Oswald’s Post-Return Psychological State
Oswald’s Post-Return Psychological State Marina Oswald confirmed that Lee underwent severe psychological changes immediately upon returning to the U.S., becoming a recluse, highly irritable, and explosively temperamental from late 1962 through early 1963. A comparison of his writing from his time in the Soviet Union (the coherent, descriptive manuscript The Collective) and his disjointed, hostile writing produced after his departure illustrates the profound psychological turmoil he experienced as a result of his total disillusionment with both American and Soviet society.
Oswald’s Rejection of Capitalism and Communism
Oswald’s Rejection of Capitalism and Communism After his return from the Soviet Union, Oswald articulated a total rejection of both capitalism and communism, viewing both systems as inherently unacceptable and oppressive. He wrote that no person who had lived under both systems could choose between them, as one offered systemic oppression and the other poverty, both stained by imperialistic injustice and forms of slavery. He also expressed broader hatred for American culture, traditions, and the American people at large, rather than limiting his criticism to the U.S. government, in contrast to most other American political dissidents of the era.
Oswald’s Hypothetical Press Conference Preparations
Oswald’s Hypothetical Press Conference Preparations In preparation for a potential press conference upon his return to the U.S., Oswald drafted two sets of identical questions paired with vastly different answers. The first set reflected his genuine beliefs: he stated he defected to the Soviet Union as a protest against U.S. foreign policy, that he was fundamentally a communist who hated the Soviet system but believed Marxism could work under different circumstances, and that living standards and freedoms were roughly equivalent between the two superpowers. The second set contained far more conventional, palatable answers designed to minimize harm to his reputation as he reintegrated into American life, including denying he was a communist and praising U.S. freedoms over Soviet ones.
Oswald’s Ongoing Soviet Engagement
Oswald’s Ongoing Soviet Engagement Despite his stated hatred of the Soviet Union after his return, Oswald maintained active engagement with the country. He wrote to the Soviet Embassy in Washington shortly after his arrival requesting Russian periodicals and bulletins for U.S.-based Soviet citizens, and subsequently subscribed to several Soviet journals. He also pressed for a Soviet visa for himself and his wife multiple times: in July 1963, when he told New Orleans police he hated America and planned to return to Russia, during his September 1963 trip to Mexico City, and in a November 9, 1963 letter to the Soviet Embassy. While his primary long-term goal may have been travel to Cuba, his repeated requests for Soviet visas demonstrated his continued interest in the country.
Oswald’s Personal Relations in Texas
Oswald’s Personal Relations in Texas Upon returning to Texas in June 1962, Oswald had no close friends or associates outside of his immediate family, though he came to respect George De Mohrenschildt, a nonconformist peripheral member of the local Russian-speaking community. He connected with the wider community through Peter Gregory, a Russian-speaking petroleum engineer he met via the Texas Employment Commission office in Fort Worth. Oswald generally disliked other members of the Russian community, with particularly hostile relations with George Bouhe, due in large part to his resentment of the substantial financial and material support his wife received from the group, which he felt he could not provide for her himself.
CAPÍTULO VII.
Chapter VII continues the chronological account of Lee Harvey Oswald’s life following his return from the Soviet Union, examining four interrelated aspects of his conduct in the United States: his strained marital and family relationships, his troubled employment history, his attack on Major General Edwin A. Walker, and his political activities on behalf of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. The chapter draws on testimony from family members, friends, employers, and official records to portray a man whose defection, Marxist beliefs, and erratic personal behavior progressively isolated him from those around him while simultaneously feeding a self-image as a committed actor on the world stage. The Walker shooting episode and the Fair Play for Cuba activities are treated as particularly significant because they illuminate characteristics the Commission considers relevant to assessing Oswald’s possible motivation for the assassination of President Kennedy.
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