John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade. The official reason for the assassination, according to the Warren Commission, was that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine who embraced Marxism and had defected to the Soviet Union, acted alone in shooting Kennedy. Oswald fired three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, hitting Kennedy fatally. The motives behind Oswald's action are not definitively known, but Oswald's background as a Marxist and his personal history may have contributed to his decision. There are theories suggesting a possible conspiracy involving anti-Castro groups, the CIA, organized crime, or other political factions, but the Warren Commission concluded Oswald acted alone. Later investigations, like the House Select Committee on Assassinations, suggested there may have been a conspiracy or a second shooter, though evidence remains debatable. Kennedy was in Texas on a political trip to unify the Democratic Party and strengthen his reelection chances in 1964. The assassination shocked the nation and the world, remaining one of the most significant and tragic events in U.S. history.
