Introduction
Who killed John F. Kennedy? Was it
the CIA, the Mafia, the Soviets, Lyndon Johnson, or Lee Harvey Oswald? This has
been the remaining question over the past five decades. “On November 22, 1963,
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through
Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas” (“November 22, 1963: Death of the
President”). It is recorded that Lee Harvey Oswald is the man who assassinated
John F. Kennedy. However, there have been several conspiracy theories developed
on who the real killer is. Let’s investigate the theories of John F. Kennedy’s
death and the probability that he was murdered by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Character Analysis
Who
was John F. Kennedy? “Strikingly handsome and youthful in appearance, he had
sensitive blue eyes, a mass of reddish-brown hair, and sound straight teeth”
(DeGregorio). While running the free world and being one of America’s favored
presidents, he had his loving wife and four beautiful children alongside him
every step. At that time, John F. Kennedy was the most powerful man of the
United States.
“Although Kennedy was
youthful in appearance, he suffered from major back issues for the remainder of
his life. He also endured an adrenal insufficiency, an ailment akin to
Addison’s disease” (DeGregorio). Kennedy attempted to not let his injuries get
the best of him or effect his attitude in anyway. To a great degree, his temper
was restrained. “In fact, Kenneth P. O’Donnell and other longtime associates
report that he exploded in anger only twice” (DeGregorio).
How is John F. Kennedy described? The former president described
himself as, “an idealist without illusions” and considered his best quality to
be curiosity, his worst irritability” (DeGregorio). Kennedy worked hard to
assemble America. He seized action to better the lives of the American
population. The Bay of Pigs, in which America invaded Cuba, and the Civil
Rights Movement, in which African Americans were granted equality, are two
major issues Kennedy dealt with while in office (“Life of John F. Kennedy”).
Although Bay of Pigs failed, he took control and acted on it. “President Kennedy,
together with his wife and children, brought a new, youthful spirit to the
White House” (“Life of John F. Kennedy”). “Kennedy’s charm, grace, and wit were
to a great extent responsible for his immense popularity as president. He
seemed distant to some, but, according to historian and Kennedy aide Arthur M.
Schlesinger, he remained a bit detached in order to counter his extremely
sensitive nature” (DeGregorio).
Why would an adored, charming, yet significant President unexpectedly
overtake murder? Kennedy portrayed the idea of a perfect president. No one
could possibly have enough hatred towards him to commit murder. He was the
definition of perfection. However, there has to be someone and a motif.
Perhaps, someone was retaliating from a previous event that occurred.
In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis took place. “This
occurred as the leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense,
13-day political and military standoff over the installation of nuclear-armed
Soviet missiles on Cuba. However, disaster was avoided when the U.S. agreed to
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s offer to remove the Cuban missiles in
exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba” (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). The
Bay of Pigs occurred a year before the Cuban Missile Crisis which encountered
the invasion of Cuba. Evidently, Cuba and the Soviet Union were allies.
Kennedy’s attempt to invade Cuba and removing the missiles from the Soviet
Union raged both countries. Could these actions taken by the President result
in an external conflict between the two countries and himself? Consequently,
they had enough motif to annihilate John F. Kennedy. Could Cuba and the Soviet
Union be behind the murder of the president?
Today, Lee Harvey Oswald is the indicated killer of John F.
Kennedy. Descriptive (Main Idea and Details)
In
the assassination of John F. Kennedy several conspiracies were developed. To
begin with, the first conspiracy theory suggests that the Soviet Union was
responsible for the murder of John F. Kennedy. “The Soviets had a palpable,
powerful motive: to gain revenge for the humiliation of the USSR in the 1962
Cuban Missile Crisis” ("Did the KGB Arrange the Assassination of John F.
Kennedy?"). The Soviet Union had a plausible cause to murder the
president. After all, JFK did remove the missiles from the Soviet Union. This
could have angered them to the point of murder. Eleven months after the
assassination of the president, Mary Pinchot Meyer was killed. Mary was
Kennedy’s “senior female consort during his White House years who the Soviet’s used
a contract killer to murder her” ("Did the KGB Arrange the Assassination
of John F. Kennedy?"). This possibly concludes that the murder of Mary corresponds
with Kennedy’s assassination. The Soviets perhaps hired Lee Harvey Oswald to
commit the murder of the president just as they hired a contract killer to
assassinate Mary. It all adds up.
The second conspiracy suggests that
Lyndon B. Johnson was behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He may not
have been the direct shooter, but he was, however, involved in the tragedy. Lyndon
B. Johnson was the vice president of the United States under President
Kennedy’s power. There had to be some kind of jealousy from Johnson towards the
president. Was this enough motive to assist Kennedy’s death? The motive could
have possibly been “political gain. There were political differences, personal
issues, Johnson's involvement in several scandals and his desire to become president
before he got too old” (Clancy). If LBJ couldn’t get elected president, he was
going to become the acting president. There were “shots by multiple gunmen
firing from the direction of the now infamous grassy knoll. Hired perhaps by Johnson
associates in the oil business” (Clancy). Once the assassination was completed,
Lyndon B. Johnson became the acting president. However, Johnson did know how to
look suspicious. “As president, Johnson had the means to block any serious
investigation following the murder of President Kennedy” (Clancy). Lyndon B.
Johnson may have got what he wanted, but he had to live with the all the guilt
that came with it.
The third and final conspiracy
theory proclaims that the CIA was involved in the attempt and cover up of the
murder of John F. Kennedy. “Supposedly
Kennedy was fed up with the shenanigans that the CIA was pulling. He found out
the CIA was trying to kill Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, which is a fact. So the
argument is that the CIA felt that Kennedy was going to disband them. And as a
result of that, they were the ones that ordered the killing of Kennedy” (Patterson).
The CIA did not like the orders they had to follow given by Kennedy. They
disobeyed Kennedy’s instructions which could possibly result in disbandment.
The only way out of this was murder. However, the CIA could not kill the
president themselves. This circumstance would be too obvious. “Maybe the CIA
had Oswald on the payroll. He might have been a double agent” (Patterson). The
CIA could have possibly hired Lee Harvey Oswald, the original murderer of John
F. Kennedy, to do what they could not.
The most reasonable possibility of
John F. Kennedy’s death suggests the actions taken by Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson had the most to gain from the murder
of President Kennedy. With Kennedy out of the picture, he would seize all power
in becoming the leader of America. Johnson was in charge of the investigation
of Kennedy’s murder and had the choice to further the inquiry but decided not
to. The outcome of Lyndon’s actions were taken to possibly cover all of his
tracks in the murder of John F. Kennedy.
In addition, many years after the assassination, a tape was released
linking Lyndon B. Johnson to the crime. “Former CIA agent and Watergate conspirator
E. Howard Hunt admits he was approached to be part of an assassination team to
kill JFK. Hunt alleges on the tape that then Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson
was involved in the planning of the assassination and in the cover-up, stating
that LBJ had an almost maniacal urge to become president, he regarded JFK as an
obstacle to achieving that" (Watson). All of the undisputed evidence
points to Lyndon B. Johnson as the antagonist in the assassination of John F.
Kennedy.
Conclusion
The
remaining question over the past five decades still has not been answered. Who
killed John F. Kennedy? To this day, Lee Harvey Oswald is the indicated killer
of the president. However, most people believe otherwise. In addition, John F.
Kennedy’s assassination developed into many conspiracy theories involving
different people behind the murder.
Was the Kennedy murdered by his enemies, the Soviet Union? Perhaps,
he was killed by his very own CIA team. Lastly, Lyndon B. Johnson is also a
good candidate for the murder of Kennedy. After analyzing each circumstance,
every piece of evidence points at Lyndon B. Johnson. He had the most to gain
from Kennedy’s death including the president title which he longed for.
Concluding, Lyndon B. Johnson is most likely responsible for the murder of John
F. Kennedy.
Works Cited
Clancy,
Michael. "JFK Conspiracy Theorist Points Finger at LBJ." USA Today.
USA Today, 21
Nov. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/21/jfk-conspiracy-theorist-points-
finger-at-lbj/3660765/
"Cuban
Missile Crisis." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 28
Sept. 2015.
DeGregorio,
William A. "John F. Kennedy with Ham." The Presidential Ham. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 23
"Did the
KGB Arrange the Assassination of John F. Kennedy?" Scientia Press RSS.
Scientia Press, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
"Life of
John F. Kennedy." - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum.
N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.
"November
22, 1963: Death of the President." - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
& Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept.
2015.
Patterson, Thom.
"One JFK Conspiracy Theory That Could Be True." CNN. CNN, 18 Nov.
2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Watson, Paul
Joseph. "JFK Murder Plot "Deathbed Confession" Aired On National
Radio." JFK
Murder Plot "Deathbed
Confession" Aired On National Radio. Prison Planet, 30 Apr.
