JFK Conspiracy Theories by Hanna Thompson

          It’s been fifty four years since the nation was watched the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Since that day, the world has been searching for answers to the questions left by his death. Due to the government’s refusal to cooperate, people began forming conspiracy theories. Many theories were formed like the magic bullet theory, the grassy knoll, the CIA and mafia conspiracy and others. As time went on, and new information was introduced, these theories evolved, captivating more people. Society urged the government to confirm these accusations but the government refused to say anything about the matter and hid the files on the case. But to understand these conspiracies and questions, you have to understand what he was like.

            On May 29, 1917, Rose Kennedy gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, John Kennedy. He was born the second eldest to nine, allowing him to learn small leadership skills rather early from looking over and worrying about his siblings. As a child John’s life was rather lavish, with maids constantly around and summers at their home in Hyannis Port, this naturally made John a little lazy as a kid. His father wrote him while he was away at schools saying, “It is very difficult to make up fundamentals that you have neglected when you were very young, and that is why I am urging you to do the best you can. I am not expecting too much, and I will not be disappointed if you don’t turn out to be a real genius, but I think you can be a really worthwhile citizen…"(“Life of John F. Kennedy.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum), proving Johns lack of ambition to strive in school.

As John got older he began to take more responsibility for his life. He graduated from Harvard and then began another journey going on to navy with his brother Joe. John stayed in Navy for three and a half years, and when he returned home he received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his leadership and courage on the battlefield. Although this was an incredible honor, when he returned home he discovered his brother Joe died in battle, which went on to impact his perspective on the rest of his life. John’s leadership and bravery that he developed in the war was overwhelmed into confusion. Before Joe’s death, John planned to live a quiet life as a teacher, but after experiencing the loss of his brother, he wasn’t sure that was the lifestyle he should pursue. His father convinced him to use his voice in politics to try and change America for the better. John was easily persuaded and went on to run for Congress in Massachusetts' eleventh congressional district, and won in 1946. This was the beginning of his life as a politician and would eventually lead to his tragic death.

Kennedy was known for his positive, outgoing personality in both aspects of his life, political and personal. An example of this is in a quote from Kennedy’s Inaugural Address; "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”. This quote shows how Kennedy asked the people to step up and help rebuild the country, unlike other presidents who made promises to change America themselves. Kennedy worked hard at improving his country by doing things like supporting NASA, creating the Peace Corps, and working on diminishing racial discrimination. Kennedy proposed a Civil Rights bill to Congress on June 11, 1963. He then went to the media to say, "This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds…on the principle that all men are created equal," publicly confirming his attempts at eliminating racial discrimination. These attempts to improve civil rights and the nation’s political image showed his good character.

Although Kennedy’s political decisions improved Americas’ image, some citizens had a hard time seeing how getting rid of racial discrimination was a good and moral deed that needed to be implemented in society. This resulted in him receiving a lot of criticism which tainted his image. He was not only criticized for his effort to dissolve racial discrimination but also being involved in many interesting scandals. The most popular example of these involves Marylyn Monroe and his wife Jacqueline Kennedy. Because of rumors that accused Kennedy of having multiple affairs with random women, their marriage was perceived to not be perfect. According to Daily Mail, the relationship between John and Marylyn was confirmed when Marylyn called his wife to confirm rumored affair to which Jackie supposedly responded “I'll move out and you'll have all the problems.”(Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 4 Aug. 2013) These accusations made Kennedy look unfaithful and untrustworthy, causing many people to dislike him

On November 21, 1963 Kennedy flew out to Dallas to present a speech, but was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald in the back of head while he driving off with his wife. Although Kennedy had quite a dramatic life, he continued to be leader throughout the many problems that arose in his presidency. He is now looked upon to have been a calm, respectable man who attempted to improve the country by touching base with many controversial topics.

The conspiracies began when the Warren Commission was established. Lyndon Johnson, the 36^th president, established the Warren Commission to investigate the details of Kennedy’s assassination. There were dozens of people in the Commission but only seven significant members, including people like the United States Representative and the United States Senate.  After a yearlong investigation the Chief of Justice of the United States, Earl Warren, concluded that Lee Oswald worked alone in the murder and there was no further conspiracies. When this information was released everyone was unsatisfied and even the press noticed it.  The New York Times wrote on the release of the commission, “The question now is whether the report will satisfy those, especially abroad, who have insisted that there must have been a conspiracy in the assassination.” (The New York Times Sep. 27, 1964) This article confirms America’s doubt in government and the formation of conspiracies.

After Kennedy died many people looked closer at the assassination and noticed that there seemed to be two shots fired at Kennedy. In a video of the shooting it is noticeable that he was shot in both his neck and his head, but that not the odd part. The two shots seemed to have different entrance points from two different positions. This information was the base of one of the first conspiracy theories formed. This theory not only claims that Kennedy was shot twice but that Lee Oswald did not act alone. Everyone had a different idea of who helped Oswald and one of more researched theories was that Lee Oswald had twin or double assist him. Although it does sound crazy, the facts to back it up make the theory a little more believable. A popular piece of evidence was given by John Armstrong after his research done on Lee Oswald. In Armstrong research he noticed the differences in Oswald’s records, height, eye color and scars adding evidence of the theory. (“Seeing Oswald Double.”). Another piece of evidence is from the claim by a man named Oscar Contreras. He had claimed to have met a Lee Harvey Oswald in the fall of 1963 when Oswald was in Mexico City but this man looked thirty five and had light hair, which doesn’t fit an actual description of the real Oswald. Because his description is so off on Oswald people began to believe that this was a double of Oswald. Although this is one of the harder to believe theories, it brings up the question if there an accomplice in the assassination.

The biggest theory involves the CIA. This theory involves a bit of backstory to understand their motive to kill John Kennedy. It is well known that at the time of Kennedy’s presidency the CIA was trying to kill Fidel Castro, who was the Prime Minister in the Republic of Cuba. Fidel Castro was on the government’s hit list due to his conflicts with the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis. This seems justified but they had not discussed this with President Kennedy and apparently when he found out he had plans to shut down the CIA. This conflict between the CIA and the president created tension and lead people to think that the CIA was behind the assassination. According to the theory the CIA hired Lee Oswald to kill Kennedy and when he was captured they went on to hire another person to kill Lee Oswald to prevent any information involving them to be exposed. It is one of the biggest theories known because the CIA is known worldwide but because no one can seem to debunk it. On a poll held on twitter it is also shown that this theory is the most believed as well. (Hayes, Christal. “On the Day JFK Was Assassinated, the CIA Tried to Kill Castro with a Pen.’)

There are many other smaller theories including magic bullet theory. The magic bullet theory is quite simple and was formed to help explain why it seemed that there was two different shooters. The theory states that when Oswald shot his bullet it went through Kennedy’s neck and magically turned and went back through his head. Another smaller theory was on the mafia and their involvement with the assassination. The mafia is actually connected to the other bigger conspiracies. One of being that the CIA hired them due to their conflicts with Kennedy. Another is said that the mafia did it themselves due to their involvement with Cuba and the Bay of Pigs. These smaller theories are very farfetched and are rarely believed in. (Goldman, Russell “The Top 5 John F. Kennedy Assassination Conspiracy Theories.’)

 John Kennedy was a well-respected man that was, like most presidents, involved in many controversial situations that caused him to gain a lot of enemies and because of the unfortunate circumstances on how he was killed, it has led to conspiracy theories being formed. There are dozens of conspiracy theories, some that are extremely farfetched and others that are believable. These theories are just desperately trying to answer the questions the Kennedy assassination brought about and have led people to whole heartedly believe in them.

  

Work Cited

“Life of John F. Kennedy.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/Life-of-John-F-Kennedy.aspx.

“John F. Kennedy.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 27 Oct. 2017, www.biography.com/people/john-f-kennedy-9362930.

History.com Staff. “John F. Kennedy.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy.

“John F. Kennedy - Mini Biography.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 24 Feb. 2017, www.biography.com/videos/john-f-kennedy-mini-biography-596097603825.

Pow, Helen. “Revealed: Marilyn Called Jackie to Confess JFK Affair... and First Lady Replied 'That's Great, I'll Move out and You Have All the Problems' .” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 4 Aug. 2013, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2384446/JFK-book-Marilyn-Monroe-confessed-affair-Jackie-replied-great-Ill-problems.html.

“Seeing Oswald Double.” Two Oswalds Theories in the JFK Assassination, mcadams.posc.mu.edu/2oswalds.html.    

“Oswald in Mexico City.” Oswald in Mexico City, www.maryferrell.org/pages/Oswald_in_Mexico_City.html.

History.com Staff. “Warren Commission.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/warren-commission.

Hayes, Christal. “On the Day JFK Was Assassinated, the CIA Tried to Kill Castro with a Pen.”Newsweek, 9 Nov. 2017, www.newsweek.com/exact-moment-jfk-was-assassinated-cia-was-trying-kill-castro-rigged-ballpoint-707192. 

GOLDMAN, RUSSELL. “The Top 5 John F. Kennedy Assassination Conspiracy Theories.”ABC NEWS, 11 Nov. 2013, abcnews.go.com/US/top-john-kennedy-assassination-conspiracy-theories/story?id.