When JFK was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas on November
22, 1963, it was a shock to the whole world (“John F. Kennedy Assassinated”).
Some people believe Lee Harvey Oswald did in fact send the shot killing JFK,
but Jesse Curry, the Dallas police chief, said, "We don't have any proof
that Oswald fired the rifle. No one has
been able to put him in that building with a gun in his hand" (“Top 10 JFK
Assassination Quotes”). Because of the uncertainty of Oswald actually killing
JFK, many conspiracies have been thought of, such as JFK being a part of and
killed by the mafia, Jackie Kennedy killing him, and the CIA planning to kill
him. With these theories we will go in deeper and look at how much involvement,
if any, Oswald had in killing JFK.
John F. Kennedy,
better known as “JFK”, was looked as the ideal American man. He was young,
handsome, and charismatic. He had the
“perfect family” that many Americans were searching for. From the outside it
may have looked like his life was perfect, but there were many different things
JFK had to go through.
When JFK was in the US Navy, his
older brother Joe Jr. was killed in an airplane in Germany that was on a secret
mission (“John F. Kennedy”, 1). JFK’s father was devastated by this news and
told JFK that it was his job to live out Joe’s future (1). His father saying that made JFK worried that his
father would be disappointed in him if he did not succeed in living out Joe’s
future. The future for Joe that JFK now needed to continue was
to be the first Catholic President (1). This idea that JFK would have to
continue his brother’s intended future and not let his father down created a
lot of internal pressure on John himself. He had to go back and forth on if he
could live up to his brother’s reputation.
JFK was also fighting his body when
it came to the many diseases and sicknesses he had. One being Addison’s
Disease, which is a rare disease that he had from childhood to teen years (“John
F. Kennedy”). This took a toll on him and his work duties. During his
presidency, he was faced with horrible back pain. He had multiple surgeries
trying to fix to solve it, but for example, he would relapse like what happened
in 1963 when there was a commemorative tree planting ceremony and had to start
back at square one (Baggaley, 1). His
back problems in some ways did not help his presidency. There were many times
JFK was forced to rely on crutches to get around because of how messed up his
back was (1). This disease JFK had did not allow him to be hands on most of the
time and made him miss out on many opportunities because of how much pain he
was in.
JFK used his personality to stay good in the
American citizens’ eyes. JFK used his charismatic personality to relate to the
common man (“Personality Traits of John F Kennedy”, 1). The common man supported JFK because of how much the
common man would strive to be like him. JFK used his facial expressions and his
ability to relate to help him in gain support (1). This trait he used could
change what Americans thought they needed or what should be done. This trait
made him irrespirable to women (1). It is said that JFK had many affairs with
many women, one possibly being Marilyn Monroe (1). This effected his marriage
and he had to hide the women in order for the public to not be aware of what
was going on and to not ruin his reputation.
Despite being a charismatic person,
JFK liked to develop ideas on how to fix United States issues by himself (“Personality Traits of
John F Kennedy”, 1). He loved to
think of the many ways he could solve everyday issues to huge problems. Having
the charismatic personality often helped him negotiate deals in order for his
idea to succeed and go through. JFK even said that “Once
you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life,
I find” (“John F. Kennedy Quotes and Quotations”). He never liked
to give up on an issue even if he could not find the most perfect way to solve
it. Because
of JFK being such an introvert, he was a good peacemaker among the nations (4).
This helped the U.S. gain a diplomatic approach and more allies in case we ever
needed help. JFK being introverted put all the pressure on himself to make sure
everything went smoothly instead of trying to rely on others for help and
advice.
Ultimately, John F. Kennedy was a
different president than the ones from the past and present. His personality
helped his campaign gain support throughout his presidency. He constantly was
being pressured either by his father wanting him to succeed or himself trying
to push for the perfect answer to solve an issue. He was also dealing with his
body constantly in pain and trying to keep his reputation in good standings
with the public. JFK, by far, was one of the most interesting, admired, and
complicated presidents we have ever had even if it was for a short amount of
time.
JFK’s death still has
theories discussed today with different ways and reasons why he died. On a
recent survey conducted, 85 percent of people think JFK’s murder was more than
just Oswald killing him. There are three conspiracies that can go along with
JFK’s covered up death. These three conspiracies are JFK was a part of and
killed by the mafia, Jackie Kennedy killed him, and the CIA killed him. Let’s
compare the facts and decide which sounds the most truthful.
A man named Sam Giancana was the head of the Chicago
mafia group (Kiger, 1). JFK and Sam’s families go way back to the prohibition
era when both families were a part of the bootlegging business (1). Frank
Sinatra, one of JFK’s friends, went to Giancana and asked him to use the mob
power to make people support JFK (1). It is thought that the mafia “rigged” the
voting and elected JFK for the West Virginia primary in 1960 (1). JFK and
Giancana also had the same mistress, but at different times (1). “This woman
was Judith Campbell Exner, JFK told her how he thought he might need him for
support and to win the presidential election” (1). Judith then set up many
meetings and passed notes for JFK and Giancana to discuss a plan on getting JFK
the presidency. JFK using the mafia for support does not sound unreasonable
with the pressure he was receiving from his father on continuing his older
brother’s future. Since JFK and Frank Sinatra were good friends, Sinatra may
have seen what the pressure was doing to JFK mentally and physically. Sinatra
wanted to help his friend get rid of all this built up pressure on himself.
The mafia often
worked and met at casinos and nightclubs to talk business. The man who shot
Oswald while he was in the process of being transported to another prison was
Jack Ruby (“Jack Ruby Kills Lee Harvey Oswald”, 1). In the basement of the
Dallas Police station where Oswald was held to then be transported, there were
many reporters with cameras trying to get a glimpse of the man who killed their
president (1). Ruby came out of nowhere and fatally shot Oswald (1). Ruby was
the owner of a nightclub in Dallas which leads to the idea that Ruby played
some part in the mafia (Goldman, 1). Because of his ties with the mafia, some
think he killed Oswald to stop him from telling the real plot behind JFK’s
murder. This theory cannot be true though because since JFK’s murder, multiple
mafias have come forward saying they were each responsible, but no evidence has
tied them to the case.
JFK and Jackie’s marriage may have looked perfect from
the outside, but they had many issues. One issue was that JFK had other women
in his life. JFK was known to have many affairs throughout their marriage (“Marilyn Monroe Called Jackie Kennedy about
JFK Affair, Book Claims”, 1). Growing up, Jackie Kennedy’s
father, John Vernou Bouvier III, had many affairs throughout her parents’
marriage (1).
Since Jackie grew up with her father cheating in his marriage, it was thought
that she figured it was normal to have to deal with affairs in marriage. Jackie
was very aware of the affairs JFK was having (1). “Jackie one day came to the
office to surprise JFK and take him to lunch and saw Peggy Ashe preforming
sexual acts on JFK under his desk” (Howe, 1). Another idea is that Jackie
Kennedy was paid one million dollars to stay in the dishonest marriage with JFK
(1). Jackie was said to be unhappy and wanted to get a divorce for a while (1).
JFK was said to have paid Jackie off to keep his image good so that he would
not be the first president to get a divorce while in the presidency (1). Jackie
turned a blind eye to the affairs until Marilyn Monroe became the new woman.
Monroe’s career at this time was slowly fading out, so Jackie and many
Americans today think Monroe tried to get with JFK to maintain her fame and
popularity (1). Unlike the other women JFK was with, Monroe was like a loose
cannon. Jackie believed she would soon ruin not only JFK and Jackie’s marriage,
but ruin JFK’s presidency. It is said that Monroe called Jackie at one point in
the affair and stated that, “JFK promised to marry her, and she would become
first lady” (“Marilyn
Monroe Called Jackie Kennedy about JFK Affair, Book Claims”, 1).
Jackie answered back with, “great you can become first lady and have all the
problems” (1). Jackie did not want her life to be ruined by a woman just after
her fifteen minutes of fame. Although there are many reasons that could have
lead Jackie to kill JFK, there is no clear evidence pointing her to the crime.
Even though JFK had multiple affairs, Jackie loved him and was with him for the
right reasons. She became unhappy in the marriage, but not so unhappy to where
she would plan to kill him.
The CIA has been looked as JFK’s killer for many years
since his death. Many believe the CIA set up Oswald and put the blame on him,
so the organization would not have any blood on their hands. The CIA has been
looked as the killer for many different people, one famous one being Marilyn
Monroe (Howe, 1).
In the last paragraph, it states that Monroe and JFK were very close. To get
Monroe to stop calling him, JFK sent his brother, Bobby Kennedy, to convince
her to stop contacting JFK (1).
He became very attracted to her which led to Monroe and Bobby having an affair
(1). Monroe got top secret information from JFK and Bobby Kennedy that she
supposedly wrote in a “little red diary that she kept hidden” (1). When Bobby
started to pull away from Monroe she threatened him by saying if he left her
then she would have a press conference and tell all the secrets she learned
(1). Bobby knew how devastating that could be to him and his family, so he
decided he had to get rid of her (1). There was even recording devices that
were in Monroe’s house that the FBI planted (1). The government realized how
much of a threat Monroe was to them and decided she needed to be watched. Many
Americans believe the CIA did not want their secrets out, so they hired Dr.
Greenson to “take care” of her (1). JFK also was not favored by the mafia at
this time because of his efforts to try and stop their line of work, even
though the mafia is what got him the presidency (1). The CIA did not like this
because the CIA used mafias to carry out big secret plans (1). In one of their
plans, they wanted to kill Fidel Castro (“James Files Confession Killing Kennedy from the Grassy
Knoll in Dealey Plaza, Dallas”, 1).
When JFK did not let American troops go to Cuba, it stopped their plan and they
were not able to carry it out. In 1975, there was a court case to see if the
CIA had any part in the plot to kill Fidel Castro (“Was Kennedy Tied to the Mob?”, 1).
Sam Giancana, the mafia
leader in Chicago, was murdered just before he was supposed to testify (1). The
CIA not knowing what Giancana would say murdered him to keep them looking
innocent and clean. Since JFK’s murder, the government has only released 88
percent of the documents involving his death (“JFK Assassination Records - 2017 Additional
Documents Release”, 1). If the CIA did not commit the murder, then why do they
need to keep the additional documents a secret? This conspiracy theory makes
the most since because of how anyone who seems to go against the CIA is
randomly killed. It also makes sense with the idea that the CIA hired Oswald
and then the CIA worked with Jack Ruby, who was part of the mafia, to kill
Oswald.
JFK’s death is a high-profile case that has been talked
about for over 50 years. His death created many different opinions on what happened.
The three most talked about being the mafia killed him, Jackie killed him, and
the CIA killed him. Today we still do not know for sure who killed JFK, but the
CIA is the most likely suspect in this case.
Works
Cited
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abcnews.go.com/US/top-john-kennedy-assassination- conspiracy- theories/story?id=20614951#2.
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Caroline. “EXCLUSIVE - Bobby Kennedy Ordered Marilyn Monroe's Murder by Lethal Injection to Prevent Her from Revealing Her
Torrid Affairs with RFK and JFK: New Book
Sensationally Claims to Have Finally Solved the Mystery Surrounding Her Death.”
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