John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), commonly known as Jack or by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from January 1961 until he was assassinated in November 1963. After military service as commander of Motor Torpedo Boats PT-109 and PT-59 during World War II in the South Pacific, Kennedy represented Massachusetts 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat. Thereafter, he served in the U.S. Senate from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated Vice President and Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. At age 43, he was the youngest to have been elected to the office,[2][a] the second-youngest president (after Theodore Roosevelt), and the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president.[3] To date, Kennedy, a Catholic, has been the only non-Protestant president and the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize.[4] Events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Space Race—by initiating Project Apollo (which would culminate in the moon landing), the building of the Berlin Wall, the African-American Civil Rights Movement, and increased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was accused of the crime and arrested that evening, but Jack Ruby shot and killed him two days later, before a trial could take place. The FBI and the Warren Commission officially concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. However, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) concluded that those investigations were flawed and that Kennedy was probably assassinated as the result of a conspiracy.[5] Since the 1960s, information concerning Kennedys private life has come to light. Details of Kennedys health problems with which he struggled have become better known, especially since the 1990s. Although initially kept secret from the general public, reports of Kennedys philandering have garnered much press. Kennedy ranks highly in public opinion ratings of U.S. presidents.[6]Early life and education John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born at 83 Beals Street in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917[7] to businessman/politician Joseph Patrick Joe Kennedy, Sr. (1888–1969) and philanthropist Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald (1890–1995). Joe was the elder son of businessman/politician Patrick Joseph P. J. Kennedy (1858–1929) and Mary Augusta Hickey (1857–1923). Rose was the eldest daughter of Boston Mayor John Francis Honey Fitz Fitzgerald (1863–1950) and Mary Josephine Josie Hannon (1865–1964). All four of his grandparents were the children of immigrants from Ireland.[1] Jacks younger brothers were Robert Francis Bobby Kennedy (1925–1968) and Edward Moore Ted Kennedy (1932–2009). Bobby and Ted both became prominent Senators. Kennedy lived in Brookline for ten years and attended Edward Devotion School, Noble and Greenough Lower School, and the Dexter School, through 4th grade. In 1927, the family moved to 5040 Independence Avenue in Riverdale, Bronx, New York City. Two years later, they moved to 294 Pondfield Road in Bronxville, New York, where Kennedy was a member of Scout Troop 2.[1] Kennedy spent summers with his family at their home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, and Christmas and Easter holidays with his family at their winter home in Palm Beach, Florida. For the 5th through 7th grade, Kennedy attended Riverdale Country School, a private school for boys. For 8th grade in September 1930, the 13-year-old Kennedy attended Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut. In late April 1931, he required an appendectomy, after which he withdrew from Canterbury and recuperated at home.[8] In September 1931, Kennedy was sent to The Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut, for his 9th through 12th grade years. His older brother, Joseph Patrick Joe Kennedy, Jr. (1915–1944), had already been at Choate for two years, a football star and leading student. Jack spent his first years at Choate in his brothers shadow, and compensated for this with rebellious behavior which attracted a coterie. Their most notorious stunt was to explode a toilet seat with a powerful firecracker. In the ensuing chapel assembly, the strict headmaster, George St. John, brandished the toilet seat and spoke of certain muckers who would spit in our sea. The defiant Jack Kennedy took the cue and named his group The Muckers Club, which included roommate and friend Kirk LeMoyne Lem Billings.[9] While at Choate, Kennedy was beset by health problems that culminated in 1934 with his emergency hospitalization at Yale – New Haven Hospital. In June 1934 he was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and diagnosed with colitis. Kennedy graduated from Choate in June 1935. For the school yearbook, of which he had been business manager, Kennedy was voted the most likely to succeed.[9] In September 1935, he made his first trip abroad, with his parents and sister Kathleen, to London, with the intent of studying under Harold Laski at the London School of Economics (LSE), as his older brother Joe had done. Ill-health forced his return to America in October 1935, when he enrolled late and spent six weeks at Princeton University. He was then hospitalized for observation at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. He convalesced further at the Kennedy winter home in Palm Beach, then spent the spring of 1936 (along with his older brother Joe) working as a ranch hand on the 40,000 acres (160 km2) Jay Six cattle ranch outside Benson, Arizona.[10] It is reported that ranchman Jack Speiden worked both brothers very hard. The Kennedy family at Hyannisport in 1931 with Jack at top left in white shirt. In September 1936, Kennedy enrolled at Harvard College, where he produced that years annual Freshman Smoker, called by a reviewer an elaborate entertainment, which included in its cast outstanding personalities of the radio, screen and sports world.[11] He tried out for the football, golf, and swimming teams and earned a spot on the varsity swimming team.[12] In July 1937 Kennedy sailed to France—bringing his convertible—and spent ten weeks driving through Europe with Billings.[13] In June 1938 Kennedy sailed overseas with his father and brother Joe to work with his father, who was then Franklin D. Roosevelts U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. Jamess, at the American embassy in London.[14] In 1939 Kennedy toured Europe, the Soviet Union, the Balkans, and the Middle East in preparation for his Harvard senior honors thesis. He then went to Czechoslovakia and Germany before returning to London on September 1, 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland. On September 3, 1939, the family was in the House of Commons for speeches endorsing the United Kingdoms declaration of war on Germany. Kennedy was sent as his fathers representative to help with arrangements for American survivors of the SS Athenia, before flying back to the U.S. from Foynes, Ireland, to Port Washington, New York on his first transatlantic flight. As an upperclassman at Harvard, Kennedy became a more serious student and developed an interest in political philosophy. In his junior year he made the Deans List.[15] In 1940 Kennedy completed his thesis, Appeasement in Munich, about British participation in the Munich Agreement. The thesis became a bestseller under the title Why England Slept.[16] He graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelor of Science cum laude in international affairs in 1940. Kennedy enrolled in and audited classes at the Stanford Graduate School of Business that fall.[17] In early 1941, he helped his father write a memoir of his three years as an American ambassador and then traveled throughout South America.[18] Military service (1941–45) Main article: Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy (standing at right) with his PT-109 crew, 1943. In September 1941, after medical disqualification by the Army for his chronic lower back problems, Kennedy joined the U.S. Navy, with the influence of the director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, former naval attaché to Joseph Kennedy.[19] Kennedy was an ensign serving in the office of the Secretary of the Navy when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. He attended the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps and then voluntarily entered the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center in Melville, Rhode Island. Thereafter, he was assigned duty in Panama and later in the Pacific theater, where Kennedy earned the rank of lieutenant, commanding a patrol torpedo (PT) boat.[20] Kennedy on his navy patrol boat, the PT-109. On August 2, 1943, Kennedys boat, PT-109, along with PT-162 and PT-169, were performing nighttime patrols near New Georgia in the Solomon Islands,[21] when PT-109 was rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri.[22] Kennedy gathered his surviving crew members together in the water around the wreckage, to vote on whether to fight or surrender. Kennedy stated, Theres nothing in the book about a situation like this. A lot of you men have families and some of you have children. What do you want to do? I have nothing to lose. Shunning surrender, the men swam towards a small island.[23] Kennedy, despite re-injury to his back in the collision, towed a badly burned crewman through the water with a life jacket strap clenched between his teeth.[24] He towed the wounded man to the island, and later to a second island, from where his crew was subsequently rescued.[25] For these actions, Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal with the following citation: For extremely heroic conduct as Commanding Officer of Motor Torpedo Boat 109 following the collision and sinking of that vessel in the Pacific War Theater on August 1–2, 1943. Unmindful of personal danger, Lieutenant (then Lieutenant, Junior Grade) Kennedy unhesitatingly braved the difficulties and hazards of darkness to direct rescue operations, swimming many hours to secure aid and food after he had succeeded in getting his crew ashore. His outstanding courage, endurance and leadership contributed to the saving of several lives and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. In October 1943, Kennedy took command of a PT boat converted into a gunboat, PT-59, which took part in a Marine rescue on Choiseul Island that November.[26] Kennedy then left PT-59, and returned to the United States in early January 1944. After receiving treatment for his back injury, he was released from active duty in late 1944.[27] Kennedy was honorably discharged in early 1945, just prior to Japans surrender. Kennedys other decorations in World War II included the Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, and the World War II Victory Medal.[1] When later asked how he became a war hero, Kennedy joked: It was easy. They cut my PT boat in half.[28] In April 1945, Kennedys father, a friend of William Randolph Hearst, arranged a position for his son as a special correspondent for Hearst Newspapers; the assignment kept Kennedys name in the public eye and expose[d] him to journalism as a possible career.[29] He worked as a correspondent that May, covering the Potsdam Conference and other events.[30] Congressional career House of Representatives (1946–52) While Kennedy was still serving, his older brother, Joe Jr., was killed in action on August 12, 1944, while part of Operation Aphrodite. Since Joe Jr. had been the familys political standard-bearer, the task now fell to Jack.[31] In 1946, U.S. Representative James Michael Curley vacated his seat in the strongly Democratic 11th Congressional district in Massachusetts—at Joes urging—to become mayor of Boston. Kennedy ran for the seat, beating his Republican opponent by a large margin.[32] He served as a congressman for six years. Senate (1952–60) Kennedy lying on a gurney following spinal surgery, accompanied by Jackie, December 1954. In the 1952 election, he defeated incumbent Republican Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. for the U.S. Senate seat. The following year he was married to Jacqueline.[33] Kennedy underwent several spinal operations over the following two years. Often absent from the Senate, he was at times critically ill and received Catholic last rites. During his convalescence in 1956, he published Profiles in Courage, a book about U.S. Senators who risked their careers for their personal beliefs, and which received the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1957.[34] Rumors that this work was co-authored by his close adviser and speechwriter, Ted Sorensen, were confirmed in Sorensens 2008 autobiography.[35] At the 1956 Democratic National Convention, Kennedy was nominated for Vice President on a ticket with presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson, but finished second in the balloting to Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. Kennedy received national exposure from that episode; his father thought it just as well that his son lost, due to the political debility of his Catholicism and the strength of the Eisenhower ticket. Jack Paar interviews Senator Kennedy on The Tonight Show (1959). One of the matters demanding Kennedys attention in the Senate was President Eisenhowers bill for the Civil Rights Act of 1957.[36] Kennedy cast a procedural vote on this, which was considered by some as an appeasement of Southern Democratic opponents of the bill.[36] Kennedy did vote for Title III of the act, which would have given the Attorney General powers to enjoin, but Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson agreed to let the provision die as a compromise measure.[37] Kennedy also voted for Title IV, termed the Jury Trial Amendment. Many civil rights advocates at the time criticized that vote as one which would weaken the act.[38] A final compromise bill, which Kennedy supported, was passed in September 1957.[39] In 1958, Kennedy was re-elected to a second term in the Senate, defeating his Republican opponent, Boston lawyer Vincent J. Celeste, by a wide margin. It was during his re-election campaign that Kennedys press secretary at this time Robert E Thompson, put together a film entitled The U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy Story, which exhibited a day in the life of the Senator and showcased his family life as well as the inner-workings of his office. It is the most comprehensive film produced about Kennedy up to that time.[40] Senator Joseph McCarthy was a friend of the Kennedy family; Joseph Kennedy, Sr. was a leading McCarthy supporter, Robert F. Kennedy worked for McCarthys subcommittee, and McCarthy dated Patricia Kennedy. In 1954, when the Senate voted to censure McCarthy, Kennedy drafted a speech supporting the censure. The speech was not delivered, because he was in the hospital. Though absent, he could have participated procedurally by pairing his vote against that of another senator, but did not do so. He never indicated how he would have voted, but the episode damaged Kennedys support among members of the liberal community, including Eleanor Roosevelt, in the 1956 and 1960 elections.[41] 1960 presidential election Main article: United States presidential election, 1960 John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon participate in a 1960 presidential debate. On January 2, 1960, Kennedy initiated his campaign for President in the Democratic primary election, where he faced challenges from Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota and Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon. Kennedy defeated Humphrey in Wisconsin and West Virginia, Morse in Maryland and Oregon, as well as token opposition (often write-in candidates) in New Hampshire, Indiana, and Nebraska. Kennedy visited a coal mine in West Virginia. Most miners and others in that predominantly conservative, Protestant state were quite wary of Kennedys Roman Catholicism. His victory in West Virginia confirmed his broad popular appeal. At the Democratic Convention, he gave his well-known New Frontier speech, saying: For the problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won—and we stand today on the edge of a New Frontier ... But the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises—it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them.[42] Jackie with Jack campaigning in Appleton, Wisconsin, March 1960. With Humphrey and Morse eliminated, Kennedys main opponent at the Los Angeles convention was Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. Kennedy overcame this formal challenge as well as informal ones from Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic nominee in 1952 and 1956, Stuart Symington, and several favorite sons, and on July 13 the Democratic convention nominated Kennedy as its candidate. Kennedy asked Johnson to be his Vice Presidential candidate, despite opposition from many liberal delegates and Kennedys own staff, including his brother, Bobby.[43] Kennedy needed Johnsons strength in the South to win what was considered likely to be the closest election since 1916. Major issues included how to get the economy moving again, Kennedys Roman Catholicism, Cuba, and whether the Soviet space and missile programs had surpassed those of the U.S. To address fears that his being Catholic would impact his decision-making, he famously told the Greater Houston Ministerial Association on September 12, 1960, 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.[44] Kennedy questioned rhetorically whether one-quarter of Americans were relegated to second-class citizenship just because they were Catholic, and once stated that, No one asked me my religion [serving the Navy] in the South Pacific.[45] In September and October, Kennedy appeared with Republican candidate Richard Nixon, then Vice President, in the first televised U.S. presidential debates in U.S. history. During these programs, Nixon, with a sore injured leg and his five oclock shadow, was perspiring and looked tense and uncomfortable, while Kennedy, choosing to avail himself of makeup services, appeared relaxed, leading the huge television audience to favor Kennedy as the winner. Radio listeners either thought Nixon had won or that the debates were a draw.[46] The debates are now considered a milestone in American political history—the point at which the medium of television began to play a dominant role in politics.[34] President Dwight D. Eisenhower meets with President-elect John F. Kennedy on December 6, 1960 Kennedys campaign gained momentum after the first debate, and he pulled slightly ahead of Nixon in most polls. On November 8, Kennedy defeated Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the 20th century. In the national popular vote Kennedy led Nixon by just two-tenths of one percent (49.7% to 49.5%), while in the Electoral College he won 303 votes to Nixons 219 (269 were needed to win).[47] Another 14 electors from Mississippi and Alabama refused to support Kennedy because of his support for the civil rights movement; they voted for Senator Harry F. Byrd of Virginia, as did the elector from Oklahoma.[47] Kennedy was the youngest man elected president, succeeding Eisenhower, who was then the oldest (Ronald Reagan surpassed Eisenhower as the oldest president in 1981).[48] Presidency Wikisource has original text related to this article: John F. Kennedys Inaugural Address See also: Timeline of the presidency of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy takes the oath of office administered by Chief Justice Earl Warren on January 20, 1961, at the Capitol John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President at noon on January 20, 1961. In his inaugural address he spoke of the need for all Americans to be active citizens, famously saying, Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. He asked the nations of the world to join together to fight what he called the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.[49] He added: All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin. In closing, he expanded on his desire for greater internationalism: Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.[49] We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills; because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win ... It is for these reasons that I regard the decision last year to shift our efforts in space from low to high gear as among the most important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the Presidency. - JFK, 1962[50] The address reflected Kennedys confidence that his administration would chart an historically significant course in both domestic policy and foreign affairs. The contrast between this optimistic vision and the pressures of managing daily political realities at home and abroad would be one of the main tensions running through the early years of his administration.[51] Kennedy brought to the White House a stark contrast in organization compared to the decision-making structure of former-general Eisenhower; and he wasted no time in dismantling Eisenhowers methods.[52] Kennedy preferred the organizational structure of a wheel, with all the spokes leading to the president. He was ready and willing to make the increased number of quick decisions required in such an environment. He selected a mixture of experienced and inexperienced people to serve in his cabinet. We can learn our jobs together, he stated.[53] Much to the chagrin of his economic advisors who wanted him to reduce taxes, Kennedy quickly agreed to a balanced budget pledge. This was needed in exchange for votes to expand the membership of the House Rules Committee in order to give the Democrats a majority in setting the legislative agenda.[54] The president focused on immediate and specific issues facing the administration, and quickly voiced his impatience with pondering of deeper meanings. Deputy national security advisor Walt Whitman Rostow once began a diatribe about the growth of communism, and Kennedy abruptly cut him off, asking, What do you want me to do about that today?[55] Kennedy approved Defense secretary Robert McNamaras controversial decision to award the contract for the F-111 TFX (Tactical Fighter Experimental) fighter-bomber to General Dynamics (the choice of the civilian Defense department) over Boeing (the choice of the military).[56] At the request of Senator Henry Jackson, Senator John McClellan held 46 days of mostly closed-door hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations investigating the TFX contract from February–November 1963.[57] Foreign policy Main article: Foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration Foreign trips of John F. Kennedy during his presidency President Kennedys foreign policy was dominated by American confrontations with the Soviet Union, manifested by proxy contests in the early stage of the Cold War. In 1961, Kennedy anxiously anticipated a summit with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. The President started off on the wrong foot by reacting aggressively to a routine Khrushchev speech on Cold War confrontation in early 1961. The speech was intended for domestic audiences in the Soviet Union, but Kennedy interpreted it as a personal challenge. His mistake helped raise tensions going into the Vienna Summit of June 1961.[58] On the way to the summit, Kennedy stopped in Paris to meet Charles de Gaulle, who advised Kennedy to ignore Khrushchevs abrasive style. The French president was nationalistic and disdainful of the United States presumed influence in Europe. Nevertheless, de Gaulle was quite impressed with the young president and his family. Kennedy picked up on this in his speech in Paris, saying that he would be remembered as the man who accompanied Jackie Kennedy to Paris.[59] On June 4, 1961, the president met with Khrushchev in Vienna and left the meetings angry and disappointed that he had allowed the Premier to bully him, despite the warnings he had received. Khrushchev, for his part, was impressed with the presidents intelligence, but thought him weak. Kennedy did succeed in conveying the bottom line to Khrushchev on the most sensitive issue before them, a proposed treaty between Moscow and East Berlin. He made it clear that any such treaty which interfered with U.S access rights in West Berlin would be regarded as an act of war.[60] Persian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Kennedy, and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara in the White House Cabinet Room on April 13, 1962. Shortly after the president returned home, the U.S.S.R. announced its intention to sign a treaty with East Berlin, abrogating any third-party occupation rights in either sector of the city. Kennedy, depressed and angry, assumed that his only option was to prepare the country for nuclear war, which he personally thought had a one-in-five chance of occurring.[61] In the weeks immediately after the Vienna summit, more than 20,000 people fled from East Berlin to the western sector in reaction to statements from the USSR. Kennedy began intensive meetings on the Berlin issue, where Dean Acheson took the lead in recommending a military buildup alongside NATO allies.[62] In a July 1961 speech, Kennedy announced his decision to add $3.25 billion to the defense budget, along with over 200,000 additional troops, stating that an attack on West Berlin would be taken as an attack on the U.S. The speech received an 85% approval rating.[63] The following month, the Soviet Union and East Berlin began blocking any further passage of East Berliners into West Berlin and erected barbed wire fences across the city, which were quickly upgraded to the Berlin Wall. Kennedys initial reaction was to ignore this, as long as free access from West to East Berlin continued. This course was altered when it was learned that the West Berliners had lost confidence in the defense of their position by the United States. Kennedy sent Vice President Johnson, along with a host of military personnel, in convoy through West Germany, including Soviet-armed checkpoints, to demonstrate the continued commitment of the U.S. to West Berlin.[64] Kennedy gave a speech at Saint Anselm College on May 5, 1960, regarding Americas conduct in the emerging Cold War. The address detailed how American foreign policy should be conducted towards African nations, noting a hint of support for modern African nationalism by saying that For we, too, founded a new nation on revolt from colonial rule.[6
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