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

The Commission concluded, “Many factors were undoubtedly involved in
Oswald’s motivation for the assassination,” and that it cannot “ascribe to him any one
motive or group of motives.” Instead the Commission stressed Oswald’s “overriding
hostility to his environment,” his failure to establish meaningful relationships,” his effort
to find for himself “a place in history,” and “his commitment to Marxism and
communism.” 86 He was in the Commission’s view the disturbed loner who tried to be a
“great man” by slaying the president, fitting the supposed pattern of political
assassinations in the United States. Oswald the cipher yearned for greatness and became
Oswald the assassin. In this version of Oswald’s life, the Commission steadfastly
avoided any suggestion of a conspiracy and obscured the alleged assassin’s ties to groups
that could have played a role in the assassination, including U.S. and Soviet intelligence
agencies, Cuba, anti-Castro Cubans, right-wing extremists, and organized crime. The
Commission tried to give the impression of thoroughness without thoroughly
investigating all leads, dismissing or ignoring evidence of a possible conspiracy
uncovered by independent researchers, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, and
congressional investigators.
The Warren Commission had sought to head off criticism through an appeal to
governmental authority and the stellar reputations of its members. Fundamentally, the
Commission grounded its authority in all sides of the U.S. political establishment: all
branches of the government were represented by current or former officials – legislative,
executive, and judiciary – and the bipartisan panel was evenly divided between
86 WC Report, 423.
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