The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

            On November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas while slowly passing cheering crowds in his car by 24-year old Lee Harvey Oswald. Two days later Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby while being transported to a more secure holding facility after his arrest. After Ruby killed Oswald, the only person who knew the truth behind why he had assassinated the President, conspiracy theories began to take flight seemingly overnight (John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, n.d.). Many believed that the trajectory of bullets did not match up to the location of Oswald on the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository and that another unknown gunman had to have been involved (TIME, n.d.). According to TIME Magazine, the most well known conspiracy theories included the idea that Kennedy’s death was the retalitation of CIA agents over the Bay of Pigs or an action taken out of the orders of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. Another theories suggest that mobsters set up the assassination for revenge against Kennedy’s brother for initiating organized crime rings to be prosecuted. Although it can be said that we may never be able to set aside the doubt of JFK’s assassination the reasons as to why we believe the conspiracy theories can be brought to light.

            The need to find truth where the truth can’t be found and the desire to create order out of chaos is part of the human condition. JFK was in the midst of his presidency at an important time for America during the Cold War. Americans were stunned, horror struck and couldn’t believe that the man of our country had been shot dead in broad daylight. In a way, it was more comforting to believe some outrageous conspiracy rather than the truth that a kid took a gun, had an agenda and shot the President. The governments refusal to release official documents pertaining to JFK’s assassination further created belief in the conspiracies and also induced a distrust for the government which has remained to linger through the last 40 years (Barker, 2003). In the case of John F. Kennedy, I believe that the event was an absolute tragedy in a time when America needed it’s leader but as humans we need to realize that sometimes things happen and there isn’t an answer or a reason. Sometimes bad things just happen.

Sources
Barker, T. “Students don’t know impact of JFK’s death, historian says.” November 20, 2003. Ball State University. Web. Retrieved from http://www.bsu.edu/news/article/0,1370,-1019-15484,00.html
John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. “Life of John F. Kennedy.” n.d. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Web. Retrieved from http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/Life-of-John-F-Kennedy.aspx?p=3
TIME Magazine. “Conspiracy Theories: The JFK Assassination.” n.d. TIME Magazine. Web. Retrieved from             http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860871_1860876_1861003,00.html