The declassified files reveal Kennedy's assassination wasn't isolated but part of a broader political earthquake targeting transformative leaders. Internal Pentagon memos show military officials viewed JFK as "unreliable" on Vietnam and national security, while CIA documents reveal operations conducted without presidential approval. FBI surveillance extended beyond Oswald to systematic monitoring of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, whom Bureau officials labeled "dangerous radicals." The files document psychological profiles and harassment campaigns against civil rights leaders, antiwar activists, and political dissidents. Cold War paranoia provided cover for domestic intelligence operations that prioritized institutional power over democratic governance, creating patterns of government surveillance and political violence that defined the decade and established precedents for decades of public mistrust.

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