Nov. 22, 1963. Dallas was hot. The sun reflected off the chrome of the Lincoln Continental as it turned onto Elm Street. Then, those shots rang out. Most of us grew up with the grainy footage of the Zapruder film burned into our brains. But even decades later, the question of why did they assassinate John F Kennedy remains the ultimate American rabbit hole. It isn’t just about who pulled the trigger; it’s about the "why" that keeps historians and casual skeptics up at night.
Honestly, if you look at the official record, the Warren Commission says Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone nut. A guy looking for a place in history. But that answer feels thin to a lot of people. It’s too simple for a tragedy that felt so heavy. When you dig into the geopolitical mess of the early 60s, you start to see why so many different groups—from the Mafia to the CIA—had a bone to pick with JFK.
The Cold War Pressure Cooker
The early 60s were tense. We’re talking "hide under your desk for a nuclear drill" tense. Kennedy’s foreign policy was, frankly, all over the place in his first two years. After the Bay of Pigs disaster in 1961, the CIA was livid. Kennedy had basically pulled the rug out from under them by refusing to provide air cover for the invasion. He famously said he wanted to "splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the winds."
That’s not the kind of thing you say to a powerful intelligence agency if you want a quiet life.
Then came the Cuban Missile Crisis. While Kennedy was hailed as a hero for avoiding nuclear war, some of the "hawks" in the Pentagon and the CIA saw his deal with Khrushchev as a massive weakness. He’d promised not to invade Cuba. To the anti-Castro exiles in Miami, this was the ultimate betrayal. They felt Kennedy had abandoned their cause. If you're looking for a motive regarding why did they assassinate John F Kennedy, the anger from the Cuban exile community and their CIA handlers is a huge, screaming red flag.
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The Mafia and the Bobby Problem
There’s this weird, dark irony in the JFK story. His father, Joseph Kennedy, allegedly had ties to organized crime figures like Sam Giancana to help get Jack elected in 1960. Whether that’s 100% true or just smoky-room legend, what happened next is documented fact. Kennedy appointed his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, as Attorney General.
Bobby didn’t play ball.
He went after the mob with a vengeance. He hauled Jimmy Hoffa and top Mafia bosses in front of grand juries. He made it his personal mission to dismantle the very organizations that believed they had put his brother in the White House. The Mob feels like a scorned lover in this scenario. They felt cheated. They helped him win, and he repaid them with handcuffs. Carlos Marcello, the boss of the New Orleans crime family, reportedly made several threats against the President. People often point to this as a "hit" ordered for revenge.
Civil Rights and the Southern Backlash
We often forget how much Kennedy was hated in the deep South. When he sent federal troops to integrate the University of Mississippi for James Meredith, he wasn't just enforcing a law; he was shattering a way of life for millions of segregationists. The political climate in Dallas in 1963 was toxic. There were "Wanted for Treason" posters with JFK's face on them circulating through the city.
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Kennedy was pushing for a Civil Rights Act that would eventually become law under LBJ, but at the time, he was seen as a radical by many powerful Southern Democrats. The motive here wasn't just personal; it was about the direction of the country.
The Vietnam Question
This is the one that historians debate the most. Did Kennedy want to pull out of Vietnam? Some researchers, like James Douglass in his book JFK and the Unspeakable, argue that Kennedy had decided to withdraw advisors after the 1964 election. He’d signed NSAM 263, which authorized the withdrawal of 1,000 personnel.
The Military-Industrial Complex—a term Eisenhower coined just before leaving office—was booming. A full-scale war in Vietnam meant billions of dollars for defense contractors. If Kennedy was truly planning to de-escalate, he was standing in the way of a lot of money and a lot of careerist generals. Within days of his death, Lyndon B. Johnson signed NSAM 273, which basically reversed that tone and set the stage for the massive escalation we saw in 1965.
It’s a "follow the money" argument.
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Why the Lone Wolf Theory Sticks (And Why It Doesn't)
Lee Harvey Oswald was a weird guy. He was a Marxist who defected to the USSR and then came back. He was a loser in almost every sense of the word. The Warren Commission basically concluded that his motive was a desire for greatness. He wanted to be a "somebody."
But the physics of the shooting—the "magic bullet" theory—has kept the skepticism alive for 60 years. When you ask why did they assassinate John F Kennedy, you have to acknowledge that for many, Oswald's motive just doesn't carry the weight of the event. It feels like a small cause for a massive effect.
What Actually Matters Now
Whether it was a lone gunman or a sophisticated coup, the result was the same. The trajectory of the United States shifted. We went from the "Camelot" era of optimism to the cynical, weary years of the late 60s and 70s. Watergate, Vietnam, and the assassinations of RFK and MLK followed in quick succession.
If you want to understand the modern American psyche, you have to understand Dallas. It’s where the public’s trust in the government fundamentally broke.
Actionable Steps for the Curious
If you want to move beyond the surface-level documentaries, start with the primary sources. The internet has made this way easier than it used to be.
- Read the Mary Ferrell Foundation archives. They have the largest collection of JFK assassination records online. You can see the actual FBI and CIA memos.
- Compare NSAM 263 and NSAM 273. Look at the text yourself to see how the policy on Vietnam shifted immediately after the assassination.
- Visit the Sixth Floor Museum. If you're ever in Dallas, stand in Dealey Plaza. The geography of the site is much smaller than it looks on TV, which changes your perspective on the difficulty of the shots.
- Look into the Church Committee hearings from the 1970s. They weren't specifically about JFK, but they revealed the "family jewels" of the CIA—including their plots to assassinate foreign leaders—which adds a lot of context to why people were so suspicious of them in the 60s.
The search for the "why" isn't just about a cold case. It's about understanding how power works when the cameras are turned off. Every piece of declassified film or redacted memo is a small step toward a truth that might never be fully told.