Photo Credit: Getty Images
After years of delays and partial disclosures, the Biden administration has released approximately 80,000 pages of previously classified documents related to John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination. The National Archives made these files available on March 18, completing a decades-long process of declassification.
"These documents represent the final chapter in a long journey toward transparency," said David Ferriero, former Archivist of the United States. The release fulfills a mandate established in the early 1990s requiring all assassination-related materials to be housed in a single collection at the National Archives.
While immediately accessible at the National Archives facility in College Park, Maryland, officials note that digital versions will be released incrementally as they are processed. Researchers caution that dramatic revelations are unlikely despite public fascination with the case.
The path to disclosure has been fraught with political complications. Former President Trump initially promised to release all remaining files during his first term but ultimately withheld some, citing national security concerns. President Biden continued the partial release pattern until Trump's executive order upon returning to office.
Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963, in Dallas shocked the nation and spawned countless conspiracy theories despite the Warren Commission's 1964 conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. The assassination, along with those of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., defined a turbulent era in American politics.
Jack Schlossberg, JFK's grandson, expressed skepticism about the release's significance. "The truth is sadder than the myth—a tragedy that didn't need to happen," Schlossberg wrote on social media. "Declassification is using JFK as a political prop, when he's not here to punch back."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now serves as Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, previously criticized the delays. "They should just release the records. It's been 58 years. Are they trying to seriously tell us they haven't had time to read them?" he told People in 2021.
Beyond the Kennedy assassination, Trump has also ordered the release of documents related to the killings of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., framing the action as part of his administration's commitment to government transparency.
