding that "scientific acoustical evidence establishes a high probability that two gunmen fired at President John F. Kennedy."[2][3] Lee Harvey Oswald was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 18, 1939[4] to Robert Edward Lee Oswald, Sr. and Marguerite Frances Claverie. Robert, Sr. died of a heart attack two months prior to Lee's birth. Oswald had two older siblings—brother Robert Edward Lee Oswald, Jr. and half-brother John Edward Pic.[5] In 1944, Oswald's mother moved the family from New Orleans to Dallas, Texas. Oswald entered the 1st grade in 1945 and over the next half-dozen years attended several different schools in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas through the 6th grade. Oswald took an IQ test in the 4th grade and scored 103; "on achievement tests in [grades 4 to 6], he twice did best in reading and twice did worst in spelling."[5] As a child, Oswald was described by several people who knew him as withdrawn and temperamental.[6] In August 1952, when Oswald was 12, his mother took him to New York City where they lived for a short time with Oswald's half-brother, John Pic. Oswald and his mother were later asked to leave after an argument in which Oswald allegedly struck his mother and threatened Pic's wife with a pocket knife.[5][7][8] Oswald attended the 7th grade in the Bronx, New York but was often truant, which led to a psychiatric assessment at a juvenile reformatory.[5] The reformatory psychiatrist, Dr. Renatus Hartogs, described Oswald as immersed in a "vivid fantasy life, turning around the topics of omnipotence and power, through which [Oswald] tries to compensate for his present shortcomings and frustrations." Dr. Hartogs detected a "personality pattern disturbance with schizoid features and passive-aggressive tendencies" and recommended continued treatment.[9] However, in January 1954, Oswald's mother returned to New Orleans, taking Oswald with her.[5][10] At the time, there was a question pending before a New York judge as to whether Oswald should be removed from the care of his mother to finish his schooling,[11] although Oswald's behavior appeared to improve during his last months in New York. In New Orleans, Oswald completed the 8th and 9th grades. He entered the 10th grade in the fall of 1955 but quit school after one month. After leaving school, Oswald worked for several months as an office clerk and messenger in New Orleans. In July 1956, Oswald's mother moved the family to Fort Worth, Texas and Oswald re-enrolled in the 10th grade for the September session. However, a few weeks later in October, Oswald quit school at age 17 to join the Marines; he never received a high school diploma. By the age of 17, he had resided at 22 different locations and attended 12 different schools.