John F Kennedy Assassination
By: Luke Allen
The Assassination
On November 22nd, 1963, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was campaigning in Dallas, Texas. His motorcade was going through downtown Dallas when suddenly a shot was fired. The shot hit Kennedy in the head and he died instantly with his wife, Jackie, right next to him. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the assassination of the President of the United States. While relocating Oswald from one prison to another, he himself was shot and killed by a man named Jack Ruby.
The Warren Commission Report
In November of 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered for an investigation of the assassination. The investigation, known as the Warren Commission, began investigation on November 29, 1963. The final report, which was 888 pages in length, was presented to President Johnson on September 24, 1964. The Warren Commission concluded Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin in the case. They also concluded Jack Ruby was the lone shooter in the murder of Oswald. However, these theories were not accepted by everyone.
United States House Select Committee on Assassination's Report
Many rumors surrounded the details of the assassination. One rumor circulating the case was that there were more shooters other than Lee Harvey Oswald. News outlets began producing stories that the CIA, Vice President Johnson, or perhaps even the Mafia were involved in the death of President John F. Kennedy.
In 1979, the United States House Select Committee on Assassination (HSCA) concluded there was most likely more than one shooter at the assassination, due to the evidence of three separate shots that came from multiple directions. They did not identify the other shooters, however.
Kennedy's Motorcade
President Kennedy's motorcade in Dallas, the day of his assassination.
Assassination of Kennedy
Jackie Kennedy flees in fear after her husband, President John F Kennedy, is shot and killed whilst campaigning in Texas.
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald is the man believed of killing President John F Kennedy in Dallas in 1963. Oswald went on to be shot and killed by Jack Ruby while transferring prisons.
Media Bias
The national media wants to believe the government and the Warren Commission about the single shooter theory, however, they know readers don't want to believe that. News outlets released stories on different conspiracies on who killed the 35th President of the United States. Stories from the CIA killing their commander in chief, aliens descending to Earth and taking out the leader, and mobs such as the Mafia or KGB murdering the president were all published in different news outlets. The media used this event to gain readers' attention, because of the mysterious 3 shots fired that fateful day in Dallas.
Cultural / Historical Criticism
A lot of these rumors about other parties being involved in the assassination root from the cultural belief of patriotic loyalty. Who would assassinate the president? What United States citizen (especially from Texas) would kill the president? These cultural beliefs make people believe something or somebody else had a role in this assassination. The president had been very successful and very, very likable. The belief was that it'd be crazy for a citizen to do this to such a perfect president.
Also, the people were very upset with the death of their beloved leader. They were emotionally hurt. They needed someone to blame for this senseless act. The media and news outlets were perfect ways to blame people and create different conspiracy theories about who killed their president. Nobody wanted to believe just one ordinary man in a window in Dallas, Texas sniped their president. They wanted real answers and the news delivered.
JFK Assassination in Colour (HD) Slow Motion and Frame by Frame