The Assassination of John F. Kennedy- Nicola Sills

The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

The 1960s in America was shaped by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. JFK was murdered in Dallas, Texas, on the 22^nd November 1963 at 12:30pm,[1] on a fundraising trip.[2] The event was forever etched into the consciousness of the American people, with many able to tell where they were or what they were doing when they found out that Kennedy was dead.[3] His death was and still is a cause for fascination.[4] The official Warren report stated that the man responsible was a solo killer, who wanted eternal fame,[5] and the majority of the public accepted that Lee Harvey Oswald was the assassin, and acted alone.[6] This is aided by the fact that Oswald went into the FBI field office in Dallas, two weeks before the shooting, and made a scene, complaining about the way that his Russian wife was being treated by agents that were trying to keep track of him, an ex-Marine defector.[7] He also spent his adolescence and early manhood pursuing a communist dream and looking to be involved in revolutionary activities, along with being described as wanting to be an active guerrilla to bring about a new world order,[8] making him a prime target to blame in the height of the Cold War. 

However, as time moved on, less and less people began to believe the official story: at the beginning of the new century, only 11% of people believed the Warren findings. Some of the conspiracies surrounding the death of JFK include: the CIA, Mafia, military-industrial complex, pro-Castro Cubans, J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, racist southerners, LBJ and many more.[9] In addition to this, ‘magic bullet theory’ is another explanation, suggesting that a single round hit the president in the head, went zig zagging through his body, exits his body and defies the laws of physics, turning nearly 180 degrees in order to hit the wrist of Governor Connolly, then exiting and falling on the floor in almost pristine condition.[10] Moreover, a young surgeon named Charles Crenshaw at Parkland Memorial Hospital knew that the president had been fatally shot from somewhere in front of the limousine,[11] lending credence to the idea that there was a second shooter on the Grassy Knoll. 

Whatever happened on the 22^nd November 1963, it appears that nearly everyone has their own theory as to what transpired. Whether it follows the official line of Lee Harvey Oswald did it, or whether it is some of the wilder conspiracies out there, the event shocked not only a nation, but the world. JFK’s limousine is now kept in Greenfield Ford Car Museum in Dearborn, Michigan,[12] and the assassination site itself attracts 6 million people every year,[13]suggesting that despite being in the 60s, JFK’s death has never been forgotten or brushed aside. 

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[1] Michael L. Kurtz, “The Assassination of John F. Kennedy: A Historical Perspective,” The Historian vol.45, no.1 (1982): 1.

[2] Mel Ayton, “Forty Years on: Who Killed JFK?” History Ireland vol.11, no.4 (2003): 45.

[3] Michael L. Kurtz, “The Assassination of John F. Kennedy: A Historical Perspective,” The Historian vol.45, no.1 (1982): 1.

[4] Mel Ayton, “Forty Years on: Who Killed JFK?” History Ireland vol.11, no.4 (2003): 45.

[5] Nicholson Baker, “Dallas Killers Club: How JFK got shot,” The Baffler no.25 (2014): 52.

[6] Mel Ayton, “Forty Years on: Who Killed JFK?” History Ireland vol.11, no.4 (2003): 45.

[7] Mel Ayton, “Forty Years on: Who Killed JFK?” History Ireland vol.11, no.4 (2003): 46.

[8] Mel Ayton, “Forty Years on: Who Killed JFK?” History Ireland vol.11, no.4 (2003): 49.

[9] Mel Ayton, “Forty Years on: Who Killed JFK?” History Ireland vol.11, no.4 (2003): 45.

[10] Martin Comack and Mel Ayton, “JFK Assassination,” History Ireland vol.12, no.1 (2004): 13.

[11] Nicholson Baker, “Dallas Killers Club: How JFK got shot,” The Baffler no.25 (2014): 52.

[12] Martin Comack and Mel Ayton, “JFK Assassination,” History Ireland vol.12, no.1 (2004): 13.

[13] Mel Ayton, “Forty Years on: Who Killed JFK?” History Ireland vol.11, no.4 (2003): 45.