Introduction
NOTE: This timeline is a work in progress. I am coding the HTML by hand and it is very labor intensive. So, it could take some time to complete.
This timeline presents a detailed biography of Lee Harvey Oswald (referred to hereafter as LHO) in chronological form. LHO was never convicted for the murder of President John F. Kennedy in a court of law due to his own unfortunate demise at the hands of Jack Ruby. Nevertheless, two major government investigations, the Warren Commission and the House Select Committee on Assassinations, named him as the person who killed JFK.
The purpose of this timeline is threefold. First, I want to provide a chronological look at the life of LHO that can be used as a tool for researchers. Secondly, by using quotes and correspondence from the principal figures in his life as well as documents created by the Warren Commission and other investigations, I hope to present a narrative that may be appreciated by anyone interested in twentieth century history. Finally, I hope that the logical progression of the chronology format will convince readers that LHO was exactly who he appeared to be and that he killed JFK acting alone as my own research since 1984 has convinced me is the case. Having said this, I believe the book will be an extremely useful tool to anyone interested in researching LHO's life, even those who desire to debunk the official version of events.
This timeline greatly expands and updates one that I did many years ago for my website called the Lee Harvey Oswald Page, which ran from about 1998 to 2004 and is still online although it is no longer updated. The purpose of that timeline was to give students and newcomers a very general overview of LHO's life. It provided no citations although the sources used were comparable to the ones listed later in this preface.
Methodology
This new timeline has been written completely from scratch and provides Internet links and/or imbedded citations for every entry as well as annotations. Thus, the reader can immediately check the reliability of my work and look for additional information. Many of the sources I cite, such as the Warren Commission Report and supporting documents, are available online making this timeline particularly appealing for researchers with laptops or mobile devices. The annotations offer me a chance to clarify specific issues and from time to time offer my own opinions. All times in the chronology are local.
Quotes from LHO and the people who knew him, letters and other documents are used within the text to add interest and context. LHO's spelling and punctuation, which was notoriously bad, has been at least partly corrected for readability purposes.
Conspiracy expert Joseph Uscinski has noted that "Conspiracy theory is an explanation of past, present, or future events or circumstances that cites, as the primary cause, a conspiracy." As mentioned, two major investigations determined that LHO was guilty of JFK's murder. The HSCA did believe there was a grassy knoll shooter who completely missed the target. But that belief was based solely on the flawed and since debunked acoustics evidence and may therefore be dismissed. So, no conspiracy theories are entertained in this project. In any case, ample research material is available to those who wish to study them.
However, at some points in LHO's life there is a fork in the road and a choice must be made even for those who favor the lone assassin version of events. An example is the Sylvia Odio story of seeing LHO with anti-Castro exiles in 1963. Was Odio correct or just one of the many individuals who mistakenly believed they saw LHO in any number of situations? In these instances, I use my best judgement but usually provide both sides of the story.
Sources of Information
Whenever possible, I have used primary sources of information rather than secondary. A primary source is usually defined as one created at or near the time of the event under study while a secondary source is one that uses primary sources but offers a layer of analysis or interpretation. An exception to my rule is when an entry covers a detailed topic it is sometimes more concise to use a secondary source that draws upon several reliable primary sources.
Although I consulted varied sources in my research for this project (for a full list see the bibliography), these are the essential sources used with my comments:
Warren Commission Report and 26 Volumes of Hearings and Exhibits
The original Warren Report offers a detailed and date specific biography of LHO, that I relied on heavily for this project. The hearings and exhibits of the 26 volumes contain the testimony of the crucial witnesses who knew him along with reports by the various agencies that conducted the investigation. The FBI served as the primary investigatory agency for the commission and no matter what you think of their conclusions, it is an undeniable fact that their report and supporting documents form the framework for any study of the assassination.
Reclaiming History
This book is the current gold standard of JFK assassination works and is really several books in one. As well as a riveting narrative account of the assassination, the late Vincent Bugliosi's 1648-page landmark tome contains the most detailed biography of Lee Harvey Oswald yet published. Bugliosi became interested in the assassination in 1986 when he was employed as the prosecutor of LHO for a mock trial by the British production company, London Weekend Television, which was later broadcast in the US and other countries. Bugliosi won the conviction and, his interest piqued, began a remarkable twenty-year period of research and writing that culminated in Reclaiming History.
According to Bugliosi, there are over one and a half million words in his book including endnotes. The book was printed in a smaller than normal font and the endnotes and source notes were published separately on CD. By my calculation, this means that at 275 pages, the section on LHO alone would weigh in at 540 pages in a normal book format. And since the endnotes and source notes would normally be published in the book rather than on CD, it would be even larger. It goes without saying that a book of this scope would be heavily relied upon for this type of project. Additionally, the bibliography is the most extensive of any JFK book (excluding standalone bibliographies). Finally, the endnotes and source notes, which come in PDF format, are indispensable tools for researchers.
Marina and Lee
Vincent Bugliosi called this book, "the definitive book on Oswald and his wife." Author Priscilla Johnson McMillan worked closely with Marina Oswald (Porter) to tell her story of the assassination and the events that led up to it. Although in recent years Marina has become something of a conspiracy theorist herself, she has never disavowed anything in the book. Conspiracy theorists like to diminish this fine work since they theorize without proof that McMillan was a CIA employee. McMillan applied for a job at the agency but was rejected.
With Malice
Author and researcher Dale Myers solved the JD Tippit murder for all time with this outstanding work.
Oswald's Tale
One of the twentieth century's great writers takes on the JFK case. Norman Mailer's 1995 work is noteworthy for its rich detail about LHO's time in the Soviet Union, which was obtained from KGB records and interviews with significant LHO acquaintances.
The Interloper
Peter Savodnik offers new details on LHO's Soviet sojourn.
Harvey and Lee
John Armstrong's book is undoubtedly the most unusual of the essential source books that I used in this project and I wrote two published articles criticizing his theories. As author and researcher Jeremy Bojczuk has pointed out, "John Armstrong's 'Harvey and Lee' theory had been conclusively refuted two decades before Harvey and Lee was published." Armstrong believes there were two Oswalds-one was a part of the assassination team and the other a patsy setup by the CIA. Armstrong is convinced that the CIA was complicit in JFK's death and that suspicion comes through loud and clear throughout the book. In my opinion, this colors his thought process to the extent that he sometimes cannot be trusted to make basic statements of fact since he is busy twisting the evidence to fit his theory. Furthermore, his citations are often incorrect or nonexistent and generally lack convention, and the book contains many factual errors.
However, there is no doubt that while researchers on both sides of the debate consider Armstrong's conclusions to be dubious at best, his work broke some new ground, especially in the somewhat neglected area of LHO's early life. Armstrong conducted original interviews and located documents that yielded new information. Because of this, researchers need to look at his book while remembering to tread very carefully. Additionally, Armstrong's online document collection at Baylor University is an excellent resource.
Mary Ferrell Chronologies
Finally, Dallas researcher Ferrell developed meticulous chronologies over the years that include imbedded citations. These were invaluable resources for this project.
Thank you for reading this timeline and I hope you find it helpful.
W. Tracy Parnell
October 14, 2024