John
F. Kennedy had dealings with organized crime?
Leslie
K. Penny
Chancellor
University
Module
7 Written Assignment 5
Abstract
The theories
surrounding John F. Kennedy's assassination are numerous. Some have merit, others are ridiculous. Some are based on books with plenty of avid
readers, while others are scoffed at but with plenty believers. One particular theory of interest is that he
was assassinated by the mob because of his involvement against organized crime
with his brother, Robert. Who's to say
why he was really murdered but this theory is definitely and interesting
one.
John
F. Kennedy had dealings with organized crime?
John F. Kennedy was a much loved president 50 years ago
who was gunned down in 1963 riding along side his lovely wife in a presidential
motorcade. When one looks over
interviews and news articles from that horrendous day, you will see a mass of weeping
faces. To be honest, you might be hard
pressed to find many Americans who did not like him in some way or
another. He was a classy family guy with
good looks, intelligence and charisma.
With that being said, he was still murdered and theories that surround
his death are numerous. Was he involved
in organized crime?
Personally, I had never heard that theory nor most of
Yohani Kamarudin's "10 Best JFK Assassination Conspiracies" that are
listed on the website, Environmental Graffiti.
They include the federal reserve bank theory, the Lyndon B. Johnson
theory, UFO cover-up theory, the George Bush Sr. theory, the Illuminati theory,
the KGB theory, the Israeli theory, gay thrill kill theory, the CIA theory, and
lastly, the Mafia theory (Kamarudin, 2013). According to Mr. Kamarudin, compared to some
of the off the wall theories, the Mafia theory is "not that
farfetched" (Kamarudin, 2013).
I found no concrete proof that John F. Kennedy was
involved in organized crime, only speculation.
To even further bolster that he was not involved in OC, many believe his
death was a hit by the Mafia, specifically by Carlos Marcello, Santos
Trafficante and Jimmy Hoffa, because of the efforts by John and Robert Kennedy
to destroy organized crime (Simkin, 2013). This theory makes more sense than some but
that is all relative to the subscriber of those beliefs. The author, David E. Scheim is adamant in his
belief that the Mafia played a role in John F. Kennedy's death as he lays out
in two books on the subject (Simkin, 2013).
Many other high profile individuals surrounding the case
subscribe to Scheim's theory as well, including Santos Frafficante's lawyer, Frank
Regano, who published the book Mob Lawyer
as well as G. Robert Blakely, chief counsel and staff director to the House
select Committee on Assassinations from 1977 to 1979 who published The Plot to Kill the President, believed
the mafia boss Carlos Marcello organized the hit on John F. Kennedy (Simkin, 2013). There are many upon many individuals who
prescribe to this theory and have reaped the benefits by writing books on the
subject such as The Kennedy Conspiracy
by Anthony Summers who believed "that Kennedy was killed by a group of
anti-Castro activists, funded by Mafia mobsters that had been ousted from
Cuba" (Simkin, 2013). The list of books covering this particular
theory alone is fairly substantial.
According to one organized crime expert, Ralph Salerno,
the Mob was not related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy (Organized
Crime Expert Says JFK Assassination Wasn't Mob Related, 2013). He claims to not believe in this theory due
to several observations. One of which
being that there was no evidence found by the House Select Committee on
Assassinations, electronic surveillance revealed sympathetic remarks from
mobsters about the president saying "they killed the wrong one" or
"they should have shot his brother", and that organized crime didn't
have enough to gain from the death of John F. Kennedy (Organized
Crime Expert Says JFK Assassination Wasn't Mob Related, 2013).
However, the article "Kennedy and the Mafia, an
enduring fascination" does bring us some compelling arguments. Although most analysis are mere speculation,
the article states that "not only was the mob credited with helping JFK
reach the White House (after Joe Kennedy called in a few favors and somehow got
Chicago boss Sam Giancana to deliver key votes in West Virginia...." (Kennedy and
the Mafia, an enduring fascination, 2011). The rest of the quote merely repeats the
theory that the Mafia were involved in Kennedy's assignation. The article even speculates that Kennedy and
the crime boss, Giancana, shared a lover by the name of Judith Campbell Exner (Kennedy and
the Mafia, an enduring fascination, 2011).
To conclude, I do not personally subscribe to the theory
that the mob had anything to do with John F. Kennedy's death. Perhaps his family had dealings with them and
even perhaps organized crime bosses assisted in his rise to Presidency but,
until concrete proof is provided, I have no theory other than a mentally ill
individual acting on his own reasons who took those reasons to his grave. After viewing the autopsy photos, one thing
is for certain, he was murdered in a most horrific way with the memory forever
ingrained in the eyes of those present, television viewers, his wife and his
innocent children.
Works Cited
Kamarudin, Y. (2013). 10 Best JFK Assassination
Conspiracies. Retrieved 08 16, 2013, from Environmental Graffiti:
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-10-jfk-conspiracy-theories?image=0
Kennedy and the
Mafia, an enduring fascination.
(2011, 01 20). Retrieved 08 16, 2013, from Five Families of New York City:
http://www.fivefamiliesnyc.com/2011/01/kennedy-and-mafia-enduring-fascination.html
Organized Crime
Expert Says JFK Assassination Wasn't Mob Related. (2013, 11 20). Retrieved 08 16, 2013, from abc
NEWS: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=131460&page=1
Simkin, J. (2013). Theory:
The Mafia. Retrieved 08 16, 2013, from Sparticus Educational:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKSinvestigation.htm
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