JFK Conspiracy Theories

November 22nd, 1963 was the day America wept as President John F. Kennedy was tragically assassinated in the streets of Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald. No one could believe it then, and questions are still arising fifty five years after the slaying. What was the motivation? Who is truly responsible? Without being provided with clear answers, many people decided to take the matter into their own hands and seek the truth for themselves, causing the development of the infamous JFK conspiracy theories. The theory claims more people conspired than just Oswald, and the “magic bullet” government investigators used to explain the strike on Kennedy and Governor Connally is impossible. According to a poll conducted by FiveThirtyEight.com, 61% of 5,130 Americans

Harrison and James Moulton Thomas analyze the government theory using behavioral science in The Kennedy Assassination, Unidentified Flying Objects, and Other Conspiracies. “There is no real way to disprove an allegation of cover-up, but for many people the number, popularity, strength, and persuasiveness of such theories seem to outrun the verifiable data….since JFK’s assassination was a large, momentous event it must have had a large or momentous cause” (Harrison and Thomas 115). There is psychological reasoning as to why people believe conspiracy theories, and it is because they feel there has to be grand, elaborate causes to immensely tragic events like the JFK assassination. People that believe cover-ups must also have a sense of distrust for their government. Threats of nuclear war were prominent in the 1960s and paranoia was extremely high within each government and country involved. Knowing that President Kennedy was in the center of these crises, everyone’s mind automatically went to “which country is responsible” when they heard he was assassinated. With this mindset, Lee Harvey Oswald’s interaction with the Soviet Union, and the United States not investigating or sharing enough information, the evidence and argumentation that some governmental power conspired in the assassination appears highly

In the infamous Zapruder Film, Kennedy’s body violently moves backwards and slumps over to the left. This brings the popular assumption that there was at least one other shooter located somewhere in front of the motorcade. However, Robert A. Artwohl explains why this theory is absurd in his article, JFK’s Assassination: Conspiracy, Forensic Science, and Common Sense. “...there are large problems of logic and common sense with the government-led or government-involved conspiracy theories….It is difficult to believe a government-led team of President’s assassins came up with the following complex plan” (Artwohl 1543). Artwohl then goes on a tangent of how it is impossible for the government to take several years to set up Lee Harvey Oswald, get him hired at the Texas School Book Depository, frame him with planted evidence, have other assassins perfectly positioned where they can shoot the president from different directions, then quickly gather the bullets and evidence after the death. The conspiracy of the government and multiple shooters being involved might come across as legitimate at first, until one starts heavily analyzing how that would have even happened. Thus, the logic starts appearing more unsound and