Before I started reading Killing Kennedy, I wasn’t too sure if I would end up liking the book. After many hours of reading the book though, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Killing Kennedy begins with John Fitzgerald Kennedy being sworn into office as the President of the United States. JFK is actually the youngest President to ever be inaugurated in the White House. In America, he is adored by millions. JFK’s number one supporter was his loving wife, Bouvier Kennedy. Many people believe that she was the reason that he got so many votes in the election.
John F. Kennedy was a former naval commander, and while active, almost died aboard PT-109. The boat was in the Pacific Ocean when it was sunk by a Japanese ship. The people thought that the all of the people that were on the ship to be dead. This wasn’t the only time that Kennedy was close to death though. He had manyhealthproblems also. It was so bad that he was in a coma once. As he cheated death multiple times, his brother Joe, did not. I believethat these may have made him to have deathly outlook on life. To me, this is probably why he was carless in politics. Not only was he careless in political matters, he was also carless in his private matters.
From 1961 to JFK’s death in 1963 is followed in this book. While in office, there were many trials that Kennedy had to face. To name one would be the Bay of Pigs invasion that took place in Cuba. Kennedy and his brother Robert, also his right-hand man, tried and fought very hard to keep the hearts of America happy. Kennedy tried to make everyone else feel happy but was faced with pressures in Office. Even with this though, he always made time to be included in other affairs. This included the famous Miss Marilyn Monroe.
This book also talked about a man named Lee Harvey Oswald. He is a big part in this book. He is a big part because just about everyone knows that he is the man that shoots John F. Kennedy. He shot him from a sixth story window of the Texas School Book Depository. Lee Harvey Oswald was a socialist believer and a former Marine. He even defected Russia because he was so devoted to his Communist leanings.
The book says that Lee Harvey Oswald was fanatic, he was a loner, and he was also very unhinged. He was absolutely obsessed with Communism and since he was a loner, he had a lot of time on his hands. He spent a lot of his time reading Communist magazines. Along with all of this, the man also loved guns.
With all of this Oswald became very aware that John F. Kennedy was very anti-communist. With Oswald believing very heavily in Communism, this offended him greatly. He thought that communism was the way to go for every nation. He even believed this when he moved back to America. He just wanted communism everywhere.
With a chance to get re-elected as President in 1963, Kennedy had his eye set on it, as he should have. The loss of Kennedy’s son, Patrick Kennedy, and fighting with his wife Jackie, brought them closer together than ever before. John F. Kennedy begged his wife to return home with him while he was on his Texas campaign. Which, he shouldn’t have gone to Texas.
One state that hated John F. Kennedy, was the Lone Star State. Texas was a terrible place for Kennedy to go to. He was warned time and time again not to go to Texas. He wouldn’t listen. He didn’t want to back down from a challenge. Dallas was especially the place that he didn’t want to be, but still, he didn’t want to back down. He was convinced that he could go down to Texas, and he could win over the people. Just as he did in Montana.
John F. Kennedy may have had good intentions going into Texas, but not everyone did. Lee Harvey Oswald had different plans. This is when Oswald went to the sixth story window, and as Kennedy was going down the presidential motorcade, Oswald took a shot. Oswald shot Kennedy in the head while he was riding in a car. They rushed Kennedy to the hospital where he later died.
People then started talking about conspiracy theories about the Kennedy shooting. People believe that there was a second shooter who fired the second shot. Oswald is then shot by a Dallas native Jack Ruby. Then, in January 1964, Jackie Kennedy moved out of the White House, ending Camelot forever.
After reading this book I feel as though I have learned a lot about Kennedy. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book even though I am not much of a reader. There was just a lot of stuff that I just didn’t know, and I couldn’t put the book down.