JFK Assassination
By: Mitch Ubelhor
The Bigger Picture
John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 at roughly 12 in the afternoon. The route the President took was through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas when he was shot. JFK was in Dallas at the time for a reelection campaign for the 1964 presidential race. Kennedy was traveling with his wife and four others in the car with secret service agents in and behind the car. President Kennedy's limo through Dallas was a convertible, instead of the usual hard top limo presidents take.
The Warren Commission's Results
Everyone has heard the story about the JFK assassination and the conflicting information. How many shooters were there? How many shots were fired? Where did the shots come from? All those questions are still being asked today, 53 years later. Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone confirmed gunman in the shooting of the President and injuring two others. There were 3 confirmed shots that were fired. The Warren Commission heard all the facts and eye witness testimonies and concluded that there was only one shooter and three shots fired.
The Conspiracy Theory
Despite the Warren Commission's findings and conclusion about the facts, others have been looking through the same evidence and finding new unheard of information about that day. New theories have been raised only leading to more questions being asked about the integrity of the original investigation into the assassination.
New investigators in the case years later have come up with many new conclusions to what unfolded in Dealey Plaza. Theories include the CIA, the Mafia, Vice President Johnson, Fidel Castro, and even the KGB. It has also been considered that more than one of those may be involved in the assassination. Some citizens believe that the government covered up who is really responsible by using Oswald as bait.
The Media's Bias by What They Tell Us
After the shooting Americans were asking countless questions about what happened, how it happened, and who did it. All the media said was that JFK had been shot and that Oswald was the only suspect in question. The media doesn't say why or say anything else about other possible suspects in the investigation because they and the government wanted the American citizens to believe that Oswald was the lone gunman and the only person in the plot to assassinate JFK. The media was leaving out information the public needed to know, but no one was asking those questions until years later after everything happened. All the media would say was what the Warren Commission wanted them to release and nothing more.
Why Cultural Criticism was a Factor
During the time the assassination took place the united states was going through a time of changing ideas and radicalism. The war with Vietnam was looming and citizens were protesting the decision to go to war. Civil rights was a major factor that shook up the nation, citizens were uneasy about the change and they didn't want it to happen. Also radical students took over college campuses with rioting and protests. All of this combined leads the country to extreme tension among all the people. The change in culture in the country was leading a disastrous path and it found its way to JFK.
JFK the original Zapruder Film HD 1080p best Version John F. Kennedy 11/22/63
Historical Criticism with JFK
Many of the conspiracy stories about the JFK assassination are saying the CIA killed Kennedy, well that might just be true. During the invasion of Cuba to stop Fidel Castro, the CIA played a major role in the planing and execution of the assault on Cuba. After the monstrous failure Kennedy blamed the CIA saying they screwed up and that he wanted to "splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the winds." (Craig Frizzell and Magen Knuth, 1) President Kennedy's relationship with the CIA was dwindling and Kennedy later lessened the power of the CIA even further in response to what happened at the Bay of Pigs invasion. The CIA and Kennedy were in a fierce battle and it is completely possible that the CIA took matters into their hands and were tired of what JFK was doing and they put a stop to it.