Top 10 Kennedy Family Conspiracy Theories

Back in the day, the organized mob in Chicago was known as “The Outfit.” Founded in 1910, they gained national prominence with the rise of Al Capone. Even after Capone, The Outfit had an iron fist around organized crime in the Windy City. For decades, theorists have attempted to find connections between JFK’s 1960 campaign and The Outfit. Some authors believe that Kennedy’s father, Joe, met with the head of the syndicate to ensure John’s victory in the key state of Illinois. Kennedy’s victory, they say, ensured a Justice Department without an eye on Chicago. When RFK reneged on the deal, they say, The Outfit had both the brothers whacked. Low Kennedy turnout in Outfit-controlled wards belies the theory.

For years, theorists have debated “the magic bullet.” A review of the wounds and trajectories makes a single bullet and shooter impossible, some say. One author, Bonar Menninger, has an explanation. In his book “Mortal Error,” Menninger posits a theory: Lee Harvey Oswald did indeed fire at JFK and hit him. The Secret Service agent in the vehicle with Kennedy, George Warren Hickey Jr., then prepared to return fire with his AR-15. At that moment, the car braked suddenly, causing Hickey to accidentally discharge his weapon into the president. There is, of course, no actual evidence to back it up. It doesn’t jibe with any of the eyewitness statements, and there were more than a few.

This theory is way way out on the ragged edge. While there has been talk among theorists for years about the hidden hand of the Illuminati, this one is a new spin on an old canard. The theory goes that Jackie was in one or more secret societies and was the power behind the throne. Her folks were both wealthy New York City socialites, but they had far fewer international connections than the Kennedys themselves. Could there have been some that were never made public? Anything is possible, and Jackie did have a facility for languages. But is there any evidence that she was an agent of a secret society? Of course not.

John F. Kennedy’s secret White House affair with Marilyn Monroe has been floating around since her infamous birthday serenade. Some say that she had another affair with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy as well. When she died, people wondered if somehow the Kennedys were trying to quietly clean up their mess. Since then, the theories have been all over the place. Some people say Joe DiMaggio killed Kennedy out of jealousy and a thirst for revenge. Even if he didn’t, they say, the baseball legend went to his grave blaming the Kennedys. People claim to have seen documents proving two tumultuous affairs. Was the bombshell killed by Kennedy’s assassins rather than an overdose? No solid proof has ever really been provided.

Kennedy’s early years were less than steady. The Bay of Pigs, a failed CIA plot to depose Castro, was an immediate stain on his administration. A year later, American recon flights discovered Soviet nuclear missile installations in Cuba. The theorists believed that Kennedy purposely escalated the crisis to the edge of the abyss to come out of the crisis a hero. The results are unquestioned: even the state department acknowledges that Kennedy’s handling of the crisis repaired the damage of the Bay of Pigs. But the notion that the president tossed the dice on nuclear armageddon to get a boost in the polls is, frankly, nuts.

The Umbrella Man has been at the center of JFK assassination theories ever since the general public first laid eyes on the Zapruder film. November 22, 1963 was a sunny day in Dallas, Texas. So why, theorists ask, did Louie Steven Witt have an umbrella? Witt was awfully close to Kennedy’s vehicle when the president was shot. Was it some kind of dart gun? Was he signaling Oswald and/or other shooters? That’s what filmmaker Oliver Stone seemed to imply in his film “JFK.” Witt himself claimed that it was a sign of protest related to Joe Kennedy’s connection to Neville Chamberlain. Theorists found that excuse to be awfully thin. That being said, no proof has ever been provided to refute it.

Given the unpopularity of Joe Kennedy’s politics, it's a wonder that he founded a political dynasty. Kennedy was appointed to the Ambassadorship to the U.K. by FDR in 1938. While there, despite the politics of his boss, Kennedy supported Prime Minister Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement towards Germany. Kennedy was allegedly both anti-semitic and anti-communist. He supposedly saw Hitler as a kindred spirit. To be fair, there was fierce debate over this in the American body politic at the time. But theorists take this further and claim he had secret dealings with the Nazis. There is no concrete evidence on that score. One has to think that, if Kennedy had conspired with Hitler somehow, his anti-Hitler superior would have fired him on the spot.

One of the most prominent JFK assassination theories is that it was an inside job. To be fair, by 1963 the CIA was just hitting their stride. They'd already orchestrated coups in the Middle East and Latin America. They didn’t bat an eye to regime change. Theorists believe that the CIA saw President Kennedy as a threat to their international plots. There was some evidence that Kennedy planned to scale back and end American presence in Vietnam. Did the CIA pave the way for almost a decade of war? Was there a CIA-trained Oswald impersonator at the Soviet Embassy in Mexico? Did the CIA join forces with the mob? The theory has never gotten more traction than rank speculation, and gets wilder with each retelling.

Made famous by the images of a young boy at his father’s funeral, John F. Kennedy, Jr. appeared to be forging a whole new Kennedy legacy. He was an assistant district attorney in New York City, and then started a successful political magazine, George. Then, in July of 1999, John Jr. tragically died in a plane crash along with his wife. Twenty years later, John Jr. became central to many Q-anon conspiracy theories. They believe that JFK Jr., foreseeing the dangerous future ahead for his country, faked his own death. He then bided his time to emerge in time to fight the pedophile cultists at the heart of the “deep state.” Many believe that Q promoter Juan O. Savin is secretly JFK Jr. in disguise.

The fun thing about conspiracy theories is that there can be many concentric circles that overlap with one another. For example, theories about the Illuminati controlling the world often overlap with conspiracies about the Federal Reserve and other central banks. They have mixed with conspiracies about JFK into a particularly batty stew. According to the theories, months before his death, JFK gave his Treasury Department the ability to issue silver certificates. That created an alternative center of monetary power to the Illuminati stronghold of the Fed. The fact that it was a temporary transition to eliminate them altogether and strengthen the Fed is conveniently ignored.


Do these theories miss the mark? Let's get to the bottom of this mystery together: let us know your Kennedy conspiracy theories in the comments below.