John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy
Born	John Fitzgerald Kennedy 29 5, 1917
Birthplace	Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	Template:Death date and age Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Politician, naval officer, author
Known for	35th President of the United States; Cuban Missile Crisis; Apollo program; PT-109
Education	Harvard University (B.S., 1940)
Spouse(s)	Jacqueline Bouvier (m. 1953)
Children	4
Awards	Navy and Marine Corps Medal; Purple Heart; Pulitzer Prize for Biography

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), commonly referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician and naval officer who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 20, 1961, until his assassination on November 22, 1963. A member of the Democratic Party, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate before winning the presidency. At 43 years of age, he was the youngest person elected to the office. Kennedy's presidency unfolded at the height of the Cold War, and his tenure was defined by a series of confrontations with the Soviet Union—most critically the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. He championed the Apollo program with the ambitious goal of landing an American on the Moon before the end of the 1960s, established the Peace Corps, and lent increasing federal support to the civil rights movement. Born into the prominent Kennedy family of Massachusetts, he served with distinction in the United States Navy during World War II, commanding PT boats in the Pacific and earning the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism after the sinking of PT-109. His assassination in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 46, remains one of the most consequential events in modern American history.

Early Life

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, into one of the most politically influential families in the United States. He was the second of nine children born to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. His father was a prominent businessman and political figure who would later serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. His maternal grandfather, John F. "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, served as the mayor of Boston.

Kennedy grew up in a household steeped in competition and public service. The family's wealth and connections afforded the Kennedy children access to elite educational institutions and a network of political and social contacts. As a child, Kennedy suffered from a number of health problems, a pattern that would continue throughout his life. Despite these ailments, he was known for his sharp intellect, wit, and competitive spirit among his siblings.

The Kennedy family moved from Brookline to Bronxville, New York, during John's childhood, and he spent summers at the family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. His father's ambitions shaped the trajectory of the Kennedy children's lives, and the family's Catholic faith was central to their identity—a factor that would later play a significant role in John's political career.

Kennedy attended various preparatory schools during his youth. He enrolled at the Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut, where he was known more for his charm and sociability than for academic discipline. Despite intermittent health problems that caused absences, he graduated from Choate in 1935.

Education

Following his graduation from Choate, Kennedy briefly attended Princeton University in the fall of 1935 but was forced to withdraw due to illness. After recovering, he enrolled at Harvard University, where he studied government and international relations. At Harvard, Kennedy developed a keen interest in world affairs, particularly as Europe moved toward war in the late 1930s. He traveled extensively in Europe during this period, including visits to Britain while his father served as ambassador.

Kennedy's senior thesis at Harvard examined Britain's lack of preparedness for World War II, a topic informed by his firsthand observations abroad. The thesis was later published as a book titled Why England Slept in 1940 and became a bestseller. He graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Science degree cum laude in June 1940.

Career

Military Service

In 1941, Kennedy joined the United States Naval Reserve, entering military service as the nation prepared for its entry into World War II. After completing officer training, he was commissioned as an ensign and eventually assigned to command PT boats in the Pacific theater of operations.

Kennedy's most notable wartime experience came on August 2, 1943, when the patrol torpedo boat he commanded, PT-109, was struck and sunk by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri in the Solomon Islands. The collision split the boat in two and killed two of the thirteen crew members. Despite suffering a serious back injury in the collision, Kennedy led the eleven survivors through the water to a nearby island. He towed one badly burned crew member by clenching the strap of the man's life jacket in his teeth and swimming for approximately four hours to reach safety.

Over the following days, Kennedy and his crew were rescued with the assistance of local Solomon Islanders and Australian coastwatcher scouts. The episode earned Kennedy the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his leadership and courage, as well as the Purple Heart for injuries sustained during the incident. The story of PT-109 became one of the most celebrated episodes of American valor during the war, and it would later serve as a cornerstone of Kennedy's political identity.

The injuries Kennedy sustained during the PT-109 incident, particularly to his back, compounded pre-existing health conditions and caused him chronic pain for the remainder of his life. He was medically discharged from the Navy in early 1945.

Early Political Career

After the war, Kennedy briefly considered a career in journalism before turning to politics—a path strongly encouraged by his father, especially after the death of Kennedy's older brother, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., in a wartime aviation mission in 1944. In 1946, Kennedy ran for the United States House of Representatives in Massachusetts's 11th congressional district, a working-class district in Boston. He won the Democratic primary, which in the heavily Democratic district was tantamount to election, and took his seat in the House in January 1947, succeeding James Michael Curley.

Kennedy served three terms in the House of Representatives, from 1947 to 1953. During his time in the House, he focused on issues of concern to his constituents, including veterans' affairs and labor issues, while also developing an interest in foreign policy. He was critical of the Truman administration's handling of the Chinese Civil War and voiced concerns about communist expansion in Asia.

In 1952, Kennedy ran for the United States Senate against the incumbent Republican, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Despite the national popularity of Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower, who carried Massachusetts that year, Kennedy won the Senate race and began serving as the junior senator from Massachusetts in January 1953.

United States Senate

Kennedy's tenure in the Senate, from 1953 to 1960, was marked by both legislative activity and personal challenges. He continued to suffer from chronic back pain and underwent multiple spinal surgeries, one of which in 1954 was life-threatening. During his lengthy recovery, Kennedy wrote Profiles in Courage, a volume examining acts of political bravery by eight United States senators throughout American history. The book was published in 1956 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1957.

In the Senate, Kennedy served on the Foreign Relations Committee and became increasingly prominent within the Democratic Party. He narrowly missed the Democratic vice-presidential nomination in 1956, losing to Estes Kefauver at the party's national convention. The near-miss raised Kennedy's national profile, however, and positioned him for a presidential run in 1960.

Kennedy was reelected to the Senate in 1958 by a wide margin, further solidifying his political standing in Massachusetts and nationally. He resigned his Senate seat on December 22, 1960, following his election as president, and was succeeded by Benjamin A. Smith II.

1960 Presidential Campaign

Kennedy announced his candidacy for the presidency on January 2, 1960. His campaign faced several obstacles, among them his Roman Catholic faith—no Catholic had ever been elected president of the United States, and anti-Catholic sentiment remained a significant factor in American politics. Kennedy addressed the issue directly in a speech before the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in September 1960, declaring his firm belief in the separation of church and state.

The 1960 presidential campaign between Kennedy and Republican nominee Richard Nixon, the incumbent vice president under Eisenhower, was one of the closest in American history. A pivotal moment came with the first televised presidential debates, held in September and October 1960. Kennedy's composed and telegenic appearance contrasted sharply with Nixon's visibly fatigued demeanor, and the debates are credited with shifting public perception in Kennedy's favor, particularly among television viewers.

On November 8, 1960, Kennedy defeated Nixon in one of the narrowest popular vote margins in the history of presidential elections. He won 303 electoral votes to Nixon's 219, though the popular vote margin was less than 120,000 votes out of nearly 69 million cast. Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States on January 20, 1961, with Lyndon B. Johnson serving as his vice president.

Kennedy's inaugural address, in which he declared "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country," became one of the most quoted speeches in American political history.

Presidency

Foreign Policy and the Cold War

Kennedy's presidency was dominated by the challenges of the Cold War. In April 1961, just months into his term, he authorized the Bay of Pigs Invasion, a CIA-planned operation using Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro in Cuba. The operation was a failure, and Kennedy took public responsibility for the debacle. The episode was followed by the authorization of Operation Mongoose, a covert program aimed at destabilizing the Castro government.

The most dangerous confrontation of Kennedy's presidency—and one of the most perilous moments of the Cold War—was the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. American U-2 spy planes discovered that the Soviet Union had deployed nuclear missile bases in Cuba, within striking distance of major American cities. Over thirteen tense days, Kennedy and his advisers deliberated the appropriate response. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade (which the administration termed a "quarantine") of Cuba and engaged in intense back-channel negotiations with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. The crisis was resolved when the Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba in exchange for a United States pledge not to invade the island and a secret agreement to remove American Jupiter missiles from Turkey.

In August 1961, the East German government erected the Berlin Wall, physically dividing East and West Berlin. Kennedy responded by sending an American army convoy to West Berlin to reassure its citizens of continued American support. In June 1963, Kennedy visited West Berlin and delivered his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, declaring American solidarity with the people of the divided city.

Kennedy increased the number of American military advisers in South Vietnam as part of the broader effort to contain communism in Southeast Asia. The Strategic Hamlet Program, designed to isolate the South Vietnamese rural population from communist insurgents, began during his administration. The level of American involvement in Vietnam increased under Kennedy, though the extent to which he would have escalated or withdrawn remains a subject of historical debate.

In 1963, Kennedy signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, prohibiting nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater. It was the first arms control agreement of the nuclear age.

Domestic Policy

Kennedy's domestic agenda, which he termed the "New Frontier," encompassed proposals in education, healthcare, economic stimulus, and civil rights. He faced resistance from a coalition of conservative Southern Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and many of his legislative proposals stalled during his lifetime.

On civil rights, Kennedy initially moved cautiously, wary of alienating Southern members of his own party. However, the escalating civil rights movement—including the Freedom Rides, the desegregation crisis at the University of Mississippi in 1962, and the Birmingham campaign in 1963—pushed the administration toward more forceful action. In June 1963, Kennedy delivered a nationally televised address calling civil rights a "moral issue" and subsequently submitted comprehensive civil rights legislation to Congress. The bill faced prolonged opposition in Congress and was not passed during Kennedy's lifetime; it was enacted as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 under his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson.

Kennedy established the Peace Corps by executive order in March 1961, creating a volunteer program that sent young Americans to developing nations to assist with education, agriculture, and public health. He also launched the Alliance for Progress, an economic cooperation initiative with Latin American nations intended to promote development and counter the appeal of communist movements in the region.

One of Kennedy's most enduring legacies was his commitment to the space program. On May 25, 1961, Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress and set the national goal of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" before the end of the decade. This commitment galvanized the Apollo program and provided the framework for the achievement of the Moon landing on July 20, 1969, six years after Kennedy's death.

Assassination

On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. He was struck by gunfire and pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital at 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. He was 46 years old.

Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States aboard Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas approximately two hours after Kennedy's death.

Lee Harvey Oswald, a former United States Marine who had defected to the Soviet Union before returning to the United States, was arrested and charged with the assassination. Two days after Kennedy's death, on November 24, 1963, Oswald was shot and killed by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby while being transferred between jails, in an event broadcast live on national television.

The Warren Commission, established by President Johnson to investigate the assassination, concluded in September 1964 that Oswald acted alone in killing Kennedy. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reached the same conclusion. However, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded in 1979 that Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy," though it did not identify other participants beyond Oswald. The circumstances of the assassination have been the subject of extensive investigation, debate, and speculation in the decades since.

Kennedy was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on November 25, 1963. An eternal flame was lit at his gravesite at the request of his widow, Jacqueline Kennedy.

Personal Life

Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier on September 12, 1953, in Newport, Rhode Island. Jacqueline Kennedy, known widely as "Jackie," became one of the most prominent first ladies in American history, recognized for her cultural contributions to the White House and her composure during the aftermath of the assassination.

The couple had four children. Their first child, Arabella, was stillborn in 1956. Their daughter, Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, was born on November 27, 1957. Their son, John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr., was born on November 25, 1960, shortly after Kennedy's election as president. Their youngest son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, was born prematurely on August 7, 1963, and died two days later from respiratory distress syndrome, less than four months before the president's assassination.

Kennedy's health was a private but significant aspect of his personal life throughout his career. He suffered from Addison's disease, a chronic adrenal insufficiency, and from severe chronic back pain related to both a congenital condition and his wartime injuries. He underwent multiple surgeries and relied on a regimen of medications to manage his conditions, though the full extent of his health problems was not publicly disclosed during his lifetime.

Recognition

Kennedy received numerous honors and awards during and after his lifetime. His wartime heroism aboard PT-109 earned him the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and the Purple Heart. His book Profiles in Courage was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1957.

Following his assassination, an extensive number of landmarks, institutions, and public works were named in Kennedy's honor. The former Idlewild Airport in New York City was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport in December 1963. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum was established in Boston, Massachusetts, and houses the official records and personal papers of his administration.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., was named in his honor and serves as the nation's primary center for the performing arts. The John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida—the principal launch site for the Apollo program he championed—also bears his name.

Kennedy's image has appeared on the United States half-dollar coin since 1964. Schools, streets, and public buildings across the United States and around the world have been named in his memory. His inaugural address, his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and his call for public service continue to be subjects of study and commemoration.

Legacy

Kennedy's presidency, though lasting less than three years, had a significant impact on American politics, foreign policy, and public culture. His management of the Cuban Missile Crisis is studied as a case of leadership under extreme pressure in the nuclear age. The resolution of the crisis led directly to the establishment of the Moscow–Washington hotline and contributed to the negotiation of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963.

The Apollo program, which Kennedy set in motion with his 1961 speech to Congress, achieved its stated goal when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the surface of the Moon on July 20, 1969. Kennedy's role in establishing the national commitment to space exploration is acknowledged as one of the defining achievements of his presidency.

The Peace Corps, which Kennedy created in 1961, has sent over 240,000 American volunteers to more than 140 countries. The program remains one of the most tangible legacies of his administration's emphasis on international service and development.

Kennedy's civil rights speech of June 1963 and his submission of the civil rights bill to Congress are regarded as turning points in the federal government's approach to racial equality. While the legislation was not enacted during his lifetime, its passage as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is often attributed in part to the political momentum generated by Kennedy's advocacy and the national mourning following his assassination.

Public opinion surveys conducted over the decades since his death have consistently placed Kennedy among the most favorably regarded American presidents. His presidency has been the subject of extensive scholarly analysis, numerous biographies, documentary films, and dramatic portrayals. The Kennedy family has remained a prominent presence in American public life; his daughter, Caroline Kennedy, has served as a diplomat, and his son, John F. Kennedy Jr., became a public figure and magazine publisher before his death in a 1999 plane crash—a life that continues to attract media attention and cultural fascination.

Kennedy is interred at Arlington National Cemetery, where the eternal flame at his gravesite continues to draw visitors from around the world.