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With the JFK files
about to be released by the Trump administration, there are many questions
surrounding this infamous assassination. Whether you believe the traditional
story of Lee Harvey Oswald raining down shots from the Texas School Book
Depository, acting alone, or you believe that this was a widely collaborated
conspiracy effort on the part of national security agencies like the CIA, there
is one thing in common: everyone has been waiting for the investigation papers
to be released and for the truth to finally be uncovered. And now as that time
is coming, I’d like to discuss the various theories that have amassed over the years
that may prove true, and I would like to offer my thoughts on what actually
transpired.
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| Eli Graft - Class of 2021 |
As of right now
the official understanding of what happened in Dallas, Texas on November 22nd, 1963, was that Lee
Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy from a building along the path of the
motorcade. This theory has more evidence than any other. It is also the
conclusion that the FBI came to in the Warren Commission. The majority of the
public subscribes to this belief.
There are also
those who believe that John F. Kennedy was assassinated by a group of
individuals rather than a lone, crazed shooter. Some believe that it was a CIA
operation to remove the president. The CIA conspiracy theory has several
different explanations for the motive of the shooting. The most prominent idea
is that the CIA was disappointed about the changes made to the organization after
the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. This was troubling to the agency as they
didn’t want Kennedy removing anyone that disagreed with him. Another prospective
theory surrounding the CIA is that a rogue cell of CIA agents organized and
shot Kennedy that day. Both may seem far fetched, yet until those papers are
released, they can’t be proven completely untrue.
The Kennedy
administration was known to have possible mob connections and that led to
conspiracy theories surrounding the idea that his death may have been a mob
hit. This theory asserts that the Mafia was becoming agitated by the efforts of
Robert Kennedy, JFK’s brother and Attorney General, to crack down on organized
crime. This made them irritated due to the fact that the mob may have had a
role in getting JFK elected in the state of Illinois. According to this conjecture,
mobsters under the leadership of Sam Giancana, the former head of a Chicago
organized crime syndicate, gathered the necessary votes in the city of Chicago
to secure his win on the pay roll of JFK’s father Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. This theory
was largely propagated by Seymour Hersh, an investigative journalist who wrote
a book on the Kennedy presidency, entitled The Dark Side of Camelot. No matter how
deep these Mafia ties may have been, it will remain unclear until those files
are officially released.
As of right now, my
thoughts on the matter remain inconclusive. As much of the official
report is still yet to be revealed, I’m not inclined to believe all of the
FBI’s story. Because there is evidence to many theories and there is so much
left to discover about the shooting, I have not been able to fully develop my
thoughts on the assassination. The majority of conspiracy theories surrounding the events of that day
lack evidence to truly substantiate their claims so I am hesitant to give them
a chance. Now, although some of these theories may sound far fetched, the truth
will be had when those files are finally released. Maybe the American people
will finally have some clarity on what happened to their 35th
president.
Eli Graft, of Hebron, Ky., is a freshman McConnell Scholar studying business and political science.