Early Life, Education, and Career

Birth Name: John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy

In Office: January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963

Date of Birth: May 29, 1917

Place of Birth: Brookline, Massachusetts

Political Party: Democratic

· The second of nine children, Kennedy was reared in a family that demanded intense physical and intellectual competition.

· Kennedy attended Edward Devotion School from kindergarten through the beginning of 3rd grade, then Noble and Greenough Lower School and the Dexter School through 4th grade.

· At the age of 10, Kennedy moved with his family to Riverdale, New York City.

· In his primary school years, he attended Riverdale Country School, a private school for boys in Riverdale.

· In September 1931, Kennedy was sent to The Choate School, an elite boys boarding school, for his 9th through 12th grade years.

· He graduated from Harvard in 1940, and immediately entered the U.S. Navy in the following year.

· After he was sent to the post in South Pacific, Kennedy commanded a patrol torpedo boat; he was seriously injured when a Japanese destroyer launched heavy attacks. Kennedy led his men to safety and was awarded the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism.

· Kennedy won a congressional seat in Massachusetts' eleventh district on June 17th, and elected to the House of Representatives on November 5th in the same year.

· In 1952, he ran for the U.S. Senate against the popular incumbent, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., and defeated Lodge by 70,000 votes.

· On September 12, 1953, Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, who was twelve years younger than Kennedy.

· Kennedy was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1957 for his work the Profiles in Courage, a story of American politicians who had defied popular opinion in matters of conscience.

United States Presidential Election of 1960

The election of 1960 was known as one of the closest elections in American history. Democrat John F. Kennedy declared his official run for the presidency on January 2, 1960. Despite the fact that he was young, Kennedy was also a Roman Catholic. In fact, no Catholic had ever been elected president before. In response, Kennedy said "I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party candidate for President who also happens to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters — and the Church does not speak for me."

In the race for a democratic presidential candidate, Kennedy ran against Lyndon B. Johnson, U.S. Senate Majority Leader from Texas, Stuart Symington of Missouri, Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois, and Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota. Kennedy was viewed to the public as young and inexperienced.

At the Democratic Convention, Kennedy gave the well-known "New Frontier" speech, which represented the changes America and the rest of the world would be going through. With his visionary speech, Kennedy immediately became the democratic candidate.

During the age in which television played a dominant role in American lifestyle, John F. Kennedy debated Republican candidate and Vice President Richard Nixon in the first presidential debate. Although Kennedy was an underdog, Kennedy’s TV image overcame Nixon’s years of executive experiences. On Tuesday, November 8, Kennedy defeated Nixon to become the youngest President in the U.S. history.

Foreign Policy and Affairs

President Kennedy administration was primarily shaped by the Cold War. Most of the resources were dedicated to the proxy interventions and world peace.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a conflict between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba in October 1962, during the Cold War. It was the closest the world ever came to nuclear warfare. The crisis was known as the most intense thirteen days in the U.S. history. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a part of the Soviet Union campaign to spread communism around the world. The Bay of Pig invasion, an attempt to overthrown a Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro, was an obvious failure. On September 4, 1962, medium-range ballistic nuclear missiles were discovered in Cuba by the U.S intelligence. Almost a month later, a U-2 plane confirmed the discovery. Kennedy called in his Joint Chiefs of Staff and assembled the Executive Committee of the National Security Council. In response, America imposed a Cuban naval quarantine. After a long period to tension between the United Stated and the Soviet Union, an agreement was finally reached. Kennedy secretly agreed to remove all U.S. missiles in Turkey and Italy, and pledged never to invade Cuba in exchange for the removal of all missiles in Cuba.

One of the earlier achievements that President Kennedy did after he took the office was the creation of Peace Corps. Americans volunteers gathered to help the undeveloped nations. They acted as a helping-hand in areas such as education, farming, health care, and construction.

On June 26, 1963, Kennedy visited the Allies West Berlin and gave a public speech criticizing communism. The young President viewed that Berlin wall as an example of the failures in the communist regime. He proclaimed, “Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in.”

Domestic Policy and Affairs

We stand on the edge of a New Frontier—the frontier of unfulfilled hopes and dreams, a frontier of unknown opportunities and beliefs in peril. Beyond that frontier are uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered problems of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus.

The “New Frontier” was originally planned for Kennedy’s speech in Democratic National Convention to gain his support into Democratic nominee. The slogan was so inspired to the American people that it eventually characterized his administration’s domestic policy.

Like President Harry S. Truman, Kennedy had a hard time getting many of his domestic programs passed by the Congress. Nevertheless, he did get an improved minimum wage, enhanced Social Security benefits, and an urban renewal package passed. He also established the Peace Corps, and his aspiration to get to the moon by the end of the 60's found overwhelming support from the American people.

On the matter of Civil Rights reform, Kennedy did not confront the Southern Democrats. A direct confrontation over such a sensitive issue could lead to a decline in popularity within his party. The civil right movements for African American were led by Martin Luther King, Jr. He believed that only by breaking unjust laws and accepting the consequences could African Americans show the true nature of their treatment. The movement was solely based on nonviolent protest and civil disobedience. Kennedy used executive orders and personal appeals to aid the movement. His legislative programs, however, would not pass until after his death. His Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson, took over the program and eventually got it passed by the Congress.

The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 while riding in a Presidential motorcade. The assassination took place in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time. The President was shot once in the back, and immediately followed by a deadly shoot to the head. Kennedy was the youngest president elected into office; he was the youngest to die at the age of 46.

John F. Kennedy’s body was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on November 25, 1963. Approximately more than 16 million people visited his grave within three years of his burial.

Legacy

The President of the United States of America was the most important seat in the world, which made the President himself the most valuable human in the world. Therefore, the Assassination of John F. Kennedy was a stunning tragedy, not only to the American people but also to the entire world. In the advancement of technology, television became a primary broadcasting news source, informing the events involving the assassination. It was undeniable that Kennedy’s administration had preserved world democracy and prevented a nuclear war. The JFK airport was also renamed in his honor, one month after his assassination.

Today, John F. Kennedy is widely accepted as one of the best president the U.S. ever had. He is also ranked in the “Top 10 United States President’s of All Time”. In fact, Kennedy is rated favorably by at least 80% of respondents in a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports poll. In addition, many of Kennedy’s speeches are still remembered till nowadays, including his famous inaugural speech – "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." JFK is looked up to as an inspiration for a generation of Americans in a way that only few presidents have managed to do. And for this alone, he deserves admiration and respect.

Fun Facts 4 You

• Kennedy's father gave him $1,000,000 when he turned twenty-one. (Each of his nine brothers and sisters got a million dollars too!)
• Kennedy was the youngest elected President in history and also the first Roman Catholic.
• Kennedy's favorite seat in The White House was his rocking chair.
• Kennedy was a big fan of James Bond and read all of Ian Fleming's books.
• Kennedy was to be the first Boy Scout to become President.
• Kennedy was on the half dollar coin, the year following his assassination.