the eleven fact-finding members was reviewed by twenty-one other blue-ribbon physicians from throughout the United States.
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The Connally Commission (for want of a better name) established four investigative objectives:
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 | | 1. To determine the events and circumstances which surrounded the actions of Charles J. Whitman on August 1, 1966.
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| | 2. To explore the findings and to make such additional examinations as might be indicated by the factual information which is available.
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| | 3. To prepare the material for its maximal utilization in evaluating the problem for our society.
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| | 4. To make recommendations aimed at the detection and prevention of circumstances which might lead to similar incidents.
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The commission looked carefully at Whitman's background, health, and overall behavior throughout his life. His elementary, high-school and university transcripts were analyzed. Teachers, classmates, family, and old and recent friends were interviewed.
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The conclusions reached by the commission reinforced what many of Whitman's associates already knew about him and also exposed the nice facade he had developed around himself. Its portrait of Charles Whitman was that of an "intelligent, intense and driven" young man, but someone who had been encased in internal and external predicaments causing personal turmoil.
3
The internal goal of outdoing his father in all areas, not just education, had become an unhealthy obsession, a source of anxiety he inflicted upon himself. The separation of his parents, which had been out of his control, only exacerbated his internal struggles. Margaret's move to Austin exposed Whitman to her misery on a daily basis, and his father's constant phone calls only made things worse. Cumulative frustrations made him more dangerous, but his "nice" facade had effectively concealed that explosive state from his family and closest friends. Whitman realized that many of his cohorts in their mid-twenties were already college-educated, on their own, and supporting a wife and family. Aside from his own low-paying jobs, his family
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