Clay Shaw | |
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Shaw in December 1968
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Born |
Clay LaVerne Shaw March 17, 1913 Kentwood, Louisiana, United States |
Died | August 15, 1974 New Orleans, Louisiana, United States |
(aged 61)
Cause of death | Lung cancer with metastasis to brain and liver |
Nationality | European American |
Occupation | Businessman and director of the International Trade Mart in New Orleans |
Known for | Head of the International Trade Mart; charged for being part of a conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. |
Clay LaVerne Shaw (March 17, 1913 – August 15, 1974) was a businessman in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the only person prosecuted in connection with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and was acquitted.
Shaw, a native of Kentwood, Louisiana, was the son of Glaris L., a United States Marshal, and Alice Shaw. His grandfather had been the sheriff of Tangipahoa Parish. When he was five, Shaw's family moved to New Orleans, where he eventually attended Warren Easton High School.
Shaw served as an officer in the United States Army during World War II. He served as secretary to the General Staff and later served in Europe. He was decorated by three nations: the United States with the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star, by France with the Croix de Guerre and named Chevalier de l'Ordre du Merite, and by Belgium named Chevalier of the Order of the Crown of Belgium. Shaw was honorably discharged from the United States Army as a major in 1946.
After World War II Shaw helped start the International Trade Mart in New Orleans which facilitated the sales of both domestic and imported goods. He was known locally for his efforts to preserve buildings in New Orleans' historic French Quarter.