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

ABSTRACT
LONE GUNMAN OR PATSY: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF LEE HARVEY
OSWALD
Michael L. Moravitz, PhD
George Mason University, 2011
Dissertation Director: Dr. Martin Sherwin
More than 40 years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas,
Texas, the tragedy continues to spark controversy. Key questions remain in dispute, and
a battle has taken place in American culture over the alleged assassin, the enigmatic
former Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. In American culture, there is not one Oswald but
many Oswalds, reflecting myriad theories about the assassination. In these portrayals,
Oswald appears as a post-modern man – how his life is interpreted depends on the
perspective of the viewer. Basic facts of Oswald’s life are debated concerning his
political beliefs, his connection to espionage, and what his role was in the assassination.
How one perceives Oswald in part reflects how one perceives the United States during
the Cold War: Oswald as lone gunman is an anomaly in a generally good society, and he
is placed outside the community politically and socially. Oswald as patsy reflects a
darker view of American society, in which he was connected to forces larger than himself
let loose in American society by the Cold War or active in the criminal underworld.