Michael Ralph Paine (June 25, 1928 – March 1, 2018) was an American engineer. He became notable after the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy, because he was an acquaintance of the President's assassin
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 the age of 12 fo ...
. His wife, Ruth Hyde Paine, housed Lee's estranged wife,
Marina Oswald
Marina Nikolayevna Oswald Porter ( Prusakova; russian: Марина Николаевна Прусакова; born July 17, 1941) is the Russian-American widow of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of US President John F. Kennedy.
Early life
Porte ...
, in her home for several months before the assassination until the day after it.
Early life
Paine was born in
New York, New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...
. His father was
Lyman Paine
George Lyman Paine Jr. (November 16, 1901 – July 1, 1978), was an American architect and radical left activist. He is known for his work with the Correspondence Publishing Committee with his second wife Frances Drake Paine, and was closely ...
, an architect and activist. His mother was
Ruth Forbes Young, financial backer of
International Peace Academy
The International Peace Institute (IPI, formerly the International Peace Academy) is an independent non-profit lobby group based in New York (beside the headquarters of the United Nations, with which IPI works closely). The institute has regional ...
and daughter of Elise Cabot Forbes, a scion of the
Cabot family
The Cabot family was part of the Boston Brahmin, also known as the "first families of Boston".
History
Family origin
The Boston Brahmin Cabot family descended from John Cabot (born 1680 in Jersey, a British Crown Dependencies and one of the C ...
. He had one sibling, Cameron Paine.
[
Paine graduated from high school in New York in 1947. He attended ]Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
for two years in 1947-1949 and Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...
for a year, but did not graduate.
Career
After serving in the U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
, Paine worked a few months for Griswold Manufacturing Co. After that, Paine worked at the Bartol Research Foundation
The Bartol Research Institute (formerly the ''Bartol Research Foundation'') is a scientific research institution at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Delaware. Its members belong to the faculty of the University of Delaw ...
in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Swarthmore ( , ) is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Swarthmore was originally named "Westdale" in honor of noted painter Benjamin West, who was one of the early residents of the town. The name was changed to "Swarthmore" after the es ...
for about a year. He then worked for his mother's third husband Arthur M. Young
Arthur Middleton Young (November 3, 1905 – May 30, 1995) was an American inventor, helicopter pioneer, cosmologist, philosopher, astrologer, and author. Young was the designer of Bell Helicopter's first helicopter, the Model 30, and inventor ...
, making helicopter models in Pennsylvania.[
In 1958, Paine became employed at ]Bell Helicopter
Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, as well as commercial helicopters in M ...
[ through Young, his stepfather and designer of the first commercial helicopter, ]Bell 47
The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first he ...
.
Personal life
In 1957, he married Ruth Avery Hyde in Pennsylvania. They had two children:[ Lynn (b. 1959) and Christopher (b. 1961).] In 1959, they relocated to 2525 West Fifth Street in Irving, Texas
Irving is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. Located in Dallas County, it is also an inner ring suburb of Dallas. The city of Irving is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. According to a 2019 estimate from the United States Census Bureau, ...
, a suburb of Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
.[ when Paine began work at a Bell Helicopter facility in ]Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
. One issue is whether the Minox camera found in the Paine garage belonged to Lee Oswald or to Michael Paine. Another issue is what activities Lee Oswald and Michael Paine had in common, given Michael Paine's statement to Frontline (Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?, PBS) that he and Lee Oswald shared unspecified interests.
In late September 1962, Paine and his wife Ruth separated, Ruth asked him to have his personal belongings moved out of the house by the time she got back home from traveling around the United States that summer. According to Michael, it was not he, but Ruth who pushed to legally end their marriage. As their divorce made its way through the legal system until it ended in 1970, the Paines continued to see films at the theater together, and their Madrigal singing as a couple continued. Michael kept his own apartment in Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...
, while Ruth remained with Lynn and Christopher in the Irving home. In the end, the divorce was amicable, and Michael kept a very favorable view of Ruth.
On February 22, 1963, Ruth Paine attended a party held at the home of her fellow madrigal singer, Everett Glover, who knew that Ruth was learning to speak Russian and thought she might be interested in meeting a couple he knew, Marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
and 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 the age of 12 fo ...
.
Lee had defected to the USSR after serving in the Marine Corps, and Marina was Russian-born. They had recently returned to the United States with their young daughter, June. Everett invited many of his engineer friends in Dallas to attend, including George de Mohrenschildt, Volkmar Schmidt, Michael Paine, and many others. Everett thought they would all be interested in interviewing 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 the age of 12 fo ...
. He also thought that Ruth would enjoy practicing her Russian conversation skills with a native Russian speaker, Marina Oswald
Marina Nikolayevna Oswald Porter ( Prusakova; russian: Марина Николаевна Прусакова; born July 17, 1941) is the Russian-American widow of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of US President John F. Kennedy.
Early life
Porte ...
.
Michael Paine caught a cold that night, and didn't go, but Ruth Paine
Ruth Hyde Paine (born September 3, 1932) was a friend of Marina Oswald, who was living with her at the time of the JFK assassination. According to four government investigations, Lee Harvey Oswald stored the 6.5 mm caliber Carcano rifle that ...
did go to the party, and met Marina Oswald
Marina Nikolayevna Oswald Porter ( Prusakova; russian: Марина Николаевна Прусакова; born July 17, 1941) is the Russian-American widow of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of US President John F. Kennedy.
Early life
Porte ...
for the first time. Ruth started a close friendship with Marina that would last until the JFK Assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
.
Relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald
As April 1963 began, Ruth planned to cook dinner for the Oswalds at her home, and she asked Michael to pick them up and drive them to her house. (The Oswalds had no car.) Michael met the Oswalds for the first time on April 2, 1963. when he picked up Lee, Marina, and their baby daughter, June at their apartment at 214 West Neely Street in Dallas. Before he drove them to Ruth's house, he had to endure a long wait as Marina got ready.
From the start (Michael told the Warren Commission) he took an immediate dislike toward Lee Oswald, who continually barked orders at his wife, Marina, from the living room, without lifting a finger to help her. Lee's demeaning words directed at his wife offended Michael, who told author Thomas Mallon that he pitied Marina for "having to take these whiplashes meekly and quietly and obediently."
Michael neglected to tell the Warren Commission, however, 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 the age of 12 fo ...
had also used that time to speak with Michael about his fervent political views, and to proudly display to Michael a now-famous "backyard photograph." This was one of four known photos of Lee holding his rifle, wearing his pistol, and displaying two Marxist newspapers. (The photo looked fake, but Lee Oswald was known to have made fake ID's at the printing shop in which he had been working around that time.)
On the contrary, Michael swore to the Warren Commission that he had 'no idea' 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 the age of 12 fo ...
ever had a rifle. In 1993, however, Michael Paine told Gus Russo
Gus G. Russo (born 1950 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American author and researcher of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Russo was part of a team of researchers that worked on the 1993 ''Frontline'' Lee Harvey Oswald documentary, ''Who Was ...
, author of 'Live by the Sword' (1998) that Lee Oswald showed him this famous Backyard Photograph at their first meeting on April 2, 1963.
Over the next seven months, Michael told the Warren Commission, he was continually upset by the fact that Lee Oswald refused to let Marina learn to read, speak, or write in English.
But Michael did not emphasize for the Warren Commission the several talks that he had with Lee Oswald about the radical right wing and resigned General Edwin Walker
Edwin Anderson Walker (November 10, 1909 – October 31, 1993) was the only U.S. Army general officer to resign his commission amid his tour of duty in the 20th century. After serving in World War II and the Korean War Walker became better know ...
, who had been making trouble for JFK since October 1962. All he knew was that he and Lee Oswald 'agreed' about General Walker.
The Warren Commission was far more interested in the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald lived in a rented room in Dallas, but stored most of his possessions in Paine's garage. This is because Marina Oswald told Dallas Police that Lee Oswald kept an army rifle there, wrapped in a blanket. Michael Paine told the Warren Commission that he always thought it was camping equipment.
Paine's wife helped Oswald get a job at the Texas School Book Depository
The Texas School Book Depository, now known as the Dallas County Administration Building, is a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. The building was Lee Harvey Oswald's vantage point during the assassination of United Sta ...
. Paine's testimony would later become a central feature of the Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States Pr ...
's investigation of the assassination, particularly in regard to the presence of the purported assassination rifle in the garage of his family home.
Paine and his wife were portrayed in Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...
's ''JFK
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
'' as characters called "Bill and Janet Williams," presumably to avoid legal action.
In 1964, Paine testified that he was a member of the American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
.[
The '']Santa Rosa Press Democrat
''The Press Democrat'', with the largest circulation in California's North Bay, is a daily newspaper published in Santa Rosa, California.
History
The newspaper was founded in 1897 by Ernest L. Finley who merged his ''Evening Press'' and Thomas ...
'' reported that Paine died March 1, 2018, in Sebastopol, California.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paine, Michael
1928 births
2018 deaths
Engineers from New York City
Harvard University alumni
People associated with the assassination of John F. Kennedy
Military personnel from New York City
Swarthmore College alumni