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

Attack on General Walker

The Commission concluded that on April 10, 1963—two weeks before Oswald moved to New Orleans and shortly after his discharge from the photography firm—Oswald shot at Major General Edwin A. Walker, an event the chapter examines in detail because of its relevance to Oswald’s possible motive for the assassination. Oswald had been planning the attack for one to two months, recording details in a notebook, studying Dallas bus routes to and from Walker’s home, and posing with his rifle and pistol alongside copies of the Worker and the Militant; he told Marina he wanted to send the photographs to the Militant and save one for his daughter June. After the unsuccessful attempt, Oswald returned home to find Marina had discovered his explanatory note; she testified she had no advance knowledge of the plot, became angry upon learning what he had done, and extracted a promise that he would not repeat it. Although Marina urged him to destroy the notebook, Oswald delayed and only later burned it after apparently worrying that it could incriminate him; some photographs he had pasted into the book survived among his effects and were found after the assassination. Marina testified that Oswald said he wanted to leave “a complete record” so that the details would be available, and she speculated he wished to appear brave if arrested. The Commission finds that the materials Oswald left at home—particularly the photographs showing him armed with the rifle and Communist and Socialist Workers Party publications—suggest a strong concern for his place in history and indicate he had considered the possibility of capture, considerations the Commission treats as significant alongside other evidence in assessing his motivation for the assassination. Marina reported that Oswald compared Walker to Adolf Hitler, arguing that killing a figure he characterized as a fascist leader would save lives, thereby indicating the kind of political reasoning he regarded as sufficient justification for taking a life.