How well informed are the American people about the JFK assassination

[John Corbett]

I would be willing to bet that NOTHING LIKE 8% or 10% of the populace could get 15 right. My guess would be that either (1) the quiz was of interest only to the miniscule percentage who actually care anything about the JFKA and/or (2) a substantial percentage started off so badly they said the hell with it and didn't finish. I would bet my house, car and Callaway driver that 10% couldn't tell you the YEAR of the JFKA.

If we are talking about the public at large, I think you are correct. If we are talking about people who were interested enough to take the quiz, I think their scores will be quite higher.

[John Corbett]

The question itself is absurd. Watch any news program where they quiz people, including college students, about historical events. Nixon was President in World War II, etc., etc. Not 0.00001% of people who weren't alive at the time know or care anything about JFK or the JFKA. This is a fantasy of the 0.000001% who are obsessed with it. The polls showing large percentages "think there was a conspiracy" mean nothing more than large percentages once saw a TV program pushing the conspiracy angle. The last straw for me was a golf telecast where they good-naturedly quizzed pro golfers about The Beatles. These included some 40-year-olds and NOT ONE could name the four Beatles - simply John, Paul, George and Ringo.

It's probably out of the question that any of them could have named Peter Best.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

In the early days/weeks after the assassination the majority of Americans polled believed there was a conspiracy. This is before any investigation other than the DPD was done.

People simply want to believe - or have to - that it was more. Great events need a great cause and one man with a rifle can't be it.

[Charles Collins]

In the early days/weeks after the assassination the majority of Americans polled believed there was a conspiracy. This is before any investigation other than the DPD was done.

People simply want to believe - or have to - that it was more. Great events need a great cause and one man with a rifle can't be it.

That’s an interesting graph. It’s over 10-years old now. The last part of if showed the two lines converging. I wonder if they continued to converge over the most recent 10-year period.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Gallup poll through '23. It does look at about 2013 that the divide was narrowing, coming to a rough 50/50 view. Then in circa 2018 the divide grew. I think if you look at party breakdown, the cohorts, you'll see most of the growth of conspiracy belief was among Republican voters.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

That’s an interesting graph. It’s over 10-years old now. The last part of if showed the two lines converging. I wonder if they continued to converge over the most recent 10-year period.

I like how they included notable events surrounding the assassination along with the poll numbers. The latest numbers show a uptick - from ~60% to ~65% - with most of the increase driven by self-identified Republican voters. It appears to be the "the Deep State got JFK like they tried to get Trump" view. Silly.

[Lance Payette]

It's probably out of the question that any of them could have named Peter Best.

Or Stu Sutcliffe.

I can name all the Kinks, so I'm at the nutcase end of the spectrum.