The KGB may have been quick to take advantage of the confusion which followed the assasination, but it did not instigate the first stirrings of doubt about the "official version." Conspiracy theories sprung up the day after Dallas District Attotney Henry Wade held his first press conference regarding the murder, the day after the event. Too many questions had been left unanswered. After the publication of the Warren Commission Report, these theories proliferated as that report was seen as a thinly-disguised work of fiction. The KGB probably fed some fuel to the fire. They had little to fear. Some right-wing conspiracy theorists did try to make an issue of Lee Harvey Oswald's having lived in Russia and his alleged ties to the Communist Party, but, other than that, there was nothing to tie the assasination to any Soviet plot. The major criticism of the investigation came mainly from the left necause it quickly became evident that there might be right-wing motives for getting rid of a very liberal President.
The theories have been too conflicting for me. One day I am semi-convinced the CIA did it; the next, Castro agents. Then there comes in other information or rumor of information and I am at a loss again. I confess; I do not know whom to blame.
I thought it was general knowledge that The Mob killed JFK and RFK. The Mafia "delivered" the 1960 election for Old Joe & JFK and helped harass Castro. They then felt double-crossed when Bobby became Atty. General and went after them. The Kennedys didn't deserve death, but their arrogance was certainly off the charts.
I don't have access to it right now, because i'm at Lovey's house in Canadia, but i have a clipping of a letter to the editor of The New York Times from William Manchester. It runs to about three and one half columns. In this, Manchester, who is responding to a published criticism of the Warren Commission, tells how he was hired by the Kennedy family to both review the Warren Commission's report, as well as to investigate the "theories" of the assassination current at that time. Too bad that i can't go get the clipping now, because Manchester very compellingly supports the conclusions of the Commission. Largely because of my respect for Manchester as a biographer/historian, but as well for my respect for anyone who maintains high standards of evidence, and demonstrates them, i have, since first reading this letter, considered it to be the last word on the subject. Unless and until someone produces solid, supportable evidence to an extremely high standard of evidence, which substantially contradicts the Warren Commission, i've no reason to change my mind.
I, too, change my mind now and then about JFK's murder. I used to think it was because of Cuba, but lately wonder about the Mafia and JFK's connections there. All those love affairs. Also, his father was connected with Irish "Mafia," his brother was obsessed with Hoffa.
I don't think the Kennedys were the people we thought they were. I was living in New England when JFK was shot, home with babies. It was a very sad time, the funeral on TV was devastating.
JFK conspiracy theories were never my idea of a good time, but I highly recommend Libra, a novel by Don DeLillo. He proposes an intriguing explanation of what happened, and, dare I say it, it's a creepily entertaining book. No one gets at American weirdness and paranoia like DeLillo!
babsatamelia
I like this last response of yours, particularly about the coup. I have long said we are in the midst of the sneakiest coup in history.
Those of you who have never seen the movie Executive Action and remain interested in the JFK/RFK assassinations might want to rent it. It is an excellent movie.
This independently produced political thriller was the first film to directly address the John F. Kennedy assassination and the possibility of a conspiracy. Three leaders of the military industrial complex (played by Robert Ryan, Burt Lancaster and Will Geer) plot to kill the President. Much of the story is told using archive newsreel footage.
John Anderson, Walter Brooke, Paul Carr, Colby Chester, Will Geer, Gilbert Green, Burt Lancaster, Ed Lauter, Robert Ryan
I think that people will be arguing this for decades. Somewhere out there knows, but I don't think that the general public will ever know for sure.
I think it was Oliver Stone.
I know, but I'm not saying
Look how long it took to get an honest look at Lincoln's assassination.
So I wasn't born 'til after he died, and the truth won't be revealed 'til after I'm dead. Great
I heard the truth will not be revealed until JFK has been dead for 50 years.
We'll all be dead Wilso!
He died in 1963, that makes "truth day" 2013. I hope to still be here if the world is.
Well, everyone, welcome to the world of historigraphy. The truth will likely never be known, and historians of the future will, depending upon their degree of honesty and disinterestedness, attempt to piece together what is known to arrive at what they believe to be the most likely answer. This is how history always works--a fabulous story, better than any novel, soap opera or motion picture--seen dimly in fleeting glimpses.
