CONSPIRACIES
For better or for worse, conspiracy theories have played a part in American history. Zachary Taylor, who had no particular stance on the slavery question, made it clear that he had no intention of allowing the peculiar institution to spread westward. This proclamation created much friction with the Southern states as the two Congressional parties worked together to reach an agreement, ultimately leading to the infamous Compromise of 1850. It was during this time that Taylor succumbed to an illness caused by the food he had eaten on Independence Day. After he died, doctors determined that he had contracted either a severe form of diarrhea or cholera. Many who had observed Taylor during illness noted that it appeared that he was suffering from symptoms associated with arsenic poisoning. Once word of this got out, stories of Southern conspiracies flourished throughout the nation. No concrete plan was discovered, but that didn’t stop people from speculating that Taylor had been murdered by a slave sympathizer.
The magnitude and speculation surrounding Zachary Taylor’s death was nothing compared to the tragic demise of Abraham Lincoln, whose entire presidency was marked by death and war. It was well-known that John Wilkes Booth assassinated the president at Ford’s Theater. However, theories quickly arose that he might not have acted alone. Possible suspects who may have been involved in the assassination included such people as Vice-President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Mary Todd Lincoln, the Catholic Church, the Freemasons, the Knights of the Golden Circle, disgruntled Republicans, angry Confederates, and a group of international bankers.
No death has spawned more conspiracies than John F. Kennedy. He was shot in Dallas while riding in a cavalcade through the downtown area. At Dealey Plaza, Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy in the head from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. He managed to escape from the building during all the confusion and fled to the Oak Cliff area. He was later caught at the Texas Theater without a struggle. Before Oswald could be interrogated, nightclub owner Jack Ruby killed the man in front of everyone. Ruby’s actions prevented Oswald from testifying about his motives and set the stage for a federal investigation. Headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the commission came to the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Dissatisfied with the findings, conspiracy theories quickly emerged. Anyone was a suspect and everyone did it. Among the possible culprits were Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Earl Warren, Joe DiMaggio, NASA, the CIA, the Secret Service, the Dallas Police Department, the Russians, the Mafia, the FBI, Neo-Nazis, and alien researchers. According to author Vincent Bugliosi, 214 individuals have been blamed at one time or another. It would not be surprising if Elvis was one of them.
The most prolific year for assassination conspiracists was 1968, thanks to the unfortunate demise of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy. In April, Martin Luther was in Memphis, Tennessee to show his support for a group of striking sanitation workers. He was preparing for a special meeting and had just finished talking to a musician when he decided to spend some time on the balcony in front of his hotel room. After he left the room, someone fired a rifle and murdered the civil rights leader. A federal investigation led to the arrest of James Earl Ray, a man who plead guilty then changed his mind three days later. He insisted that he was innocent, pointing his finger at his brother and a Canadian named Raul. Loyd Jowers later showed up and claimed that the assassination was the collaborated effort between him, the Mafia, and the government. Over the years, various investigations and claims surfaced, fueling the fire that Ray was a scapegoat of much larger plan to eliminate King.
Two months after the civil rights leader passed away, Robert Kennedy was running against Eugene McCarthy for the presidential Democratic ticket, currently focusing on the California primaries. He waited in Los Angeles as the votes were tallied, where he learned that he had won by four percentage points. His security team led him through a kitchen to meet with the press in a nearby room. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Palestinian named Sirhan Sirhan open-fired on the entourage. Kennedy and five others were wounded. After undergoing surgery at a nearby hospital, Robert died from his wounds. During the court proceedings, the defense tried to establish that Sirhan wasn’t in his right mind at the time of the shooting while the killer attempted to change his plea to guilty as charged. The end result was the death penalty, which was later changed to a life sentence after the state of California abolished capital punishment. Although it seemed Sirhan was the killer, theories arose that there was actually a second gunman. The most popular candidate for this role was security guard Thane Eugene Cesar. Claims of CIA involvement were bolstered by filmmaker Shane O'Sullivan, who identified three agents in various photos and video tapes. Finally, there were those who believe that Sirhan may have been a Manchurian candidate. Who was responsible remained a mystery.
It was not just assassinations that conspiracy theorists targeted, but government cover-ups as well. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 shocked and stunned Americans throughout the nation. The very thought that Japan could perform such a large-scale attack with complete surprise and success was unthinkable. Something was wrong. Many people conjectured that the government knew about the assault in advance and did nothing about it. Franklin Roosevelt had voiced his support for Great Britain and showed it through the Lend-Lease Act, which allowed the United States to provide military aid to the Allies. Theorists believed Roosevelt deliberately allowed the Japanese to bomb the airbase as a means to get America fully involved in the war. Proponents of this idea pointed to various statements and documents. They also asserted that radio signals had been intercepted before the attack. Furthermore, the Japanese codes used at the time had already been broken before the time of the attack. Despite several rebuttals by historians and military officials, the theorists continued badgering the government for allowing the tragedy to unfold.
The mystery of unidentified flying objects led to the emergence of two cover-up sagas. During World War II, a military base located in the southern portion of Nevada was used for artillery and bombing practice. Commonly known as Area 51, it became a facility to develop and test the latest in military technology. The first of these top secret projects was the testing of the U-2 spy plane in 1955. This was followed by the development of a reconnaissance plane, which would eventually lead to the construction of a Mach 3 aircraft called the SR-71 Blackbird. The base also served as a place for testing stealth planes such as the F-117. Several other projects have taken place over the years, though most of them remained classified. Because of the secrecy surrounding these endeavors and the popularity of UFOs, conspiracy theorists came to the conclusion that the government was conducting experiments involving aliens and extraterrestrial technology. Some of the alleged activities included developing ways to control the weather, methods of time travel, and teleportation devices. Theorists also accused the government of reverse engineering alien aircraft, studying alien bodies, making energy weapons, building an underground railroad, and developing alien hybrids. While there appears to be no proof, the amount of secrecy surrounding Area 51 continued to provide plenty of ammunition for people to believe something sinister was being developed by the government.
Not alone in the realm of extraterrestrial experimentation, Area 51 faced competition from Roswell, New Mexico. In 1947, a device crashed into the field of a ranch. The Air Force claimed that it was nothing more than a weather balloon when the public started showing interest. The people bought the story and the whole matter died away, at least for the time being. During the 1970s, interest skyrocketed as UFO experts interviewed people who claimed to have some sort of connection with the Roswell incident. Hundreds of documents were released and several books were published concerning the matter. From the large influx of new information, theories emerged everywhere with stories of alien spaceships, extraterrestrial autopsies, and government cover-ups. The Air Force later went public with the project which had been the catalyst for the events surrounding Roswell. Officials asserted that the weather balloon was actually a surveillance balloon with microphones attached to it. The device was designed to register distant sound waves caused by atomic blasts. The project was successful, but it was overly expensive compared to the cheaper method of using seismic detectors. Despite the new explanation, skeptics refused to believe it and continued their crusade to expose the real truth.
During the 1950s, the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water as a method of reducing tooth decay was started. Many people opposed such efforts, believing in a wide variety of conspiracies. They felt that water fluoridation was being used as a way to keep the population complacent about government and corporate agendas. Others accused various companies of using the method to get rid of their industrial waste.
The new century brought about a new set of conspiracy theories, starting with the destruction of the World Trade Center. Many people believed that the government knew about the attack in advance, but did nothing about it for various reasons. Some even proclaimed that the attacks were committed by the government, not the terrorists who were arrested. Most of the evidence for such claims lay in the video footage. The conspiracists felt that the two buildings collapsed too quickly and looked more like the result of a demolition project. They also pointed to visuals that seemed to be inconsistent with a jet collision. Rebuttals were made, but the allegations continued.
The latest grand conspiracy revolved around the election of Barack Obama. Throughout the early part of his presidency, many people claimed that Obama could not serve his term because he wasn’t a true citizen. When Obama presented his birth certificate to clear the matter, conspiracists dismissed the document as a fake. Others asserted he was disqualified because he held dual citizenship. Accusations of conspiracies continued, even after Obama presented his long form birth certificate three years later. Though the belief that Barack was an illegitimate president remained, the vocal accusations eventually faded away.
The magnitude and speculation surrounding Zachary Taylor’s death was nothing compared to the tragic demise of Abraham Lincoln, whose entire presidency was marked by death and war. It was well-known that John Wilkes Booth assassinated the president at Ford’s Theater. However, theories quickly arose that he might not have acted alone. Possible suspects who may have been involved in the assassination included such people as Vice-President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Mary Todd Lincoln, the Catholic Church, the Freemasons, the Knights of the Golden Circle, disgruntled Republicans, angry Confederates, and a group of international bankers.
No death has spawned more conspiracies than John F. Kennedy. He was shot in Dallas while riding in a cavalcade through the downtown area. At Dealey Plaza, Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy in the head from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. He managed to escape from the building during all the confusion and fled to the Oak Cliff area. He was later caught at the Texas Theater without a struggle. Before Oswald could be interrogated, nightclub owner Jack Ruby killed the man in front of everyone. Ruby’s actions prevented Oswald from testifying about his motives and set the stage for a federal investigation. Headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the commission came to the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Dissatisfied with the findings, conspiracy theories quickly emerged. Anyone was a suspect and everyone did it. Among the possible culprits were Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Earl Warren, Joe DiMaggio, NASA, the CIA, the Secret Service, the Dallas Police Department, the Russians, the Mafia, the FBI, Neo-Nazis, and alien researchers. According to author Vincent Bugliosi, 214 individuals have been blamed at one time or another. It would not be surprising if Elvis was one of them.
The most prolific year for assassination conspiracists was 1968, thanks to the unfortunate demise of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy. In April, Martin Luther was in Memphis, Tennessee to show his support for a group of striking sanitation workers. He was preparing for a special meeting and had just finished talking to a musician when he decided to spend some time on the balcony in front of his hotel room. After he left the room, someone fired a rifle and murdered the civil rights leader. A federal investigation led to the arrest of James Earl Ray, a man who plead guilty then changed his mind three days later. He insisted that he was innocent, pointing his finger at his brother and a Canadian named Raul. Loyd Jowers later showed up and claimed that the assassination was the collaborated effort between him, the Mafia, and the government. Over the years, various investigations and claims surfaced, fueling the fire that Ray was a scapegoat of much larger plan to eliminate King.
Two months after the civil rights leader passed away, Robert Kennedy was running against Eugene McCarthy for the presidential Democratic ticket, currently focusing on the California primaries. He waited in Los Angeles as the votes were tallied, where he learned that he had won by four percentage points. His security team led him through a kitchen to meet with the press in a nearby room. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Palestinian named Sirhan Sirhan open-fired on the entourage. Kennedy and five others were wounded. After undergoing surgery at a nearby hospital, Robert died from his wounds. During the court proceedings, the defense tried to establish that Sirhan wasn’t in his right mind at the time of the shooting while the killer attempted to change his plea to guilty as charged. The end result was the death penalty, which was later changed to a life sentence after the state of California abolished capital punishment. Although it seemed Sirhan was the killer, theories arose that there was actually a second gunman. The most popular candidate for this role was security guard Thane Eugene Cesar. Claims of CIA involvement were bolstered by filmmaker Shane O'Sullivan, who identified three agents in various photos and video tapes. Finally, there were those who believe that Sirhan may have been a Manchurian candidate. Who was responsible remained a mystery.
It was not just assassinations that conspiracy theorists targeted, but government cover-ups as well. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 shocked and stunned Americans throughout the nation. The very thought that Japan could perform such a large-scale attack with complete surprise and success was unthinkable. Something was wrong. Many people conjectured that the government knew about the assault in advance and did nothing about it. Franklin Roosevelt had voiced his support for Great Britain and showed it through the Lend-Lease Act, which allowed the United States to provide military aid to the Allies. Theorists believed Roosevelt deliberately allowed the Japanese to bomb the airbase as a means to get America fully involved in the war. Proponents of this idea pointed to various statements and documents. They also asserted that radio signals had been intercepted before the attack. Furthermore, the Japanese codes used at the time had already been broken before the time of the attack. Despite several rebuttals by historians and military officials, the theorists continued badgering the government for allowing the tragedy to unfold.
The mystery of unidentified flying objects led to the emergence of two cover-up sagas. During World War II, a military base located in the southern portion of Nevada was used for artillery and bombing practice. Commonly known as Area 51, it became a facility to develop and test the latest in military technology. The first of these top secret projects was the testing of the U-2 spy plane in 1955. This was followed by the development of a reconnaissance plane, which would eventually lead to the construction of a Mach 3 aircraft called the SR-71 Blackbird. The base also served as a place for testing stealth planes such as the F-117. Several other projects have taken place over the years, though most of them remained classified. Because of the secrecy surrounding these endeavors and the popularity of UFOs, conspiracy theorists came to the conclusion that the government was conducting experiments involving aliens and extraterrestrial technology. Some of the alleged activities included developing ways to control the weather, methods of time travel, and teleportation devices. Theorists also accused the government of reverse engineering alien aircraft, studying alien bodies, making energy weapons, building an underground railroad, and developing alien hybrids. While there appears to be no proof, the amount of secrecy surrounding Area 51 continued to provide plenty of ammunition for people to believe something sinister was being developed by the government.
Not alone in the realm of extraterrestrial experimentation, Area 51 faced competition from Roswell, New Mexico. In 1947, a device crashed into the field of a ranch. The Air Force claimed that it was nothing more than a weather balloon when the public started showing interest. The people bought the story and the whole matter died away, at least for the time being. During the 1970s, interest skyrocketed as UFO experts interviewed people who claimed to have some sort of connection with the Roswell incident. Hundreds of documents were released and several books were published concerning the matter. From the large influx of new information, theories emerged everywhere with stories of alien spaceships, extraterrestrial autopsies, and government cover-ups. The Air Force later went public with the project which had been the catalyst for the events surrounding Roswell. Officials asserted that the weather balloon was actually a surveillance balloon with microphones attached to it. The device was designed to register distant sound waves caused by atomic blasts. The project was successful, but it was overly expensive compared to the cheaper method of using seismic detectors. Despite the new explanation, skeptics refused to believe it and continued their crusade to expose the real truth.
During the 1950s, the practice of adding fluoride to drinking water as a method of reducing tooth decay was started. Many people opposed such efforts, believing in a wide variety of conspiracies. They felt that water fluoridation was being used as a way to keep the population complacent about government and corporate agendas. Others accused various companies of using the method to get rid of their industrial waste.
The new century brought about a new set of conspiracy theories, starting with the destruction of the World Trade Center. Many people believed that the government knew about the attack in advance, but did nothing about it for various reasons. Some even proclaimed that the attacks were committed by the government, not the terrorists who were arrested. Most of the evidence for such claims lay in the video footage. The conspiracists felt that the two buildings collapsed too quickly and looked more like the result of a demolition project. They also pointed to visuals that seemed to be inconsistent with a jet collision. Rebuttals were made, but the allegations continued.
The latest grand conspiracy revolved around the election of Barack Obama. Throughout the early part of his presidency, many people claimed that Obama could not serve his term because he wasn’t a true citizen. When Obama presented his birth certificate to clear the matter, conspiracists dismissed the document as a fake. Others asserted he was disqualified because he held dual citizenship. Accusations of conspiracies continued, even after Obama presented his long form birth certificate three years later. Though the belief that Barack was an illegitimate president remained, the vocal accusations eventually faded away.