John F. Kennedy Assassination Essay Sample

“The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds” (John F Kennedy, 1962), this is one of the most well-known quotes from the former US president who only got two years out of his presidency due to his sudden death in 1963 at Dealey Plaza, Dallas. The assassination of John F. Kennedy (JFK) is one of the most discussed deaths in US history for many reasons, partly because it was one of the four major assassinations in the US during the 1960s. Moreover, seeing that his murderer, Lee Harvey Oswald, died on live television two days after the shooting, sparked questions. 

When John F Kennedy was first elected, he became the 35th President of the United States and also one of the youngest presidents ever to be elected in the US. Before he started working in politics, he studied at Harvard University and furthermore worked in the Navy. He was part of the Democratic Party and was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 along with the Senate in 1952. During his presidency, Kennedy attempted to overthrow the Cuban regime however the attempt was unsuccessful. Which consequently is one of the main reasons for the conspiracy theories about his death.                 

The Cuban and American governments have a long and complicated history. Due to prohibited travel between the two countries in addition to different ways to control their respective countries. The fact that JFK went against the Cuban regime led to many people assuming that the Cuban Government was involved when the president was killed. Lee Harvey Oswald was also tied to the Cuban Government by seeking a visa to Cuba and telling Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader at the time,  “I’ll kill that bastard Kennedy” just months before he shot JFK. The Child brother’s, secretly working for the FBI, met with Castro as trusted members of the Communist party and got the information that the Government was aware of and encouraged  Oswald’s attempts against the American president. This confirms that the Cuban government knew about the danger the president was in, but it doesn’t confirm that they were a part of the assassination. 

 Based on who was killed, the investigation was handed over to the FBI. The chairman of the investigation was Earl Warren and it is therefore known as the Warren Commission. 

The Warren Commission spent 10 months investigating the assassination and has released several documents which clearly states that Lee Harvey Oswald was the murderer of John F Kennedy and that he acted alone. In the 1979 report from the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations, they agreed with the Warren Commission report that Oswald was the murderer. They also have most documents surrounding the incident open to the public on their website. What sparked the theories is that the documents have been released over time from 2017 to 2021, which was almost a half-century after the incident. This may seem out of order but it’s quite normal due to privacy reasons and trials.           

To sum it up, Lee Harvey Oswald is the murderer of Kennedy, but the reason behind it remains unclear, the theory that the Cuban Government was involved in the assassination was denied by the FBI after all the facts were laid out. However, I believe that the conspiracy theories are mainly brought up because many Americans doubt their government and the facts it presents. I have faith in the FBI and believe they will charge the right person for such a high profile case, that will smear the family name for eternity.