Four conspiracy theories over JFK’s assassination that still endure today

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order mandating the release of thousands of classified documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The directive also extends to federal records concerning the killings of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.

“Everything will be revealed,” Trump said while signing the orders.

The move, part of a series of executive actions in Trump’s second-term opening, aims to shed light on decades-old events that have spawned countless conspiracy theories.

More than six decades after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, one of America’s most transformative presidents, intrigue persists.

Trump’s move to unseal the files is expected to dispel some of the mystery and intrigue surrounding JFK’s death.

However, some historians beg to differ, believing that releasing the files would provide evidence supporting the conspiracy theories that have spawned endless speculation. But will the move settle doubts—or stoke them?

Kennedy was fatally shot on November 22, 1963, as his motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. The official narrative, upheld by the Warren Commission in 1964, is that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine sharpshooter, acted alone, firing from a sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository.

Yet scepticism endures.

The Warren Commission, formed and directed by President Lydon B Johnson, to probe the November 22, 1963 shooting of the 49-year-old president, determined that it was perpetrated by a former Marine sharpshooter, Lee Harvey Oswald, who acted alone. The commission did not establish a motive.

Yet polls show that decades after his death, 65% of Americans believe there was some conspiracy surrounding his death and that 24-year-old Oswald did not act alone.

Polls reveal that a majority of Americans doubt the lone gunman theory, believing instead in some form of conspiracy. From the shadowy “grassy knoll” to the Cold War intrigues of the CIA, here are the most enduring theories about JFK’s assassination.

Four theories:

The Second Gunman?

As mentioned, there was public doubt that Oswald wasn’t alone. That may have something to do with the Select Committee on Assassinations, which again looked into JFK’s assassination in addition to Martin Luther King's murder.

In 1976, the House Select Committee on Assassinations reopened the case and concluded there was “probably” a second shooter, pointing to the infamous “grassy knoll” now a historical landmark but back then, a hill overlooking the area where Kennedy was situated in his motorcade.

However, in 1982, the National Academy of Sciences refuted the acoustic evidence that underpinned the second-shooter theory. Still, the knoll remains a focal point for those who believe in a broader conspiracy.

The Cuba Connection

Cuba was a festering topic at the time of Kennedy’s assassination, so naturally, it overlapped with the conspiracy theories.

The Cold War backdrop of 1963 fuels speculation that Fidel Castro’s Cuba played a role in Kennedy’s murder.

Declassified Senate reports reveal that the CIA plotted multiple assassination attempts on Castro. Some theorists suggest JFK’s death was retaliation. Oswald’s 1963 trip to Mexico City, where he attempted to contact Cuban and Soviet consulates, adds weight to these suspicions.

Alternatively, some posit that anti-Castro operatives, enraged by JFK’s refusal to provide military support for the Bay of Pigs invasion, may have orchestrated the killing.

Oswald had reportedly been in contact with pro-and anti-Castro figures and had been advocating on behalf of Castro and Communists in the US.

An inside job?

Among most speculations is that the CIA orchestrated the assassination.

Critics cite Kennedy’s strained relationship with the agency, particularly after the Bay of Pigs debacle, when he fired then-CIA director Allen Dulles.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a nephew of the late president, and Trump’s pick for Secretary of Health, has lent credence to this theory, arguing that JFK’s refusal to escalate US involvement in Vietnam made him enemies within the military-industrial complex.

“When my uncle was president, he was surrounded by a military-industrial complex and intelligence apparatus that was constantly trying to get him to go to war in Laos, Vietnam, etc. He refused.”

Kennedy claims that the murder was linked to pressure to send US forces to Vietnam. He initially believed that a “rogue element in the CIA” was responsible before a meeting with CIA Director John McCone who dispelled those suspicions and speculations.

Kennedy experts believe that the CIA was keeping a closer eye on Oswald’s activities than they cared to admit and recruited him to take care of their problem.

Despite these claims, the 1979 House Select Committee on Assassinations found no evidence of CIA involvement.

Mafia angle

Another popular theory implicates organised crime.

As attorney general, Robert Kennedy aggressively pursued the mob, and some theorists argue the mafia retaliated by targeting his brother.

This theory gained traction after Robert Kennedy himself reportedly expressed fears that his anti-mob crusade led to the president’s murder.

Biographer Evan Thomas has said that Robert Kennedy was worried that the work he was pursuing got his brother killed.

Mystery continues

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump suggested that Senator Ted Cruz’s father was a known associate of Oswald. Saying that “nobody talks about it”, Trump cited the cover of the tabloid National Enquirer for publishing a photo of Rafael Cruz and Oswald having breakfast.

The claim was widely dismissed but underlines how speculative the debate has become sparking conspiracies.

Whether Trump’s move to unseal the files will provide clarity or add fuel to the fire remains to be seen. For now, America continues to wrestle with one of its greatest historical enigmas.