November 22nd this year marks the milestone 60th anniversary of one of the most shocking events in American modern history: the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
The then 46-year-old 35th President of the United States was driving in his motorcade in downtown Dallas alongside his wife Jaqueline Kennedy, plus then Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie Connally, when he was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.
Six decades on, it's an unforgettable event that continues to grip the world, spawning hundreds of documentaries, movies, infamous conspiracy theories, and unanswered questions.
Dallas-based NBC News correspondent Morgan Chesky tuned in to the Today Show Thursday morning from the now-infamous spot on Dealey Plaza where the assassination took place, now widely regarded as "the end of America's innocence," and of course, the end of Camelot.
During his time on the site, the NBC anchor spoke to visitors about the oft-debated question of whether Oswald – who was killed just two days after the assassination – acted alone, all interviewees maintaining they believe he was part of a grander scheme, as opposed to a lone gunman.
"Is it the lack of closure here that you think keeps the story alive?" the journalist asked Stephen Fagin, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, to which he said: "It is the mystery, the lingering questions, that bring people to Dealey Plaza. Hopefully they leave here with a broader appreciation of who President Kennedy was, what his legacy still means to us today."
© GettyMorgan then explained that in an effort to quell the 60-years-old unanswered questions about JFK's death, the National Archives released 99% of previously classified documents pertaining to the assassination earlier this year, per President Joe Biden's request.
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As for the remaining 1%, Biden has said he believes they should continue to be processed and released in full, if not at least redaction versions, until the reason for their initial classification is no longer applicable. It's unclear when that will happen, but all declassified files are available here.
© GettyThe definitive account of what happened on November 22, 1963 is based on a report produced by the Warren Commision, which JFK's successor Lyndon B. Johnson created by way of executive order a week after the assassination in order to investigate it.
The report however did not determine Oswald's motivation to kill the President. Oswald was killed two days later by nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who himself was sentenced to death for the killing of Oswald, but was eventually diagnosed with cancer and died of a pulmonary embolism on January 3, 1967.
© GettyBoth Oswald's death contributed to the "climate of distrust" that notoriously marred the 1960s and 1970s in America, writes TIME, which was later further fueled by the Vietnam War, and the equally as shocking assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and JFK’s brother Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, the former having its own set of conspiracy theories attached to it.
© GettyThe remaining classified files were initially set to be released in 2017, but that saw delays through both the Biden and Trump administrations. "We don't know what they cover and so that feeds the conspiracies even more," Larry Sabato, author of The Kennedy Half Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy, told TIME, adding: "As a society, we became addicted to conspiracy theories because of the Kennedy assassination."
"I don't think we fully understood how many people just could not give up the idea that there was a conspiracy," added Burt Griffin, assistant counsel on the Warren Commission, and author of JFK, Oswald and Ruby: Politics, Prejudice and Truth. The fact that Oslwald never went to trial also contributes to the lack of closure, though ultimately – save for what might be in the remaining classified files – the true motive behind killing JFK was buried with him.
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