5 JFK Conspiracy Theories on His 100th Birthday (Photos)
JFK conspiracy theories abound, and JFK’s 100th birthday has done nothing to diminish them. Sadly, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States will always be as remembered for the circumstances of his death as for his life.
Here’s what we know: President John Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963. The Warren Commission concluded in their investigation that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin, a ruling that was supported by the FBI, Secret Service and Dallas Police Department. But according to a Gallup poll, 61 percent of Americans believe there’s more to the story. Here are five JFK conspiracy theories.
It was the Soviet Union
The Cold War had Americans in the 1960s weary about all things relating to the USSR. Oswald lived in Russia for a time, and his wife was Russian; her relatives allegedly had connections to the KGB. Oswald was a marine, and some say he was replaced by a Russian agent sent back to the U.S. to assassinate the president. However, Some say that Russian officials wanted Kennedy dead after Nikita Khrushchev aligned with Fidel Castro after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
It was Cuba
Apparently, Oswald was held in regard by Castro. He was arrested in New Orleans for handing out pro-Castro leaflets. And just weeks before the assassination, Oswald allegedly left the Cuban Consulate in Mexico shouting that he was going to kill Kennedy.
It was the mob
Kennedy’s alleged mob ties are well-known. Some even believe that his assassination was at the hands of the mafia. Potential motives include Kennedy’s failure to overthrow Castro, who closed many of the mob’s casinos in Havana.
It was Lyndon Johnson
Was JFK’s vice president ambitious enough to pull off a hit? Some think so. This theory posits that because Johnson had the most to gain, he secretly worked with CIA members to pull of the assassination.
It was the CIA
Another conspiracy would have the CIA as the culprit. Supporters of this theory would say that Oswald was a CIA operative. But, in a 1978 report, it was determined Oswald had nothing to do with the CIA.
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