“I want them to see what they have done,” Jackie Kennedy states before being aired on TV, covered in blood stains, just hours after her husband was shot and killed (Andonovska 1). Our former ambitious president, John F. Kennedy, was fatally assassinated during a motorcade rally in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. To this day, 54 years later, the case has continued to remain unsolved. In the year 2030, when everyone alive at the time of the shooting has passed, the government will release all the evidence withheld from the public. Since the gruesome, public incident these conspiracy theories have erupted:
- Was it one single bullet that caused so much destruction?
- Was there a second gunman along with Lee Harvey Oswald?
- Was Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson behind the horrific murder?
- Did Jackie Kennedy secretly plan it for pure revenge?
Let’s dive deeper into the unsolved mystery of John F. Kennedy’s murder, considering there were two gunmen as the most feasible theory to this nationwide case.
Known for his alluring charisma, John F. Kennedy became a greatly known American icon. The 35th president who less than 3 years after being sworn in, was tragically shot and killed while riding in a motorcade to thank his great American people for supporting him. Many ideas for our country were on the rise, until they were assassinated with him that day. It was a day where a wife lost her husband, children lost their father, and the American citizens lost their president.
While being known as an incredible man, JFK was definitely not all he was cracked up to be. He made poor governmental decisions dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Bay of Pigs, and the Vietnam War, which hurt many citizens of the United States. The decisions he made with the governmental issues affected countries from all over the world causing them to become angry with him and the United States.
JFK was sadly also a man who could not keep his pants zipped (Hughes-Wilson 23.) It was impressive Jackie Kennedy continued to love him regardless of the dozens of women he had slept with during his lifetime, Marilyn Monroe being his most famous and publicly known mistress. His many affairs and sex scandals is a characteristic that is and will remain to be something he is well-known for.
Everybody makes mistakes though, after all we are only human. Although, Kennedy made some unfortunate decisions, he loved still highly admired by many. With an attractive face, friendly smile, and younger age people fell in love with him and supported him very easily. His competitive nature helped him thrive for excellence by always putting all his effort and heart into what he did (John F. Kennedy Personality Traits 1). With so many high-quality traits and being praised by many people, was he blinded from his enemies and their potential threats? Are his mistakes more jeopardizing than what everyone had expected? The thousands of aspects and government protected evidence leaves the United States citizens hunting for the truth.
In the assassination case of John F. Kennedy, several conspiracy theories are addressed. These include: the magic bullet theory, that there were multiple gunmen including Lee Harvey Oswald, Lyndon B. Johnson was behind it, and Jackie Kennedy planned it to gain revenge. Although there has not been a proven culprit, and all the evidence regarding the case has been locked away for years, the facts surrounding the case support only one theory.
In the first theory, it has been suggested that a single bullet was knocked around and redirected multiple times killing John F. Kennedy (Greenspan 1). Along with killing Kennedy, that single bullet also caused damage to Texas Governor, John Connally, who was seated in front of Kennedy during the motorcade (Greenspan 1). In the 1991 film titled “JFK”, a movie that depicts the court cases and attorney’s arguments of what truly happened in an attempt to solve the unexpected assassination. In a very well-known scene, attorney Jim Garrison argues how the magic bullet theory was not a viable solution to the case by showing a demonstration of how the theory is said to have happened (Stone 1). In the theory it explains Lee Harvey Oswald fired a single shot from the Book Depository causing injuries to JFK and John Connally. The bullet entered through Kennedy’s shoulder, redirected to come out of his neck/head, then entered Connally’s shoulder, redirected to hit his wrist, and finally redirected again to hit his knee (Stone 1). A recent survey asked men and woman of all ages if they believed in the magic bullet theory. Only fifteen percent did. This leaves a whopping eighty-five percent believing it is an impossible theory. With the details of this crazy conspiracy, they still do not explain the final blow to Kennedy’s head. During the assassination, he was hit the first time from the back, causing his body to jolt forward and him to grab his throat. About seven seconds after grabbing his throat, Kennedy is shown to be hit again. His head violently thrashes back and to the left and appears to have basically exploded. Since his head jerked back and to the left, clearly explains that the shot did not come from behind him where Oswald was. There must have been another shot that came from in front of the car. Therefore, the magic bullet theory is not viable as a solution to close the case on John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
The second theory proposes Lee Harvey Oswald was not alone in committing this violent crime. Who was the other perpetrator? In this conspiracy theory, Lee Harvey Oswald had a second shooter behind the grassy knoll on the right side of the road. People heard what sounded like an automatic weapon coming from that direction which is why police ran that way when they heard the shot (Mack 1). While no one was caught behind there, the science and statistics of Kennedy’s wounds and bodily actions lean towards this theory. When he is hit the second time, his head bursts and is thrust back and to the left. Newton’s first law of motion states an object at rest will stay in rest until acted upon by an opposing force (Newton’s Laws of Motion 1). Therefore, since Kennedy’s head jolted backwards and to the right something had to cause that reaction. Whatever caused it, possibly a second shooter, had to be somewhere in front of him on the right side of the road. When Kennedy experienced the blow to his head, brain and skull fragments were blasted backwards signifying he was moving towards the shooter, not away (Vollbach and Burda 1). Lee Harvey Oswald was not a viable source to have caused it, considering he was behind the president. Since he was behind Kennedy, he only could have caused the first shot when his head went forward but not the second which resulted in a different reaction with his head and brain matter. An exit wound was also spotted in the back of his head during the autopsy. Along with all the physical evidence, there was a figure spotted on the grassy knoll with a blurry picture for evidence and has been determined it is a human (Organ 1). With so many scientific and physical evidence shown, there is only one viable solution to this infamous assassination. There has to be two gunmen, Lee Harvey Oswald in the book depository and an unknown gunman in the grassy knoll.
In the third conspiracy theory, Lyndon B. Johnson is behind the entire assassination. Johnson would have needed to possess very strong motives to have Kennedy killed. Why would Kennedy’s Vice President want him dead though? Political motive is a strong point. It began when Johnson was a Texas Congressman and promoter of FDR’s New Deal Program and Kennedy did not want him on the 1964 ticket (Washington 1). LBJ, the CIA, and the FBI did not agree with Kennedy’s decisions concerning the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis. With many negative thoughts on Kennedy’s actions, it was clear Johnson thought he could easily be a better president than Kennedy and wanted that power. His mistress of twenty- one years stated she knew he would kill Kennedy and the night before the assassination, he said “After tomorrow those godd-mn Kennedys will never embarrass me again. That's not a threat. That's a promise.” (Washington 1). Whether his mistress is telling the truth or not, it is clear evidence making Johnson a suspect. It does not help him at all that his personal hitman’s fingerprints were found on a cardboard box in the Texas School Book Depository on the sixth floor (Washington 1). Jackie Kennedy also said that she believes Johnson had something to do with the killing of her husband (Washington 1). Our great nation was already experiencing a lack of trust in the government after Kennedy’s decisions to go through with the Bay of Pigs Invasion which resulted badly for the United States. With all the lack of trust American people had in the government, people began to believe Johnson was behind the murder of President Kennedy. To distrustful United States citizens, why would it not make sense that he was behind it all and hired a hitman. Lyndon B. Johnson clearly did not agree with Kennedy’s governmental decisions, had a negative past with him, and had less power the him. However, there is not close to enough evidence to prove this theory is a solution. Psychological evidence and one skeptical piece of physical evidence is not anything that can prove a case this large, meaning this is not a feasible answer to Kennedy’s assassination.
The fourth conspiracy theory reveals Jackie Kennedy, the President’s wife, plotted her husband’s assassination as revenge. Why would sweet Jackie kill her loving husband though? Everyone thought they were such a happy couple… to the naked eye at least. Kennedy engaged in numerous affairs during his lifetime and a countless number of them were during his marriage to Jackie Kennedy. His affairs and love life could be dated all the way back to his high school days when even then, he was quite the womanizer. (Kiger 1). Just a few of his various sexual flings include women such as an alleged German spy, 19-year-old Mimi Alford, many accomplished women, strippers, airline stewardess, secretaries, and the most famous of all his lovers Marilyn Monroe. He would even bring them into Jackie’s room to perform sexual acts as strictly pleasure for his strange sex hobby (Kiger 1). This is a big ordeal that would give Jackie major motive in killing her “chaser” husband. In the present days any woman would downright refuse to be treated that way and would leave her husband in a blink of the eye. According to an interview People magazine had with close friends of the Kennedy’s, that is just how it was during that time (McNeil and Kimble 1). Jackie vowed to love her husband no matter, what so in the end he always came back to her and she loved him regardless of his flaws. She accepted him for who he was and was not going to make him change (McNeil and Kimble 1). Considering Jackie had no hard feelings against JFK and they still loved each other no matter what, it does not seem possible for Jackie Kennedy to have plotted JFK’s assassination out of revenge. Therefore, there is not near enough evidence to support this conspiracy theory.
Our former president, John F. Kennedy was fatally shot during a motorcade rally in Dallas in 1963. With extra evidence detained by the government and kept secret from the public, these conspiracy theories continue to be debated decades later:
- Was it one single bullet that caused so much destruction?
- Was there a second gunman along with Lee Harvey Oswald?
- Was Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson behind the horrific murder?
- Did Jackie Kennedy secretly plan it for pure revenge?
Although substantial evidence points to Lee Harvey Oswald and a second gunman as JFK’s assassinators, the public tragedy that took place 54 years ago in Dallas, Texas remains unsolved.
Works Cited
Hughes-Wilson, John. JFK: an American Coup D'etat: the Truth behind the Kennedy Assassination. ReadHowYouWant, 2016.
“John F Kennedy Personality Traits.” HRFnd, 9 Apr. 2015, healthresearchfunding.org/john-f-kennedy-personality-traits/.
“Jackie Kennedy Wore Her Blood-Splattered Pink Chanel Suit for the Rest of the Day after JFK's Assassination.” The Vintage News, 24 Oct. 2016, www.thevintagenews.com/2016/10/25/i-want-them-to-see-what-they-have-done-to-jack-jackie-kennedy-wore-her-blood-splattered-pink-chanel-suit-for-the-rest-of-the-day-after-jfks-assassination-2/.
Greenspan, Jesse. “The Other Victims of the JFK Assassination.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 18 Nov. 2013,www.history.com/news/the-other-victims-of-the-jfk-assassination.
Stone, Oliver, and Oliver Stone. JFK. Warner Bros., 1991.
Mack, Gary. “The Man Who Named the Grassy Knoll.” Who Invented the Term "Grassy Knoll?", mcadams.posc.mu.edu/gk_name.htm.
“Newton's Laws of Motion.” Newton's Laws of Motion, physics.bu.edu./~duffy/py105/Newton.html.
Organ, Jerry. “‘Smoke’ on the Grassy Knoll.” "Smoke" on the Grassy Knoll in the Wake of the JFK Assassination, 2000, mcadams.posc.mu.edu/organ3.htm.
Vollbach, Michael, and Ronald Burda. “Multiple Shots from Many Directions Killed JFK .” U.S. News, 18 Nov. 2013, 4:40,www.usnews.com/debate-club/was-jfks-assassination-a-conspiracy/multiple-shots-prove-jfk-assassination-was-a-conspiracy.
Washington, Ellis. “Cartoons.” Did LBJ Kill JFK?, 23 Nov. 2013, www.renewamerica.com/columns/washington/131123.
Kiger, Patrick J. “The Sex Life of JFK.” National Geographic Channel, 23 Oct. 2013, channel.nationalgeographic.com/killing-kennedy/articles/the-sex-life-of-jfk/.
McNeil, Liz, and Lindsay Kimble. “What Jackie Kennedy Knew About JFK's Cheating - and Why She Looked the Other Way.”PEOPLE.com, 30 Nov. 2016, 8:00 AM, people.com/politics/what-jackie-kennedy-knew-about-jfk-cheating/.
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