JFK Conspiracy by Robert Lizik

 

On November 22, 1963, it was a sunny afternoon when shots were heard around the United States. The 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, was shot and killed in his Lincoln limousine in Dallas, TX. Even after 50 years, people still don’t know why and who was behind the assassination. Was it the Russians, LBJ, or maybe the military industrial complex? All of these theories have been criticized and have been shot down by many conspiracy theorists. The one which still causes debate and which still has not been proven wrong was that the CIA killed Kennedy.

  Character Analysis

Who was John F. Kennedy? He was a strong leader and a national hero. John F. Kennedy was born into a wealthy family “on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts” (John F. Kennedy, 2015). He was raised Roman Catholic and practiced his faith regularly. JFK was well educated. He attended private schools as a child and later graduated from Harvard University. After college he joined the US Navy and served in the Pacific. On August 2, 1943 his PT boat was destroyed by the Japanese and he saved 3 of the crew by rescuing them from the burning oil. Then he helped paddle them to a nearby island where they waited for rescue. This earned him the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for leadership and courage and made him a war hero, which is an example of him being a hero. Unfortunately, one of the downfalls was that he was injured in the process of saving his crew, which caused him to suffer from back problems for the rest of his life. This later made him addicted to painkillers and later stronger drugs. JFK was elected President on November 8, 1960 and his cabinet was described as “King Arthur’s court at Camelot” ("John F. Kennedy", 2015).

As President of the United States, JFK had knowledge of the CIA’s attempt to push Castro from power. In April 1961, a full scale invasion, known as the Bay of Pigs, was initiated with 1400 trained Cubans and secret help from the U.S. This event had many unforeseen flaws and turned into a disaster with U.S. involvement leaking out to the world. This would later lead to the Cuban Missile crisis, in which Cuba allied with The USSR. During this crisis, the USSR sent nuclear capable Missiles to Cuba who proceeded to target the missiles at the U.S. As President, JFK never had any major legislation passed, including his purposed civil rights bill that would have ended all segregation. He did manage to get 22 billion dollars funded to NASA which started the space race and later would successfully put the first man on the Moon.

JFK created the Peace Corps which are a group of volunteers who go to third world countries and help them by teaching them how to get clean water sources and build free clinics. This organization helped raise the living standards in these countries.

JFK created the U.S Army Special Forces also known as the “Green Berets.” These soldiers would go to other countries and assist with training of foreign forces and make direct strikes deep behind enemies’ lines. They were also trained in Guerrilla warfare.           

JFK also created the U.S Navy Seals, an elite commando group, tasked with attacking enemy positions, killing or capturing High Value Targets, and destroying strategic key positions such as bridges and depots. The SEALS can be deployed anywhere in under 12 hours from Sea Air and Land.

After JFK’s assassination, his wife Jackie Kennedy said, "There'll be great presidents again, and the Johnsons are wonderful, they've been wonderful to me — but there'll never be another Camelot again."(“John F. Kennedy Biography” 2015). On Nov. 25, 1963, a quarter of a million people showed up to honor the fallen president, including more than 53 officials from countries around the world. A national hero and leader was put to rest.

Description

Who killed JFK? Was it the Military industrial complex? They wanted to kill JFK because he was going to pull American troops out of Vietnam. JFK confided this to General David Shoup, Commander of the Marines. Shoup relayed this information to his commander-in-chief.  Companies like Colt, Bell Helicopter, and AM General made millions of dollars during the war and after from their products being used and tested in Vietnam. Theorists have discovered that JFK “talked about trying to resolve the situation, but he never made a claim that he was going to pull out of there” (Patterson, 2015).

Did Lyndon B. Johnson do it? Theorists believed LBJ wanted to kill Kennedy since JFK stole his nomination to be President of the United States and later when he was vice president believed he was treated unfairly. Jackie Kennedy spoke to close family members of her own belief that LBJ murdered her husband.  LBJ appointed the Warren commission to investigate JFK’s death in which the commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald worked alone. This was all based on a testimony made by Madeleine Brown, a woman who claimed to have an affair with Lyndon B. Johnson, which was never proven. (Patterson, 2015).

Did the Soviets do it? This theory would make sense considering the USSR figured out that Kennedy wasn’t going to be the push over president that they hoped. Kennedy single handedly stopped the Cuban missile crisis and refused to let Communism spread. In addition,  Lee Harvey Oswald was a Soviet-Cuban sympathizer. In fact, a few weeks before JFK’s assassination Oswald was seen at the Russian embassy in Mexico City talking to top officials. Thus, it seemed probable that Oswald was working for the Soviets at the time he killed JFK. But, this theory was disproved because “It would have been an act of war, which could have triggered a nuclear attack” (Patterson, 2015).

Did the CIA do it?  Kennedy was mad at the CIA for trying to kill Fidel Castro. There were rumors JFK was going to disband the CIA, therefore one theory is that the CIA retailed by hiring Oswald to kill JFK. Allen Dulles, the former head of the CIA, was a member of the Warren Commission. This was the special Johnson-appointed panel tasked with the official investigation of the assassination who determined that “Oswald acted alone” (Patterson, 2015). Since Dulles was on the investigation team evidence could have been hid. This conspiracy has yet to be disproven and is the most likely scenario for Kennedy’s death.

On November 22, 1963, the 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy was killed. After his death, the U.S questioned who really killed him:

Was it only Lee Harvey Oswald? What organization ordered Oswald to kill him?

People remain to question what really happened that day and will question even more when the final sealed documents of the assassination report is revealed by the “Section 5(g)(2)(D) of the Act, which states that all records in the Kennedy Collection will be opened by 2017” ("Frequently Asked Questions."). Will this report really contain all the answers or will information still by missing? In my poll which was done at the College of the Mainland I asked 20 people if they believe that JFK’s assassination was an inside job. 13 of the people didn’t believe it was an inside job. I believe the CIA had a part in what happened, whether it was just in covering up some of the information or in hiring Oswald and later taking him out so he wouldn’t talk.

Work Cited

"Assassination of John F. Kennedy." Crime and Punishment: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee        Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 110-13. Biography in Context.           Web. 5             Dec. 2015.

Benson, Michael. The Encyclopedia of the JFK Assassination. New York: Facts On File, 2002. Print.

History.com Staff. "John F. Kennedy." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 07 Oct.       2015.

Hunt, Conover. JFK for a New Generation. Dallas, TX: Sixth Floor Museum, 1996. Print.

"John F. Kennedy Biography." The Biography Com. Ed. Biography.com. A&E Networks Television,       n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2015.

Mallon, Thomas. Mrs. Paine's Garage and the Murder of John F. Kennedy. Orlando, FL: Harcourt,          2003. Print.

Patterson, Thom. "One JFK Conspiracy Theory That Could Be True - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News       Network, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Robson, David. The Kennedy Assassination. San Diego, CA: ReferencePoint, 2009. Print.

Southwell, David, and Sean Twist. Unsolved Celebrity Mysteries. New York: Rosen Pub., 2008. Print.