Thomas Nelms Downing (February 1, 1919 – October 23, 2001) was a lawyer and politician who served nine terms as a Democratic Congressman from from 1959 to 1977. He was most notable for his role as chairman of the

House Select Committee on Assassinations The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) was established on September 15, 1976 by U.S. House Resolution 1540 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 and ...

during his time in Congress.

Biography

Downing was born and raised in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

. He attended

Newport News High School Newport News High School was a high school located in Newport News, Virginia, United States. It was located at 3100 Huntington Avenue and operated by Newport News Public Schools. History In 1896, the first segregated white high school in Newpor ...

, and graduated from

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

in 1940. After serving in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1942 to 1946, he attended and graduated from the

University of Virginia Law School The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of his "academical village", and now ...

in 1948. He practiced as a lawyer, as well as a substitute judge of the municipal court of

Warwick, Virginia Warwick is an extinct independent city which was located in the state of Virginia in the United States from 1952 until 1958. Formed by a political conversion of the former Warwick County (1634–1952), it is now part of the independent city ...

Congress

In 1958 he was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to Congress and was re-elected eight times, before declining to run in 1976. Downing served 18 years in Congress prior to retiring in 1977.

Elections

*1958; Downing was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives unopposed. *1960; Downing was re-elected unopposed. *1962; Downing was re-elected unopposed. *1964; Downing was re-elected with 78.71% of the vote, defeating Republican Wayne C. Thiessen. *1966; Downing was re-elected unopposed. *1968; Downing was re-elected with 72.96% of the vote, defeating Republican James S. Stafford and Independent J. Cornelius Fauntleroy. *1970; Downing was re-elected unopposed. *1972; Downing was re-elected with 78.09% of the vote, defeating Republican Kenneth D. Wells. *1974; Downing was re-elected unopposed.

House Select Committee on Assassinations

Downing was appointed Chairman of the

Carl Albert Carl Bert Albert (May 10, 1908 – February 4, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 46th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 and represented Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district as a ...

, the

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...

. The Committee was tasked to look into evidence that was not available to the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President of the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the A ...

during its investigation of the

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onas ...

. Upon his retirement from Congress in 1977,

Louis Stokes Louis Stokes (February 23, 1925 – August 18, 2015) was an American attorney, civil rights pioneer and politician. He served 15 terms in the United States House of Representatives – representing the east side of Cleveland – and was the firs ...

succeeded Downing as Chairman. Downing stated before and after the HSCA's investigation that he believed there was a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy. He pushed for a House committee to investigate the assassination nearly two years before its formation. In August 1976, he released affidavits from two men who stated that

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

approved the plan of a right-wing Cuban exile to "eliminate" left-wing Cuban exiles after the

Bay of Pigs invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called or after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in April 1961 by the United States of America and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front ...

. Downing said that their statements raised the possibility that right-wing Cubans killed Kennedy. Downing said that he was skeptical that

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at age 12 for truan ...

could accurately fire a

bolt-action rifle Bolt action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the turn-bolt via a bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (as most users are right-handed). The majority of b ...

within a short span of time, and he believed video footage of the assassination showed that Kennedy was struck from the front and the rear. According to a theory provided by Downing, one which he said was without evidence and based on speculation, anti-Castro Cuban exiles killed Kennedy due to his failure to support them after the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. Downing stated that they expected pro-Castro Cubans would be blamed for the assassination in retaliation for the attempted assassination of

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

by United States agents. Downing said: "I am firmly convinced, I am sincerely convinced, that more than one person was shooting at President Kennedy in Dallas that day. It is so obvious to me." Downing described ''

JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until Assassination of John F. Kennedy, his assassination in 1963. He was the first Catholic Chur ...

'',

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

's 1991 film about the assassination of Kennedy, as "implausible". He said: "It's impossible to tell where fact stops and fiction starts, it blends in so well." Prior to the investigation, James J. Kilpatrick described Downing as "a man of exception integrity and common sense" yet "not altogether unbiased in the matter of Kennedy's assassination". Robert P. Gemberling, head of the FBI's investigation of the assassination for thirteen years after the release of the Warren Commission's report, said in 1976 that Downing and his successor, Henry B. Gonzalez, had "preconceived conspiracy theories".

Later life and death

He died from the complications of intestinal surgery at the age of 82, and is interred in Peninsula Memorial Park Cemetery, Newport News, Virginia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Downing, Thomas 1919 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American conspiracy theorists Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia John F. Kennedy conspiracy theorists Politicians from Newport News, Virginia University of Virginia School of Law alumni Virginia lawyers Virginia Military Institute alumni 20th-century Virginia politicians 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives