The Mystery of the JFK Assassination
John F. Kennedy was and still is considered one of the greatest Presidents in American history. At the time of his election, he was the youngest person to ever hold office. He was known for the many problems he had to deal with like the “Bay of Pigs” Incident, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War. He was also well known for his stance on the Berlin Wall and for his view on Space Exploration.
JFK was famous for being the first Irish Catholic in the history of the presidency. He was well loved by the nation for his youthfulness and his popular views on issues. On November 22, 1963 the president was shot and killed while in Dallas, Texas fundraising for his next election. The official story was that he was shot three times by Lee Harvey Oswald from the School Book Depository. This is what they say officially happened but there are so many inconsistencies.
There are many things that experts look at and point out when talking about how everything in the official story , the Warren Commision, doesn’t add up. This has lead to many theories, some crazy and hard to believe, to be put forward. JFK along with his wife,First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, were visiting Dallas, Texas to gain some support for the upcoming election on November 22, 1963. He was riding through Dallas in the presidential limousine, a 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan, with an open roof. Along with the President and First Lady were the Governor of Texas,John Connally and his wife, as well as the driver and Secret Service agent.
The car entered Dealey Plaza on Elm Street at 12:29 P.M. on its way to the Dallas Trade Market, where there were plans to have lunch. As they were driving down Elm Street, the President was shot three times: in the neck, upper back and in the head. The first two shots only wounded the President with the final shot being the one that mortally wounded him.
The Governor was also wounded, along with a bystander named James Tague standing 270 feet away who was minorly wounded by a bullet ricochet. Around 80% of the people there that day recall hearing three shots fired. The limousine rushed toward Parkland Memorial Hospital. In the aftermath, the people in the plaza were in a frenzy. At first most of the people there believed that “shots” they heard were fireworks or a car backfiring.
It wasn’t until people saw the President clenching his neck and then being shot the third time that they began to panic. The Secret Service and Dallas Police began to try and secure the area. Howard Brennan a man sitting across the Book Depository, came to the police and told them that he remembered seeing a man aiming a rifle out of the window on the sixth floor. He gave a description and an alert was sent out. Police searched the building and found a Carcano rifle on the sixth floor. At the same time the limousine made it to the hospital.
The President still had a pulse, but his wounds were so severe that he was soon pronounced dead at around 1:00 P.M. At around 1:15 P.M. Dallas Police Officer J.
D. Tippit drove up in his police car alongside Oswald, who was walking down the street, and began asking questions. This was because Oswald matched the description of the person that Howard Brennan saw in the window with a rifle. Witness say that they saw Oswald take out a gun and shot Tippit four times, later fleeing the scene. Oswald later hid in a movie theater until the owner called the police, who then arrested him. He was brought to the police station and charged for both the murder of Tippit and later the president after the police were able to figure out that he was seen by witnesses at the depository.
They also were able to trace the rifle back to him later on. Oswald tried to give an alibi that he was not on the sixth floor but on the first floor having lunch. This was later proven false as witnesses there said that he was not there. What made Oswald the perfect suspect was that he was a former Marine, meaning that he was experienced with guns, and that he had lived in the Soviet Union for many years. He remained at the police station and was interrogated for the next two days. His defense was that he was being framed because he lived in Soviet Union.
He called himself a “patsy”, a person being set up for a crime they didn’t do. On November 24th , while being transported to the county jail, Oswald was murdered on live national television. His murderer was Jack Ruby, a local nightclub owner. He was later put on trial but died in 1967 of lung cancer. With the death of Oswald died the truth of what really did happen.
The Warren Commision, set up by Lyndon B. Johnson, were able to conclude that Oswald acted alone. Over the years many theories have been put forward on what really did happen. Some of them involve Oswald being part of the assassination while others say that he didn’t kill the president. Some of these theories make little sense, while other are highly possible.
Theory 1: Federal Reserve This theory revolves around how JFK wanted to limit the power of the federal reserve. Executive Order 11110 was an order passed by the president that stated that the government was authorized to strip the Federal Reserve Bank of its power to loan money to the United States Federal Government at interest. This could of lead to Oswald being hired by the Reserve to kill Kennedy. Theory 2: Lyndon B. Johnson This theory is simply that Johnson had the President assassinated so that he could become President. Madeleine Brown, a mistress of Johnson, testified that Johnson planned the whole thing.
George H.W. Bush is alleged to have worked with Johnson, with Bush Being in the CIA. Theory 3: Soviet Union Being heavily involved on the Cold War, Kennedy was target number one for the Soviet Union. This was mainly based on the Cuban Missile Crisis and the United States’ involvement.
They would have benefited from the death of Kennedy because of him being such a strong leader. This theory also makes sense because of Oswald’s connections with the Soviet Union. Theory 4: Cuba Similar to the Soviet Union’s reasons, Fidel Castro disliked Kennedy for his involvement in the “Bay of Pigs” and Cuban Missile Crisis. It was later revealed that they did come up with a plan to kill Kennedy but they say that they did not kill him in 1963. Theory 5: CIA This theory says that the CIA felt threatened by Kennedy because they felt that he would take away their power.
Theorists say that they used Oswald as an agent and then betrayed him to cover their own tracks. Theory 6: Mafia This theory involves Jack Ruby, the man who killed Oswald. Theorists say that Ruby had connections with the Chicago Mob and that he killed Oswald to cover their tracks. This was due to Kennedy’s involvement in dismantling the mob. Theory 7: A Second Shooter This theory involves both Oswald and a second shooter. The theory is that Oswald shot twice at the President while a second sniper shot the President a third time in the head.
This is by far the most popular theory. People point out things like the way that Kennedy’s head went backwards at the third shot, indicating being shot from the front, not rear. They also point to the fact that the last two shots were spaced really close together, which is unlikely to have been done alone because of Oswald using a bolt action rifle. Theorist think that the second shooter was on the grassy knoll right next to Elm Street. The JFK assassination is shrouded in mystery and inconsistencies. While a lot of people call you crazy for believing such things, like call you a conspiracy theorist, they really don’t have a right to considering how many people believe that what was concluded in the Warren Commission was wrong.
A poll done by Gallup in 2013 shows that 61% of people believe that there were more than one people involved. When it comes to my opinion, I think that the Warren Commision did not solve the case correctly. Something was covered up by the government. When looking into all the evidence, researching about the topic, and watching documentaries, you really do get the feeling that something different happened that day. While I don’t see Oswald as being innocent , I do believe that he was not working alone.
Will the truth ever be known? I sure hope so because the thought that the government could potentially be holding back information is a scary one.
