Social and Family Difficulties
Oswald’s family relations after his return were marked by instability and conflict. Marina Oswald testified that immediately after coming to the United States, “Lee changed. I did not know him as such a man in Russia.” He became “very irritable, sometimes for a trifle” and “was very unrestrained and very explosive” from November 19, 1962 to March 1963. After the assassination she wrote: “In general, our family life began to deteriorate after we arrived in America. Lee was always hot-tempered, and now this trait of character more and more prevented us from living together in harmony. Lee became very irritable, and sometimes some completely trivial thing would drive him into a rage.” Oswald was overbearing with his wife, attempting to be “the Commander” by dictating many details of their married life. He struck her on occasion, did not want her to drink, smoke or wear cosmetics, and treated her with lack of respect before others. The instability was probably a function of both their personalities.
Difficulties were compounded by periods of separation. In early November 1962, George De Mohrenschildt and his wife went to Oswald’s apartment and helped move Marina and the baby’s effects. Oswald resisted, even threatening to tear up his wife’s dresses and break the baby things. De Mohrenschildt said Oswald submitted because he was “small, you know, and he was rather a puny individual.” De Mohrenschildt admitted: “if somebody did that to me, a lousy trick like that, to take my wife away, and all the furniture, I would be mad as hell, too. I am surprised that he didn’t do something worse.” After about a two-week separation, Marina returned to her husband. Oswald severed relations with his mother shortly after returning from the Soviet Union; he did not see his brother Robert from Thanksgiving 1962 until November 23, 1963. He moved to Dallas on about October 8, 1962, without telling his mother where he was going, and never saw or communicated with her again until she came after the assassination. Apart from relatives, Oswald had no friends or close associates in Texas when he returned in June 1962, and he did not establish any close friendships.
Oswald’s Return to New Orleans
On April 24, 1963, Oswald moved to New Orleans, leaving his wife and child at the home of a friend, Mrs. Ruth Paine, of Irving, Tex. He obtained work as a greaser and oiler of coffee processing machines for the William B. Reily Co., beginning May 10, 1963. After securing this job and an apartment, Oswald asked his wife to join him. Refusing to admit he could only get work as a greaser, he told Marina and Mrs. Paine he was working as a commercial photographer. He lost his job on July 19, 1963, because his work was unsatisfactory and he spent too much time loitering in the garage next door reading rifle and hunting magazines. By August 1963, after three months in his birth city, Oswald had fallen on difficult times. He had not liked his greaser job and held it only a little over two months. He had not found another job. His wife was expecting their second child in October, raising cost concerns. His Fair Play for Cuba Committee foray had failed to win any support, and the facts of his defection had become known, leaving him open to attack by opponents.
Attitudes Toward President Kennedy
Oswald’s subscription to the Militant and the Worker reflected these publications’ critical attitude toward President Kennedy, particularly on Cuba policy and attempts to ease U.S.-Soviet tensions. An examination of the Militant for the three months prior to the assassination showed extreme criticism of Kennedy on Cuban policy, automation, and civil rights—issues concerning Oswald. The Militant also reflected criticism of Kennedy’s attempts to reduce U.S.-Soviet tensions. The October 7, 1963 Militant reported Castro saying Cuba could not accept a situation where the United States was trying to ease world tensions while “increasing its efforts to ‘tighten the noose’ around Cuba.” Castro’s opposition to Kennedy’s efforts was reported in the October 1, 1963 Worker. On the Worker, Oswald told Michael Paine, apparently in all seriousness, that “you could tell what they wanted you to do * * * by reading between the lines, reading the thing and doing a little reading between the lines.”
The general conflict between the United States and Cuba was reflected in other media so that there can be no doubt Oswald was aware of Castro’s critical attitude toward Kennedy. The Dallas Times Herald of November 19, 1963, prominently reported Kennedy as having “all but invited the Cuban people today to overthrow Fidel Castro’s Communist regime and promised prompt U.S. aid if they do.” During the August 21, 1963 New Orleans radio debate, Oswald was asked whether he agreed with Castro that Kennedy was a “ruffian and a thief.” He replied he “would not agree with that particular wording.” However, one witness testified that shortly before the assassination Oswald expressed approval of Kennedy’s active role in civil rights. Oswald’s January 30, 1962 letter to Connally protesting his discharge demonstrated his combative attitude toward those in authority and his stated willingness to use “all means” to pursue objectives. Although Oswald could possibly have been motivated partly by sympathy for Castro, his wife testified he was disappointed with his failure to get to Cuba and had lost his desire to do so because of the bureaucracy and red tape he encountered.
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