Book Report On Cover Up Essay -- essays research papers

Cover-Up The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. was a very emotional time in our nation's history. This horrifying incident occurred on November 22, 1963, in a motorcade procession in Dallas, Texas. At 12:30 in the afternoon the procession was going down Elm Street in Dealy Plaza, when shots were fired. One struck President Kennedy in the throat and moments later a bullet tore apart his head. At 1:00 p.m., President JFK was pronounced dead. That same afternoon, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested as a suspect of murder. Oswald however, pleaded his innocence by stating, " I'm just a patsy." This caused many suspicions and questions. Was he a lone assassin? Was he innocent? Was there a conspiracy against the president? These questions called for Lyndon B. Johnson, the new president, to form the Warren Commission specifically to investigate the assassination. It was named for the Chairman, and the Chief Justice of the United States, Earl Warren. This commission, after ten mon ths of investigation, presented their report to President Johnson. The 26 volumes of testimony and exhibits, " overwhelmingly supported the conclusions that the assassination was no conspiracy, but the work of one unhappy man, Lee Harvey Oswald." (New York Times) However many Americans continued to believe there was a conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. The book Cover- Up, by Stewart Galanor, is a great description of the facts and fictions of the investigation. The shots the president received were both incredibly fatal. The first shot to the neck was seen to be an entrance wound, however this seems to be impossible if the assassin was behind him 6 floors up. However, like usual, the Warren Commission performed a test and proved the shot to indeed be an exit wound. The test was performed using a goatskin to show that entrance and exit wounds are similar in appearance, when they really are not. The Warren Commission stuck to their beliefs, although it was obviously a false idea. The fatal wound was also discussed and questioned. Many doctors thought there really was no fatal blast to the head, just a small exit wound. However, two Parkland doctors described the head wound to be extremely fatal. One doctor stated, "As I took position at the head of the table, I was in such a positi... ...ottom of the decade's greatest mystery. As for the Warren Commission, they were really doing the same thing, except they were just looking for the easiest way out, not the truth. They should have known that one day all of their hidden evidence would be found. And it was, which caused great distrust, by the majority of Americans, in their own leaders, their government. The people in this book who went on record showing a part of the "cover-up" are very brave people, and they should be the people who the world looks to for the truth in the investigation. The information in this book was very interesting and attention grabbing. It really focused on the evidence of a conspiracy or cover- up. This book really taught me that some people will do anything to satisfy themselves, no matter what they have to do to others. All the people directly involved in the investigation seemed to give up or take over something to keep things as simple and secretive as possible. Even though th e world still went on and there were more conflicts to deal with, I think the most plaguing question of the average American in this decade was, "Who killed JFK?"