The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, 60 Years Later
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Wednesday marked 60 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, sparking media perspectives.
Public Opinion: Gallup (Center bias) found that 60 years after Kennedy’s assassination, a majority of Americans believe in conspiracies. Generally speaking, Gallup’s numbers found that those who believe the official narrative are more educated or Democrats, while Republicans, Independents, and less educated believe Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t act alone. Gallup says Kennedy is still the most popular former president and cited declining trust in government for increasing sentiments that the government was involved in the assassination.
A Conspiracy Climate: An analysis from Time Magazine (Lean Left bias) said the continued fascination with JFK conspiracy theories provides context for how conspiracy theories “continue to dominate American politics today.” It says the assassination created a climate that opened the door for conspiracies surrounding Martin Luther King Jr., Watergate, and Vietnam, among others. It does not, however, that not all the files pertaining to JFK’s assassination have been made public by the U.S. government, calling this “one big reason” the conspiracies persist.
Spun By The Left: An opinion for The American Spectator (Right bias) said Oswald was a communist, and that the communists of the time weaved theories to fool the American public into believing an alternate theory. It highlighted Oswald’s defection to the Soviet Union and ties to communist figures and organizations, and argued that in controversial historical events like the killing of Malcolm X or the people of Jonestown, “the culprit is whoever best serves the Left’s agenda.”
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Center
Decades Later, Most Americans Doubt Lone Gunman Killed JFK
Sixty years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, a broad majority of Americans continue to believe that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone but rather, that others were involved in a conspiracy to kill the president. The 65% of U.S. adults who think Oswald worked in concert with others and the 29% who say he was solely responsible are roughly in line with the previous readings from 10 years ago. Belief in a conspiracy was higher between 1976 and 2003.
Gallup first asked Americans about culpability in Kennedy’s...
From the Left
What We Know and Still Don’t Know About JFK’s Assassination
This Wednesday marks 60 years since America’s youngest President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 46 by Lee Harvey Oswald. He was shot while riding in a car with his wife First Lady Jackie Onassis and Texas Governor John Connally during a tour of the state. Two days later, local nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot Oswald on Nov. 24, 1963.
Sixty years after the JFK assassination, it’s still unclear why Oswald shot the president, fueling countless conspiracies—like whether his successor...
From the Right
The Evil Origins of 60 Years of JFK Assassination Conspiracy Theories
Sixty years ago today, a Communist murdered the president of the United States. Sixty years ago later today, other Communists started to think about how they could fool the people of the United States that someone other than a Communist murdered the president of the United States.
By Dec. 1, just nine days after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the Communist Party of Illinois had already released “Who Really Killed Pres. Kennedy?” It claimed that “only the Ultra-Right and the Southern Racists” benefitted from the assassination. “Dallas is a stronghold of the Ultra-Right” and “the John Birch...
AllSides Picks
May 15th, 2024
More News about Politics from the Left, Center and Right
From the Left
From the Center
From the Right
