JFK Book

Thinking Critically About

The Kennedy Assassination:

Debunking the Myths and Conspiracy Theories

(Routledge, 2022)

"Thinking Critically is a beautiful and indispensable contribution to public sanity in an age of tabloid concepts. It shows unequivocally that, in the decades since 1963, only an evidence-free paranoid suspicion has characterized the conspiracy community’s long Sumo-grapple with the reality of the JFK case. Everyone should read the book and be deeply grateful."

Martin J. Kelly Jr., Professor Emeritus of Psychology and the History of Science. Washington Decoded, 11 November 2022.

Thinking Critically About

The Kennedy Assassination:

Debunking the Myths and Conspiracy Theories

(Routledge, 2022)

"Thinking Critically is a beautiful and indispensable contribution to public sanity in an age of tabloid concepts. It shows unequivocally that, in the decades since 1963, only an evidence-free paranoid suspicion has characterized the conspiracy community’s long Sumo-grapple with the reality of the JFK case. Everyone should read the book and be deeply grateful."

Martin J. Kelly Jr., Professor Emeritus of Psychology and the History of Science. Washington Decoded, 11 November 2022.

Abstract

Thinking Critically About the Kennedy Assassination uses the tools of critical thinking, historical research, and philosophical inquiry to debunk the many myths and conspiracy theories surrounding JFK’s shocking and untimely death.

As we approach the 60th anniversary of the violent public assassination of President John F. Kennedy, over half of all Americans surveyed continue to believe that he was killed by a conspiracy involving multiple assassins. Through its reasoned and detailed analysis of the content and evolution of JFK conspiracy narratives, this book also serves as a comprehensive case study of paranoid reasoning and modern mythmaking. The book’s opening chapters lay out the "official" academic consensus concerning the Kennedy assassination (better known as the "Lone Gunman Theory") and discuss the origins of popular interpretations of Kennedy’s life and death, such as the nostalgic myth of "Camelot," the unsympathetic "Irish Mafia" narrative, and the many conspiracy theories critical of both. Subsequent sections scrutinize the alleged motives of leading conspiracy suspects, the ballistic, forensic, and medical evidence related to JFK’s murder, and the most popular "proofs" of an enduring government cover- up. The book concludes that no clear evidence exists to suggest that JFK was the victim of a conspiracy and ends with a discussion of the causes and consequences of paranoid thinking in contemporary public discourse.

This volume will appeal to students of history, politics, psychology, and cultural and media studies, and to a broader audience interested in American history, critical thinking, and conspiracy thinking.

A sticker on the side of a car that says kennedy for president

Reviews

"Michel Gagné is skeptical of JFK conspiracy theories, and he is also a teacher of logic. Thus he recognizes in conspiracy arguments fallacies that are not peculiar to the JFK case, but crop up in all sorts of debates. His volume is a cogent and incisive treatment of the whole assassination landscape, with particular attention to recent conspiracy arguments not dealt with in earlier volumes from people like Posner and Bugliosi".

John McAdams, Ph.D.† Formerly Professor of Political Science, Marquette University, USA, and author of JFK Assassination Logic: How to Think about Claims of Conspiracy.

"So much has been written about the JFK assassination and the numerous conspiracy theories about it. What remains undiagnosed is the motivation not of Oswald (or any other purported assassins) but of the conspiracy theorists themselves. What’s in it for them? The short answer is power. The long answer is in this book, the most important contribution to the literature to come along in a generation. Michel Gagné is reflective and thoughtful in both his thinking and his writing".

Michael Shermer, Ph.D. Publisher of Skeptic magazine, columnist for Scientific American, Presidential Fellow of Chapman University, USA, and author of Heavens on Earth , The Moral Arc, The Believing Brain, and Why People Believe Weird Things

"Michel Gagné tackles the problem of conspiracism head on. He considers the many reasons why people believe in conspiracies. He systematically, critically, and successfully analyzes the most prominent interpretations of the assassination of JFK, the actors involved, and their respective motivations. Thinking Critically About the Kennedy Assassination offers a contemporary application of critical thinking to a controversial and hotly debated subject".

Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. Professor, School of Criminal Justice, University of Baltimore, USA.

"An in-depth treatment of the events of November 1963 where the actual events are examined in great detail and every crackpot conspiracy theory thoroughly routed. This book provides the reader with rational answers to the anomalous pieces of evidence in the case which has been exaggerated beyond belief by bogus historians cashing in on the public’s desire for drama and intrigue. [...] This is a work of analytical excellence.

Thinking Critical About The Kennedy Assassination provides the reader with a level headed debate based on common sense and reason and challenges readers to look at how conspiracy advocates have interpreted the evidence using seriously flawed methods thus creating the conspiracy myth."

Mel Ayton†, crime historian and author of Plotting to Kill the President: Assassination Attempts from Washington to Hoover, Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Warren Report and Lee Harvey Oswald 's Guilt and Motive (with David Von Pein), and The Man Who Killed Martin Luther King: The Life and Crimes of James Earl Ray.