Wednesday, December 13, 2017

JFK Assassination by Diarta Kurteshi


Final Essay- John F. Kennedy
How did John F. Kennedy really die? On November 22, 1963, the world believed that Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated John F. Kennedy. Yet two days later, Oswald was killed himself right before his trail, raising the question of whether or not he was the victim of John F. Kennedy’s death. Since then, a numerous amount of conspiracy theories on the assassination of John F. Kennedy came about: Did the mafia shoot John F. Kennedy? Did Lee Harvey Oswald really kill him? Or did the C.I.A have someone kill him and cover up the evidence? Let’s take a closer look at these conspiracy theories individually and determine a possibility on what really happened.
Image result for john f kennedy
Who was John F. Kennedy? Ask anyone in a crowd, and they will tell you that he was the most loved president of all time. Picture a handsome, young man from Massachusetts: 6’1” and 175 pounds, cool grey eyes, and light brown hair. (The Presidential Ham). As a brilliant speaker who inspired a generation of young Americans, a humorous yet hardworking individual, and the youngest president of the United States (1), John F. Kennedy fits the image of the American dream.
How did people of the United States describe their dear President? He was a hero because of these qualities: leadership, bravery and eloquence, according to HRF. Dionne says, “It tells us a great deal about the meaning of John F. Kennedy in our history that liberals and conservatives alike are eager to pronounce him as one of their own.” A 2011 Gallup poll found that he came in fourth when Americans were asked to name the greatest president of all time, behind Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, and Bill Clinton, but ahead of George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson.
If the president was loved so much by the people, what would possibly trigger someone to want to assassinate him? John F. Kennedy presented himself as a perfect, young, responsible man who only cared for the well- being of the country (John F Kennedy Personality Traits). However, behind closed doors, there were many scandals that Kennedy appeared to be involved him (Preston). There were people who considered Kennedy to be a trader and arrogant. According to Desert News, it was seen that “before his assassination, and in between various Cold War crises, John F. Kennedy was in constant scandal about his supposed relationships with a number of women. From White House secretaries to supermodel Marilyn Monroe, JFK’s supposed list of romances was heavily speculated upon, while he was in office and after.” While the trait of being a compulsive womanizer was blamed on Kennedy’s past traumatic experiences within his family (Kiger), it began to anger people such as his wife, Jacqueline Bouvier, because even after he got married, he continued to involve himself in sex scandals(1).  This created a bad image for the president and had many people questioning whether or not the president was just as truthful as he made himself appear.
Image result for john f kennedy scandalAlthough the scandals of Kennedy did arise, and some people showed concern, the wrongs of Kennedy did seem to fade quickly and were only in the public eye for a short amount of time. (Preston, Brian). He was forgiven from the crowd because he of “his courageous leadership in the Cuban Missile Crisis, where he is credited with averting WW3.” (1). Even though the crowd forgave him for being involved in these sex scandals, it doesn’t take away the fact that there were individuals who were still hurt that an ignorant man could get away with taking advantage of young women. (1) Some of these individuals involved included former White House intern Mimi Alford who says, “JFK 'took her virginity', told her to perform sex acts on his friend while he watched, made her take drugs, but never kissed her on the lips. At one point she thought she was pregnant with JFK's child and he offered to arrange an illegal abortion,” and “A retired church worker has revealed how John F Kennedy took her virginity during a debauched 18-month affair while she was a teenage White House intern.”
Despite his scandals, JFK did make most people in the United States happy. (“John F Kennedy Personality Traits”). After getting involved and bringing a positive outcome from the Cuban Missile Crisis, “risk taker” was added to the list of personality traits that was seen from the president (1). The most liked trait that came about from President Kennedy, was that even though he took a lot of risks, he knew when it was appropriate to. He never tried to put the United States and made sure that the people in America were always safe (1).
To those who knew John F. Kennedy, it wasn’t unimaginable why someone would want the president assassinated, but it did have them questioning who was involved and for what specific reason (Kiger). Unfortunately, to this day, the answer still remains unresolved, and no one truly knows how Kennedy had died.
After John F. Kennedy passed away, many conspiracy theories came about: the mafia shot John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald killed him, and the C.I.A had someone kill him and then covered up the evidence. Which theory best solves the John F. Kennedy conspiracy? Let’s dig deeper into the evidence and resolve this case.
The first conspiracy theory is that the mafia shot John F. Kennedy. This theory is believed to be based off of the fact that the Mafia was furious at John F. Kennedy, as well as Robert Kennedy for wanting to destroy organized crime (Kiger). The details of what actually happened on November 22, 1963, the night of John F. Kennedy’s death, are not exactly clear. What is known is that “Thomas H. Killam, a man who worked for Jack Ruby, claimed that there was a link between his former employer, Lee Harvey Oswald and the Mafia.” (“JFK Theory: The Mafia”). Over time, a numerous amount of people confessed to being a part of the mafia and knowing details about this crime (Kiger). In October, 1991, Chauncey Holt, “claimed Peter Licavoli, a leading figure in the Mafia in Detroit, had organized the conspiracy and named Charlie Nicoletti, Charles Harrelson and Charles Rogers as the gunmen.” (1). Later to confess, was James Files. “He claimed that two Mafia leaders, Sam Giancana and Johnny Roselli organized the assassination. Charlie Nicoletti was identified as the other gunman.”(The Murder of JFK: Confession of an Assassin (1996). Although there were confession from people saying that they were involved in this crime and knew details about the leader who organized the assassination, this case has no merit because each person that confessed named a different leader (1). Many people found it hard to believe that the mafia had killed John F. Kennedy because the evidence on who killed him wasn’t clear and the stories didn’t add up. After a survey was conducted at Clear Springs High School, only six people out of thirty believed that the mafia was involved in this case.
The second conspiracy theory is that Lee Harvey Oswald had shot and killed John F. Kennedy. The case ended with accepting the belief that Lee Harvey Oswald shot three bullets from the window of the Texas Book Depository and acted alone on this action (Sanders). It was never clear what Oswald had against Kennedy and the reasoning for wanting to kill him but it was found that, “He was perpetually discontented with the world around him. Long before the assassination he expressed his hatred for American society and acted in protest against it,” (1).  Several theories arose involving Oswald. Some claimed that he worked alone and other said that he worked with a larger group or organization (Ayton). One theory in specific claims that, “Oswald was trying to kill someone else that day – Texas Gov. John Connally rather than Kennedy. It's possible there were individuals who helped Oswald, but who weren't part of any larger group or perhaps unaware of what he was planning,” (1).  This theory seems to be the most realistic belief because there was a numerous amount of witnesses. There were two witnesses who saw Lee Harvey Oswald carrying a bag big enough to fit a rifle in the day of the assassination, and there were many medical witnesses who described the bullet hole in the presidents back perfectly to how Oswald was believed to shot him (1).
The third conspiracy theory is that the C.I.A. had someone kill John F. Kennedy and then covered up the evidence. After a report dispersed in 2013 by CIA historian David Robarge, it was believed that the C.I.A knew more about the situation of John F. Kennedy’s death than they were sharing. (“We’re learning more about the CIA ‘cover up’ surrounding JFK’s assassination). According to the report, the C.I.A had kept a numerous amount of information hidden, especially facts that had to do with how Lee Harvey Oswald spent and lived his life before the death of the president. (1)  The theory is that the CIA thought John F. Kennedy was going to get rid of them because “he found out the CIA was trying to kill (Cuban leader Fidel) Castro, and as a result of that, they were the ones that ordered the killing of Kennedy.” It was believed that Allen Dulles, the head of the CIA, was the one who was given the task of the killing (Burgos). The answer over who really shot John F. Kennedy is supposedly hidden in unreleased CIA files. The unreleased file from the CIA are scheduled to be released in 2017 “as part of the 1992 Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act,” (1). The "CIA has followed the provisions of the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act, and the National Archives has all of the agency's documents and files on the Kennedy assassination," said CIA spokesman Edward Price. "The classified information contained in the files remains subject to the declassification provisions of the Act,” (1). The theory that the C.I.A killed John F. Kennedy doesn’t have enough of released evidence for anyone to truly believe that they were a part of the assassination.
Although no none knows which conspiracy out of the three is the truth, Lee Harvey Oswald firing at John F. Kennedy is the most believable because it has the most evidence and witnesses to back it up.
On November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, former President, John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in a mysterious way. The results of the president’s death led to three conspiracy theories:
1. The mafia shot John F. Kennedy
2. Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK
3. The C.I.A had someone kill him and covered up the evidence
In 2017, 54 years after the death of John. F Kennedy, the mystery of who killed the president remains unsolved. Lee Harvey Oswald remains to be the main suspect in this case.



Works Cited:
•          “Was Kennedy Tied to the Mob?” National Geographic Channel, 23 Oct. 2013, channel.nationalgeographic.com/killing-kennedy/articles/jfks-secret-mafia-history/.
•          The Dark Side of President John Kennedy, viewzone.com/JFKteen.html.
•          “John F Kennedy Personality Traits.” HRFnd, 9 Apr. 2015, healthresearchfunding.org/john-f-kennedy-personality-traits/.
•          “John Fitzgerald Kennedy.” John Fitzgerald Kennedy - Character Traits, johnfkennedy.weebly.com/character-traits.html.
•          (john@spartacus-educational.com), John Simkin. Spartacus Educational, Spartacus Educational, spartacus-educational.com/JFKSinvestigation.htm.
•          Burgos, Evan. “An inside Job: CIA a Suspect for Some in JFK's Killing.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 20 Nov. 2013, www.nbcnews.com/news/other/inside-job-cia-suspect-some-jfks-killing-f2D11627219.
•          “Lee Harvey Oswald’s Motives.” Lee Harvey Oswald's Motives in Killing John Kennedy, mcadams.posc.mu.edu/motives.htm.
•          Sanders, Linley. “Who Killed JFK? A Recap of Assassination Theories and the Timeline.” Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2017, www.newsweek.com/who-killed-jfk-recap-assassination-trump-reveals-files-693774.
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