What Happened to John F. Kennedy? -Mallory Moore

      What happened to John F. Kennedy? On November 22, 1963, he was riding through Dallas in a convertible with his wife and was shot three times. Despite Lee Harvey Oswald being blamed for this assassination, several conspiracies have emerged: there were multiple gunmen, the CIA and Lyndon B. Johnson were behind it, or the Soviets planned it. Let’s dive deeper to determine what and who was really behind what happened to John F. Kennedy.
       John F. Kennedy had passions in history and English throughout his life, but no career plans even in early college years. However, after observing his father in politics his excitement with foreign affairs blossomed. After his brother Joe lost his life in the Navy, Kennedy decided to follow his brothers’ dream of becoming the first Catholic, and youngest, President of the United States (Life of John F. Kennedy). He achieved this in 1961. His father was unapologetically supportive and believed in his son completely, remarking in a letter that he is “not expecting too much, and will not be disappointed if (John does not) turn out to be a real genius, but [thinks he] can be a really worthwhile citizen with good judgment and understanding.  (Life of John F. Kennedy). John F. Kennedy was charismatic and intelligent, disciplined and dedicated, as well as a risk-taker all throughout his life.

       Throughout growing up, Kennedy was a charismatic, intelligent kid with everyone expecting a bright future from him. His headmaster once noted he had “a clever, individualist mind” (Life of John F. Kennedy). His intellect, especially in History and English, assisted him in his pursuit of politics following his brothers’ death. Moreover, his charm carried on throughout his life, and into his Presidency. From his attractive face to winning smile, he stood above with his good looks and intelligence, making him a well-liked President whom the country adored. He had placed power back in possession of the citizens in his Inaugural speech by declaring, “In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course” (Peter and Wooley). Not only did he give them power, but he “wished America to resume its old mission as the first nation dedicated to the revolution of human rights” (John F. Kennedy), and validated their efforts in doing so, such as during the Civil Rights Movement. He had won the hearts of the country before his term as President even began.
       John was disciplined and dedicated to his duties throughout all his life, but especially upon being inaugurated as the President.  In fact, in his inaugural speech he closes with, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man” (Peters and Wooley). Not only did he want to return America to its roots, but he wanted to join forces with the rest of the world to make it better. In addition to his indisputable dedication to the country as President, he made it a point to devote himself to his two children. From his wife’s response to a reporter, declaring, "if you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much" (Life of John F. Kennedy), it can be assumed that she was an influence on his dedication to their children. Reports describe it as “President Kennedy, together with his wife and two children, brought a new, youthful spirit to the White House” (Life of John F. Kennedy). His actions illustrate that he was dedicated to both his family and his country.
It is often said that you will not get anywhere by playing it safe, and John F. Kennedy was a risk-taker. Specifically, in his presidency we see from the Cuban Missile crisis, Space Race, and Civil Rights Movement, that he knew when and how to take the risks, but did not take them unnecessarily. He knew of the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, so when he discovered their production of nuclear missiles in Cuba, he instructed that a naval blockade be formed and ended up forcing the Soviet Union into a deal (John F. Kennedy). Upon achieving presidency, he realized that the Soviet Union was far ahead in the space race and declared, “No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space” (Life of John F. Kennedy). He was determined to take risks in the effort to improve the nation. In addition, despite the opposition from whites during the civil rights movement, he did not hesitate to announce his intent on a proposal for congress to help the movement. He announced, “One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds…[and] on the principle that all men are created equal” (Life of John F. Kennedy).
       Following the John F. Kennedy assassination, several conspiracies are highlighted. One theory suggests that multiple gunman were involved, while the others involve a greater presence behind the plan such as the CIA or the Soviet Union.

       The first conspiracy theory proposes that multiple shots were fired from many directions, which deems it not possible for Lee Harvey Oswald to be the only shooter. Paraffin residue was not found on Oswald’s cheeks despite it being confirmed by the FBI that following the use of a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, paraffin residue is emitted onto the cheeks of the shooter (Vollbach and Burda). The theory is that since one shot missed, that left two shots to be the cause of all of the wounds on President Kennedy and Governor Connally. This accounts for a shot to the back of Kennedy’s head as well as what they originally claimed hit his back, but then was changed to that it went in the back of his neck, out his throat, and on to wound Governor Connally (Wallenfeldt). Additionally, “there were witnesses who thought they had heard shots coming from the direction of a railroad yard beyond the knoll” (1). Furthermore, when footage of the assassination aired on Good Night America in 1975, it showed “Kennedy’s head jerking backward, the film seemed to indicate that a shot had come from in front of the president and not from Oswald’s sniper’s nest” (1). The Dealy Plaza’s grassy knoll referred to before was in front of Kennedy, suggesting this was the shooter’s location.
The second conspiracy suggests that the CIA and Lyndon B. Johnson were behind the assassination. In USA Today, attorney Craig Zirbel claims that Lyndon B. Johnson was the only one with the motive, opportunity, and means to assassinate JFK and get away with it (Clancy). His motive would be political gain, the opportunity is that he and his associates controlled the trips details on his home turf, and the means is he had connections to the mafia (1). He states that “it’s the first time a route ever was changed from what the Secret Service had established” (1), and the detour is what took Kennedy by the Texas School Book Depository and Dealy Plaza. Zirbel also “emphasizes that as president, Johnson had the means to block any serious investigation” (1). In addition to knowing Oswald was a threat to Kennedy beforehand, the FBI and CIA were able to cover up that they knew anything after the fact. The beginning of the cover-up was when an FBI agent was ordered to destroy a hand-written threatening note from Oswald that had come in before the assassination, and later “admitted to congressional investigators that he and his supervisor had panicked at the thought that the note would been seen as proof that that the FBI had botched the opportunity to save the president’s life” (Shenon). Former FBI director Clarence Kelley admitted after his retirement that if the FBI had acted on the information they had about Lee Harvey Oswald, he wrote in his memoirs, “without doubt JFK would not have died in Dallas and history would have taken a different turn” (1). This theory is supported by a statement from “former CIA agent E. Howard Hunt, Jr., who claimed that Johnson had ordered CIA agents to kill Kennedy” (Wallenfeldt).
       The third conspiracy points to the Soviet Union as the masterminds who planned the assassination. This theory is supported by Oswald’s connection to the Soviets. After being discharged from the marines he fled, to the Soviet Union and only came back a few months before Kennedy’s assassination (Wallenfledt). Furthermore, declassified FBI and CIA documents revealed that in his secret trip to Mexico right before Dallas, “Oswald met in Mexico with Cuban and Soviet spies, including- incredibly enough- a KGB [the primary security agency of the Soviet Union] assassinations expert” (Shenon). During this trip, he also attempted to get a VISA to flee to Cuba. In fact, after being caught, “he requested to be represented by… John Abt, the staff attorney of the Communist Party USA, who was well known for his defense of communists” (Wallenfeldt). The Soviets are a source of political, economic, and military assistance to Cuba as well as being a Communist nation, so the connection provides evidence that Oswald was working on behalf of the Soviet Union and was hoping for their protection.
       All three of these conspiracy theories tie together, so it is possible that there was a greater scheme of the assassination beyond Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald not having paraffin residue on his cheeks combined with the entry points and bullet paths being questionable gives valid assumption that there was more than one gunman. Combine this with that Oswald was a Soviet and was trying to get his visa to go back right before the assassination. Furthermore, the FBI and CIA knew of his whereabouts and agenda and the path Kennedy took was changed by Johnson and took him right past the place where Oswald worked. The three theories together prove that there was more going on than Oswald being a lone gunman. A survey of twenty-five people revealed that 60% of them believed there were multiple gunmen while 24% believed the FBI and CIA were the masterminds and 16% believed that the Soviets planned the events on November 22, 1963.
There has been a lot of suspicion about the JFK case due to discrepancies in the story combined with distrust of the governments story. Despite the case being closed with a verdict of Oswald being the lone gunman, many have not given up proving an alternative explanation.
After fifty-five years, the assassination of John F. Kennedy is still a topic of conversation. Over the years, several conspiracies have emerged: there were multiple gunmen, the CIA and Lyndon B. Johnson were behind it, or the Soviets planned it. To this day, Lee Harvey Oswald is held to blame for this tragedy, yet many believe a conspiracy was behind what truly occurred that day.
 

Works Cited

Clancy, Michael. “JFK Conspiracy Theorist Points Finger at LBJ.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 21 Nov. 2013, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/21/jfk-conspiracy-theorist-points-finger-at-lbj/3660765/.
“John F. Kennedy.” The White House, The United States Government.
“Life of John F. Kennedy.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
Peters, Gerhard, and John T. Wooley. “John F. Kennedy: Inaugural Address - January 20, 1961.” The American Presidency Project, 1999.
Shenon, Philip. “Files Will Shed Light on a JFK Shooting Conspiracy – but Not the One You Think.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 26 Oct. 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/26/john-f-kennedy-asssassination-documents national-archives.
Vollbach, Michael, and Ronald Burda. “Multiple Shots from Many Directions Killed JFK.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 18 Nov. 2013, https://www.usnews.com/debate-club/was-jfks-assassination-a-conspiracy/multiple-shots-prove-jfk-assassination-was-a-conspiracy.
Wallenfeldt, Jeff. “Assassination of John F. Kennedy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 14 Sept. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/event/assassination-of-John-F-Kennedy.