Theories Of The Assassination Of John F. Kennedy
Without a doubt, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is the most intriguing event in the history of the United States. It's because this was a murder that has never been accepted as portrayed by the government (Anonymous, 2013). There are several reasons and theories which have kept this topic in the lime-light for the past fifty years, and it will likely stay there. It has sparked a host of conspiracy theories of which none can be proven, but yet none can be completely disregarded either.
One conspiracy theory focuses on the manner in which accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was murdered by small time strip club owner and mob want-to-be Jack Ruby, is a prime factor contributing to all those conspiracy theories. John Kennedy’s …show more content…
As mentioned by McAdams (2010), “the immediate cause of President Kennedy's assassination was the blatant lack of security at the time of the assassination”, but there are several other theories that have been proven. Within three short months of taking office, Kennedy sowed the seeds of global discontent with the U.S. with the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion which saw the defeat of anti-Castro forces in an attempt to establish a beachhead in Cuba. Though the assault was planned under Eisenhower, it was carried out under Kennedy.
Later that same Spring, Kennedy was faced with the Berlin Crisis which saw him in a test of wills with the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. The Soviet leader had threatened to sign a peace treaty with East Germany and thereby cut off any access to Berlin by the West. Kennedy warned Khrushchev that the U.S. would “maintain those rights at any risk and thus meet our obligation to the people of West Berlin”. The crises subsided after Kennedy activated numerous National Guard and Reserve units with Khrushchev not signing a peace …show more content…
He spent a few years living in the Soviet Union, where he renounced his American citizenship and told the American Consul that he had planned to turn over all secrets that he had learned while serving in the United States Marine Corp. As reported by Edward Jay Epstein (1983), while in Moscow, Oswald wrote of his willingness to commit murder for a political cause: "I want you to understand what I say now, I do not say lightly, or unknowingly, since I've been in the military .... In the event of war I would kill any American who put a uniform on in defense of the American Government --", and then ominously added for emphasis, “Any American." In the Spring of 1963, General Edwin A. Walker, an extreme conservative, who had been active in Dallas organizing anti-Castro guerrillas became a particular focus of Oswald's attention. Oswald repeatedly suggested to a German geologist, Volkmar Schmidt, and other friends, that General Walker should be treated like a “murderer at large” (Epstein, 1983). For weeks, he methodically stalked Walker's movements, photographing his residence from several angles. On the evening of May 9, 1963, Oswald left his home with his shotgun wrapped in plastic, heading for General Walker’s home where he fired a shot at him, missing his head by mere inches. This was his way of proving that he had the capacity and willingness to kill “Any American”. After failing at that
One conspiracy theory focuses on the manner in which accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was murdered by small time strip club owner and mob want-to-be Jack Ruby, is a prime factor contributing to all those conspiracy theories. John Kennedy’s …show more content…
As mentioned by McAdams (2010), “the immediate cause of President Kennedy's assassination was the blatant lack of security at the time of the assassination”, but there are several other theories that have been proven. Within three short months of taking office, Kennedy sowed the seeds of global discontent with the U.S. with the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion which saw the defeat of anti-Castro forces in an attempt to establish a beachhead in Cuba. Though the assault was planned under Eisenhower, it was carried out under Kennedy.
Later that same Spring, Kennedy was faced with the Berlin Crisis which saw him in a test of wills with the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. The Soviet leader had threatened to sign a peace treaty with East Germany and thereby cut off any access to Berlin by the West. Kennedy warned Khrushchev that the U.S. would “maintain those rights at any risk and thus meet our obligation to the people of West Berlin”. The crises subsided after Kennedy activated numerous National Guard and Reserve units with Khrushchev not signing a peace …show more content…
He spent a few years living in the Soviet Union, where he renounced his American citizenship and told the American Consul that he had planned to turn over all secrets that he had learned while serving in the United States Marine Corp. As reported by Edward Jay Epstein (1983), while in Moscow, Oswald wrote of his willingness to commit murder for a political cause: "I want you to understand what I say now, I do not say lightly, or unknowingly, since I've been in the military .... In the event of war I would kill any American who put a uniform on in defense of the American Government --", and then ominously added for emphasis, “Any American." In the Spring of 1963, General Edwin A. Walker, an extreme conservative, who had been active in Dallas organizing anti-Castro guerrillas became a particular focus of Oswald's attention. Oswald repeatedly suggested to a German geologist, Volkmar Schmidt, and other friends, that General Walker should be treated like a “murderer at large” (Epstein, 1983). For weeks, he methodically stalked Walker's movements, photographing his residence from several angles. On the evening of May 9, 1963, Oswald left his home with his shotgun wrapped in plastic, heading for General Walker’s home where he fired a shot at him, missing his head by mere inches. This was his way of proving that he had the capacity and willingness to kill “Any American”. After failing at that