JFK ASSASSINATION: CIA INVOLEVMENT The 1960 Presidential election was won by John F. Kennedy who defeated the incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon by the narrowest margin in history. Kennedy, a senator from Massachusetts was the only Roman Catholic and the youngest man elected to the presidency. In 1963, during his third year in office President Kennedy's popularity increased and he had already started planning for his reelection campaign. On the morning of November 23, 1963, the President flew to Dallas where he was to speak at a lunch held at the Trade Mart. As the presidential motorcade drove from Love Field toward the Trade Mart, it drove through Deally Plaza where Kennedy was shot. Shortly after the assassination of the President, Lee Harvey Oswald was apprehended as the alleged assassin. In 1991 10% of the American public agreed with the Warren Commission Report findings that Lee Oswald was JFK's lone assassin, however, over half of the American public believed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was somehow involved. President Harry S. Truman created the CIA with the signing of the National Security Act (NSA) on September 15, 1947. This act created the National Security Council (NSC) which combined all departments of the intelligence community for the army, navy, and airforce and was responsible only to the President. The council had its own budget and trained its own personal, but was still prohibited from internal spying and clandestine or paramilitary operations (Marrs 182). In 1949 the Central Intelligence Act was passed. This new act ensured that the CIA would not be obligated to disclose the names and number of personnel employed nor their functions, official titles or salaries. In addition, the CIA director would simply have to sign vouchers to spend money from the secret budget (Marrs 182-183). In 1953, the CIA initiated the overthrow of the government of Iran headed by Prime Minister Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh wh...
