Thursday, December 6, 2018

JFK Conspiracy Theories by Shya Oliver

     

     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.”
“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,
“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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