Single Bullet Theory example essay topic

Conspiracy? "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country". -John Fitzgerald Kennedy. As President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy set out to redeem his campaign pledge to get America moving again he had no idea that he would soon be stopped.

He was one on the nation's most effective presidents since Franklin Delano Roosevelt; however he would never get to finish his term in office. On November 22, 1963 at approximately 12: 00 pm President Kennedy arrived in Dallas, Texas on board Air Force One. Less than two hours later, at 1: 00 pm, JFK was declared dead at Parkland Hospital in Dallas Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested at approximately 1: 45 pm at a theater in Dallas. America had many questions such as why Oswald had done it and if he had, had he been a lone assassin or was it a conspiracy to remove President Kennedy from office.

Theories began surface very quickly especially after what occurred on November 24, 1963. While Oswald was being transferred to the Dallas County Jail a man by the name of Jack Ruby shot and killed him. Forty three years later many Americans are still wondering what exactly occurred on that November afternoon. In the days following the tragedy the newly sworn in president, Lyndon Johnson quickly put together what is now know as the "Warren Commission", and hoped that every theory that was created after the death of JFK would quickly be eliminated. The theory that the country has been led to believe is the "Magic / Single Bullet Theory", which proposes that the bodies of JFK and John Connally were injured by the same bullet, that had been fired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository by Lee Harvey Oswald. "The Single Bullet Theory", is important because if true, it removed the need for another shooter from the back to account for the fact that Kennedy and Connally responded to the shots in less than the minimum re-firing time of 2.3 seconds.

It was officially concluded by the Warren Commission that Lee Harvey Oswald was a crazy, lone gunman, who shot the President three times, had no ties to the CIA or the government. Through the years, however, hundreds of conspiracy theories have developed, and with good reason. Many had motives to kill the JFK, including the CIA, the mafia, extremists, and even JFK's vice president, Lyndon Johnson. I believe that the United States government is covering up a lot of information that is key to finding out what really occurred that day in Dallas.

It is hard for me to believe a conspiracy didn't take place in Dallas. The events that took place on the day following the murder of JFK were the biggest problems with the investigation. The suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald was killed while he was being transferred to the Dallas County Jail, by a local bar owner, Jack Ruby. What does not make any sense to me is the fact that reporters and other people were allowed to be around Oswald as he was escorted out of the Dallas station shows plain irresponsibility on the part of the Dallas police.

Under no circumstance should public access to Oswald have been permitted. A lot of people believe that Jack Ruby killed Oswald to keep him from talking and that the Dallas Police was ordered to let it happened. I believe the theory the CIA had a role in the murder of JFK. Despite many inconsistencies for many years the American public has been led to believe the Warren Commission's verdict that "Lee Harvey Oswald had been the sole assassin in the murder of John Kennedy who died as result of three shots being fired from the Texas school depository building". Evidence keeps coming up, as does inconsistencies on the Warren Commissions part. I believe that the Warren Commission disregarded evidence if it contradicted or disproved their conclusion.

The Warren commission was under a lot of pressure because of the public. At the time Oswald had seemed like the perfect person to blame because he was an extremist man with a grudge. Many people in America were startled that the Warren Commission did not make any attempt to investigate other possible theories and that they hadn't followed a number of promising leads. The commission's biggest mistake was disregarding key eyewitnesses whom they considered to be conflicting and opposing to their lone gunman theory. Nobody in the commission had heard one of the witnesses who saw or heard something else that afternoon. These people were crucial witnesses such as Abraham Zap ruder, J. C Price a man who was at the motorcade that said he saw a man with a rifle running behind the fence on the grassy knoll.

There was also was women who stated", I heard four to six shots and I'm pretty used to guns. They weren't echoes. They were different guns that were being fired". JFK's autopsy contained many discrepancies and contradictions. Two autopsies were performed on Kennedy.

The purpose of doing two autopsies was that it would reveal the angles and where the assassin or assassins were at. However the autopsies created even more confusion because there were many apparent changes. The first autopsy was conducted in Parkland Hospital and the second at the naval base in Maryland. When the two examinations were compared, disturbing differences showed up.

The main differences were that the wounds were different. In Dallas, doctors claimed that the bullet entered Kennedy's body at the front of the neck... When Kennedy was brought into Parkland Hospital, Dr. Perry said that he noticed a hole of about 5 mm just below Kennedy's adams apple, where he believed the bullet had entered. In the autopsy done in Washington they wrote that the bullet exited from the neck.

Their report confirmed the 'single bullet theory' addressed by the Warren Commission whose conclusion was highly dependent on this theory. Even Governor Connally believed that the bullet that wounded Kennedy wasn't the same one that responsible for his wounds. There are facts that change this theory such as the fact that the bullet was mysteriously found on a hospital stretcher in mint condition. Yet the bullet should have been out of shape and showing signs of severe impact, considering that it had gone through two major bones and had torn out a great deal of muscle. I believe that the bullet was planted on the stretcher by the FBI or CIA so that they could pin the assassination on Oswald, again indicating the involvement of a conspiracy. The differences as you can see are very evident and have a great influence on the theory of the second gunman.

The autopsy in Dallas seems to point towards two gunmen, while the autopsy in Washington points towards a single gunman. Although we will not know until the autopsy reports are declassified I believe that soon the truth about what happened that November day will be revealed. It has recently also come to light that much of the reports have been destroyed. If this is true I believe that the government is hiding something that is important to finding out what really occurred. Lee Harvey Oswald's words, "I'm at patsy", had big of impact on my opinion that he was not alone.