Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Background on Lee Harvey Oswald’s Development

Early Life, Marine Corps Service, and Cognitive Abilities

Lee Harvey Oswald was born in October 1939 in New Orleans, La., “the son of a Insuraen Salesmen whose early death left a far mean streak of indepence brought on by negleck.” In his autobiographical sketch “The Collective,” he recorded: “entering the US Marine corp at 17 this streak of independence was strengthed by exotic journeys to Japan the Philipines and the scores of odd Islands in the Pacific immianly after serving out his 3 years in the USMC he abonded his american life to seek a new life in the USSR.” It was during his Marine Corps service, according to Oswald, that “the conclusive thing that made him decide that Marxism was the answer was his service in Japan. He said living conditions over there convinced him something was wrong with the system, and that possibly Marxism was the answer. He said it was in Japan that he made up his mind to go to Russia and see for himself how a revolutionary society operates, a Marxist society.”

While in the Marines, Oswald studied Russian and saved enough money to finance his defection. While there is no proof he saved the $1,500 he claimed, considerable discipline was required to finance his trip from a low-ranking enlisted man’s salary. He served as a marine radar technician. The FBI learned Oswald had been “discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve as undesirable in August 1960,” and court-martialed for illegal possession of a handgun. In his letter of January 30, 1962, to Secretary of the Navy Connally, Oswald protested his discharge and declared he would use “all means” to correct it. The Department of State Passport Office reviewed his file in June 1962, reflecting its determination that Oswald had not expatriated himself.

Oswald displayed significant cognitive abilities in standardized testing. When he visited the Dallas office of the Texas Employment Commission on October 9, 1962, a counselor testified, on the basis of a general aptitude test, that he had some aptitude in writing, “because the verbal score is high and the clerical score is high.” Oswald made qualifying marks in 19 of 23 categories and scored 127 on the verbal test, compared with 50 percent of test-takers who score less than 100. The counselor testified there was indication Oswald was capable of doing college work and noted his verbal and clerical potential was “outstanding.” Employment Commission records stated: “Well-groomed & spoken, business suit, alert replies–Expresses self extremely well.” Oswald said he hoped to develop qualifications for employment as a junior executive through a work-study program at a local college.

Deepening Commitment to Marxism

Oswald’s dedication to Marxism intensified over time and was expressed in personal writings, renunciation of citizenship, and continuing political activity. At the American Embassy in Moscow on October 31, 1959, he presented a signed note renouncing his U.S. citizenship: “I Lee Harvey Oswald do hereby request that my present citizenship in the United States of America, be revoked. * * * I have entered the Soviet Union for the express purpose of appling for citizenship in the Soviet Union, through the means of naturalization. * * * I take these steps for political reasons. * * * I affirm that my allegiance is to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.” As his “principal reason” for renouncing his citizenship Oswald stated: “I am a Marxist.” In his November 26, 1959 letter to his brother Robert, he wrote: “Ask me and I will tell you I fight for communism,” and continued: “I have been a pro-communist for years and yet I have never met a communist, instead I kept silent and observed, and what I observed plus my Marx’ist learning brought me here to the Soviet Union. I have always considered this country to be my own.”

After his return to the United States, Oswald continued his Marxist commitments. He subscribed to the Worker and the Militant, both Communist and pro-Marxist publications. He wrote to the Communist Party, U.S.A. for advice on his Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities, stating he had used his position with what he claimed to be the local FPCC branch to “foster communist ideals.” In a letter dated August 28, 1963, to the central committee of the Communist Party, U.S.A., he asked whether he could “continue to fight, handicapped as it were, by my past record * * * [and] compete with anti-progressive forces, above-ground or weather in your opion I should always remain in the background, i.e. underground.” Arnold Johnson, director of the information and lecture bureau of the Communist Party, U.S.A., replied that, while as an American citizen he had a right to participate in such organizations, “there are a number of organizations, including possibly Fair Play, which are of a very broad character, and often it is advisable for some people to remain in the background, not underground.” The Commission found that Oswald’s FPCC “organization” was “a product of his imagination,” with an imaginary president named A. J. Hidell—the same name Oswald used when he purchased the assassination weapon. Marina Oswald said such correspondence from people he considered important meant much to him, for it “was proof * * * that there were people who understood his activity.”