Picture of President Kennedy in the limousine in Dallas, Texas, on Main Street, minutes before the assassination. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the JFK Assassination.  On this day in 1963, while riding through Dallas, Texas, U.S. President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.  Many people still remember where they were when they heard the news of his assassination.

The official report of the assassination, the Warren Commission, stated that Lee Harvey Oswald acted on his own on November 22, 1963 when he shot and killed the President, and also concluded that Jack Ruby acted on his own when he shot Oswald two days later.

We know that three shots were fired by Oswald on that day, however there were also reports of a possible fourth shot, and thus a second gunman.  However, no second gunman has ever been found.

The assassination is not without controversy.  Oswald, for example, never admitted to the assassination but was shot two days later by Jack Ruby.  Conspiracies have been discussed since, and most Americans believe in some sort of conspiracy.  Some of the leading conspiracies are:

1)  That the Soviet Union had Kennedy assassinated.  We know the Oswald spent almost three years in the Soviet Union and was a Marxist.  We know Kennedy had already made his famous ‘I am a Berliner’ speech when he visited West Germany, and was an anti-Communist.  Plus, this was the height of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

2)  Fidel Castro.  We know that the Kennedy administration had authorized the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion into Cuba to fight Castro.  There was also the Cuban Missile Crisis which did not help U.S. relations with Cuba or the Soviet Union.  We also know that Oswald was handing out pamphlets for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.  He even started the New Orleans chapter of the Committee (despite their advise against this.)  So, the question is, could Castro have had a hand in the assassination as JFK was a thorn in his side.

3)  The Mafia.  We know that Attorney General Robert Kennedy, the President’s brother, was launching a legal fight to rid America of the Mafia.  The Mafia greatly disliked Robert Kennedy’s attempt to end their profession, and JFK’s assassination succeeded in getting rid of Robert Kennedy and his fight against the Mafia (Lyndon B. Johnson would eventually remove Robert Kennedy, replacing him with Nicholas deB. Katzenbach.)

4)  The CIA or the Secret Service.  There are reports that both the CIA and the FBI had files on Oswald and may have been in contact with him prior to the assassination.  After the assassination, the world learned that it was Oswald who had attempted to kill Major General Edwin Walker prior to the JFK assassination.  Did the CIA or the FBI really know this?  Did they have an idea that Oswald might try to assassinate the President?  We really do not know.

At the end of the day, we are left with many questions.  Did Oswald act alone?  Was there a second gunman?  Who else was involved in the assassination?  In the end we may never know.  Oswald never went to trial and Jack Ruby never told anyone if he was hired by someone to kill Oswald.  When polled, most Americans think there was a conspiracy.  At the end of the day, unless evidence mysteriously appears, I have to believe that Oswald acted alone – we know the gun was his, and his prints were on the gun.  As for a conspiracy, who knows – it would be the most covered up conspiracy in history.

However, one thing is for sure, we will never forget that fateful day in Dallas when Camelot ended.

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• Remembering JFK: The day Camelot ended (examiner.com)
• Where Were You That Day? On Halloween My Brother And I Dressed As President And Mrs. Kennedy. Three Weeks Later Camelot Was Over (anempoweredspirit.com)
• 50th Anniversary of JFK Assassination (crownlibrary.wordpress.com)
• JFK: Of Camelot and conspiracy (thenewstribune.com)
• 50 Years Later: A look at Ruby, Oswald and the mob (bizjournals.com)