The CIA's Power Play: Kennedy's Secret Memo Sparks Old Debates

The CIA's influence was a hot topic in 1961, especially after the Bay of Pigs invasion failed. A close advisor to President Kennedy, Arthur Schlesinger Jr. , saw the CIA's power growing too large. He suggested that the State Department should take over all secret operations. He even proposed splitting the CIA into two parts. This idea was part of a 15-page memo that was kept secret for a long time. The memo became public recently, thanks to the U. S. National Archives. It showed that 47% of political officers in U. S. embassies were controlled by the CIA. This raised questions about Kennedy's trust in the CIA and their role in his assassination. Some people think the CIA might have had something to do with it. Others believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Oswald was a 24-year-old Marine who had defected to the Soviet Union. The release of these documents has sparked old debates. Some experts say the new information doesn't change the fact that Oswald was the lone gunman. Others hope that more secret files will be released. There are still 2, 400 files that the FBI found after President Trump's order. Plus, the Kennedy family has some files too. Kennedy was shot in Dallas during a parade. Oswald was arrested and later killed by Jack Ruby, a nightclub owner. This event started a wave of conspiracy theories in the U. S. Many Americans now believe that their government often lies to them. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a big failure for Kennedy. It happened just a few months into his presidency. He had inherited the plan from his predecessor, President Eisenhower. Schlesinger's memo showed the mistrust between Kennedy and the CIA. He wanted all secret operations to be approved by the State Department. He also noted that in some places, more than half of the embassy's political officers were CIA-controlled. Today, most American diplomats are not CIA agents. But in places where the U. S. was involved in secret wars, the CIA had a big role. Schlesinger's proposal to split the CIA never happened. Kennedy needed the CIA for the Cold War. He and his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, wanted to remove Fidel Castro from power in Cuba. Some experts think that Kennedy was in control of the intelligence community. They believe he was directing covert operations, even if it wasn't always clear.