On Tuesday, the administration of United States President Donald Trump made public thousands of documents regarding the 1963 assassination of former President John F. Kennedy (JFK), a death that has sparked nearly sixty years of conspiracy theories.
Here’s what we’ve learned so far:
How many documents were made public?
On Tuesday night, a total of 2,182 PDF documents, amounting to approximately 63,400 pages, were uploaded to the website of the US National Archives and Records Administration. The release occurred in two stages, with a few hours separating them.
The National Archives stated that “all records previously withheld for classification” have now been declassified and are available online or for in-person viewing. Many of the documents consist of handwritten or typewritten notes.
Trump issued an executive order on January 23, declaring that documents related to the assassinations of JFK, his younger brother Senator Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) would be declassified.
On Monday, Trump announced at the Kennedy Center that the documents would be released the next day. Authorities were anticipating the release of at least 80,000 pages.
Historians and conspiracy theorists may take months to thoroughly analyze the newly released documents and interpret their implications.
When was JFK assassinated?
JFK, a Democrat, served as US president from January 1961 until he was assassinated on November 22, 1963, at the age of 46.
He was shot while riding in a motorcade through Dallas, Texas, alongside his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally’s wife, Nelly Connally. The attack also left Governor Connally injured.
Following JFK’s death, his vice president Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president. Johnson later initiated an investigation led by Chief Justice Earl Warren into the assassination. The Warren Commission determined that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former marine and communist activist at the age of 24, acted alone in the assassination.
What fuels the conspiracy theories surrounding JFK’s death?
The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted independently, without any influence from other domestic or international entities.
However, Kennedy’s assassination occurred during the height of the Cold War, leading to ongoing speculation. A Gallup poll conducted in November 2023 revealed that after six decades, two-thirds of Americans believe Oswald had accomplices. The prolonged withholding of several documents related to the assassination has further undermined the investigation’s credibility.
Oswald was famously recorded saying, “I’m just a patsy!” during a video taken at Dallas police headquarters after his arrest. Many skeptics interpret this as his claim of being made a scapegoat.
Just two days after JFK’s assassination, Oswald was shot dead by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby while being transferred from police headquarters to the county jail. This abrupt end to Oswald’s life sparked more conspiracy theories, suggesting he was silenced to prevent him from revealing information about potential co-conspirators.
The Warren Commission concluded that a single 6.5-millimeter bullet was responsible for both JFK’s death and the injury of Governor Connally. Many find it hard to believe that one bullet could traverse the bodies of two adult men.
Gruesome footage of the assassination captured by clothing manufacturer Abraham Zapruder seems to show a second shot striking JFK’s skull. This particular frame was kept from the public for years until it was aired by ABC News in 1975.
Have all the Kennedy files been disclosed?
No, but a significant portion has been.
Prior to Tuesday’s release, there were nearly 3,500 documents still redacted, according to Jefferson Morley, vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, which houses files related to the assassination, as reported by The Associated Press. Just slightly more than 2,000 documents were made public on Tuesday.
Last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that it had uncovered 2,400 new records concerning JFK’s assassination. Morley stated that the files released on Tuesday did not include any of these recently discovered records.
In 2017, during Trump’s first term, he made 2,800 files concerning JFK’s death available, but hundreds of additional documents remained unreleased, pending review due to pressure from the Central Intelligence Agency and the FBI. In 2023, former President Joe Biden further released approximately 17,000 documents.
