Thomas N. Downing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's1st district | |
| In office January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Edward J. Robeson Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Paul S. Trible |
| Chairman of theHouse Select Committee on Assassinations | |
| In office September 17, 1976 – January 3, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Henry B. González |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas Nelms Downing (1919-02-01)February 1, 1919 Newport News, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | October 23, 2001(2001-10-23) (aged 82) Newport News, Virginia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Peninsula Memorial Park Cemetery, Newport News |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Virginia Military Institute University of Virginia |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942 – 1946 |
Thomas Nelms Downing (February 1, 1919 – October 23, 2001) was a lawyer and politician who served nine terms as a Democratic Congressman fromVirginia's 1st congressional district from 1959 to 1977.
He was most notable for his role as chairman of theHouse Select Committee on Assassinations during his time in Congress.
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Downing was born and raised inNewport News, Virginia. He attendedNewport News High School, and graduated fromVirginia Military Institute in 1940. After serving in theUnited States Army from 1942 to 1946, he attended and graduated from theUniversity of Virginia Law School in 1948. He practiced as a lawyer, as well as a substitute judge of the municipal court ofWarwick, Virginia.
In 1958 he was elected as aDemocrat 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.[1]
Downing was appointed Chairman of theHouse Select Committee on Assassinations byCarl Albert, theSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives.[1] The Committee was tasked to look into evidence that was not available to theWarren Commission during its investigation of theassassination of John F. Kennedy.[1] Upon his retirement from Congress in 1977,Louis Stokes succeeded Downing as Chairman.[1]
Downing stated before[2] and after[1] the HSCA's investigation that he believed there was aconspiracy to assassinate Kennedy. He pushed for aHouse committee to investigate the assassination nearly two years before its formation.[3] In August 1976, he released affidavits from two men who stated thatRichard Nixon approved the plan of a right-wing Cuban exile to "eliminate" left-wing Cuban exiles after theBay of Pigs invasion.[3] Downing said that their statements raised the possibility that right-wing Cubans killed Kennedy.[3]
Downing said that he was skeptical thatLee Harvey Oswald could accurately fire abolt-action rifle 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.[1] 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.[1] Downing stated that they expected pro-Castro Cubans would be blamed for the assassination in retaliation for the attempted assassination ofFidel Castro by United States agents.[1] 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."[1]
Downing describedJFK,Oliver Stone's 1991 film about the assassination of Kennedy, as "implausible".[1] He said: "It's impossible to tell where fact stops and fiction starts, it blends in so well."[1]
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".[2] 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".[4]
He died from the complications of intestinal surgery at the age of 82, and is interred in Peninsula Memorial Park Cemetery, Newport News, Virginia.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 1st congressional district 1959–1977 | Succeeded by |
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