[A] Mr. Willens also acted as liaison between the Commission and the Department of Justice. PRESIDENT’S COMMISSION ON THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY 200 Maryland Ave. N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 Telephone 543-1400 EARL WARREN, Chairman RICHARD B. RUSSELL JOHN SHERMAN COOPER HALE BOGGS GERALD R. FORD JOHN J. McCLOY ALLEN W. DULLES J. LEE RANKIN, General Counsel September 24, 1964 The President The White House Washington, D.C. Dear Mr. President: Your Commission to investigate the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, having completed its assignment in accordance with Executive Order No. 11130 of November 29, 1963, herewith submits its final report. Respectfully, Earl Warren, Chairman Richard B. Russell John Sherman Cooper Hale Boggs Gerald R. Ford Allen W. Dulles John J. McCloy [Illustration] Foreword PRESIDENT LYNDON B. JOHNSON, by Executive Order No. 11130 dated November 29, 1963,[F-1] created this Commission to investigate the assassination on November 22, 1963, of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States. The President directed the Commission to evaluate all the facts and circumstances surrounding the assassination and the subsequent killing of the alleged assassin and to report its findings and conclusions to him.[F-2] The subject of the Commission’s inquiry was a chain of events which saddened and shocked the people of the United States and of the world. The assassination of President Kennedy and the simultaneous wounding of John B. Connally, Jr., Governor of Texas, had been followed within an hour by the slaying of Patrolman J. D. Tippit of the Dallas Police Department. In the United States and abroad, these events evoked universal demands for an explanation. Immediately after the assassination, State and local officials in Dallas devoted their resources to the apprehension of the assassin. The U.S. Secret Service, which is responsible for the protection of the President, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation began an investigation at the direction of President Johnson. Within 35 minutes of the killing of Patrolman Tippit, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested by the Dallas police as a suspect in that crime. Based on evidence provided by Federal, State, and local agencies, the State of Texas arraigned Oswald within 12 hours of his arrest, charging him with the assassination of President Kennedy and the murder of Patrolman Tippit. On November 24, 1963, less than 48 hours after his arrest, Oswald was fatally shot in the basement of the Dallas Police Department by Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner. This shooting took place in full view of a national television audience.