The assassination of John F. Kennedy

Essay by mike1977University, Bachelor'sA+, March 2006

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We may never know what actually happened to John F. Kennedy. Since his assassination there have been numerous conspiracy theories published, laying blame from the C.I.A. to organized crime. The majority of which have spent countless hours collecting data and researching, although none are more than speculation. Official Federal investigations have left more questions than answers. The Warren Commission has concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was acting alone when he assassinated John F. Kennedy, however they have been criticized for deliberately attempting to suppress or dismiss many of the questionable circumstances surrounding the murder.

On Friday November 22, 1963, at 11:55 am, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy's motorcade left the Dallas airport for a procession through downtown Dallas. The Lincoln Continental limousine was the second vehicle in the motorcade which contained Kennedy himself, Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally, his wife Nelly and two Secret Service agents Kenny O'Donnell and Dave Powers.

At 12:30 pm, the motorcade turned left onto Elm Street from Houston Street where the fatal shots rang out. At 1 pm John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead by doctors at Parkland Hospital. By 2 pm police would already have a suspect in custody, Lee Harvey Oswald, whom proclaimed his innocence. The following Saturday a Dallas Police official announced that Oswald had acted alone and assassinated Kennedy without assistance. On Sunday November 24, a media circus had landed in Dallas. With millions of television viewers anxiously watching Oswald's transferal to the county jail through the basement exit ramp of the Dallas police station, Jack Ruby a Dallas night club owner fatally shot Oswald in the stomach with a .38 caliber pistol. Ruby would later tell police the he had shot Oswald in a temporary fit of depression and rage over the president's death. In order to close the case...