Abstract The paper states that the act of murder in any form is a tragic and often gruesome event. However, when it is a political leader whose life is taken, the incident acquires particular resonance. The paper explores some significant political assassinations which have occurred within the past 200 years. Specifically, time is devoted to a discussion of the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and much more recently, the assassination of former Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin in late 1995. In each instance, this paper examines why these killings took place, as well as the repercussions of these seemingly senseless murders.
Abstract This paper describes how Lyndon B. Johnson, with the help of J. Edgar Hoover and mob boss Carlos Marcello, was the only person with the motive, means and opportunity to assassinate John F. Kennedy.
From the paper:
"Just as with any other murder investigation, to uncover President Kennedy's killer, one must find the person(s) with the motive, means, and opportunity to commit the crime. As presented in class, Lee Harvey Oswald had none of these. Oswald possessed no motive. Despite his "defection" to the Soviet Union in 1959, Oswald bore no malice toward Kennedy or his administration. Oswald did not have the means to commit the actual murder, especially on his own. The official records of the assassination state that three shots were fired in 5.6 seconds from 60-80 yards away."
Abstract This paper discusses the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the prosecution of James Earl Ray The author includes recent evidence that sheds doubt on Ray's trial and conviction. The paper relates the impact of the assassination on the African-American community and American society.
From the Paper "The full page banner headline in 'The New York Times' the day following the assassination of Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr read as follows: "MARTIN LUTHER KING IS SLAIN IN MEMPHIS. A WHITE IS SUSPECTED."
Tags:assassination, civil rights, racial discrimination, government, Jessie Jackson, James Early Ray, politics, protest, African Americans
Abstract This paper examines the John F. Kennedy assassination. The paper explains that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963 has been shrouded in controversy for the past forty years. The paper discusses, however, that many researchers have concluded that the Central Intelligence Agency, or rogue elements within the CIA, were responsible for the murder of this popular American president. The paper explains that conspiracy theorists have been unable to provide conclusive proof of CIA responsibility, but they have been able to offer a significant amount of circumstantial evidence that seems to implicate the CIA.
From the Paper "The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963 has been shrouded in controversy for the past forty years. But many researchers have concluded that the Central Intelligence Agency, or rogue elements within the CIA, was responsible for the murder of this popular American president. Conspiracy theorists have been unable to provide conclusive proof of CIA responsibility, but they have been able to offer a significant amount of circumstantial evidence that seems to implicate the CIA. In order to ascertain whether a CIA conspiracy to kill JFK is credible, it is necessary to examine a number of issues and to ask some pertinent questions. For example, did the CIA have a motive to assassinate President Kennedy?"
Abstract The paper discusses the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and examines the possibility of either the Mafia or the CIA to conspiring to kill President Kennedy. he author writes that the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, discrepancies in the Warren Report, use of different firearms and ballistic information and key things missing in autopsy photographs all suggest a cover-up.
From the Paper " On November 22, 1963, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated. Seven days later on November 29, 1963, the newly sworn in President, Lyndon B. Johnson, formed a commission that would investigate the assassination. The Warren Commission, as it would later be known, was to evaluate all leads and facts surrounding both the assassination of the President and the assassination of his alleged assassin. After the investigation was complete, the information found was to be reported to the President. The Commission gave their findings to the President in the form of the Warren Report, as the chairman of the Commission was Earl Warren. President Johnson had appointed Warren, the former chief justice of the United States, to head up the Commission. The Commission was able to compile much of its information with the help of Federal agencies, the city of Dallas, and thousands upon thousands of testimonies from people associated with the case. The Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin of President Kennedy and that Jack Ruby had killed Lee Harvey Oswald."
Abstract This paper is an examination of the topic of terrorist assassinations and the advantages of assassinating terrorists rather than using military force to seek them out and bring them to justice. The writer presents the need to use assassinations as a measure for counter terrorism only and not as a preventative method. It gives a history of the use of terrorist assassinations, offering an exploration of state sanctioned assassinations. The paper analyzes support in the US for this policy and concludes that there is a place in US policy for counter terrorist assassinations in light of the new era of terrorism.
From the Paper "The world watched in hopeless horror when the WTC came down on 9-11-2001. When it was over thousands of innocent civilians were dead, billions of dollars in property damage was done, the Pentagon had been hit, and the nation's confidence had been shaken to the core. The terrorist attack on America triggered a worldwide hunt for the perpetrators and other terrorists who may threaten the nation in the future."
Abstract This paper explains that, although the Warren Commission concluded that all shots were fired from the School Book Depository, the assassination of President Kennedy at Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963, was more than likely the result of a triangulated gunfire. The author stresses that, today, the lone assassin theory has gone the way of "Alice in Wonderland" because polls have shown that a majority of Americans regard the theory as ludicrous; the House Assassinations Committee concluded that the assassination of President Kennedy was probably the result of a conspiracy. The paper reviews several possible assassins from such spheres as the CIA and FBI, the Mafia, the Ku Klux Klan, the military-industrial complex, the Cuban exiles, the corporate world and others.
Table of Contents
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Terminate With Extreme Prejudice: Lancer
The Lone Assassin Theory, Anyone?
Did the Murder of JFK Change the Course of History?
Motive, Means and Opportunity
From the Paper "In 1963, there were several contracts on President Kennedy's head. And some of those contracts took the form of direct threats. One such threat was reported in a telex to the FBI days before the assassination, warning of an attempt on the president's life by a militant group "somewhere in the South." Unfortunately, for some inexplicable reason, that warning was ignored. Other warnings were ignored in the days leading up to the assassination. Secret Service agent Abraham Bolden warned that a militant group might be planning to assassinate President Kennedy. CIA agent Gary Underwood warned that a militant group in the Far East was planning to kill the president. Dallas nightclub dancer Rose Cheramie, beaten and left on the road days before the assassination, warned, "they're going to kill Kennedy." "
Abstract This paper looks at the assassination of prominent American figures, as well as terrorist attacks of Middle Eastern origin, such as 9/11. This paper also takes a look at the word 'assassin', its origin and its meaning.
Contents:
Assassinations A problem of Middle Eastern Origin
Could George Do What He Did?
Assassination Prior to 1975
Non-state Threats to National Security: Assassinating Thugs?
Assassination as "Alternative Justice
Conclusion
From the Paper "That was almost a decade ago, and terror suicide bombing had not stopped or even slacked off until the recent accords. So it must be asked whether assassination is ever truly fruitful in terms of diminishing attacks and enhancing national security. Silverstein offers another more extensive 'assassination' scenario to attempt to prove that it is.
During the Vietnam era, the United States CIA and South Vietnamese agencies ran a program to uncover and neutralize members of the Viet Cong who were "secretly directing subversion and terror campaigns in South Vietnam--communists who aimed to undercut the stability of South Vietnam's evolving proto-democracy" (Silverstein, 2001, p. 36+). It was regarded as a success, with about 33,000 Viet Cong incarcerated, 22,000 'turned' to another way of thinking, and 26,000 killed. Despite the fact that it offered options other than assassination, the program "turned out to be highly effective in eliminating terror and subversion in South Vietnam...[and] "The ranks of Viet Cong terrorists were thinned so drastically that the war became less of a counter-guerilla battle and more a struggle against invading regular North Vietnamese troops" (Silverstein, 2001, p. 36+)."
Abstract This paper introduces the topic of the assassination of President Lincoln. Specifically, it discusses how the assassination happened, what it meant to the country, and some of the mystery still surrounding the events that happened. It looks at the story of Abraham Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865, how President Lincoln died several hours after the attack, and how actor John Wilkes Booth was arrested and found guilty of killing the President. It also examines how there are many mysteries still surrounding the assassination, and there are still many questions about it that have never been answered.
From the Paper "After Lincoln's assassination, Andrew Johnson took over the office of the President, and his actions seem to be very different from what Lincoln might have done as the Civil War ended and a kind of peace returned to the nation. Johnson did not agree with the Congressional plan for peace, and bringing the country back together, and so, he and the Congress were constantly at war, and could not agree how to handle the South after the war (Nash 155). This disagreement gave the South room to rebel, and so they did not obey to the Civil Rights Act of 1866, that at first gave freedom to slaves. So, Congress created the 14th Amendment, which freed the slaves by the Constitution, but the southern states all refused to ratify this amendment (except for Tennessee), and so Congress created the 15th Amendment, which was much more strict."
Tags: john, wilkes, booth, fords, theater, andrew, johnson
Abstract This paper examines the topic of Martin Luther King Jr, the civil rights campaigner's assassination in 1968 and how thirty-four years after his death, King's assassination still remains controversial. It shows how King was a volatile and frightening figure to the white community and to the many blacks who did not agree with his violent policies. It evaluates the circumstantial evidence surrounding his shooting and the evidence in the trial of James Earl Ray, accused of shooting King. It assesses some of the surrounding theories such that Ray was really a "front man," working for someone else. The author concludes that there are too many unanswered questions, and too much controversy surrounding the assassination to leave it alone and certainly unsolved.
From the Paper "The entire investigation surrounding the assassination seems to have been bungled and set up to frame Ray. There had been death threats against King before his fateful visit to Memphis, but he only had two police guards at the time of the shooting, reduced from eight, and one of them was absent due to a "mysterious threat." Even King's own family now believes Ray did not shoot King, Jr. and justice has not been served. "'Having met with James Earl Ray, I believe and my family believes this man is innocent,' King told reporters after the March 27 meeting. 'This visit has long been anticipated. This visit for me was a spiritual experience'" (Overbeck)."
Abstract This is a study of the elements of President Kennedy's assassination and the conspiracy theories that correlate. The author examines the evidence available on Kennedy's assassination and lists possible conclusions.
From the Paper "One of the most controversial topics in America for the 20th century was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. The 35th American President was pronounced dead due to a gunshot wound at approximately 1pm Dallas time on November 22, 1963. As shocked as the nation was at the sudden loss of their beloved President, rumors on the uncertainty of his death were even more appalling. A country already under the scare of the Cold War was faced with doubts on the reliability of their government. After the assassination, officials arrested Lee Harvey Oswald and charge him as the sole gunman responsible for the shot to the back of President John F. Kennedy's head, as well as the shot that wounded Governor Connally of Texas, who was a passenger in front of the President. In the days following the event, many would doubt all the facts listed in the previous sentence."
Abstract Atwood's novel, The Blind Assassin, is a novel of embedded stories, memoirs, newspaper clippings, a novel written by one of the characters, and stories told by a distant and secret relation within the family's daughters, Iris and Laura. Blindness is offered as a kind of purposeful ignorance, or a refusal to look at what is happening, and as well as a kind of freedom from the consequences of knowing what is happening. In the contexts of Iris' recollections, her family represents a Pandora's Box of secrets and betrayals, and as the novelist, Atwood is referring to the ways family secrets can destroy a family. The Blind Assassin is, however, much more than a story about secrets, but a revelation about writing, remembering, and living in the shadows of our own lives.
Abstract This paper examines John F. Kennedy and his assassination, explores what led to his murder, and discusses what outcome the assassination had on society and political actions.
Abstract This paper looks at the events prior to the assassination of JFK. It provides a brief overview of this presidency and then gives a detailed account of the hours after his assassination. It analyzes the behavior of Lyndon Johnson who was to replace JFK as president.
From the Paper "An assassin shot John F. Kennedy to death on November 22, 1963, as Kennedy rode through the streets of Dallas, Texas. His death continued the unhappy tradition, that, since William H. Harrison, every American President elected in a year ending in "0" had died in office. These were Harrison (1840), Abraham Lincoln (1860), James A. Garfield (1880), William McKinley (1900), Warren G. Harding (1920), and Franklin D. Roosevelt (1940). Obviously, this is an important event in media history as its occurrence not only maintains the seemingly strange tradition of the aforementioned pattern, but also leaves many wondering about the assassin, his motives, and the circumstances surrounding the death of a largely beloved leader. In addition, it also causes the nation to speculate about the future as President Johnson takes the helm and the world mourns the death of Kennedy."
Abstract This paper describes the reactions of people in America and across the globe to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The paper quotes statements from people who remembered the assassination to convey the feelings of loss experienced by Kennedy's death and describes the effects his death had on American citizens. The paper also discusses Kennedy's leadership during the Cuban Missile Crisis and looks at how this crisis was probably a defining moment in his career as President.
From the Paper "John F Kennedy once said, "Today is day that will do down in infamy." Little did he know, that day had not yet come. The day that will go down in infamy, is November 22, 1963. The day John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot in the head in the back of a convertible riding through the streets of Dallas. The nation was in shock. "The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22, 1963, was a cruel and shocking act of violence directed against a man, a family, a nation, and against all mankind" (Report of the Warren Commission On the Assassination of President Kennedy. New York Times: New York, 1964, P.19). Every person alive that day remembers what they were doing at the time they heard the news of Kennedy's assassination. It is a moment in time burned into their brain."
