What Actually Happened to JFK?
On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth president of the United States, was shot and killed with a rifle during his visit to Dallas by the infamous Lee Harvey Oswald but conspiracists believe otherwise (“John F. Kennedy” 1). Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested in a movie theatre for the murder of John F. Kennedy. While he was being transported in detainment, Jack Ruby shot and murdered Lee (“November 22, 1963: Death of the President.”). The cause of the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Jack Ruby is so far-fetched that there must be a conspiracy involved. Such Conspiracies consist of whether John F. Kennedy’s stance against the CIA after their failed Cuban invasion caused the CIA to retaliate against Kennedy; Lee Harvey Oswald was the only shooter involved in the assassination of JFK.
Character Analysis
During the Cold War, John F. Kennedy was ambitious to beat the Soviet Union in reaching the moon first (Mars 1). While JFK was touring the space facilities in our country, he visited Rice University in Houston, Texas, where he gave the speech “Address at Rice University on the Nation’s Space Effort” in which he says, “We Choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too” (1). This speech shows his determination and willingness to the American people and provides a reason as to why they chose to try and accomplish the impossible and reach the moon. Without the resolve and determination that John F. Kennedy had for his nation then NASA wouldn’t be as important as it is now if they never had gone to the moon.
John F. Kennedy’s courage during the Cuban missile crisis is what got our nation through the missile crisis. The Cuban missile crisis was caused by the Soviet Union as Khrushchev aided Cuba by sending them “...Soviet medium range ballistic missiles, nuclear capable weapons with a range of 1,200 miles” which is a massive security risk to the United States, as nuclear bombs can decimate cities (Sherwin 1). When JFK was informed that Cuba had received missiles from Khrushchev, he kept his cool, as he was president, and had advisors looking at all options during the Cuban missile crisis (1). The advisors and John F. Kennedy decided that they would invade Cuba and destroy their missiles; however, JFK later decided to blockade Cuba from any shipments on “Monday evening, October 22nd, he announced his decision to “quarantine” (blockade) Cuba as the first move to force Khrushchev to withdraw his missiles” which caused great tension between Cuba and the United States (1). Behind John F. Kennedy’s back, the CIA trained freedom fighters who opposed Fidel Castro. The CIA used these fighters in the Bay of Pigs operation to overthrow Fidel Castro’s government in cooperation with the Air Force; however, they were unsuccessful in their operation due to their lack of numbers against Fidel Castro’s troops and that “President Kennedy canceled a second air strike” which led to the Cuban rebels being defeated by Castro’s troops (“The Bay of Pigs” 1). Even after the failed invasion of Cuba, The United States and “Castro eventually settled on $53 million worth of baby food and medicine in exchange for the prisoners” and the removal of nuclear missiles ensuring the safety of the United States (1).
John F. Kennedy is an ambitious and courageous man who served his country as president and kept his Nation moving forward even in times of strife such as the Cuban missile crisis. Kennedy kept pushing and striving for his Nation and because of that, our nation was able to put the first man on the moon. Without John F. Kennedy’s ambition to put a man on the moon, NASA wouldn’t be in the position where it is right now. If JFK wasn’t courageous during the Cuban missile crisis, then it would be difficult to imagine how our Nation would have overcome such a threat.
Conspiracies
When John F. Kennedy was assassinated, there was speculation about where he was shot as multiple people who heard the gunshots couldn’t agree as to where they heard the shooter (McFadden 1). Those that heard the gunshots had discrepancies as to where the sound came from with some saying that they heard multiple shooters (1). The fact that those who were there heard differently than the others led to rumors that there were multiple shooters involved in the assassination of Kennedy (1). The reason why many of the people who were there during the assassination heard different sounds was that “a shock wave produced by the supersonic bullet arrived before the muzzle blast for many earwitnesses, and the shock wave provides erroneous information about the origin of the gunshot” (1). The shockwave from the fired bullet was heard before the muzzle blast which led to confusion about where the sound of the shots came from which then caused the theories and rumors of multiple shooters being involved in the assassination of JFK.
Conspiracy Theorists speculate whether the CIA was involved in a conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy. Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy’s nephew, believes that the CIA had conspired against JFK, because of the military-industrial complex (Neukam 1). Robert Kennedy Jr. said, “When my uncle was president, he was surrounded by a military-industrial complex and intelligence apparatus that was constantly trying to get him to go to war in Laos, Vietnam, etc.,” as it would bring in revenue towards weapon manufacturers who built missiles, firearms, and bullets; however Kennedy didn’t want to bring this nation into war but instead wanted to remain peaceful (1). If the CIA were to be connected to weapon manufacturers in the United States, then they would have reason to want the removal of John F. Kennedy from the presidential office. However, Robert Kennedy’s supposed “evidence” that showed that the CIA was involved in the assassination of JFK wasn’t shown in the interview and he also was “a prominent anti-vaccine activist” which didn’t help him appear credible when speaking about a conspiracy and plot to kill John F. Kennedy (1).
The theory that multiple gunmen were involved in the assassination to kill John F. Kennedy was from the fact that everyone near the gunshot heard the shockwave and muzzle blast differently than one another. That is because of how the shockwave from the bullet traveled to those around the fired gun, so people couldn’t precisely locate the origin of the shooting (McFadden 1). Another theory is that the CIA was involved in a conspiracy to kill JFK however there is no real evidence that Robert Kennedy provided which showed a conspiracy had happened at all (Neukam 1).
Conclusion
John F. Kennedy’s assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald seems to be too farfetched which seems to be the main leading factor in the theories surrounding his death (“John F. Kennedy” 1). Some believe that Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t act alone and that were multiple shooters involved in the assassination of JFK. There are also others that believe there was a group of people, such as the CIA, who conspired against the president because of his own beliefs or actions that he was going to take (Neukam 1). However, it seems that those two conspiracies that seem to be easily believable don’t have enough evidence to support them. Although his death seems to be a mystery, he was still an ambitious and courageous president who managed to pull our nation out of turmoil and fueled our space program to reach the moon (Mars 1).
Works Cited
“John F. Kennedy.” The White House, 23 Dec. 2022, www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/john-f-kennedy/.
“November 22, 1963: Death of the President.” November 22, 1963: Death of the President | JFK Library, www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/november-22-1963-death-of-the-president. Accessed 13 June 2023.
“The Bay of Pigs.” The Bay of Pigs | JFK Library, www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/the-bay-of-pigs#:~:text=On%20April%2017%2C%20the%20Cuban,of%20the%20exile’s%20air%20support. Accessed 19 June 2023.
Mars, Kelli. “60 Years Ago: President Kennedy Proposes Moon Landing Goal in Speech.” NASA, 25 May 2021, www.nasa.gov/feature/60-years-ago-president-kennedy-proposes-moon-landing-goal-in-speech-to-congress.
McFadden, Dennis. “Why Did the Earwitnesses to the John F. Kennedy Assassination Not Agree about the Location of the Gunman?” Frontiers, 14 Oct. 2021, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.763432/full.
Neukam, Stephen. “Robert Kennedy Jr. Sees ‘overwhelming Evidence’ CIA Involved in JFK Assassination.” The Hill, 8 May 2023, thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/3993563-robert-kennedy-jr-sees-overwhelming-evidence-cia-involved-in-jfk-assassination/.
Sherwin, Martin J., and Gambling with Armageddon: Nuclear Roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis. “Inside JFK’s Decision making during the Cuban Missile Crisis.” Time, 16 Oct. 2020, time.com/5899754/jfk-decisionmaking-cuban-missile-crisis/.