On November 29, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Executive
Order No. 11130, creating a Commission "to ascertain, evaluate and
report upon the facts relating to the assassination of the late
President John F. Kennedy and the subsequent violent death of the man
charged with the assassination." By the same Executive order, the
President appointed seven Commissioners: Earl Warren, Chief Justice of
the United States; Richard B. Russell, Democratic Senator from Georgia;
John Sherman Cooper, Republican Senator from Kentucky; Hale Boggs,
Democratic Congressman from Louisiana and House Majority Whip; Gerald
R. Ford, Republican Congressman from Michigan; Allen W. Dulles, former
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency; and John J. McCloy, former
High Commissioner of Germany. The President designated Chief Justice
Warren as the Commission's Chairman. The findings of the Commission,
based on an examination of all the facts, are set forth in the
separate volume entitled "Report of the President's Commission on the
Assassination of President Kennedy."
An essential part of the investigation conducted by this Commission
has been the securing of sworn testimony from witnesses possessing
information relevant to the inquiry. This testimony has been taken
under the authority of Senate Joint Resolution 137 (88th Cong., 1st
sess.), enacted by Congress on December 13, 1963, which conferred
upon the Commission the power to administer oaths and affirmations,
examine witnesses, receive evidence, and issue subpenas. Under the
procedures adopted by the Commission, some witnesses have appeared
before members of the Commission, others have been questioned under
oath on depositions by members of the staff, and others have provided
affidavits to the Commission. Beginning with its first witness on
February 3, 1964, the Commission under these procedures took the
testimony of approximately 550 witnesses and received more than 3,100
exhibits into evidence.
The testimony and exhibits obtained by the Commission are printed in
this and the succeeding volumes, organized in the following order:
(1) Testimony before members of the Commission, in the order in
which it was taken.
(2) Testimony by sworn deposition or affidavit, grouped into
four general subject categories; the medical attention given to
the President and the Governor, identification of the assassin
of President Kennedy, the background of Lee Harvey Oswald, and
the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack L. Ruby on November
24, 1963.
(3) Exhibits introduced in connection with the testimony before
the Commission in numerical order.
(4) Exhibits introduced in connection with sworn depositions
and affidavits, grouped alphabetically by name of witness.
(5) Other exhibits introduced before the Commission in
numerical order.
The transcripts of this testimony, prepared by qualified court
reporters, were reviewed by members of the Commission staff and, in
most instances, by the witness concerned. Editing of the transcript
prior to printing in these volumes was confined to correction of
stenographic errors and punctuation, and minor changes designed to
improve the clarity and accuracy of the testimony. In the few cases
indicated, brief deletions have been made of material which might be
considered in poor taste and is clearly irrelevant to any facet of
the Commission's investigation. All the original transcripts prepared
by the court reporters, of course, have been preserved and will be
available for inspection under the same rules and regulations which
will apply to all records of this Commission.
Each volume contains a brief preface discussing the contents of the
volume. In addition, each volume of testimony contains a table of
contents with the names of the witnesses whose testimony appears in the
volume, and the numbers of the exhibits introduced in connection with
that testimony. Each volume of exhibits contains a table of contents
with short descriptions of the exhibits reproduced in the volume.
Volume XV contains a name index setting forth all references to persons
(other than Lee Harvey Oswald) appearing in the Hearings volumes and
an index setting forth all references to Commission exhibits and
Deposition exhibits in these volumes.