What exactly happened to our 35th president, John Fitzgerald
Kennedy? On November 22nd of 1963, the world watched as the commander in chief
was assassinated while being chauffeured in a parade in Dallas, Texas. The
president’s death shocked not only the entire nation but the entire world. Who
would commit such a tremendous crime? Well, it has been said that a man by the
name of Lee Harvey Oswald was the one that shot and killed Kennedy but due to
multiple accusations, the American people started to make up conspiracy
theories about the president’s assassination. Loads of conspiracies were made
up, many ridiculous ones but there were many eerie ones that still haunt us
till this day. These eerie conspiracies involved the CIA, the Soviet Union and
even mysterious figures but before we reflect on the theories we need to
reflect on the man that we lost that day.
If you were
an outsider, Kennedy would seem to be the “ideal” American man. Just imagine a
man who came from a wealthy background, has a huge family with eight siblings,
and had the best educational opportunities growing up; that was John Kennedy.
Growing up, Kennedy fit the profile of an amazing brother and comrade. How was
John growing up? Born to Rose and Joseph Sr. Kennedy on the 29th of May in 1917,
Kennedy was the second eldest of nine. As a child, his mother kept record on
his physical health because he suffered from conditions such as whooping cough,
chicken pox and many other illnesses (Arnett). Even though Kennedy didn’t have
the best physical health, his parents wanted he and his siblings to have great
lives so they would typically reward their offspring with nice vacations. How
would his classmates describe him? In high school, he was well-liked and
popular. As a young adult, he was prepared at “The Choate School” which was one
of the best private schools in all of Massachusetts. One of his childhood
friends Lem noticed how big of a bookworm Kennedy was and stated that even as
teenagers John had a subscription to the New York Times magazines ( John F.
Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum). Even his teachers and lecturers at
the private school spoke highly of him. One teacher stated that John was a clever boy and
always stayed true to himself, he also noted that even though his grades were
not the “best” he did work to the best of his ability (John F. Kennedy
Presidential Library and Museum).
After graduating from Choate, Kennedy went to Harvard
University. While there he played football and started to become greatly
involved in politics. During this time, his father had become a ambassador and
spent lots of time in Europe. His father and he both shared a interest in the
government and during John’s time in college WWII was on the brinks of starting
throughout Europe. Conversations about the European government and war
fascinated John deeply and he knew that after college, he would want to join
the U.S. Navy to defend his country. Whenever his father found out that he
wanted to become part of the navy, he stated how great of a decision that was for
John (U.S.
National Park Service).
Due to his
poor health, after four and a half years Kennedy’s career in the Navy had to
come to an unexpected end. Kennedy then decided to turn to politics full-time.
He started out as a member of the House of Representatives and gradually worked
his way up to becoming an official U.S senator. During his years of being a
senator, he met a lady named Jacqueline Bouvier. John and Jacqueline (Jackie)
became the bestest of friends and in a few months they became engaged. The
engagement was short and they married quickly. During their marriage, John was very unfaithful to Jackie. John had
numerous affairs and most people knew all about them. In magazine interviews,
friends and associates of John and Jackie Kennedy tell that Jackie did know all
about the president’s affairs. “At the end of the day, Jack came back to Jackie – and that was it. They
loved each other (IrishCentral Staff). Author of
the book “Jackie Style” Pamela Keogh reveals
that “cheating behavior” was an example set by Jacqueline’s father. Her father
had affairs during the time he was married to her mother and that is a major
reason why Jackie normalized and tolerated John’s adulterous behaviors.
How was John as a leader and president? Whenever John was
sworn in on January 20,1961, he was the youngest man to be president and also
the first catholic man to become president. So, Kennedy bought this new aura
into the White House whenever he came because he was the first of many things.
Kennedy was president during a crucial time period in American History: the
1960’s. He had to deal with years of tension from many foreign nations such as
The Soviet Union (USSR), Cuba, and Vietnam over the idea of communism. In the
beginning, Kennedy stated "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any
hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success
of liberty." Developing nations could expect America to "help them
help themselves (History.com) but after years of verbal wars with these countries,
Kennedy’s mindset slowly but surely started to changed.
Within the assassination of John F.
Kennedy, several conspiracy theories are zeroed in on.
The first conspiracy states that the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) murdered Kennedy due to tensions between the agency and the
president. In the second conspiracy theory, due to the many years of conflict
between the United States and the Soviet Union it seems that soviets played a
role in the president’s assassination. In the third and final conspiracy
theory, it seems that multiple men played roles with Kennedy’s assassination
and not just one.
During John F. Kennedy’s presidency
his relationship with the CIA was strained. Tensions between the two started
over the fact that Kennedy had got word about the CIA’s shiesty plan to have
soviet leader of Cuba Fidel Castro assassinated. Kennedy was a man of peace,
since the U.S. and the Soviet Union already had a terrible relationship,
Kennedy felt that the CIA’s plan would exacerbate the relationship even more
(Shapira).
The second conspiracy theory deals
with the Soviet Union. Kennedy being a democratic president made decisions that
irritated Republican Southern citizens. A citizen who strongly disfavored
Kennedy because his beliefs towards the Soviet Union was a man named Lee Harvey
Oswald. Oswald was the man that actually pulled the trigger to assassinate
Kennedy, but did Soviet leaders motivate Oswald to assassinate the president
(Miller)? During the early 1960’s, Oswald went to Mexico City and it has been
rumored for quite some time that while in Mexico City, Oswald met with Soviet
Union leaders to discuss a plan for the president’s killing.
The third and final conspiracy on
November 22nd of 1963, the day of Kennedy’s assassination, people theorized
that a man who carried a black umbrella was moving umbrella in peculiar ways as
if he was using the umbrella as a signal . Conspiracists believed that Oswald
and umbrella man worked together, umbrella man using his umbrella to signal
towards Oswald as Oswald would actually fire the bullet. The man holding the
umbrellas’ full name was Louie Steven Witt. This conspiracy was took so
seriously to the point where Louie Witt was actually tried in court. Witt stated that the umbrella
was supposed to be a funny historical-like joke .Witt also stated “Being a
conservative-type fellow, I sort of placed him in the liberal camp and I was
just going to kind of do a little heckling” (Testimony of Louie Steven Witt) . A
survey of 20 people at Dickinson High School revealed that only 30% of people
believed that Oswald and the “umbrella man” may have possibly collaborated and
that this theory best solves the conspiracy.
All three of these conspiracies go
hand in hand, but Americans will never fully understand why such an amazing
president lost his life on that November day in 1963.
After examining the case of the 35th
president’s assassination the results have led to these three major conspiracy
theories:
1) Did the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) play a major role in Kennedy’s assassination?
2) Did the Soviet Union orchestrate for
Kennedy to be assassinated?
3) Did ‘’lone wolf”’ Lee Harvey Oswald
work alone to kill the president or did the “umbrella man” collaborate with
him?
Finally, it can be concluded that
even after fifty-five year, John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s assassination is still
one of the greatest mysteries in the history of America.
Work Cited
Moore, Lori. “The J.F.K. Files:
Decades of Doubts and Conspiracy Theories.
” The
New York Times, The New York Times, 25
Oct. 2017,
www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/us/jfk-assassination-files-questions.html.
A, Dugan. “How Much Was JFK
Influenced by His Mother? - The Boston Globe.”
BostonGlobe.com, The Boston Globe, 26 May 2017, www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2017/05/25/how-much-was-jfk-influenced-his-mother/V5Zc6Zn0mSOED43PVj3cbP/story.html
“Life of John F. Kennedy.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and
Museum,
www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy.
“John F. Kennedy: World War II Naval
Hero to President (U.S. National Park Service).”
National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/articles/kennedyww2.htm.
Staff, IrishCentral. “How Much Did
Jackie Know about John F. Kennedy's Affairs?”
IrishCentral.com, IrishCentral, 26 Sept. 2017,
www.irishcentral.com/culture/entertainment/how-much-did-jackie-know-about-john-f-kennedy-s-affairs.
Shapira, Ian. “Tantalizing Mystery
of Missing JFK Assassination File Solved - 23 Years Ago.
”The
Washington Post, WP Company, 2 Nov. 2017,
History.com, A&E Television Networks,
www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy#section_3.
Miller, Michael E. “JFK
Assassination Conspiracy Theories: The Grassy Knoll, Umbrella Man,
LBJ and Ted Cruz's Dad.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 27 Oct.
2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/10/24/jfk-assassination-conspiracy-theories-the-grassy-knoll-umbrella-man-lbj-and-ted-cruzs-dad/?utm_term=.4f406fd0f319.
“Testimony of Louie Steven Witt.” Lee Harvey Oswald's Motivation in the
Kennedy
Assassination,
mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/jfkinfo2/jfk4/witt.htm.
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