Marina’s path proved more complex, requiring INS consideration of a waiver under section 243(g) of the act, which prohibited visa issuance by consular officers in countries refusing to accept deportable aliens. Although the INS initially refused the waiver based on Oswald’s anti-American statements, the State Department urged reconsideration, arguing it served the national interest and that refusing Marina’s visa would unfairly punish her and child for her husband’s indiscretions. The waiver was granted May 9, 1962, clearing the way for the Oswalds’ departure from Minsk.
The Commission’s legal analysis concluded that Oswald’s Soviet acts did not constitute expatriation under section 349 of the act: he had never obtained Soviet naturalization, executed the formal renunciation required by section 349(a)(6), taken an oath of allegiance to a foreign state before an official of that state, or accepted employment under a foreign government requiring such an oath. Marina’s visa eligibility turned on similar questions, including her admitted trade union membership—routinely treated as involuntary for citizens of communist countries—and the section 243(g) waiver, which the Attorney General could grant in meritorious cases.
CHAPTER II
This chapter examines the planning, execution, and immediate aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s November 22, 1963 visit to Dallas, culminating in his assassination in Dealey Plaza and the ensuing governmental and medical response. The visit was arranged through normal White House scheduling, with Dallas selected for its symbolic importance in Texas politics and as a gesture to address the hostile political atmosphere across the state, where conservative critics had placed provocative advertisements and inflammatory rhetoric in the press. Advance work was conducted by Secret Service agent Winston G. Lawson, with FBI liaison by Dallas Special Agent in Charge Forrest V. Sorrels. Together with White House officials and the Texas political establishment, including Governor John B. Connally Jr., they coordinated security and logistics. Lawson prepared memoranda on the motorcade route, surveyed Dealey Plaza from the air, and inspected secure perimeters, coordinating with local police, Texas state troopers, and military personnel at nearby bases. Governor Connally testified that he was not consulted about Dallas security arrangements, an omission later criticized.
The party traveled aboard Air Force One, accompanied by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, followed by a military aide carrying the nuclear “football.” They arrived at Love Field shortly before noon, greeted by enthusiastic crowds along the fence line. The motorcade, including a lead car, the presidential limousine, and follow-up vehicles carrying the Vice President, Senator Ralph Yarborough, and congressional leaders, proceeded down Main Street through the central business district before turning onto Houston Street and entering Dealey Plaza. The route would have continued to the Dallas Trade Mart, where the President was to deliver a luncheon address. As the motorcade made its slow turn from Houston onto Elm Street, passing the Texas School Book Depository Building on the right, Jacqueline Kennedy sat beside the President, with Governor and Mrs. Connally in the jump seats directly in front.
Suddenly, shots rang out. The President was struck in the back of the neck by one bullet and in the head by a second, both apparently coming from the Depository Building. Governor Connally was seriously wounded in the chest, wrist, and thigh by a third bullet. The motorcade accelerated urgently to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where a trauma team including Dr. Charles J. Carrico, Dr. Malcolm O. Perry, Dr. Kemp Clark, Dr. Charles Baxter, Dr. Robert McClelland, Dr. Marion Jenkins, and others struggled for nearly half an hour to save the President’s life. Despite a tracheostomy and massive blood transfusions, President Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m. Governor Connally survived his wounds, though his recovery was complicated. About two hours later, Vice President Johnson was sworn in as the thirty-sixth President aboard Air Force One at Love Field by federal district judge Sarah T. Hughes, with Mrs. Johnson, the dead President’s aides, and members of Congress as witnesses. The government and the nation absorbed the magnitude of the assassination as the new President returned immediately to Washington.
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