What Really Happened With Lee Harvey Oswald and JFK

You’ve seen the grainy footage. That flickering, silent 8mm loop where the motorcade turns onto Elm Street and the world changes forever. For over sixty years, the names Lee Harvey Oswald and JFK have been fused together in a knot of ballistic reports, grainy photos, and endless "what if" scenarios.

Honestly, it’s a lot to wade through. People get heated about it. Was Oswald a lone nut? A patsy? A pawn in a game way bigger than a Dallas book warehouse?

The 2025 declassification of over 80,000 pages of records has shifted the ground again. We finally have a clearer picture of what the government was holding back, and it’s not exactly what the movies led us to believe.

The Lone Gunman vs. the "High Probability" of Conspiracy

Most people grew up with two competing stories. First, there’s the Warren Commission. In 1964, they basically said Oswald did it alone, firing three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. They called him a "loner."

Then came 1979. The House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) looked at the same event and dropped a bombshell: they concluded there was a "high probability" of a second gunman. This was based on acoustic evidence—a recording from a police motorcycle microphone—that supposedly captured four shots.

The Problem With the Sound

Later, the Department of Justice debunked that recording. They found the "gunshots" were likely recorded elsewhere or at a different time. It’s a mess. But the HSCA didn't just rely on audio. They criticized the FBI and CIA for not sharing everything they knew about Oswald's weird trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination.

Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald, Really?

To understand why this is still a thing, you have to look at the man himself. Oswald wasn't just some random guy. He was a former Marine who defected to the Soviet Union, lived in Minsk, married a Russian woman named Marina, and then came back to the U.S.

That’s weird. In the middle of the Cold War, that's incredibly suspicious.

The Mexico City Mystery

In late September 1963, Oswald took a bus to Mexico City. He visited the Soviet and Cuban embassies. The CIA knew this. They were watching him. One of the biggest revelations from the recent March 2025 document releases is the extent of the "Oswald impersonator" reports. Internal cables show that someone—not Oswald—may have been using his name in phone calls to these embassies.

Whether that was a blunder or a setup is still the million-dollar question.

The Logistics of November 22

Let’s talk about the actual shooting. It happened at 12:30 p.m. Oswald was working at the Depository. He brought a long package to work that morning, telling a coworker it was "curtain rods."

The evidence against him is actually pretty heavy:

• The rifle (a 6.5mm Carcano) was found on the sixth floor.
• His palm print was on the barrel.
• Ballistics matched the "Magic Bullet" (CE 399) and the fragments to that specific gun.

But then there's the timing. Three shots in roughly six seconds with a bolt-action rifle is a hell of a feat. Even expert marksmen have struggled to replicate it under the same conditions.

Why the 2025 Documents Changed the Vibe

For decades, the "Deep State" theories felt like late-night radio fodder. But when President Trump and DNI Tulsi Gabbard pushed through the final unredacted releases in early 2025, the focus shifted from "who pulled the trigger" to "who knew what beforehand."

The files show the FBI was practically breathing down Oswald's neck. They had a file on him. They knew he was in Dallas. They knew he was a potential threat. The "cover-up" wasn't necessarily about a second shooter; it was often about federal agencies covering their own tracks because they failed to stop a guy they were already tracking.

Common Misconceptions That Won't Die

You've probably heard that the Zapruder film "proves" the headshot came from the front because Kennedy's head moves "back and to the left."

Science is annoying sometimes. Forensic pathologists like those on the HSCA medical panel (mostly) agreed that the exit wound and the "neuromuscular spasm" explained that movement even with a shot from behind.

Another one: Jack Ruby killed Oswald to keep him quiet.
Ruby was a strip club owner with Mob ties who claimed he did it to spare Jackie Kennedy a trial. While the Mob definitely hated the Kennedys (especially RFK), the 2025 files haven't found a "smoking gun" memo linking Ruby to a specific hit order. He seems to have been a highly unstable guy who wanted to be a hero.

Dealing With the Legacy

The assassination of JFK didn't just kill a man; it killed a certain type of American trust.

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If you want to dive deeper into this, don't just watch YouTube documentaries. Read the actual Warren Commission and HSCA reports—they're available on the National Archives website. Compare the ballistic evidence with the newly released CIA cables from the 2025 batches.

The "truth" usually lives in the boring details, not the flashy theories.

Actionable Steps for History Buffs

• Visit the Primary Sources: Go to the National Archives JFK Collection. Look for the 2025 release logs.
• Analyze the Ballistics: Research the "Single Bullet Theory" but look at the actual seat alignment in the limousine. It wasn't a straight line, which explains the "magic" path.
• Follow the Money/Paper: Look into Oswald's "Fair Play for Cuba" activities. It's the most documented part of his life leading up to the shooting.

The case of Lee Harvey Oswald and JFK remains the world's most famous cold case because the evidence is just contradictory enough to keep the door open. We might never have a 100% consensus, but we finally have all the pieces of the puzzle on the table.