On Thursday, former U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order declassifying files related to the 1960s assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
“A lot of people have been waiting for this for years, for decades,” Trump stated as he signed the order in the Oval Office. “Everything will be revealed.” After signing, he handed the pen to an aide, instructing, “Give that to RFK Jr.,” a nod to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The National Archives has released tens of thousands of records in recent years concerning the November 22, 1963 assassination of President Kennedy. However, thousands of documents had been withheld due to national security concerns. By December 2022, the Archives reported that 97% of the Kennedy records—totaling around five million pages—had been made public.
The Warren Commission, which investigated Kennedy’s assassination, concluded that former Marine sharpshooter Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. However, the slow release of records has fueled conspiracy theories about a broader plot. Speculation ranges from Soviet or Cuban involvement to the Mafia or even Vice President Lyndon Johnson.
President Joe Biden, during the December 2022 release, indicated that a limited number of documents would remain classified at the request of certain agencies, including the CIA and FBI. While scholars believe the remaining files are unlikely to contain groundbreaking revelations, questions about the assassination persist.
Oswald was killed two days after Kennedy’s assassination by nightclub owner Jack Ruby while being transferred from jail. Theories surrounding the case have been further popularized by books and films like Oliver Stone’s JFK (1991).
President Kennedy’s younger brother, Robert, was assassinated in June 1968 while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian-born Jordanian, was convicted of the crime and remains in prison.
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray was convicted of the murder and died in prison in 1998, although King’s family has expressed doubts about Ray’s involvement.
Despite the release of most documents, the lingering mysteries surrounding these pivotal events in American history continue to captivate public attention.
