Almost from the moment President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, conspiracy theories have abounded regarding his death.
The Mafia, the Cubans, the CIA, and others have been fingered in various theories.
Oliver Stone's film
JFK took the rhetoric to new heights with a conspiracy that went up to the highest levels of government and included Kennedy's successor President Lyndon Johnson.
Many people seem incapable of accepting that a nobody like Lee Harvey Oswald could have been the sole person responsible for the president's death. However, I believe he was. The most compelling piece of evidence that convinces me is that Kennedy was not the first person Oswald attempted to assassinate.
In early 1963, he had attempted to murder General Edwin Walker at Walker's home in Dallas but failed. From Gerald Posner's book Case Closed -- Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK: "Walker disturbed Oswald. (Walker) had been the commanding officer of the 24th Army Division under NATO, but President Kennedy relieved him of his post in 1961 for distributing right-wing literature to his troops. Walker resigned from the Army and returned to his native Texas. He was a virulent anti-Communist and strict segregationist who quickly became a prominent voice in the right-wing John Birch Society."
Oswald failed in his attempt to kill him when the bullet he shot struck a wooden frame that crossed the window in Walker's dining room. The frame caused the bullet to break into fragments, some of which struck Walker's forearm. Additionally, there is no evidence whatsoever that anybody helped Oswald in this attempt. It was not known that he did this until after Kennedy's death.
Doesn't it seem reasonable to conclude that if Oswald was willing to kill once that he would have been willing to kill again? How might history have changed if he had succeeded in killing Walker? Would that have satisfied his thirst for blood? Would that have spared Kennedy?
Of course, the answers to those questions are subjective. However, it has puzzled me that the Walker incident is almost never discussed when analyzing the Kennedy assassination. It would seem to be an important piece of the puzzle when trying to understand who Oswald was. Then again, it might punch a hole in the conspiracy theories that have made so many people so much money. Oliver Stone sure ignored this when he made his film.
Still, everybody is entitled to their own opinion. However, I believe this is a case where the simplest answer is the correct one.
Almost from the moment President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, conspiracy theories have abounded regarding his death. The Mafia, the Cubans, the CIA, and others have been fingered in various theories. Oliver Stone's film JFK took the rhetoric to new heights with a conspiracy that went up to the highest levels of government and included Kennedy's successor President Lyndon Johnson.
3 comments:
It was never proven that Oswald took a shot at General Walker. It was an allegation started by a newsman questioning Chief Curry.
Count me among those who believe Oswald acted alone. All the conspiracy theories eventually fall of their own weight. Best Evidence was probably the best book in that genre, and it broke down when the author had to assert that the JFK brain x-rays had been "doctored."
There is absolutely no evidence that Oswald shot anyone. There is massive evidence of multiple shooters in Dealey Plaza. The proof is not the actual shooting of the President, rather, the massive coverup that continues to this day. The Warren Report was contradicted by its own Hearings and Exhibits. I would suggest reading them before making a decision. Also, the Warren and HSCA Hearings and Exhibits are available online at HistoryMatters.com. Books are fine if they are properly sourced, but many are merely opinions based on thin air. Posner and Bugliosi are prime examples of this type of disinformation.
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