We analyzed the physical conspiracies of the assassination, here are some conspiracies dealing with the motive:
The CIA Conspiracy- This theory holds that Oswald, JFK's assassin, was a CIA agent. Army Intelligence officer and NSA executive John Newman stated in 1995 that the files on Harvey Lee Oswald were deliberately tampered with both before and after the assassination. He also believed that information on Oswald was withheld from authorities prior to the assassination. The Warren Commission, however, established that the investigation "revealed no evidence that Oswald was ever employed by the CIA".
Shadow Government Conspiracy- Wealthy industrialists and hardcore conservatives ordered the assassination of Kennedy. The assassination would allow advancements in opposition policies and a further escalation of the Vietnam which would induce a more profitable industrial market.
Military-Industrial Complex- Piggy backing off the "Shadow Government"theory, this conspiracy is is based off Eisenhower's farewell speech which warned the nation about the establishment of an arms-dominant industry. Kennedy sought peace with the Soviet Union and was vehemently anti-war. This was contrary to the sentiment held in the CIA. The CIA then executed a coup-esque overthrow of the presidency in order to further economic and political interests involved with a war.
Secret Service Conspiracy- The HSCA declared that the " The Secret Service was deficient in the performance of its duties." The theory is that the Secret Service was not adequately ready for an attack on the president. Protocol was breached in many ways and the perimeter was no where near secure.
Organized Crime- The Mafia. [The Mafia worked together with anti-Castro Cubans and the CIA in attempt to overthrow Castro, the same may have been true using Kennedy as the target.]
Lyndon B. Johnson- Was the mastermind behind the assassination because he disliked Kennedy and feared losing a spot on the ticket in 1964.
Soviet Government Conspiracy- Pretty basic, the Soviet government was behind the assassination. The only real evidence to support this theory is a 'hit list' that contained, amongst others, JFK.
Federal Reserve (no...just no.)- Kennedy tried to take away the FR's power and shift it to the Treasury Department. The FR was scared of losing power so they assassinated Kennedy.
The Gemstone File (this one is quite weird)- A global conspiracy that involved the Mafia, corrupt politicians, oil/drug cartels, rogue agents, and others of the like. The 'Onassis' included a 28 man team of assassins of which Oswald was a part. According to this theory, the Kennedy family was involved with Onassis and Onassis allegedly played a large role in getting Kennedy elected. When Kennedy was elected however, he made attempts to break from the group and was subsequently murdered (the same is true for his brother).
Thanks for this post Andreas, this is very interesting! I appreciate that you posted this because although we have studied the possible ways that Kennedy was assassinated in class, we never covered why he was assassinated. I was very curious about the reasons as to why Oswald wanted him dead. In the movie, I thought it was very interesting how the narrator brought up that perhaps Oswald was not aiming at Kennedy, but rather just at the governor. How terrible would it be if our beloved president was shot on accident when the shooter was really just aiming for the governor that was in front of him?
ReplyDeleteAndreas, great post! What I found quite funny was the fact that Kennedy said that it was quite easy to assassinate the president, almost as if he predicted what was going to happen. The same type of thing happened with MLK where he predicted that he might not make it to the promised land but the would make sure they would. Becoming a martyr, helps peoples missions come to fruition, as people begin to believe in the mission if they see other people willing to die for their goal. However in the case of JFK, it symbolized him as a great president that could have made an enormous effect on our country, but was stopped by a man with a scope and high-powered rifle.
ReplyDeleteWhere's the alien conspiracy?? All jokes aside, it is really interesting to see all of the crazy explanations that people come up with. Why do people feel the need to think that everything is complicated? Honestly, the most likely explanation is that it is a single assassin acting alone, and there is a low possibility that it was set up by another organization, but some of these theories come out of nowhere. I guess if it exists, someone will believe it.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post. I didn't realize there were so many different conspiracy theories surround Kennedy's assassination. I think people often try to make sense out of nonsensical events, especially such tragic ones as this. Many Americans could not comprehend how or why just one person would kill such a popular, young president. People look to such conspiracy theories to try to give them some comfort since it hurts to think that just one human being could cause so much grief with consequences that very likely changed the course of events.
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