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

Richard M. Nixon Incident

Marina Oswald testified that in April 1963, shortly before Oswald’s departure for New Orleans, he dressed in a suit, armed himself with a pistol, and announced he intended to look in on Vice President Nixon’s visit to Dallas. She physically struggled with him to dissuade him. Investigation revealed, however, that Nixon was not in Dallas at that time; the only Nixon visit to Dallas in 1963 occurred November 20–21, after the assassination. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson did visit Dallas on April 23, 1963, the day before Oswald’s departure, and Marina later acknowledged possible confusion between the two figures. In the absence of corroborating evidence of intent, the Commission concluded the Nixon incident had no probative value in determining the identity of President Kennedy’s assassin.

Oswald’s Rifle Capability

To determine whether Oswald could have fired the shots that killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally, the Commission evaluated four factors: the nature of the shots, Oswald’s Marine Corps marksmanship training, his firearms experience after leaving the Marines, and the accuracy of the weapon with its ammunition.

The Nature of the Shots

From the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, the presidential limousine moved slowly down a three-degree grade in nearly straight alignment with the rifle, at ranges of 177 to 266 feet. Four marksmanship experts—Major Eugene D. Anderson (Marine Corps), Robert A. Frazier (FBI), Ronald Simmons (U.S. Army), and M. Sergeant James A. Zahm (Marine Corps)—testified that the shots were not particularly difficult, especially with a four-power telescopic sight. The scope was characterized as ideal for moving targets and a “real aid” in rapid fire shooting. The combination of the target moving away, the downgrade, and the elevated shooter position made the shots “very easy” to “easy” in Zahm’s assessment.