Dallas, Texas – More than 60 years have passed since the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Despite countless investigations and theories, the events of that fateful day continue to captivate the public’s imagination.
During his re-election campaign, President-elect Donald Trump promised to release all remaining government records surrounding the assassination if he returned to office. This promise was also made during his first term, but the CIA and FBI convinced him to keep some documents withheld. To this day, only a few thousand of the millions of governmental records have yet to be fully released. However, experts warn that even if the remaining files are declassified, the public should not expect any groundbreaking revelations.
Gerald Posner, author of Case Closed, which concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, states, “Anyone waiting for a smoking gun that will turn this case upside down will be sorely disappointed.” Despite the controversy surrounding the assassination, Posner and others who have studied the released records believe that Oswald acted alone.
On the day of the assassination, when Air Force One carrying President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy landed in Dallas, they were greeted by clear skies and enthusiastic crowds. The couple had gone to Texas on a political fence-mending trip, with a re-election campaign looming the following year.
However, as the motorcade made its way down the parade route, shots rang out from the Texas School Book Depository building. Within days, 24-year-old Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the assassination. Two days after that, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald during a jail transfer.
A year after the assassination, the Warren Commission, established by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination, concluded that Oswald acted alone and there was no evidence of a conspiracy. But this has not stopped a web of alternative theories from emerging over the years.
In the early 1990s, the federal government mandated that all assassination-related documents be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration. The collection, which includes over 5 million records, was required to be opened by 2017, with the only exemptions being those designated by the president.
When President Trump took office for his first term in 2017, he promised to release all remaining records. However, he ended up withholding some documents, citing potential harm to national security. While President Joe Biden’s administration has continued to release files, there are still some that remain unseen.
The documents that have been released over the last few years have shed light on the operations of intelligence services during that time period. They include CIA cables and memos discussing Oswald’s visits to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination. Oswald, a former Marine, had previously defected to the Soviet Union before returning home to Texas.
According to Mark S. Zaid, a national security attorney in Washington, the documents that have been released so far have significantly contributed to our understanding of the time period. They paint “a great picture” of what was happening during the Cold War and the activities of the CIA.
Despite the release of numerous documents, Posner estimates that there are still about 3,000 to 4,000 documents in the collection that have not yet been fully released. Some of these documents are still completely redacted, while others have smaller redactions, such as someone’s Social Security number. However, Posner believes that the remaining documents will not provide any major new information.
“There are about 500 documents that have been completely withheld,” Posner explains, adding that these include Oswald’s and Ruby’s tax returns. According to the National Archives, these files were not subject to the 2017 disclosure requirement.
President Trump’s transition team has not responded to questions about his plans for the remaining documents when he takes office. However, the continued fascination with the assassination persists.
Stephen Fagin, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which tells the story of the assassination from the building where Oswald made his sniper’s perch, says that there have always been people who believe there is more to the story than just Oswald acting alone. Fagin believes that people want to make sense of the event and find a solution that fits the crime. He also acknowledges that while there are lingering questions, law enforcement made “a pretty compelling case” against Oswald.
Larry J. Sabato, director of
