Warren Commission (05 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15)

This volume captures the live testimony of the President's Commission as it convened in May 1964 to examine the assassination of President Kennedy. Listeners hear the formal opening, the composition of the commission, and the procedural rigor that guided the early days of the inquiry.

A diverse roster of witnesses steps onto the record: senior FBI officials, CIA directors, ballistics experts, Dallas police officers, and even Mrs. Kennedy herself. Their statements reveal the painstaking effort to reconstruct the events of November 22, from forensic analyses of rifle fragments to accounts of conversations in Dallas police stations. The dialogue conveys the tension and urgency felt by investigators as they piece together a national tragedy.

By listening to these proceedings, you gain a rare, unfiltered view of how the nation’s leaders approached a pivotal moment in history, hearing the questions asked and the raw evidence presented before any final conclusions were drawn. The record also preserves the formal exchanges between the commission’s counsel and the witnesses, illustrating the legal rigor of the process.