I think the selection process has been going on for a long time, since Kennedy's assassination.
That's a distinct possibility.
When I watched 10 hours of video,while in college, about the Kennedy assassination,my dad and uncles called me a nut for believing anything other than Oswald,alone,killed Kennedy.Now my dad believes he was assassinated by a cabal of wealthy denizens who profited from war,in particular the Viet Nam war.
Time and credible information has a way of changing minds,even the most implacable minds.