Today in History

Today in History: November 24

Ruby Shoots Oswald!

image of letter

Elmer, you must believe me, that I am not imagining crazy thoughts, etc. This is all so hopeless, that they have everything in the bag and there isn't any chance of hope for me. These hearings are just stalling for time.

Jack Ruby to his attorney Elmer Gertz, September 9, 1965, Elmer Gertz Papers.
Words and Deeds in American History

On November 24, 1963, Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed President John F. Kennedy's accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in a Dallas police station. Broadcasting live from the scene, network cameras captured Oswald's murder and shocked television viewers became unwitting witnesses to the crime.

Ruby was found guilty of murder on March 14, 1964 and sentenced to death. In October 1966, a Texas appeals court granted a new trial. During the appeal process Ruby passed the above note to his attorney Elmer Gertz. With its references to government authorities killing and torturing people in the courthouse Ruby's note reveals his deteriorating mental state. Jack Ruby died of cancer before a new trial was held.

Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson, June 1964.
Portraits of Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-Present

Five days after the incident, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Chaired by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Commission investigated circumstances surrounding the shootings of Kennedy and Oswald. The Warren Commission included Michigan congressman and future president Gerald R. Ford. In September 1964, the commission reported it found no evidence Oswald and Ruby were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the president.

To locate additional Library of Congress sources related to John F. Kennedy: