Assassinating the president is not the act of a rational person. Therefore, there cannot be a neat, tidy explanation of Oswald's motives that everyone can agree on. Even Oswald likely could not explain it in a way that makes any real sense. The best anyone can do is look at his life and make certain inferences. Oswald was a lifelong malcontent. Unhappy with his lot in life and blaming society for his grievances. Americans were just too stupid to recognize his merits. His political affiliations provided an opportunity to feel like a big shot. In his mind, he was attempting to cultivate an image of himself as some type of revolutionary fighter. I think his political motivations were important but shallow though. He used a fringe political cause to make himself feel important. He could be a person of note only within a fringe element like marxism. Shooting the president was, however, as much a personal as political act. Oswald's beef was with society in general. And what better way to express his anger than blowing the head off the most charismatic and powerful member of that society in broad daylight? And in that respect, he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Thanks in large part to Zapruder's film Oswald let the genie out of bottle in the mass media age for every nut who wants his moment of fame. Rather than politics, Oswald's lasting legacy is as the destructive instrument of chaos. The angry nut who wants to go out in a blaze of glory doing as much harm as possible.