JFK Aide Proposed Breaking Up CIA After Bay of Pigs \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ Newly released JFK assassination documents include a 1961 memo from adviser Arthur Schlesinger Jr. urging control of covert operations shift from the CIA to the State Department. The memo highlights deep mistrust between Kennedy and the CIA following the Bay of Pigs fiasco. While conspiracy theories persist, historians continue to find no solid evidence beyond Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone.
JFK Files Reveal CIA Concerns After Bay of Pigs Quick Looks
- Newly released JFK assassination documents include Schlesinger’s critical 1961 memo.
- Schlesinger advised President Kennedy to curb CIA power after Bay of Pigs.
- The memo proposed transferring covert operations to the State Department.
- Schlesinger revealed 47% of embassy political officers were CIA-controlled.
- Some believe CIA mistrust explains weak security before JFK’s assassination.
- Historians still conclude Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone despite theories.
- JFK assassination documents released under order from President Donald Trump.
- 63,000 pages have been released, but more remain classified.
- Former officials argue Kennedy still relied on CIA for Cold War strategy.
- The memo’s breakup proposal was never implemented due to Cold War tensions.
Deep Look
Newly released documents from the U.S. National Archives have reignited discussion around President John F. Kennedy’s mistrust of the CIA in the wake of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Among the 63,000 pages released under a declassification order from President Donald Trump is a critical 1961 memo by Kennedy’s special assistant, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., that proposed radical reforms to America’s intelligence operations.
Schlesinger’s 15-page memo, dated June 30, 1961—just two months after the disastrous covert attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro—suggested that the CIA had become too powerful and unaccountable. In the most striking portion of the memo, Schlesinger proposed transferring control of all clandestine activities to the State Department and breaking up the CIA into two agencies reporting to different undersecretaries of state.
The memo also contained an eyebrow-raising revelation: 47% of political officers stationed at U.S. embassies were under CIA control. In certain posts like Austria and Chile, the percentage was even higher. Schlesinger warned that this undermined diplomatic missions and allowed the CIA to operate without sufficient oversight.
While the proposal to weaken the CIA was never enacted, the memo fuels long-standing conspiracy theories suggesting that tensions between Kennedy and the intelligence community may have played a role in the lax security that preceded his assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
Conspiracy theorists like Jefferson Morley, editor of the JFK Facts blog and vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, argue that the new documents reinforce suspicions. Morley refers to the memo as an “origin story” for the mutual mistrust between Kennedy and the CIA. He continues to push for the release of approximately 2,400 additional files, including ones the FBI discovered after Trump’s initial order.
However, leading historians and JFK scholars caution against drawing definitive conclusions from the memo. Gerald Posner, author of Case Closed, emphasized the psychological need to find a larger conspiracy, given the mismatch between the charismatic, powerful figure of JFK and his assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, whom Posner describes as a “24-year-old waif.” Despite the allure of conspiracy theories, Posner and others maintain that Oswald acted alone.
The Kennedy assassination is often cited as the first modern event to spawn persistent conspiracy theories in the United States. Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and author of The Kennedy Half-Century, attributes widespread American distrust in government to this event and its aftermath. “It was the first big event that led to a series of events involving conspiracy theories that have left Americans believing, almost permanently, that their government lies to them,” Sabato said.
The Bay of Pigs debacle certainly marked a turning point in JFK’s relationship with the intelligence community. Kennedy inherited the operation from President Dwight Eisenhower and approved the invasion within three months of taking office. The operation’s failure left Kennedy furious and embarrassed on the world stage. Schlesinger’s memo, written in the aftermath, reflected this frustration and Kennedy’s desire for reform.
Nonetheless, historians like Timothy Naftali, an adjunct professor at Columbia University and author working on a book about JFK, believe that any mistrust between the president and the CIA was short-lived. Naftali argues that Kennedy and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, maintained firm control over the intelligence community and used covert operations frequently, especially against Castro’s regime.
“The more details we uncover from that period, the clearer it becomes that the Kennedy brothers were directing the intelligence community,” Naftali said. “You can see their imprint throughout covert operations.”
Sabato agrees, noting that while Kennedy may have entertained the idea of dismantling or curbing the CIA, Cold War realities made such restructuring impractical. The CIA’s efforts were largely focused on toppling Castro, something both John and Robert Kennedy fervently supported as part of U.S. foreign policy leading up to the 1964 election.
Former U.S. ambassador Ronald Neumann also pointed out that although the CIA’s influence in embassies was considerable in the early 1960s, modern diplomacy has rebalanced that dynamic. Today, most embassy political officers are non-CIA, and while station chiefs remain valuable intelligence assets to ambassadors, they operate under clearer protocols.
Still, the newly released documents add color and depth to the historical understanding of the internal tensions following the Bay of Pigs fiasco. They also fuel public fascination with the unresolved aspects of the JFK assassination. Despite thorough investigations and historical consensus that Oswald acted alone, the complexity of international politics, covert operations, and executive decision-making in the early 1960s continue to invite speculation.
As Jefferson Morley and others continue to press for full transparency, the release of these documents under Trump’s order ensures that the debates surrounding JFK’s assassination and the CIA’s role in Cold War America are far from over. Whether future disclosures will offer answers or only deepen the mystery remains to be seen.
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