J.F.K. Assassinated

8/17/2019 J.F.K. Assassinated

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Who Assassinated

John F. Kennedy? by Christy McManus


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Packet Includes:

Lesson SequenceTN Ready StandardsMarzano’s Comprehension Strategies Chart J.F.K. Assassination Anticipation GuideList of Texts Used in ActivitiesText #1: Mafia Hit Man Confesses to Killing President Kennedy Text #2: Oswald Visited Soviet Union and Cuba Before Kennedy AssassinationText #3: Who Killed Kennedy Part IText #4: Who Killed Kennedy Part IIText #5: Excerpts from November 22, 1963: Death of the PresidentText #6: Warren Commission Explained

Text #7: Excerpts from National Archives Supreme Court RulingText #8: 1963 J.F.K. AssassinationText #9: Americas First Family and Kings of the UnderworldJ.F.K. Assassination Suspect SheetJ.F.K. Assassination Theory SheetSocratic Seminar ExplainedDialogue vs. DebateSocratic Seminar Preparation Sheet

Socratic Seminar Dialogue SheetSocratic Seminar Reflection Sheet Writing Prompt


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J.F.K. Lesson SequenceDay #1 Day #2 Day #3 Day #4

1. Anticipation

Guide: Before2. Focus

Question: How

do historical

events affect

people?

3. Watch Scope’s

introduction

video

4. Read Scope’sThe Presidents

Been Shot

(homeroom

listen; switch

read

independently)

5. Close Read

Questions

1) Focus Question:

How do we lookfor information

on the internet?

2) Kennedy

Assassination

Video

3) Read texts using

Jigsaw strategy

(Think-Pair-

Share)4) During

presentation of

texts, complete

JFK

Assassination

Suspect Sheet

5) Once

presentations

are complete,complete JFK

Theories Sheet

6) Class Discussion

on material

1) Focus Question:

What is thedifference

between

dialogue and

debate?

2) JFK

Assassination

Preparation

Discussion for

SocraticSeminar

3) Dialogue vs.

Debate sheet

4) Conduct

Socratic

Seminar

(fishbowl style)

5) Complete

Dialogue Sheetduring seminar

6) Once Socratic

Seminar is over,

students

complete

Reflection Sheet

1. Anticipation

Guide: After2. Extended

Response

http://scope.scholastic.com/issues/12_01_13/narrative-nonfictionhttp://scope.scholastic.com/issues/12_01_13/narrative-nonfictionhttp://scope.scholastic.com/issues/12_01_13/narrative-nonfictionhttp://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy/videos/john-f-kennedy-assassinatedhttp://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy/videos/john-f-kennedy-assassinatedhttp://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy/videos/john-f-kennedy-assassinatedhttp://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy/videos/john-f-kennedy-assassinatedhttp://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy/videos/john-f-kennedy-assassinatedhttp://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy/videos/john-f-kennedy-assassinatedhttp://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy/videos/john-f-kennedy-assassinatedhttp://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy/videos/john-f-kennedy-assassinatedhttp://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy/videos/john-f-kennedy-assassinatedhttp://scope.scholastic.com/issues/12_01_13/narrative-nonfictionhttp://scope.scholastic.com/issues/12_01_13/narrative-nonfiction


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TN Ready Standards

Reading Writing

Focus Standard:

RI.5.9 Integrate evidence fromseveral texts on the same topic in

order to write or speak about the

subject knowledgeably.

Secondary Standards:

RI.5.1 Quote accurately from atext when explain what the text

says explicitly and when drawing

inferences from the text. RI.5.3 Explain the relationships

or interactions between two or

more individuals, events, ideas,

or concepts in a historical,

scientific, or technical text based

on specific information in the

text.

RI.5.6 Analyze multiple accounts

of the same event or topic, noticeimportant similarities and

differences in the point of view

they represent.

RI.5.8 Explain how an authoruses reason and evidence to

support particular points in a

text, identify which reasons and

evidence support which points.

W.5.1 Write opinion pieces ontopics or texts, supporting a

point of view with reasons and

information.


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John F. Kennedy Assassination Anticipation Guide

Before Statement After

A U D A U DJ.F.K. was assassinated by LeeHarvey Oswald. Other people have confessedto killing the President. Oswald was connected to theSoviet Union. Oswald was connected toCuba. The government conducted aflawless investigation of theassassination. The Warren Commissionconcluded Lee Harvey Oswaldacted alone in theassassination.The evidence supports that

Oswald did not kill Kennedy. The Cubans had motive(reason) to kill J.F.K. The Russians had motive tokill J.F.K.

Anti-civil rights activist hadmotive to kill the president. Organized crime had motive

to kill J.F.K. Over 50 years later, themystery of who killed J.F.K.has finally been solved.

*A - agree; U - undecided; D - disagree


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List of Text Used in Activities

Text #1: Mafia Hit Man Confesses to Killing President Kennedy

Text #2: Oswald Visited Soviet Union and Cuba Before Kennedy

Assassination

Text #3: Who Killed Kennedy Part I

Text #4: Who Killed Kennedy Part II

Text #5: Excerpts from November 22, 1963: Death of the President

Text #6: Warren Commission Explained

Text #7: Excerpts from National Archives Supreme Court Ruling

Text #8: 1963 J.F.K. AssassinationText #9: Americas First Family and Kings of the Underworld


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Mafia Hit Man Confesses to KillingPresident Kennedy

By Jim Meyers | Thursday, 20 Nov 2014 08:14 PM

Mafia hit man James Files says in interviews first aired nationally on Newsmax TV Thursday

night that he worked along with major mob figures and fired the shot that killed Kennedy fromthe grassy knoll at Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Friday, Nov. 22 marks the 51st anniversary ofPresident John F. Kennedy's tragic assassination and Newsmax TV marked the occasion byairing the provocative premiere of the blockbuster documentary "I Killed JFK", featuring never- before-seen footage of Kennedy's confessed killer.

The documentary, produced by Hollywood’s Barry Katz, presents convincing forensic evidencesupporting Files' contention that he, and not Lee Harvey Oswald, fired the fatal shot at America's 35th president.

"I squeezed off my round. I hit him and blew his head backward," Files said of the single shot he

fired that fateful day.

"I Killed JFK" Executive Producer Barry Katz said: "Until now, no one has ever confessed to themurder of JFK, and most people still believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was the killer. After the world sees this special, I am confident that the greatest mystery of our generation will finally besolved."Files, who changed his name from Jimmy Sutton, was born in Alabama in 1942, andafter a stint in the Army became associated with both the Chicago mob and the CIA.

He worked under mobster Charles "Chuckie" Nicoletti, an underling of mob boss Sam Giancana.Giancana and other mobsters had been angered by the president’s brother, Robert, who as U.S.attorney general was targeting organized crime in a major prosecution effort.

Retired FBI Special Agent Zack Shelton appears in the documentary and reveals that heprovided inside information to private investigator and Kennedy assassination investigator Joe West about Files possible connection to the Kennedy killing.

Two decades after the assassination, Files told West he would confess to Kennedy's killing inreturn for immunity from prosecution. West was negotiating on Files' behalf when he died in1993.

Files is currently incarcerated at the Danville Correctional Center in Danville, Ill. He wasconvicted of the attempted murder of two police officers during a roadside shootout in 1991 andsentenced to 50 years in prison.

The documentary chronicles how Files, along with Nicoletti and mobster Johnny Roselli, cameto be in Dallas on the day Kennedy was assassinated.

In his "I Killed JFK" interviews from prison, Files tells why he chose to position himself on thegrassy knoll to await JFK's motorcade while another shooter took a different position.

"I've got the railroad yard in back of me," he said. "We got a parking lot there and I got a place

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where I could stash whatever I would need, and I could pass myself off as a worker in therailroad yard for the time being until the time comes and nobody would really pay any attentionto me."

Shortly before the assassination, Files said, "I went back to the plaza, got my briefcase out withthe gun in it. I went into the railroad yard, put it away where nobody could see it."

As the Kennedy motorcade entered the plaza and made a turn, the president's car cruised past astreet sign in front of Files.

"That's when I started focusing through the scope. As far as I can see at this point the presidenthas not been hit in the head. I've seen the body lurch. I know he's been hit. How serious I don'tknow.

"But my last instructions were we're going for head shots. If you have to take a shot take it, butdon't fire unless you really have to.

"I was aiming at his right eye. When I pulled the trigger it was almost like looking from six feet

away through the scope.

"As I squeezed his head moved forward. I missed and got it right along the temple, right behindthe eye. I squeezed off my round. I hit him and blew his head backward. I fired one shot and oneshot only.

"I never saw Mr. Nicoletti shoot Kennedy but I know he was the man in the building who wassupposed to be doing the shooting.

"As I was leaving Dealey Plaza nobody tried to stop me. There were two police officers within 20,25 feet of me. I didn't run. I just carried a natural gait and proceeded to exit, just like a

businessman walking away from lunch."

Files, who received no compensation for the interviews, spoke of a shell casing he ejected fromhis gun.

"I took the shell casing. I bit down on it. I looked at it and set it on the stockade fence. There wasan indentation from my teeth on the shell casing."

A man and his son discovered a casing of the same caliber in the area just behind where Filesclaimed he was positioned on the grassy knoll in 1987. The casing was buried four inches in theground. A dental forensics expert confirmed that an indentation on the casing was made byhuman teeth.Shelton is one of two former FBI agents who believe Files' story is credible.

He said: "I have tried to verify Files' story. A lot of that story I have been able to verify,"including that a shot was fired from the grassy knoll "exactly where Files said he was standing."

The documentary presents mounds of other evidence that Kennedy's assassination was not the work of a lone gunman and that Files' account is more credible than the official version put forth by the Warren Commission.Files himself asserts: "Oswald never fired a shot.


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CIA: Oswald Visited Cuba and SovietUnion Before Kennedy Assassination

Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963 (Lawrence Schiller/Polaris Communications/Getty Images) By Cathy Burke | Wednesday, 16 Sep 2015 04:59 PM

Soviet Union weeks before the slaying of President John F. Kennedy — information the CIA

gave to President Lyndon Johnson three days after the fatal shooting in Dallas, according to

newly declassified data.

The Washington Times reports the travel plans were included in the 19,000 pages of

presidential daily briefings from the 1960s — known as the President's Daily Brief and

stamped "For the President's Eyes Only" on some pages — being made public. About a fifth

of the content is still redacted to protect sources and methods.

The Times reports in a Nov. 25, 1963, briefing that Oswald, a former Marine who defected to

the Soviet Union in 1959, visited both the Cuban and Soviet embassies on Sept. 28.

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"He was trying, we are told, to arrange for visas so that he could travel to the USSR via

Havana," the briefing reads.

Oswald returned to the United States Oct. 3, according to the briefing.

On Nov. 22, 1963, Oswald shot Kennedy with a sniper rifle as he rode in an open-air

motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Charged with the assassination, Oswald claimed

he was a scapegoat; two days afterward, he was shot and killed by Dallas nightclub owner

Jack Ruby.

The day of the assassination, the spy agency's briefing concluded a Soviet anti-missile

paraded in Moscow appeared only designed for use in the atmosphere. In Japan, meanwhile,

an election didn't change the balance of power. At least one page in the briefing remains

classified.

The newly declassified briefings also included information to Kennedy — a day before the

end of the Cuban Missile Crisis — that a new warhead launcher was spotted in Cuba.

"These are an incomparable window into how a president thinks," said William Inboden,

who worked under President George W. Bush and now leads the Clements Center for

National Security at the University of Texas at Austin. "When we're reading these, it's a

mirror image of what the president's concerns were."

The release of the briefs was made possible by a 2009 executive order from President Barack

Obama stating all classified material will automatically undergo a declassification review

and release after 25 years. The full collection of briefs from the Kennedy and Johnson era are

posted on the CIA's website.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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Who Killed Kennedy? Part 1

By CBS NEWS CBS NEWS November 15, 2013, 12:57 PM

Many theories cropped up almost immediately and have endured: the Soviets murdered Kennedy orthe CIA, Cuban exiles, Fidel Castro, the country's military-industrial complex, even President

Lyndon B. Johnson. The Warren Commission found in its 879-page report on the assassination thatOswald acted alone -- but it is still being criticized from all sides. The House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in 1979 that it was likely Kennedy was killed as a result of a conspiracy.

What did happen in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963? Who killed Kennedy? Here are a few of those theories.

Lee Harvey Oswald

The Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald fired three bullets, all from the TexasSchool Book Depository. But disagreements persisted over whether Texas Governor John Connally

was wounded by one of the bullets that had already hit Kennedy in the neck. Skeptics pounced onthe single-bullet theory and got a boost from Connally himself who testified before the commissionthat he had been hit separately. Tapes released by the National Archives in 1994 show that PresidentLyndon B. Johnson thought so too. And if the men were hit at about the same time by different

bullets, there had to have been a second gunman.

Text #3


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The Kennedys' motorcade drives through downtown Dallas Nov. 22, 1963, moments before the shooting of President John F. Kennedy.

© BETTMANN/CORBIS

A SNIPER ON THE GRASSY KNOLL? Witnesses reported hearing shots from the now famous grassy knoll ahead of the president'slimousine in Dealey Plaza. In a new book, University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato reports thatsome Dallas policemen who ran up the knoll encountered people with Secret Service credentials.

Who were they? The policemen let them go, and only later discovered that there were no Secret

Service agents still in Dealey Plaza, said Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at theUniversity of Virginia and author of "The Kennedy Half-Century." Conspiracy theorists, meanwhile,poured over the amateur film made by Abraham Zapruder, frame by frame, and insisted that itshowed the president being shot from the front.

In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations challenged the Warren Commission'sconclusions and decided that an audio recording -- from a motorcycle policeman whose microphone

was stuck in the "on" position -- caught the sound of four gunshots being fired, one possibly from thegrassy knoll. The finding was discounted three years later by the National Academy of Sciences

which said that the noises were made after the assassination. Sabato had the recording re-examinedand says the sounds are not gunshots at all, but an idling motorcycle and the rattling of amicrophone.

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Who Killed Kennedy? Part 2

By CBS NEWS CBS NEWS November 15, 2013, 12:57 PM

THE MAFIA

The mafia is a favorite culprit because the Mob disliked Kennedy's brother, Robert. The aggressiveattorney general had gone after James Hoffa, the president of the International Brotherhood ofTeamsters with his own connections to the Mafia. Plus the crime bosses were angry over Kennedy'sfailed attempts to overthrow Fidel Castro, who had closed their casinos in Havana. Some accountshave crime bosses bringing over hit men from Italy or France for the job; others accuse the CIA ofhiring mobsters to kill the president.

Then there was Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who shot Oswald in the basement of theDallas police station two days after the assassination. Ruby was connected to the Chicago mob andallegedly smuggled guns first to Castro and then to anti-Castro groups. The Associated Pressreported the morning of the shooting that police were looking into the possibility that Oswald had

been killed to prevent him from talking.

Oswald had Mob connections too. In New Orleans before the assassination, he stayed at the home ofan uncle who was a bookmaker with ties to the Mafia.

The House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that organized crime as a group did notassassinate the president, but left open the possibility that individual members might have beeninvolved. It singled out Carlos Marcello and Santo Trafficante as two men with "the motive, meansand opportunity," though it was unable to establish direct evidence of their complicity.

FIDEL CASTRO

Cuba President Fidel Castro in Havana on May 15, 2006.

The Cuban dictator had no lack of motive to want the American president dead: the failed Bay ofPigs invasion, the CIA's attempts to kill him -- with Mob help. Only two months before theassassination, Castro said: "United States leaders should think that if they are aiding terrorist plansto eliminate Cuban leaders, they themselves will not be safe."

In Philip Shenon's new book, "A Cruel and Shocking Act," Shenon reports that a WarrenCommission staff member, William Coleman, was sent to meet with Castro and was told that theCuban regime had nothing to do with the assassination.

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A former BBC journalist and author of "Not in Your Lifetime," Anthony Summers, writes on his blogthat he first heard the story from Coleman in 1994, though Coleman would not describe theassignment from U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren, saying it was confidential. Summers laterrecounted it and Coleman's denial in a 2006 article in the Times of London. Summers says Coleman

brought back documents, which he said were in the National Archives.

THE SOVIETSThe country was deep in the Cold War and Oswald had myriad connections to the Soviet Union.

After a stint in U.S. Marines, he had defected there in 1959, and had married Marina Prusakova, whose uncle worked for Soviet domestic intelligence. Later while in Mexico, Oswald tried to get visasfor Cuba and the Soviet Union.

Lee Harvey Oswald and his wife, Marina, are seen aboard a train as they depart Russia in 1962.

WARREN COMMISSION REPORT

Plus Nikita Khrushchev's gamble to place missiles in Cuba had failed. But KGB officer VacheslavNikonov told "Frontline" in 1993 that Oswald seemed suspicious to the KGB because he was notinterested in Marxism.

THE MILITARY-INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY Various versions have the CIA, the FBI, the Pentagon or the Secret Service turning on Kennedy as atraitor and plotting his death. James W. Douglass in his 2008 book "JFK and the Unspeakable: WhyHe Died and Why It Matters," argues that Kennedy was killed because he had moved away from aCold War view of the world and was seeking peace.


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Oliver Stone's movie, "JFK," centers on New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who conductedhis own investigation of the assassination. Garrison told Playboy magazine in 1967 that Kennedy waskilled not by Oswald but by a guerrilla team of anti-Castro adventurers and the paramilitary right.The CIA had plotted the assassination together with the military-industrial complex because both

wanted to continue the Cold War and the escalation of the conflict in Vietnam, he said.

The Warren Commission staff members who are still living say that to this day no facts haveemerged undercutting their conclusions: Oswald was the assassin and neither he nor Ruby were partof a larger conspiracy. But the conspiracy theories are likely to linger.


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Excerpts from November 22, 1963: Death of the President

JFK Library

The Assassination

Crowds of excited people lined the streets and waved to the Kennedys. The car turned off Main Street at Dealey Plaza around12:30 p.m. As it was passing the Texas School Book Depository, gunfire suddenly reverberated in the plaza.

Bullets struck the president's neck and head and he slumped over toward Mrs. Kennedy. The governor was also hit in the

chest.

The car sped off to Parkland Memorial Hospital just a few minutes away. But little could be done for the President. A Catholic

priest was summoned to administer the last rites, and at 1:00 p.m. John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead. Though seriously

wounded, Governor Connally would recover.

The president's body was brought to Love Field and placed on Air Force One. Before the plane took off, a grim-faced Lyndon B.

Johnson stood in the tight, crowded compartment and took the oath of office, administered by US District Court Judge Sarah

Hughes. The brief ceremony took place at 2:38 p.m.

Less than an hour earlier, police had arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, a recently hired employee at the Texas School Book

Depository. He was being held for the assassination of President Kennedy and the fatal shooting, shortly afterward, of

Patrolman J. D. Tippit on a Dallas street.

On Sunday morning, November 24, Oswald was scheduled to be transferred from police headquarters to the county jail.

Viewers across America watching the live television coverage suddenly saw a man aim a pistol and fire at point blank range.

The assailant was identified as Jack Ruby, a local nightclub owner. Oswald died two hours later at Parkland Hospital.

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Warren Commission Explained

President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed the President's Commission

on the Assassination of President Kennedy, commonly called the

Warren Commission, by Executive Order (E.O. 11130) on November29, 1963. Its purpose was to investigate the assassination of

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy on November 22, 1963, at Dallas,

Texas. President Johnson directed the Commission to evaluate

matters relating to the assassination and the subsequent killing of the

alleged assassin, and to report its findings and conclusions to him.

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Excerpts from Supreme Court RulingNational Arc hives

The committee found that, to be precise and loyal to the facts it

established, it, was compelled to find that President Kennedywas probably killed as a result of a conspiracy. The committee'sfinding that President Kennedy was probably assassinated as aresult of a conspiracy was premised on four factors:

1. Since the Warren Commission's and FBI's investigation intothe possibility of a conspiracy was seriously flawed, theirfailure to develop evidence of a conspiracy could not begiven independent weight.

2. The Warren Commission was, in fact, incorrect inconcluding that Oswald and Ruby had no significantassociations, and therefore its finding of no conspiracy wasnot reliable.

3. While it cannot be inferred from the significant associationsof Oswald and Ruby that any of the major groups examinedby the committee were involved in the assassination, a

more limited conspiracy could not be ruled out.4. There was a high probability that a second gunman, in fact,

fired at the President. At the same time, the committeecandidly stated, in expressing it finding of conspiracy in theKennedy assassination, that it was "unable to identify theother gunman or the extent of the conspiracy.

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1963 John F. Kennedy assassinatedby History.com

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, is assassinated while traveling

through Dallas, Texas, in an open-top convertible.

First lady Jacqueline Kennedy rarely accompanied her husband on political outings, but she was

beside him, along with Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, for a 10-mile motorcade through the

streets of downtown Dallas on November 22. Sitting in a Lincoln convertible, the Kennedys and

Connallys waved at the large and enthusiastic crowds gathered along the parade route. As their vehicle

passed the Texas School Book Depository Building at 12:30 p.m., Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired

three shots from the sixth floor, fatally wounding President Kennedy and seriously injuring Governor

Connally. Kennedy was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital. He was 46.

Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who was three cars behind President Kennedy in the motorcade, was

sworn in as the 36th president of the United States at 2:39 p.m. He took the presidential oath of office

aboard Air Force One as it sat on the runway at Dallas Love Field airport. The swearing in was witnessed

by some 30 people, including Jacqueline Kennedy, who was still wearing clothes stained with her

husband’s blood. Seven minutes later, the presidential jet took off for Washington.

The next day, November 23, President Johnson issued his first proclamation, declaring November

25 to be a day of national mourning for the slain president. On that Monday, hundreds of thousands of

people lined the streets of Washington to watch a horse-drawn caisson bear Kennedy’s body from the

Capitol Rotunda to St. Matthew’s Catholic Cathedral for a requiem Mass. The solemn procession then

continued on to Arlington National Cemetery, where leaders of 99 nations gathered for the state funeral.

Kennedy was buried with full military honors on a slope below Arlington House, where an eternal flame

was lit by his widow to forever mark the grave.

Lee Harvey Oswald, born in New Orleans in 1939, joined the U.S. Marines in 1956. He was

discharged in 1959 and nine days later left for the Soviet Union, where he tried unsuccessfully to become

a citizen. He worked in Minsk and married a Soviet woman and in 1962 was allowed to return to the

United States with his wife and infant daughter. In early 1963, he bought a .38 revolver and rifle with a

telescopic sight by mail order, and on April 10 in Dallas he allegedly shot at and missed former U.S.

Army general Edwin Walker, a figure known for his extreme right-wing views. Later that month, Oswald

went to New Orleans and founded a branch of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, a pro-Castro

organization. In September 1963, he went to Mexico City, where investigators allege that he attempted to

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secure a visa to travel to Cuba or return to the USSR. In October, he returned to Dallas and took a job at

the Texas School Book Depository Building.

Less than an hour after Kennedy was shot, Oswald killed a policeman who questioned him on the

street near his rooming house in Dallas. Thirty minutes later, Oswald was arrested in a movie theater by

police responding to reports of a suspect. He was formally arraigned on November 23 for the murders of

President Kennedy and Officer J.D. Tippit.

On November 24, Oswald was brought to the basement of the Dallas police headquarters on his

way to a more secure county jail. A crowd of police and press with live television cameras rolling

gathered to witness his departure. As Oswald came into the room, Jack Ruby emerged from the crowd and

fatally wounded him with a single shot from a concealed .38 revolver. Ruby, who was immediately

detained, claimed that rage at Kennedy’s murder was the motive for his action. Some called him a hero,

but he was nonetheless charged with first-degree murder.

Jack Ruby, originally known as Jacob Rubenstein, operated strip joints and dance halls in Dallas

and had minor connections to organized crime. He features prominently in Kennedy-assassination

theories, and many believe he killed Oswald to keep him from revealing a larger conspiracy. In his trial,

Ruby denied the allegation and pleaded innocent on the grounds that his great grief over Kennedy’s

murder had caused him to suffer “psychomotor epilepsy” and shoot Oswald unconsciously. The jury

found Ruby guilty of “murder with malice” and sentenced him to die.

In October 1966, the Texas Court of Appeals reversed the decision on the grounds of improper

admission of testimony and the fact that Ruby could not have received a fair trial in Dallas at the time. In

January 1967, while awaiting a new trial, to be held in Wichita Falls, Ruby died of lung cancer in a Dallas

hospital.

The official Warren Commission report of 1964 concluded that neither Oswald nor Ruby were

part of a larger conspiracy, either domestic or international, to assassinate President Kennedy. Despite its

seemingly firm conclusions, the report failed to silence conspiracy theories surrounding the event, and in

1978 the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in a preliminary report that Kennedy was

“probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy” that may have involved multiple shooters and

organized crime. The committee’s findings, as with those of the Warren Commission, continue to be

widely disputed.


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“America’s First Family and the Kings of the Underworld”

by Krysta Cardinale

One of the most popular topics of discussion for historians and conspiracy theorists

alike is the connection between the Kennedy family and the Mafia. While most of the

information available is based on word-of-mouth information passed down from people

with questionable motives, a general thesis is plausible. It is generally agreed that the

association between the Kennedys and the mob goes back to the years before JFK took

over the White House, back to when his father Joe Kennedy was becoming a very wealthy

man in the bootlegging business. During Prohibition, Kennedy befriended Sam Giancana,

the most powerful man in the Chicago underworld. Together, they made a fortune selling

illegal booze and sparked a lifelong partnership and friendship. Knowing that his past

would never allow him to successfully run for office, Joe Kennedy satisfied his insatiable

quest for power through his sons, insisting that they enter politics. The elder Kennedy used

his significant monetary influence and enlisted his underworld connections to strong-arm

support for his son in the media. Here he provided lucrative incentives to editors and

journalists alike, in law enforcement, and in business. Joe Kennedy’s Mafia ties pulled

through for him, and his efforts translated into John F. Kennedy being elected president in November 1960. When broken down, the margin worked out to a single-vote victory in

every poll in America. However, Joe Kennedy made sure there was no connection between

the Mafia and John F. Kennedy’s presidential win. The Mafia and John F. Kennedy After

JFK became president, he appointed his brother Robert to the post of attorney general.

Bobby Kennedy immediately set out on a relentless pursuit of members of organized

crime, arresting and jailing the very people who allegedly helped get him his job in the

first place. His war on the underworld felt like a betrayal to mobsters like Sam Giancana.

Especially since Giancana was rumored to have helped seal the election for JFK in Illinois,

secure the West Virginia primary that got him the Democratic nomination, and had

allegedly been assured by Joe Kennedy that the mob would be safe with his sons in office.

There was also the theory that the Kennedy brothers knew about and continued to support

Text #


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CIA-backed plans to use mobsters to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Thus, they

used and pursued mobsters and their resources at the same time. Jimmy Hoffa, leader of

the Teamsters and a well-known mob cohort, was closely watched by the government.

Hoffa allegedly wanted Robert Kennedy eliminated. It had been rumored that he decided

to get to Bobby by rubbing out his brother first. The Mafia killed Kennedy Jimmy Hoffa,

leader of the Teamsters and a well-known mob cohort, was closely watched by the

government. Hoffa allegedly wanted Robert Kennedy eliminated. This is because Robert

Kennedy had uncovered and indicted Hoffa on several charges. Hoffa had a mistrial in his

first trial for allegedly tampering with the jury. In the second trial, Hoffa was found guilty

and sentenced to thirteen years in prison. It had been rumored that he decided to get to

Bobby by rubbing out his brother first. So in 1963, when John F. Kennedy wasassassinated the stories began. The Kennedy assassination and the Mafia were rumored to

be linked together by orders of Jimmy Hoffa. However, the evidence never proved that the

Mafia killed Kennedy. In another tragic event, on June 6, 1968 Robert Kennedy was shot

dead. Once again, the Kennedy assassination and the Mafia were supposedly connected.

And, once again, despite rumors there was no evidence that proved the Mafia killed

Kennedy number two. Though much of the “evidence” to this effect is circumstantial, and

many “facts” arose years after the assassination, one thing is certain: America lost one of

its most popular and beloved presidents on November 22, 1963. Though the events leading

up to the assassination of John F. Kennedy and later, his brother Robert are still unknown,

many people have their own theories, the legacy they left is undeniable.


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John F. Kennedy Assassination Suspects

Suspect Information Resource


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John F. Kennedy Assassination Theories

Theory Resource


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Socratic Seminar ExplainedThe goal of a Socratic seminar is for students to help one another understandthe ideas, issues, and values reflected in a specific text. Students areresponsible for facilitating a discussion around ideas in the text rather than

asserting opinions. Through a process of listening, making meaning, andfinding common ground students work toward shared understanding ratherthan trying to prove a particular argument. A Socratic seminar is not used forthe purpose of debate, persuasion, or personal reflection, as the focus is ondeveloping shared meaning of a text.

Before beginning the seminar, it is essential that students have time toprepare ideas. Students should annotate the text before the start of the classdiscussion. (If students do not know how to annotate a text, you shouldmodel this for them.) Often teachers assign a discussion leader whogenerates a few open-ended questions that can be used to begin the seminar.

Socratic seminars have rules that may not apply to other forms of discussion,so before beginning the seminar, it is important that everyone is aware of thenorms. Below are typical rules used to structure a Socratic seminar. Ofcourse, you can adapt these to fit the needs of your students:

1) Talk to each other, not just to the discussion leader or teacher.

2) Refer to evidence from the text to support your ideas.

3) Ask questions if you do not understand what someone has said, or youcan paraphrase what another student has said for clarification. (“I think yousaid this, is that right?”)

4) You do not need to raise your hands to speak, but please pay attentionto your “airtime” – how much you have spoken in relation to other students.

5) Don’t interrupt.

6) Don’t put down the ideas of another student. Without judging thestudent who you may disagree with, state your alternate interpretation or aska follow-up question to help probe or clarify an idea.

7) Common statements or questions used during a Socratic seminarinclude:


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1. Where does that idea come from in the text?2. What does this word or phrase mean?3. Can you say that in another way?4. Is this what you mean to say… 5. What do you think the author is trying to say?6. What else could that mean?7. Who was the audience for this text? How does that shape our

interpretation of these words?8. Who was the author of this text? What do we know about him/her?

How does that shape our understanding of these words?

Before beginning the seminar it is also important to remind students that thepurpose of the seminar is not to debate or prove a point, but to more deeplyunderstand what the author was trying to express in the text. Also, if youhave never done a Socratic seminar with your students before, you mightspend a few moments brainstorming the qualities that would make for agreat seminar. These qualities or criteria can be placed on rubric and used toevaluate the seminar at the end of the class period. Criteria you might use toevaluate a Socratic seminar include: engagement (everyone listening andsharing), respect (no interruptions or put-downs), meaning-making(students understand the text more deeply at the end of the seminar), anduse of evidence (comments always refer back to the text).

A Socratic seminar often begins with the discussion leader, a student or the

teacher, asking an open-ended question. A typical Socratic seminar openingprompt is: What do you think this text means? Silence is fine. It may take afew minutes for students to warm-up. Sometimes teachers organize aSocratic seminar like a fishbowl, with some students participating in thediscussion and the rest of the class having specific jobs as observers. Socraticseminars should be given at least fifteen minutes and can often last thirtyminutes or more. As students become more familiar with Socratic seminars,they are able to discuss a text for longer periods of time without any teacher-intervention.

To start, choose ten students to be the inner circle. They will need to bringdiscussion questions and their text(s) in order to participate in the innercircle. In order for students on the outside to enter the discussion they must“tap out” a student in the circle. This teaches students not just manners butalso how to listen closely to conversation.

https://www.facinghistory.org/for-educators/educator-resources/teaching-strategies/fishbowlhttps://www.facinghistory.org/for-educators/educator-resources/teaching-strategies/fishbowlhttps://www.facinghistory.org/for-educators/educator-resources/teaching-strategies/fishbowlhttps://www.facinghistory.org/for-educators/educator-resources/teaching-strategies/fishbowl


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After the Socratic seminar, give students the opportunity to evaluate theseminar in general and their own performance specifically. This can be an in-class or a homework assignment. You can create evaluation forms to help

with this step. Students can also reflect on their comfort level during theseminar and high points of engagement and disengagement. Reflecting onthe seminar process helps students improve their ability to participate infuture discussions. Here are some questions you might discuss or write about

when reflecting on the seminar:

1. At any point did the seminar revert into a debate/discussion ratherthan dialogue? If so, how did the group handle this?

2. What evidence did you see of people actively listening and building onothers' ideas?

3. How has your understanding of this text been affected by the ideasexplored in this seminar?

4. What would you like to do differently as a participant the next time youare in a seminar?


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Socratic Seminar Preparation Sheet

Before the Socratic Seminar, I have:

Developed 3 open ended discussion questions.

Flagged evidence in my text(s) I want to discuss.

An open ended question is a question that can be discussed. My 3

discussion questions are:

1.

2.

3.

Evidence I want to discuss during the seminar are:

1.

2.

3.


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Socratic Seminar Dialogue Sheet

During the discussion, you need to pay close attention to what

your classmates are saying. Fill out the chart below as you observe the

Socratic Seminar.

Student Refer to text(s) Code Response

Point Made

Y / N

Y / N

Y / N

Y / N

Y / N

Y / N

Coding Observation:

T: Used text evidence to support claim A: Analyzed evidence logically

C: Makes connection of idea and text B: Build off others idea


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Socratic Seminar Evaluation

Did you... (check all that apply)

Prepare for the Socratic Seminar?

o Provide evidence:

Participate in the inner circle discussion?

o Provide evidence:

Participate in the outer circle observation?

o Provide evidence:

Gather information for your opinion extended response?

o Provide evidence:

How did the Socratic Seminar help you understand the issue

or text more deeply?


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J.F.K. Assassination Extended Response

Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for assassinating President John F. Kennedy. Using

the evidence you’ve gathered throughout our activities this week, do you believe hedid it? Or do you believe someone else did? Provide evidence from the texts to

support your claims. In your opinion piece, state your opinion, provide logically

ordered reason, and support your reasons with details and facts from the source texts.

Writer’s Checklist

Keep the central idea of topic in mind?

Keep your audience in mind?

Support your ideas with details, explanations, and examples?

State you ideas in a clear sequence?

Include an opening and a closing?

Use a variety of words and vary your sentence structure?

State you opinion or conclusion clearly?

Capitalize, spell, and use proper punctuation correctly?

When you write your essay, write it neatly and clearly.

Documents

J.F.K. Assassinated