Jacki Ball
Wake Forest University

World Wide Web Review: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

     On November 22, 1963, a young and vibrant President lost his life. Controversy and questions have continually arisen over whether President John Kennedy was assassinated by a single man, Lee Harvey Oswald, or a conspiracy. . . The two web sites reviewed here offer conflicting views of the events that occurred on that fateful day in November of 1963.

     John McAdams’ web page titled "The Kennedy Assassination" is "dedicated to telling the other side of the story—to presenting evidence that Oswald acted alone." Obviously, McAdams’ page is slanted towards evidence against conspiracy and disputing certain eyewitness accounts, while embellishing contrasting eyewitness accounts that indicate a lone assassin. Mr. McAdams does identify himself as the author up front, and does point out to his audience that despite the numerous web pages dedicated to the conspiracy theory this one is not. Mr. McAdams does not seem to be affiliated with any organization or attempt to promote a certain group. He is simply a researcher on the Kennedy assassination illustrating his perspective on the events of November 22, 1963.

     There are numerous links within this web site to video clips of the Zapruder film, additional essays written by other theorists, pictures, and computerized imaging of certain situations and placement of people during the motorcade through Dealy Plaza. McAdams organizes the information presented thematically with subject headings with a short brief and questions prompting the reader to click on to learn and read more. The page goes through such subjects as Dealy Plaza, with information about eyewitness accounts, including those of Marilyn Sitzman, Phil Willis, Roger Craig, and the mysterious Umbrella Man who claimed to be in political protest over the President’s father, who supported British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeasement policies towards Hitler and Nazi Germany. There is even a link to view a cartoon illustrating the connection between an umbrella and the easy-going attitude towards Nazism.

     McAdams also points out discrepancies between the individual eyewitness reports and the differences within individual initial stories to the ones recounted later. However, much of the information within the Dealy Plaza section is essays written by other researchers on the subject. Thus, the question to ask is how credible are these authors? Throughout the web page McAdams uses conspiracy authors as well to illustrate that Oswald did indeed act alone by pointing out the fallacies of conspiracy theorists. Another question would then be, are the arguments McAdams uses from conspiracy theorists who are extreme in their views, or is he using those recognized as credible researchers?

     Despite some concerns the author had over the other information in the Dealy Plaza section, there was an interview with rocket scientist and ballistics expert, Duncan MacPherson, who studies bullet strikes to the human body. MacPherson reports that most believe that President Kennedy must have been shot from the front since the movement of his head was backwards then to the left. However, MacPherson contends that the movement of the President’s head was caused by the body’s response to nervous system trauma, which resulted in contraction of body muscles causing the movement of the President’s head. There are two other links related to this topic, an experiment done by scientist Luis Alvarez showing the "jet effect" on melons and another expert testimonial.

     The next subject heading dealt with the Single Bullet Theory. This section was markedly more credible than the evidence from Dealy Plaza. Much of the information depicted in this segment dealt with the limousine the President, the First Lady, and the Governor and Mrs. Connally were riding in. Evidence from this site indicates that Governor Connally was not sitting directly in front of President Kennedy but "inboard" of the President. By illustrating the differences in positioning and height of both Kennedy and Connally in the car, photographs of the limousine indicate that the Governor was not sitting directly in front of the President. Through these pictures NASA scientist Thomas Canning illustrated how the same bullet hit both Connally and Kennedy. However, one must question when the pictures were taken. Were President Kennedy and Governor Connally seated in the same position throughout the ride? And when were the pictures taken, seconds before the fatal shot, or minutes before? Yet the evidence shown, along with a computer animated 3-D model depicting the single bullet trajectory, by specialist Dale Myers lend some credibility to the single bullet theory.

     McAdams continues on his examination of the Kennedy assassination with other themes such as Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, Oliver Stone’s Movie JFK, Medical Evidence, Bogus Evidence plus several more. "The Kennedy Assassination" web page thoroughly examines the events of November 22, 1963 as well as other precursory events. He uses numerous links, which can get tedious at times, but provide additional evidence and insight into the assassination. He even provides links to sites advocating the conspiracy theory of the President’s death. Regardless of personal belief, anyone interested in John F. Kennedy’s assassination should view McAdams’ page. He induces thought-provoking questions and presents his material in a well-organized and interesting manner.

     "The JFK Assassination Home Page" by Robert Harris offers a different view of November 22, 1963 than that of Mr. McAdams. At the onset, Harris proclaims that we have "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that Kennedy was not killed by Oswald alone. Mr. Harris does not seem to be promoting an organization or any other agenda other than the theory that a conspiracy, rather than one individual, killed President Kennedy. There is even an icon at the beginning of the page indicating that the History Channel recommends this site. Harris begins with a description of his extensive article with photos and diagrams which you can click on to view, or just continue on to the other evidence in the page. "The JFK Assassination Home Page" is arranged thematically, similar to McAdams’ "Kennedy Assassination," however, Harris’ themes are more specific than McAdams. Whereas the previous page was based on a variety of mediums as evidence, many of the links are from Abraham Zapruder’s film.

     The first few sections are dedicated to the certain frames of the film where gunshots are heard and seen. Before clicking on to the clips from the Zapruder film, Harris gives an explanation of the frames. To a non-assassination researcher it is very difficult to identify certain movements indicated on the film. In addition the resolution of several frames, especially in "The Actual First Shot," is terrible. Thus, the clips did not provide adequate proof of what Mr. Harris declared in his explanation. Harris continues on with a section of his own articles on the subject, followed by an Outstanding Articles and News section with pieces taken from papers such as The Washington Post. In contrast to "The Kennedy Assassination" page, most of the information presented by Harris is from the Zapruder film and eyewitness testimony as reported to the Warren Commission. The page also includes a sound bite simulating what the four possible gunshots sounded like at frames 186, 284, 312, and 323. The author find the Zapruder film and the eyewitness testimonies to be more compelling evidence than what McAdams presents, since these are all first hand accounts of what occurred on that day. Although the author do have problems with the resolution of several of the images, McAdams dependence on essays from other researchers undermined the weight of his arguments, while the testimony of witnesses and footage from the Zapruder film in the Harris page held more credibility. Other sections in "The JFK Assassination Home Page" include pictures of the Umbrella Man, and an Other Interesting Links section.

     The most intriguing sections were the complete Warren Commission testimonies of witnesses, including the Governor and Mrs. Connally, Jacqueline Kennedy, Abraham Zapruder, James Tague, Phillip Willlis, and many others, and the Treasury Department reports of all the Secret Service Agents present that day. A substantial majority of the witnesses concur that there was more than one shot and that they were not evenly spaced out, with the second and third bunched together after a silence. Harris iterates his point by having the Warren Commission testimonies as well as a compilation of witness statements regarding the number of shots fired. Harris’ whole argument for conspiracy is based on the premise that for Oswald to be the lone assassin, it would have taken him between 2.25 to 2.3 seconds, on which experts agree, to reload and fire the Mannlicher Carcano rifle, but according to eyewitness testimony the time between shots was not equivalent to 2.25 to 2.3 seconds.

     The events of November 22, 1963 have produced infinite theories on who actually assassinated President Kennedy. Even with a background on the assassination, the abundance of information certainly can overwhelm an individual. Both "The Kennedy Assassination" and "The JFK Assassination Home Page" web sites offer an in-depth look at November 22, 1963. However, McAdams’ site would be much more pleasing and easier to understand, and convincing (as the author found, even though the author believes the contrary) to a JFK assassination non-specialist because the page is more aesthetically pleasing and also utilizes more mediums of evidence than just the Zapruder film and Warren Commission testimonies. Although the Zapruder made it more difficult at times to non-specialists on Harris’ page, it was shorter in length than McAdam’s and did not have as many links in which to get lost in. Though a complex issue, each web site offers readers the chance to study the evidence given and to judge for themselves whether Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin or whether the murder was the work of a conspiracy. Both authors give a balanced and intelligent evaluation of the situation. Regardless, it is essential for readers to critically assess the evidence given, such as noting the author, the context of the picture, statement, or situation to effectively judge the credibility of the site and the material presented. This is especially true if web sites are to be a tool for the study and teaching of history. Web pages can be a new and innovative way to engage students in the study of history. Reviewing two contrasting web sites on the assassination of President Kennedy has shed new light on certain aspects and other factors of the assassination that the author never knew.