[Sample B: Approval/Signature Sheet] - George Mason University

there is any such evidence it has been beyond the reach of all the investigative agencies
and resources of the United States.” 42
Despite its finding that Oswald acted along, the Commission could not identify a
single, over-riding motive for Oswald to kill Kennedy. The biography of Oswald would
have to substitute for a clear motive. Oswald’s life explained the murder: he was a
malcontent at odds with every society he lived in. The Commissioners in fact devoted a
substantial portion of their final report, presented to Johnson on September 24th, 1964, to
describing the strange, short life of Oswald, leaning heavily on Oswald’s supposed
psychological make-up. The Commission said although it “could not make any definitive
determination of Oswald’s motives,” it isolated “factors which contributed to his
character and which might have influenced his decision to assassinate President
Kennedy.” 43 These factors were Oswald’s “deep-rooted resentment of all authority
which was expressed in a hostility to every society in which he lives;” “His inability to
enter into meaningful relationships with people, and a continuous patter of rejecting his
environment in favor of new surroundings;” “His urge to try to find a place in history and
despair at times over failures in his various undertakings;” “His capacity for violence;”
and “His avowed commitment to Marxism and communism,” which “was expressed by
his antagonism toward the United States.” 44
The Commission walked a tightrope in ascribing left-wing views to Oswald,
while emphasizing his alleged overall hostility to his environment wherever he was,
42 WC Report, 22.
43 WC Report, 23.
44 WC Report, 22-23.
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