60 Years On, Half of Americans Believe JFK’s Assassination Was the Result of a Conspiracy

Today, November 22nd 2023, marks 60 years since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. His alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was himself killed two days later by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby.

Ever since, the circumstances of the US President’s death have been the subject of much speculation. 

The Warren Commission, established under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Earl Warren, published a report in September 1964, concluded that Oswald was Kennedy’s assassin and that he had acted alone. The Commission had found “no evidence that either Lee Harvey Oswald or Jack Ruby was part of any conspiracy, domestic or foreign, to assassinate President Kennedy.”

In advance of this year’s anniversary, we at Redfield & Wilton Strategies, in association with Newsweek, last month asked Americans for their views on the assassination. 

Our headline finding is that 50% of Americans believe multiple people were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy, while only 28% believe Oswald acted alone. 

Majorities of those aged 59 or older (55%) and 43-58 (52%) believe multiple people were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate JFK. However, the youngest voters surveyed (those aged 18-26) are significantly more likely to believe Oswald acted alone than those aged 59+: 36% of those in the youngest age cohort believe Oswald acted alone, compared to 24% in the oldest age cohort.

Likewise, 61% of Trump 2020 voters say they believe multiple people were involved in a conspiracy in contrast to 45% of Biden 2020 voters who believe the same. Conversely, 36% of Biden 2020 voters believe Oswald acted alone against only 23% of Trump 2020 voters.

Among the 50% of voters who believe multiple people were involved in a conspiracy, 43% believe the US Government was involved, while 33% believe the FBI had a role. 30% also believe the Mafia was involved in the conspiracy.

Among Trump 2020 voters who believe the Kennedy assassination was the result of a conspiracy, a majority (54%) believe the US Government was involved in his killing. Among Biden 2020 voters who think Oswald did not act alone, around a third believe the US Government (32%) or the mafia (31%) were involved.

In any case, on the sixtieth anniversary of the last assassination of an American President, one thing is clear: The public’s interest in the case is likely to survive long into the future.