Arguably, John F. Kennedy is said to be one of the greatest presidents to ever hold office in our country. Even more than fifty years after John F. Kennedy’s death, the public’s fascination with him withstands. More importantly, people found interest in the enduring mystery of who his assassin was and the reasoning behind the killing of a President so beloved to the nation. Providing evidence to this claim are more than two thousand volumes that have been published about his assassination, of which, a majority of those included a conspiracy theory (McHoskey 395).
Harvey Lee Oswald did assassinate John F. Kennedy, but he was affiliated with the Soviet Union and was not just an independent gunman. Many Americans and even the Warren Commission explored this theory but were too scared announce that it was true, in fear it would cause a nuclear war with Russia. On November 22nd, 1963, Kennedy was in Dallas on a tenmile motorcade with his wife Jacqueline, and the Texas Governor John Conally, and his wife (“John F. Kennedy Assassinated”). Many people came for the parade to see Kennedy and Conally.
They were riding in a Lincoln convertible slowly along the parade route, just waving and greeting the people who were so excited to see them. At approximately 12:30 p. m. , as the convertible was passing the Texas School Book Depository Building, Lee Harvey Oswald pulled the trigger from the sixth floor, firing three shots (“John F. Kennedy Assassinated”). From these shots, both Kennedy and Conally were seriously injured, but only Kennedy’s wound lead to his death (“John F. Kennedy Assassinated”).
Kennedy was forty-six hen he died, leaving the nation and the rest of the world in complete shock. At about 1:00p. m, Kennedy was declared dead and at 2:39 p. m. , the vice president, Lyndon Johnson was sworn into presidency aboard Air Force One before it took off for Washington D. C. Johnson told the public that November 25th would be the date of the funeral (“John F. Kennedy Assassinated”). Kennedy was buried with Military honors at the Arlington National Cemetery (“John F. Kennedy Assassinated”). At this time, many people were in deep fear and misunderstanding of what was happening in our country.
There are many confusing and scary stances on what the motives of Lee Harvey Oswald were that day when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. John F. Kennedy was assassinated over fifty years ago, yet it is still one of the most talked about mysteries of all time (Rubenstein). But why is this still one of the most talked about mysteries of all time? Many people across the country had a great love for John F. Kennedy. Like previously stated, some Americans may argue that John F. Kennedy was the greatest president of all time.
Other countries had often wondered what it was about Kennedy that would have Americans place him on such a high pedestal compared to other politicians (Olmsted). Not only was Kennedy young and handsome, but also he had incorporated important ideas into our great country. Before his untimely death, he established the Peace Corps and had planned to send a man to the moon (“John F. Kennedy Assassinated”). Many conspiracy theories revolve around the idea of who Lee Harvey Oswald really was and what his motives were behind killing John F. Kennedy.
Some background information about Lee Harvey Oswald may help clear up how he came to be. Oswald was born October 18th, 1939 in New Orleans, Louisiana (“Lee Harvey Oswald”). Oswald moved frequently throughout his childhood causing him to go to many different schools. At the age of ten he was diagnosed with dyslexia and did not try very hard in his schoolwork (“Lee Harvey Oswald”). Even growing up, Oswald was a child with aggressive behavior in many different circumstances (Rubenstein). He fought with and even threatened the other kids at school.
Although he never did well in school, it was his dream to join the marines as soon as he became eligible. Oswald was in tenth grade when he turned seventeen and therefore was old enough to join the marines (“Lee Harvey Oswald”). Oswald’s aggressiveness and unruly behavior was still apparent when he was in the marines as he was court martialed two times (Douglass 14). These infractions involved having an unregistered weapon and insulting an officer of superiority. He received fines for each of his actions and even spent time in military jail (Douglass 14).
When Lee Harvey Oswald was in high school, he became interested in Communism and learned to speak Russian (Rubinstein). To fulfill his interest he read many library books about Communism. During his time in the Marines, he was not afraid to share is opinion about Communism (Rubinstein). Once he left the Marines, he managed a way to travel to Europe and then eventually to Russia. Oswald decided to disown his United States Citizenship and instead intended to become a citizen of the Communist country he had always dreamed of, Russia (“Lee Harvey Oswald”).
According to encyclopedia. om, Oswald directed statements toward American officials about his dislike for America. However, Russia did not grant Oswald United States citizenship but let him live and work in the country (“Lee Harvey Oswald”). A short time had passed when Oswald realized that Communism in Russia was not exactly all that he had ever dreamed. He eventually moved back to the United States with his family and after some complications, finally settled down in Dallas, Texas (“Lee Harvey Oswald”). Oswald got a job with the Texas School Book Depository where he did bookwork and sold textbooks (“Lee Harvey Oswald”).
Then, on November 22nd, 1963, Oswald had taken a rifle to work, the very rifle he used to assassinate John F. Kennedy. As the motorcade passed by the Texas School Book Depository, shots were fired from the sixth floor injuring the Governor and eventually killing John F. Kennedy. Oswald fled from the scene but was later arrested by the police. The next day, he was convicted of the murder of a police officer and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Oswald was killed the next day, leaving Americans and people across the world with questions and misbelief.
Oswald’s death before the admitting of any motives behind what he did has led to over 2,000 volumes of books about the assassination and conspiracies of John F. Kennedy’s death. Another related opposing view is that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating John F. Kennedy. Although, there is evidence found between the lines of the time that Lee Harvey Oswald was spending in the Soviet Union and what his motive was for going there. He had told the passport office that studying in Switzerland was his plan for applying for a passport, which was a lie because this was not his intention (Douglass 13).
Oswald was then granted a visa with little argument against the idea(Douglass 13). When Oswald got to Russia, Nikita Khrushchev held a very high position of power versus the people (Douglass 14). Not long before, Khrushchev secured power of the Soviet Union. At this point, he had so much power that many were afraid to step on the toes of such great power. Including Kennedy who was, at the time, trying to solve conflict but also avoid a much bigger conflict (“Warren Commission”). The Soviets were willing to do nearly anything to win the Cold War (Douglass 14).
At a meeting about the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy “refused the pressures of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to bomb and invade Cuba,” according to James Douglass in a 2013 article. There was a tape recorder in the room that remained on once Kennedy left the room, catching the Chiefs hatred toward Kennedy and “their determination to escalate the conflict to a total nuclear war” (Douglass 14) With much power Khrushchev had the ability to persuade a nation to get involved in a nuclear war against the United States, a country who is not taking command from them.
Although, Kennedy then aimed to solve the conflict through mutual peace, they both soon realized their conflicts were not yet resolved of the Cuban missile crisis (“Warren Commission”). John F. Kennedy had hope in solving this conflict with the Soviet Union in a peaceful manner, and that is where the possibility of his downfall could have been. Khrushchev happened to be so humiliated about not going through with the Cuban Missile Crisis so he used his resources to find Lee Harvey Oswald and lead him to believe it was in his best interest to kill John F. Kennedy (Savodnik).
According to fairly recent information released by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), Lee Harvey Oswald went to Mexico City in hopes of receiving visas to visit both Cuba and the Soviet Union just weeks before John F. Kennedy’s Assassination (Burke). If Lee Harvey Oswald was an independent assassin, then why was he trying to meet with both Cuba and the Soviet Union just weeks before the assassination? John F. Kennedy’s Assassination was planned ahead of time and fits directly into the time period and the recent events to prove that he was working for the Soviet Union (Savodnik).
Opposing arguments say that the Warren Commission Report can be proven to be true because of the extensive evidence done by investigators. Of all of the conspiracies there are out there about John F. Kennedy’s death, some people may wonder why exactly one would believe this one to be specifically true. Firstly, many mistakes were made during the investigation of John F. Kennedy’s death based on the people involved in the investigation, the chaos the assassination caused, and many other factors (Ling 50).
According to an article written by Peter Ling in Historic Today, The assassination shows a line drawn in the sand for the types of people investigating the assassination (Ling 50). He continues to explain, “On the one side are those who seek an ultimate purpose behind the course of events; on the other are those who are apt to shrug and see history as accident-prone. ” One of the first mistakes the was made during the investigation was that of the people who wrote the Warren commission because they simply wanted to avoid conflict and chose not to “seek an ultimate purpose” (Ling 51).
