The forty-eight hours from noon on Friday, 11/22/1963, to noon Sunday, 11/24/1963, represent the most critical events in American history since Booth shot Lincoln in Ford Theater on Good Friday, April 14, 1865. Three main characters in this drama are:

• John F. Kennedy – traitor or heroic leader, depending on your point of view at the time. Died November 22, 1963 in Parkland Hospital, Dallas, Texas.

• Lee Oswald – assassin or patsy, depending your point of view. Died November 24, 1963 in Dallas police custody.

• Jack Ruby – impulsive nightclub owner with a gun, or hit man, depending on your point of view. Died January 3, 1967, on death row for killing Lee Oswald, awaiting a second trial.

When Dallas police failed to kill Lee Oswald in the Dallas movie theater where they arrested him, they had a big mess. They could hold Oswald without trial, they could try him, or they could kill him. If he was an assassin, which option do you think they would have chosen? If he was a patsy, which is the best option? You know the answer to that question.

What if Jack Ruby had refused his assignment? What then? No matter what, Oswald would not go to trial.