Yessenia Serrato

2B AP U.S. History

Who Killed John F. Kennedy?

Since the death of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963,

Lee Harvey Oswald is said to have been the person who shot him. Is this true though? Was the

government behind his death? Did Oswald act alone? Yes it has been said Oswald did kill him,

but there wasn’t enough evidence that proves for a fact it was him. Nobody ever really

investigated deep into his assassination. Was it perhaps because it wasn’t him?

Lee Harvey Oswald was a former United States Marine with a record of bizarre behavior.

On the day of Kennedy’s shooting, several people claim to have seen him near the sixth floor of

the Texas School Book Depository where he worked at. Oswald fired three shots, the last of

which killed Kennedy. Forty-five minutes after the assassination, he was seen walking through

the streets of Dallas in a rush. Police officer J.D. Tippit noticed Oswald and recognized him

because he matched a similar description he was given about the suspect of the shooting. When

the officer tried to apprehend him, Oswald shot him dead and fled the scene. In the afternoon,

police showed up to the Texas Theater where Lee had been spotted. Once inside, Oswald

punched an officer that had approached him and withdrew a pistol. The gun misfired and other

police officers immediately grabbed him. Two days later Lee was to be transferred to county jail

when Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner, shot him and killed him. Later on, in the Depository,

a gun was found that had a palm print that matched Oswald’s. What were his motives though?

Family members say he didn’t hate Kennedy and that he in fact respected him as our president.

Others say he wanted to be famous and get his name in history. If he truly wanted to, he

would’ve been fine with everyone knowing it was him who killed the president. But Oswald

denied every question or statement that said he was the one who was behind the assassination of
 Yessenia Serrato
2B AP U.S. History

Kennedy. Although investigators claim he was the one who killed Kennedy, a large mass of

people believe someone else killed him, and that there was more behind the story.

Although Lee Harvey is said to be the one who killed Kennedy, many believe it was the

CIA. E. Howard Hunts was a former CIA officer. On his deathbed, Hunt made a confession to

his family. He allegedly told his sons that the group of CIA rogues invited him to have a role in

the assassination of President Kennedy, which originally was supposed to take place in Miami,

Florida. His son, Howard St. John Hunt later said “He told me in no uncertain terms about a plot

origination in Miami, to take place in Miami.” Hunt had once said “I didn’t have anything to do

with the assassination, didn’t know anything about it.” Later on in his deathbed he wrote down

the names of men who had indeed participated in a plot to kill the president. He had lied during

two federal investigations where denied knowing anything. Hunt wrote an autobiography where

none of this information was mentioned. His son said “It has all this stuff in it, the chain of

command, names, people, places, dates. He wrote it out to me directly in his own handwriting

starting with the initials ‘LBJ’.” But why would the CIA want to kill or get rid of John F.

Kennedy? Well people believe the CIA was upset outraged about changes being made within the

agency after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Even if this wasn’t the motive behind it, there could

be many other reasons as to why they didn’t want to have Kennedy as a president, after all,

there’s no way everyone agreed with his decisions as president.

It’s also said that Kennedy’s death was carried out by the secret service, according to a

deathbed confession given to the veteran film director Oliver Stone. He claims he was told that

the president’s murder was an inside job by a man who said he was a former member of the

presidential security detail. Known only as “Ron”, he told Stone that “Somebody from his own

team…had fired on the President.” At first, the messages were sent to Stone in a series of secret
 Yessenia Serrato
2B AP U.S. History

notes before they actually met. Stone was skeptic at first about this information but later said he

believed “Ron” was telling the truth. The man who was dying of cancer said he had only ever

told his son but wanted to reveal what he knew before passing away without letting others in on

the information he knew, and kept a secret this entire time. Now, if you think about it, this makes

more sense. There is more logical and better evidence behind this conclusion that the CIA or

secret service had to do with it. They never investigated this case down to the last bit of

evidence. Was this why? Was it because they had planned it from the start and had it covered up

by accusing Lee Oswald and making it seem like he was the person behind the president’s death?

There are a lot more theories on how John F. Kennedy was killed and who actually killed

him. Although it's a little harder to believe, some of these theories could actually be true. Some

believe Lyndon B. Johnson, the United States President at the time, was motivated by political

gain to organize Kennedy’s death. Kennedy and Johnson had quite a few political differences

and personal issues. Since Kennedy was visiting Texas, Johnson’s home state, some think it’s

logical that Johnson could have been involved. His associates even controlled many of the trip’s

details. People suggest that Johnson’s financial scandal and his desire to become President,

served as possible reasons as to why he could’ve possibly carried out a planned assassination.

Could The Soviets have anything to do with Kennedy’s death? Some theorists believe

they could've been behind it all. The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 gave the Soviet Security

Agency KGB understandable reasons not to like Kennedy, therefore causing them to plan the

death of the president. Others even think Lee Harvey Oswald was possibly acting as a KGB

operative.
 Yessenia Serrato
2B AP U.S. History

Was it possibly the Mafia? Some people believe that the Mob was angry with efforts by

Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy’s brother, who served as Attorney General during the

Kennedy Administration, to break down on organized crime. Other theorists also believe that the

Mafia was working with anti-Castro exile groups that were trying to take down John F. Kennedy.

A pretty believable theory that makes sense is that there could’ve been a second shooter

involved. Although quite a bit of people do believe Oswald was the one who killed Kennedy, he

could’ve had help from someone else. Unless you’re incredibly smart and can plan an

assassination without getting caught and without a bunch of evidence that proves it was you, it’s

quite idealistic you most likely need someone to help carry out a plan as serious and thought out

as the assassination of the United States President. The idea that there could have been a second

shooter has been discussed a lot throughout all the investigations in the assassination. Some

believe the shooter was hiding on a grassy knoll behind a picket fence that was located to the

right of John F. Kennedy’s vehicle. If there was a second shooter, was he helping out Oswald?

Or was he also working alone and just so happened to fire around the same time Lee Harvey

allegedly did. If they were both working together, who was the one who actually fired bullet that

killed Kennedy?

Who killed John F. Kennedy? Lee Harvey Oswald. Well at least that’s what we’re told.

At least that’s who the little bit of evidence we have points to. But we don’t have the answers

and we never will. If it was the CIA, they’ll never spill. If some people confess information they

know, a great amount of people won’t believe them. Even if some of the theories sound too

farfetched, there is a chance that it can be true. Theories range from normal beliefs like Oswald

shooting him, to bizarre ideas like the illuminati killing him, but we’ll never know. Now if you

ask me personally, who killed John F. Kennedy? The CIA killed him.