?:reviewBody
|
-
The assassination of John F. Kennedy has spurred some of the most prominent and enduring conspiracy theories in the history of American politics. In addition to claims about a second shooter or a government cover-up, we have also seen photographs purporting to capture the chaotic day (but which actually show scenes from a 1970s made-for-TV movie), and an attempt to link politician Ted Cruz's father to Lee Harvey Oswald. But perhaps the most interesting claim about the president's assassination is that John F. Kennedy purportedly predicted his own death: This quote comes from a biography of Kennedy that was originally published in 1972 and entitled Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye; the book was written by two of Kennedy's close friends and advisors, special assistant David Powers and political aide Kenneth O'Donnell. Powers and O'Donnell wrote that Kennedy made the observation to his wife Jackie after the First Lady glimpsed a full-page anti-Kennedy advertisement published in the Dallas Morning News (Welcome Mr. Kennedy) on the morning before his assassination: Although this statement originated with a seemingly reliable source, it is of course possible that Powers and Powell took some creative license with its phrasing. We should also point out that while Kennedy's comment seems prescient in retrospect, the New York Times noted that multiple people had warned the president in advance of his trip to Dallas in 1963: We reached out to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum for further clarification and received the following reply:
(en)
|