After being released from Cuba almost a year later, many of the exiles felt betrayed by Kennedy. Kennedy secretly blamed the CIA for the disaster, while the CIA secretly blamed Kennedy. Kennedy disliked the CIA even more after this incident, and even wanted to see the CIA dissolved. .
Kennedy's short reign was controversial in itself. JFK was President in a time when racism and class antagonisms were still very rampant in the United States, more so than today. Many right-wing activists and conservatives detested Kennedy for his liberal civil rights and anti-Vietnam policies, just to name a few. Kennedy did not want the Vietnam conflict to carry out into a long war, while many conservatives as well as many in the government, such as Johnson, supported the war against communism. Many conservatives also felt Kennedy was "too easy" on communism, especially after he took responsibility for "The Bay of Pigs" in Cuba. .
The mafia also had reason to conspire against Kennedy. The Kennedy family had associations with the mafia during his election in which they helped him gain votes in Chicago, and JFK also had an affair with a woman by the name of Judith Exner, who was also a mistress to Chicago crime boss Giancana. Both John Kennedy and his brother Robert, then Attorney General, wanted to see and end to organized crime. Mob bosses of the 1950's and 60's, such as Giancana of Chicago and Carlos Marcello of New Orleans, had ties with the CIA as well as many police units. .
Lastly, there was Kennedy's Vice-President, Lyndon Baines Johnson. He was obviously one of the men who gained the most from Kennedy's death- he took his place as President. It was well known in the government that Kennedy and Johnson didn't like each other. Johnson had different views on many of Kennedy's liberal issues, and Kennedy even told his personal secretary that he wasn't planning on having Johnson for his running mate in the next election.