PSC482G, Spring 2000
Assignment 7, for Friday 4 February 2000
Howard Brennan
(N.B. This assignment is for your guidance only. It need not be turned in.)
Read: Excerpts from Howard Brennan’s Eyewitness to History; as much of his Testimony to the WC as you can.
Answer these questions (briefly):
1. How many shots does Brennan recall? Which of them hit Kennedy or Connally? Does this sequence agree with any of those proposed by the Warren Commission?
2. For how long did he observe Oswald, and what did he see him do?
3. What kinds of features about Oswald did he recount?
4. Did he believe in a lone gunman or in a conspiracy? What were his reasons? If conspiracy, whom did he propose was behind it?
5. How soon after the assassination did rumors of conspiracy begin?
6. Why did the FBI put Brennan and his wife in protective custody?
7. Why was Brennan so afraid of publicity?
8. What did he think about the mysterious car parked illegally alongside the TSBD?
9. In principle, Brennan could have spotted Oswald leaving the Depository. What does Brennan think prevented him from doing so?
10. Why were Brennan’s observations so important to the FBI?
11. Why did Brennan decline to identify Oswald unambiguously?
12. In what ways did Brennan’s book differ from his testimony to the Warren Commission?
13. Does his book contain any factual errors?
14. Can you find any reasonably objective ways of evaluating the accuracy of any part of his book or his testimony? If so, how well does his testimony stand up?
15. Overall, do you find his observations of Lee Harvey Oswald credible? Why or why not?