The assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and JFK were steeped in controversy, particularly regarding the way in which they were killed. As mentioned, both were killed with a bullet to the back of the head — and in both cases, the trajectory of the bullet was debated. Per the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, though the official autopsy report for Lincoln concluded that the bullet traveled through his left brain and stopped before the midline, some people who watched the procedure claimed it did cross this groove and ended in his skull on the right.
Speaking to Abraham Lincoln Online, Dr. Blaine Houmes discussed his view of the debate using his studies of the assassination and expertise in emergency medicine.”Depending on which account you read, you’ll find that there could have been a different path of the bullet,” he told the outlet. “If you only read one or two of the reports, in theory Lincoln could have survived, particularly today with our medical care. But if you read all the others, there’s no way he could have survived, due to the severity of the injury. In a couple of the accounts they claimed that the bullet went straight forward; if you read other accounts, it went diagonally and ended up somewhere above or behind the right eye.
Like, the trajectory of the bullet that wounded JFK and then-Texas Governor John Connally — the “magic bullet,” as some say — has been debated. The Warren Commission concluded that this shot passed through the president’s neck and traveled through his passenger’s back, chest, right wrist, and into his left thigh. Others believe that this trajectory is not possible, fueling conspiracy theories that there were in fact two gunmen.
