JFK Assassination Planned? By Isabella Askew-Garcia

Born May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, was John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) who was nicknamed Jack. He was one of the oldest siblings out of nine (“John F. Kennedy” 1). He was an intelligent young boy and later became a handsome, well-educated man. Kennedy attended Harvard University and later became a Navy Seal (1). At that time, Kennedy would have never known that he would serve in the House of Representatives, become a U.S. Senator or achieve the role of the 35^th president of the United States of America.

Following his father’s leadership, Kennedy was a fierce competitor throughout his life. He was such a competitor that his sister Eunice said “That’s the only thing Jack gets really emotional about - when he loses” (“John F. Kennedy” 1). Even as a child, Kennedy fought through various health battles. As a young boy, “He was also chronically ill during his childhood and adolescence; he suffered from severe colds, the flu, scarlet fever and even more severe, undiagnosed diseases that forced him to miss months of school at a time and occasionally brought him to the brink of death” (1). He forced his way through these sicknesses. Kennedy later joined the Navy Seals after graduating from Harvard University. During his journey as a Navy Seal, Kennedy was put in command of a patrol torpedo that later was struck by a Japanese warship. Kennedy survived the wreck with a badly injured back along with other crew members; unfortunately, two of the sailors lost their lives. Although Kennedy’s back was injured, he managed to guide the other survivors to shore where they were rescued six days later. Kennedy’s fierce attitude and strong mind, and with the help of his father’s teachings, is why Kennedy was able to overcome many obstacles in his life.

John F. Kennedy was also an intelligent and motivated being. After being discharged from the Navy at the age of twenty-nine, Kennedy decided to live on his late brother’s legacy for his family. Kennedy won his election for a seat in the House of Representatives. Although Kennedy served three terms, he claimed that “Nobody paid attention to us nationally” (“John F. Kennedy” 1). Kennedy became bored with his job because he was simply too intelligent for that life style. Being the fierce man that he was, Kennedy “challenged Republican incumbent Henry Cabot Lodge for his seat in the U.S. Senate”, which Kennedy also won (1). Kennedy first showed his interest in controversial topics as a Harvard student when he wrote and explained his opinion “on why Britain was so unprepared to fight Germany in World War II” (1) :

 An incisive analysis of Britain’s failures to meet the Nazi challenge, the paper was so well-received that upon Kennedy’s graduation in 1940 it was published as book, Why England Slept, selling more than 80,000 copies. Kennedy’s father sent him a cablegram in the Aftermath of the book’s publication: “Two things I always knew about you one that you are smart two that you are a swell guy love dad.” (1)

Throughout his career, Kennedy gained constant support from his family and the American people. Because of his attitude and the way he carried himself, Kennedy had an advantage during the presidential election. This was one of the first elections to be aired on television; before this, elections were only heard on the radio. Although Kennedy was younger than Nixon by only a couple of years, his appearance was much more appealing than Nixon’s. Nixon refused to wear make-up claiming that it was only for women while Kennedy gladly wore it, which made him look more attractive. Many people believe that it was this reason that Kennedy won the election, simply because his appearance was better looking.

Conspiracy #1 Who shot JFK?

            Many people that attended the motorcade in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, witnessed the assassination of the 35^th president, John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was shot in his neck and head from behind, while in the backseat of a car. The shots were believed to come from the sixth floor of The Texas School Book Depository. Throughout the crowd and massive chaos, there was one man in particular that looked suspicious to a police officer. That man was Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was spotted walking very fast and was stopped by a police man while fleeing the assassination scene. When confronted by the police officer, Oswald shot him with a hand gun and ran into a nearby movie theater to hide (Beyond JFK 1). There were people that witnessed this and Oswald was arrested inside the movie theater, at the time only for shooting the officer. As the investigation continued, it was determined that Oswald had in fact worked at the building where the shots had supposedly come from. The gun that was responsible for Kennedy’s death was also found in this building (1). The Dallas police, along with other investigators, decided that this was enough evidence to charge Lee Harvey Oswald with the murder of John F. Kennedy. Oswald was interrogated for more than twelve hours, with virtually no real evidence to prove that he was the assassin. There were no ties between the gun used to kill Kennedy and Oswald (1). There are many allegations that Oswald wasn’t the shooter, or if he was, he did not act alone. Although no one saw where the shots came from, many witnesses swear to have heard the shots come from behind the grassy knoll (1). In the footage of President Kennedy being shot, one can clearly see that his head and body fall backward. Here is where the suspicion starts to take place. Physics and common sense would tell anyone, that if someone were to be shot from behind, then their body would naturally fall forward. It would not make sense for Kennedy’s body to fall backwards if he was shot from behind. However, what would make sense is Kennedy being shot from the front. This could be a possibility if the witnesses that say they heard the shots from the grassy knoll were true. At the time and placement that Kennedy was shot, the grassy knoll was in front of the vehicle.  For the people that claim the shots came from somewhere else, they were hushed by the government who swore that they were only hearing echoes of the original shots (1). The reason behind this is because the gun that was found was a very old and cheap gun. Kennedy was shot twice. There have been many experiments testing to see if it was possible for that type of gun to be fired so quickly (1). No one has been able to cock and fire that gun in the same amount of time the government says the shots were fired. A survey was conducted, and the majority believed that this was the most plausible theory.

Conspiracy #2 Was there a cover-up?

            This conspiracy has many factors to it. As said in the first conspiracy, there was no record of Oswald’s interrogation kept. There was also a “lack of finger prints to link him to the crime” and “the evidence against Oswald was never presented in court” (Beyond JFK 1). In the documentary Beyond JFK, many people close to the investigation were interviewed. Ken O’Donnell and Dave Powers told former Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neil that “the FBI persuaded them to change their eyewitness testimony, which placed the fatal shot as coming from the grassy knoll,” and the FBI told them “let’s get this behind us, you’re wrong, there had been an echo, that was an echo you heard both of you and Dave were wrong in this” (1). If this statement is true, this could prove that there was some type of cover-up being constructed. This documentary says that any medical questions regarding Kennedy’s autopsy were ignored. The government had made it very clear on who they knew killed Kennedy and how. What they never answered was why.

Before he could go to trial, Oswald was shot and killed by a man named Jack Ruby. There has been rumors of Oswald and Ruby knowing each other, and even possibly being involved with the CIA (1). Keep in mind that none of these statements have been proven to be true. Another reason for the public to believe that there was a cover-up was because “many witnesses were never called” (1). Not only were they not called, but more than a handful suddenly died. Approximately twenty-two witnesses died before testifying, most of them from gunshot injuries. This lead the American people to believe that the government was killing off witnesses to cover more evidence. In the movie Beyond JFK, they interviewed many important people including, people of the House, Oswald’s wife, and some people that were even involved with the investigation (1). One can question that if this documentary crew could get ahold of a great deal of important people and interview them, why did it seem so difficult for the government to do so? The government can possibly do anything and tell the people exactly what they want the people to know and not get in trouble for it. If the government tried so hard to cover-up Kennedy’s assassination, then they must’ve known who really killed him. 

Conspiracy #3 CIA & Lyndon

            This last theory involves Lyndon B. Johnson and the Central Intelligence Agency. During Kennedy’s presidency, the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba in 1961 was a very controversial topic. This invasion was planned and conducted by the CIA and the Eisenhower Administration (Beyond JFK 1). Some say that Kennedy was publicly supporting this invasion, while secretly planning to back out of it. Kennedy did not want to be involved in this war at all. That is where Kennedy and Johnson bumped heads. From the very beginning, Kennedy and Johnson had very different views about certain situations. This made it difficult for them to work together as a team of President and Vice President. Johnson did not agree with Kennedy’s beliefs at all. No more than two hours after President Kennedy was murdered, Johnson was already pushing the office and press to get him sworn in as the new President of the United States of America (1). Although the assassination required Johnson to be sworn in, people thought it was odd for him to be insistent on the matter.

The situation gets even more interesting when evaluating documents that were signed during Kennedy’s Presidency. Kennedy signed a Memorandum on October 11, 1963 that states he was going to withdraw 1,000 military personnel by the end of 1963 (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum 1). Kennedy also mentioned and made clear that there were to be no formal announcement of his plan to withdraw. Johnson took advantage of this when, four days after the assassination of Kennedy, he made modest changes to Kennedy’s version of the Memorandum No. 263 (1). Johnson signed the National Security Action Memorandum No. 273, on November, 1963 (Office of the Historian). The memorandum stated that the objective of the United States is to continue with assisting the South Vietnam people. The outcome of the war was to help South Vietnam win their battle against the Communist Conspiracy. Almost a year later, Johnson signed National Security Action Memorandum No. 288 that was directed to the top men in the government and military. The memorandum states “All agencies concerned are directed to proceed energetically with the execution” (Discover LBJ). This document proves how pressed Johnson was to have the American soldiers fight. Because of Johnson’s actions shortly after the death of Kennedy, many people suspected that he played a role in the assassination. These documents could be evidence to support the American peoples’ suspicion. It is the duty of the Vice President to support and provide advice for the President. However, in this situation, Johnson betrayed Kennedy by changing the memorandum and going against Kennedy’s word. 

            In conclusion, the best theory that supports the mystery of Kennedy’s assassination is conspiracy number two. With little to no evidence, the government was adamant on who killed and how they killed Kennedy. The American peoples’ questions and opinions were completely ignored by the government. To this day, there are many questions and conspiracies on the death of President Kennedy.

           

Works Cited

Beyond ‘JFK’: The Question of Conspiracy. Directed by Barbara Kopple and Danny Schechter, Embassy International Pictures, 1992.

Discover LBJ. "Memorandum # 288, Implementation of South Vietnam Programs, 3/17/1964 · Discover Production." DiscoverLBJ, www.discoverlbj.org/item/nsf-nsam288. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.

“John F Kennedy." Bio, A&E Television Networks, www.biography.com/people/john-f-kennedy-9362930.

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. "National Security Action Memorandum 263." JFK Library, www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/national-security-action-memorandum-263. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.

Office of the Historian. "331. National Security Action Memorandum No. 273." Office of the Historian, history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1961-63v04/d331. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.