The Career of Lee Harvey Oswald

It became clear after Oswald’s arrest and murder that he was not just an order–filler at a book warehouse. The more information that came to light, the more unusual his career appeared to be:

• He was a former Marine who had defected to the Soviet Union.
• He was involved in both pro– and anti–Castro activity in New Orleans.
• He had a strong interest in purchasing weapons by mail order.

Lee Oswald’s Defection to the Soviet Union

Oswald was one of a series of former US military types who defected to the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1960.1

He was armed with a very good knowledge of Russian, which he had almost certainly been taught at a specialist military language school, the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.2

Official Approval of Oswald’s Return

Oswald’s return to the USA in 1962 appeared to be actively condoned by the US authorities. Despite having promised to hand over state secrets to the Soviet regime:

• Oswald was not prosecuted.
• The State Department had assisted his return, by lending him the fare for the trans–Atlantic ocean crossing.3
• Oswald and his Russian wife settled in the Dallas area, where they were befriended by George de Mohrenschildt, a petroleum geologist with connections to US intelligence. They mixed socially with the strongly anti–Soviet Russian émigré community in Dallas.4
• Oswald applied for a new passport in June 1963, stating on the application form that he was planning to travel to the Soviet Union. The passport was granted the next day.5

The Cuban Exiles in New Orleans

Lee Oswald moved to New Orleans in April 1963, ostensibly to find work. He made contact with several Cuban anti–Castro activists, including Carlos Bringuier, who was in charge of public relations for two organisations: the Cuban Revolutionary Council and the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil.6 Oswald surprised Bringuier by offering to assist with a paramilitary training camp operated partly by the DRE. Bringuier declined the offer; he assumed that Oswald was an infiltrator working for either the pro–Castro movement or a US agency such as the FBI.7

Oswald, the Public Pro–Castro Activist

Bringuier’s suspicions seemed to be justified when he encountered Oswald a few days later, handing out ‘Hands Off Cuba!’ leaflets on behalf of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, a pro–Castro organisation specifically targetted by the DRE. The two men got into an argument, the police were called, and Oswald spent the night in jail.

Oswald’s release from jail was covered by the local news media. Two more publicity stunts helped to identify him further with the pro–Castro cause:

• He hired assistants for a brief session of handing out FPCC leaflets. The session was covered on television.8
• After being interviewed on a local radio station, Oswald was invited to take part in a radio debate on the Cuban question, in which he claimed that he was a Marxist and a member of the FPCC.9

There were two main consequences of Oswald’s activity:

• When applying for a Cuban visa in Mexico City a few weeks later, he made use of the pro–Castro credentials he had acquired in New Orleans.
• After the assassination of President Kennedy, the identification of Oswald with the Cuban regime led to the closure of the FPCC.10

Oswald, the Secret Anti–Castro Activist

Oswald’s pro–Castro activity was not, however, what it seemed. Despite his left–wing media persona, Oswald had no known left–wing associates. The New Orleans branch of the FPCC consisted only of Oswald and one A.J. Hidell, which was presumed to be an alias for Oswald himself.11

Some of Oswald’s FPCC leaflets were stamped with an address, 544 Camp Street, which had no connection to the organisation. On the contrary, the building was associated with strongly anti–Castro interests:

• in 1962 it had been used as a base by the Cuban Revolutionary Council,
• and in 1963 it housed the offices of a private detective agency run by W. Guy Banister, a former FBI agent who was working at arms’ length for the FBI and other federal agencies on a number of projects, including anti–Castro activity.12

Oswald was a frequent visitor to Banister’s office at 544 Camp Street. He was seen in public on several occasions with Banister, who himself was very much opposed to the FPCC and the Castro regime, and who was strongly in favour of racial segregation. Banister was present with Oswald at Louisiana State University on two occasions when Oswald argued against racial integration.13

Interest in Purchasing Guns by Mail Order

Oswald was very interested in purchasing weapons by mail order, both during the summer of 1963 in New Orleans and at the beginning of the year while living in Dallas. In addition to the rifle found on the sixth floor and the revolver found on Oswald when he was arrested, Dallas police discovered among his possessions several complete advertisements for weapons and at least five mail order coupons.

One of these coupons, for a Mannlicher–Carcano rifle from Klein’s Sporting Goods of Chicago, was matched to a specific copy of the June 1963 issue of American Rifleman which contained his thumb print.14 This copy of the magazine was discovered by the FBI and the Secret Service on the day after the assassination, in a garage in New Orleans. In June 1963 Oswald had been working in a building next door to the garage. The proprietor of the garage claimed that Oswald had often spoken to him about guns, and in particular about how to obtain them by mail order.15

There seems to be no legitimate reason why Oswald should have wanted to order guns while in New Orleans. Several months earlier, a Mannlicher–Carcano rifle very similar to that found on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository had been ordered and received by ‘A. Hidell’ from Klein’s Sporting Goods of Chicago, using a coupon in the February 1963 issue of American Rifleman. Likewise, ‘A.J. Hidell’ had bought Oswald’s revolver by mail order in January 1963.16

How to Obtain a Gun in Texas in 1963

When the mysterious Mr Hidell had ordered the revolver and the rifle, Oswald was living in Dallas, Texas. The easiest way to obtain a weapon in Texas in 1963, and the only sensible way for an aspiring assassin, was to visit a shop and buy one over the counter. No identification was needed, and no incriminating paper trail would exist. Identification was only required, and an incriminating paper trail created, when purchasing a weapon from a different state, by mail order.

Official Investigations into the Sale of Guns by Mail Order

In 1962 and 1963, the growing trade in mail–order weapons was being investigated by two official bodies:

• the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms unit of the Internal Revenue Service,
• and by a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, headed by Senator Thomas Dodd.17

Among the organisations under investigation were:

• The American Nazi Party, whose officials’ names and addresses featured in Oswald’s address book.18
• Cuban exile organisations, including three with whom Oswald had attempted to make contact in New Orleans and Dallas.
• Klein’s Sporting Goods, of Chicago, from whom ‘A. Hidell’ had purchased a 36–inch–long Mannlicher–Carcano rifle by mail order. That rifle was the same model as the 40–inch–long rifle discovered on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.
• Seaport Traders, of Los Angeles, from whom ‘A.J. Hidell’ had purchased a revolver by mail order. That revolver was found on Oswald when he was arrested on 22 November 1963.

Oswald’s Employers and the Assassination

There is no categorical proof that Lee Oswald was working for one or another agency of the US government,19 either directly or through a proxy, but the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming.

It is unclear whether Oswald himself, using the Hidell alias, purchased the 40–inch–long rifle discovered in the Texas School Book Depository. A more important issue is also unclear: how much of Oswald’s activity in New Orleans, Mexico City and Dallas was directed by others specifically in order to incriminate him, and how much of it was genuine undercover work that was seized on at some stage in the planning of the assassination. Several aspects of the Mexico City episode, for example, can be interpreted as an attempt by the counter–intelligence branch of the CIA to expose Soviet moles within the US security system. Oswald need not have been, and probably was not, a straightforward employee of one agency.

• The Verdict: Was Oswald Guilty or Not Guilty?
• Silvia Odio’s Visitors

• The Verdict: Was Oswald Guilty or Not Guilty?
• Silvia Odio’s Visitors