This year marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of the 35th president of the United States, Jonathan Fitzgerald Kennedy. Known colloquially as JFK, or affectionately as Jack to his peers.
As the official narrative goes, on November 22nd, 1963 John F Kennedy sat in the back of a top down Lincoln Continental limousine, adjacent from his wife Jackie and Texas governor John Connolly and his wife Nellie, as his motorcade drove through Dallas, Texas’ Dealey Plaza. At approximately 12:30pm Central standard time ex-Marine Corps veteran and defector Lee Harvey Oswald took aim from his position in the Dallas school book depository and opened fire on the motorcade. Firing three times, hitting Kennedy in the head at least once, mortally wounding him. As the motorcade sped to safety Kennedy was eventually rushed to the nearby Parkland hospital where he would later succumb to his injuries.
Just two days later the suspected assassin Oswald would be gunned down whilst in Dallas police custody by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. The aftermath of the killing prompting the incumbent president Lyndon B Johnson to appoint a committee to investigate the assassination of President Kennedy, headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren. After nearly a year the Warren Commission, as it was known, concluded their investigation. Presenting their findings to President Johnson on September 24th 1964, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in his assassination of President Kennedy.
Thus begins one of the most intriguing sagas in American history. For all it’s worth the Kennedy assassination and those key events and figures tied to it have since been encapsulated in American mythos for over half a century, fueled by speculation and unanswered questions that have given rise to just as many conspiracy theories as it has pop culture references.
In the six decades since Kennedy’s death, after numerous investigations and a plethora of declassified documents being released, what have we actually learned about the death of the president?
Even in the early days of his administration, Kennedys Camelot was steeped in controversy.
Notwithstanding the romanticization of the Kennedy administration painted primarily by his wife Jackie following his tragic demise it doesn’t take away from the fact that in 1960s America Jack Kennedy was just another political figure vying for power during this tumultuous time, not unlike Nixon or the rest, and while popular not overly so as his later mythos would portray. Evidenced by the fact that he won the 1960 presidential election by the slimmest of margins, winning 34,227,096 popular votes compared to Richard Nixon’s 34,107,646.
A feat which in and of itself is questionable. According to legendary award-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, Kennedys election could not have been assured without the help of organized crime guaranteeing his victory in key swing states, primarily relying on the help of infamous Chicago mafioso Sam Giancana.
He was a man not without his faults, known for being a serial womanizer who’s conga line of concubines were as numerable as the conspiracies surrounding him. From Hollywood starlets including Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Marlena Dietrich, to strippers, call girls, and prostitutes, JFK was not the wholesome family man many have been led to believe.
Still, contrary to the official version of events, for its numerous glaring irregularities the Kennedy assassination has been marred in mystery. Prompting many to wonder what truly happened on that fateful day.
As the years have turned to decades many a theory have been concocted as a possible explainer to that burning question. With some speculating that rather than the crazed actions of a lone gunman the murder of Kennedy was actually the result of a carefully organized and orchestrated conspiracy within our own government to remove him from power.
But what does the evidence actually show?
Hellbound and Down 
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