John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963)/biography

John Fitzgerald Kennedy  (, –, ), was the thirty-fifth, serving from 1961 until his in 1963.

After Kennedy's leadership as commander of the during  in the, his aspirations turned. Kennedy represented the state of in the  from 1947 to 1953 as a, and in the  from 1953 until 1961. Kennedy defeated former and Republican candidate  in the, one of the closest in American history. To date, he is the only practicing to be elected President and the only President to have won a. His administration witnessed the, the , the building of the , the , the and early events of the.

on, , in ,. was charged with the crime, but was murdered two days later by before he could be put on trial. The concluded that Oswald had acted alone in killing the president; however, the  declared in 1979 that there may have been a. The entire subject remains, with multiple theories about the assassination still being debated. The event proved to be a poignant moment in due to its impact on the nation and the ensuing political fallout. Many regard President Kennedy as an icon of American hopes and aspirations; he continues to rank highly in of former U.S. presidents.

Early life and education
Kennedy was born at 83 Beals Street in on Tuesday,, , at 3:00 p.m., the second son of , and ; Rose, in turn, was the eldest child of , a prominent  political figure who was the city's mayor and a three-term member of. Kennedy lived in Brookline for his first ten years. He attended Brookline's public from  kindergarten through the beginning of 3rd grade, then  Lower School and its successor, the, a private school for boys, through 4th grade. In September 1927, Kennedy moved with his family to a rented 20-room mansion in, , then two years later moved five miles (8 km) northeast to a 21-room mansion on a six-acre estate in , purchased in May 1929. He was a member of Scout Troop 2 at Bronxville from 1929 to 1931 and was to be the first Scout to become President. Kennedy spent summers with his family at their home in, also purchased in 1929, and Christmas and Easter holidays with his family at their winter home in , purchased in 1933. He attended, a private school for boys in Riverdale, for 5th through 7th grade.

For 8th grade in September 1930, Kennedy was sent fifty miles away to, a lay Catholic boarding school for boys in. In late April 1931, he had requiring an, after which he withdrew from Canterbury and recuperated at home. In September 1931, Kennedy was sent over sixty miles away to, an elite private boarding school for boys in  for 9th through 12th grades, following his older brother, , who was two years ahead of him. In January 1934 during his junior year at Choate, he became ill, lost a lot of weight, was hospitalized at until Easter, and spent most of June 1934 hospitalized at the  in  for evaluation of.

He graduated from Choate in June 1935. Kennedy's superlative in his yearbook was "Most likely to become President". In September 1935, he sailed on the on his first trip abroad with his parents and his sister  to  with the intent of studying for a year with Professor  at the  (LSE) as his older brother Joe had done, but after a brief hospitalization with  after less than a week at LSE, he sailed back to America only three weeks after he had arrived. In October 1935, Kennedy enrolled late and spent six weeks at, but was then hospitalized for two months observation for possible at  in Boston in January and February 1936, recuperated at the Kennedy winter home in Palm Beach in March and April, spent May and June working as a ranch hand on a 40,000 acre (160 km²)  outside , then July and August racing sailboats at the Kennedy summer home in Hyannis Port.

In September 1936 he enrolled as a freshman at, residing in during his sophomore through senior years, again following two years behind his older brother Joe. In early July 1937, Kennedy took his, sailed on the to France, and spent ten weeks driving with a friend through France, Italy, Germany, Holland and England. In late June 1938, Kennedy sailed with his father and his brother Joe on the SS Normandie to spend July working with his father, recently appointed U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James's by President Roosevelt, at the, and August with his family at a villa near. From February through September 1939, Kennedy toured Europe, the, the and the  to gather background information for his Harvard senior honors thesis. He spent the last ten days of August in and  before returning to London on, , the day. On, , Kennedy, along with his brother Joe, his sister Kathleen, and his parents were in the of the  to hear speeches in support of the United Kingdom's declaration of war on Germany. Kennedy was sent as his father's representative to help with arrangements for American survivors of the, before flying back to the U.S. on 's  from to  on his first transatlantic flight at the end of September.

In 1940, Kennedy completed his thesis, "Appeasement in Munich," about British participation in the. He initially intended his thesis to be private, but his father encouraged him to publish it as a book. He graduated ' from Harvard with a degree in in June 1940, and his thesis was published in July 1940 as a book entitled '. , and became a.

From September to December 1940, Kennedy was enrolled and audited classes at the. In early 1941, he helped his father complete the writing of a memoir of his three years as ambassador. In May and June 1941, Kennedy traveled throughout South America.

Military service
In the spring of 1941, Kennedy volunteered for the, but was rejected, mainly because of his troublesome back. Nevertheless, in September of that year, the accepted him, due to the influence of the director of the  (ONI), a former naval  to the, his father. As an, Kennedy served in the office which supplied bulletins and briefing information for the. It was during this assignment that the occurred. He attended the Naval Reserve Officers Training School and Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training Center before being assigned for duty in and eventually the. He participated in various commands in the Pacific theater and earned the rank of, commanding a.

On, , Kennedy's boat, the PT-109, was taking part in a nighttime patrol near in the. It was rammed by the. Kennedy was thrown across the deck, injuring his already-troubled back. Nonetheless, he swam, towing a wounded man, to an island and later to a second island where his crew was subsequently rescued. For these actions, Kennedy received the under 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.

Kennedy's other decorations in included the,  and the. He was honorably discharged in early 1945, just a few months before surrendered. The incident was popularized when he became president and would be the subject of several magazine articles, books, comic books, TV specials and a feature length movie, making the PT-109 one of the most famous U.S. Navy ships of the war. Scale models and even figures based on the incident were still being produced in the 2000s. The coconut which was used to scrawl a rescue message given to who found him was kept on his presidential desk and is still at the.

During his presidency, Kennedy privately admitted to friends that he didn't feel that he deserved the medals he had received, because the PT-109 incident had been the result of a botched military operation that had cost the lives of two members of his crew. When asked by a reporter how he became a war hero, Kennedy joked: "It was involuntary. They sank my boat."

In May 2002, a expedition found what is believed to be the wreckage of the PT-109 in the Solomon Islands. One of the Kennedy family also returned to the islands to give a gift to the scouts who are still alive today, but were turned away when they traveled to the because of communication problems. The n who dispatched the natives was also invited to the.

Early political career
After World War II, John Fitzgerald Kennedy considered becoming a journalist before deciding to run for political office. Prior to the war, he hadn't really considered becoming a politician because the family had already pinned its political hopes on his older brother,  Joseph, however, was killed in World War II, making John tops in seniority. When in 1946 U.S. Representative vacated his seat in an overwhelmingly Democratic district to become mayor of Boston, Kennedy ran for the seat, beating his Republican opponent by a large margin. He was a congressman for six years but had a mixed voting record, often diverging from President and the rest of the Democratic Party. In 1952, he defeated incumbent Republican for the U.S. Senate.

Kennedy married on,. He underwent several spinal operations over the following two years, nearly dying (in all he received the Catholic Church's four times during his life), and was often absent from the Senate. During his convalescence, he wrote , a book describing eight instances in which U.S. Senators risked their careers by standing by their personal beliefs. The book was awarded the for Biography in 1957.

In 1956, presidential nominee left the choice of a Vice Presidential nominee to the Democratic convention, and Kennedy finished second in that balloting to Senator  of Tennessee. Despite this defeat, Kennedy received national exposure from that episode that would prove valuable in subsequent years. His father, Joseph Kennedy, Sr., pointed out that it was just as well that John did not get that nomination, as some people sought to blame anything they could on Catholics, even though it was privately known that any Democrat would have trouble running against Eisenhower in 1956.

John F. Kennedy voted for final passage of the after having earlier voted for the "Jury Trial Amendment", which effectively rendered the Act toothless because convictions for violations could not be obtained. Staunch s such as senators and  and  Governor  were early supporters of Kennedy's presidential campaign. In 1958, Kennedy was re-elected to a second term in the United States Senate, defeating his Republican opponent, Boston lawyer Vincent J. Celeste, by a wide margin.

Years later it was revealed that in September 1947 when he was 30 years old and during his first term as a congressman, Kennedy had been diagnosed by Sir Daniel Davis at The Clinic with, a rare endocrine disorder. The nature of this and other medical problems were kept secret from the press and public throughout Kennedy's lifetime.

Sen. was a friend of the Kennedy family: Joe Kennedy was a leading McCarthy supporter; worked for McCarthy's subcommittee, and McCarthy dated. In 1954, when the Senate was poised to condemn McCarthy, John Kennedy drafted a speech calling for McCarthy's censure, but never delivered it. When on, , the Senate rendered its highly publicized decision to censure McCarthy, Senator Kennedy was in the hospital. Though absent, Kennedy could have "paired" his vote against that of another senator, but chose not to; neither did he ever indicate then nor later how he would have voted. The episode seriously damaged Kennedy's support in the liberal community, especially with, as late as the 1960 election.

1960 presidential election


On, , Kennedy declared his intent to run for President of the United States. In the Democratic, he faced challenges from Senator of  and Senator  of. Kennedy defeated Humphrey in and  and Morse in  and Oregon, although Morse's candidacy is often forgotten by historians. He also defeated token opposition (often write-in candidates) in, and. In West Virginia, Kennedy visited a and talked to mine workers to win their support; most people in that, mostly  state were deeply suspicious of Kennedy's Catholicism. His victory in West Virginia cemented his credentials as a candidate with broad popular appeal.

With Humphrey and Morse out of the race, Kennedy's main opponent at the convention in Los Angeles was Senator of. , the Democratic nominee in 1952 and 1956, was not officially running but had broad grassroots support inside and outside the convention hall. Senator of Missouri was also a candidate, as were several s. On, , the Democratic convention nominated Kennedy as its candidate for President. Kennedy asked Johnson to be his Vice Presidential candidate, despite opposition from many liberal delegates and Kennedy's own staff, including Robert Kennedy. He needed Johnson's strength in the to win what was considered likely to be the closest election since. Major issues included how to get the economy moving again, Kennedy's Catholicism,, and whether the space and missile programs had surpassed those of the U.S. To address fears that his Catholicism would impact his decision-making, he famously told the Greater Houston Ministerial Association on , , "I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's 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." Kennedy also brought up the point of whether one-quarter of Americans were relegated to second-class citizenship just because they were Catholic.

In September and October, Kennedy debated Republican candidate and Vice President Richard Nixon in the first televised in U.S. history. During these programs, Nixon, nursing an injured leg and sporting "five o'clock shadow", looked tense and uncomfortable, while Kennedy appeared relaxed, leading the huge television audience to deem Kennedy the winner. Radio listeners, however, either thought Nixon had won or that the debates were a draw. Nixon did not wear make-up during the initial debate, unlike Kennedy. 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 national politics. After the first debate Kennedy's campaign gained momentum and he pulled slightly ahead of Nixon in most polls. On Tuesday, November 8, Kennedy defeated Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the twentieth century. In the national popular vote Kennedy led Nixon by just two-tenths of one percent (49.7% to 49.5%), while in the he won 303 votes to Nixon's 219 (269 were needed to win). Another 14 electors from and  refused to support Kennedy because of his support for the ; they voted for Senator  of Virginia.

Presidency (1961–1963)
John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th at noon on,. In his 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 also 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." In closing, he expanded on his desire for greater : "Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you."

Cuba and the Bay of Pigs Invasion
Prior to Kennedy's election to the presidency, the Eisenhower Administration created a plan to overthrow the regime in Cuba. Central to such a plan, which was structured and detailed by the with minimal input from the, was the arming of a counter-revolutionary insurgency composed of anti-Castro Cubans. U.S.-trained Cuban insurgents were to invade Cuba and instigate an uprising among the Cuban people in hopes of removing Castro from power. On, , Kennedy ordered the previously planned invasion of Cuba to proceed. With support from the CIA, in what is known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1,500 U.S.-trained Cuban exiles, called "Brigade 2506," returned to the island in the hope of deposing Castro. However, Kennedy ordered the invasion to take place without U.S. air support. By, , the Cuban government had captured or killed the invading exiles, and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release of the 1,189 survivors. The failure of the plan originated in a lack of dialog among the military leadership, a result of which was the complete lack of naval support in the face of organized artillery troops on the island who easily incapacitated the exile force as it landed on the beach. After 20 months, Cuba released the captured exiles in exchange for $53 million worth of food and medicine. The incident was a major embarrassment for Kennedy, but he took full personal responsibility for the debacle. Furthermore, the incident made Castro wary of the U.S. and led him to believe that another invasion would occur.

Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis began on, , when American s took photographs of a Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile site under construction in Cuba. The photos were shown to Kennedy on,. America would soon be posed with a serious nuclear threat. Kennedy faced a : if the U.S. attacked the sites, it might lead to with the, but if the U.S. did nothing, it would endure the threat of nuclear weapons being launched from close range. Because the weapons were in such proximity, the U.S. might have been unable to retaliate if they were launched pre-emptively. Another consideration was that the U.S. would appear to the world as weak in its own.

Many military officials and cabinet members pressed for an air assault on the missile sites, but Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine in which the U.S. Navy inspected all ships arriving in Cuba. He began negotiations with the Soviets and ordered the Soviets to remove all defensive material that was being built on Cuba. Without doing so, the Soviet and Cuban peoples would face naval quarantine. A week later, he and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reached an agreement. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles subject to U.N. inspections if the U.S. publicly promised never to invade Cuba and quietly remove US missiles stationed in Turkey. Following this crisis, which brought the world closer to nuclear war than at any point before or since, Kennedy was more cautious in confronting the Soviet Union.

Latin America and communism
Arguing that "those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable", Kennedy sought to contain in  by establishing the, which sent  to troubled countries in the region and sought greater  standards in the region. He worked closely with   for the development of the Alliance of Progress, as well as developments in the autonomy of the Commonwealth of.

Peace Corps
As one of his first presidential acts, Kennedy created the. Through this program, Americans volunteered to help underdeveloped nations in areas such as, , and.

Vietnam
In South East Asia, Kennedy followed Eisenhower's lead by using limited military action to fight the Communist forces ostensibly led by. Proclaiming a fight against the spread of Communism, Kennedy enacted policies providing political, economic, and military support for the unstable French-installed ese government, which included sending 16,000 military advisors and U.S. Special Forces to the area. Kennedy also agreed to the use of s,, s and s. U.S. involvement in the area continually escalated until regular U.S. forces were directly fighting the in the next administration. The Kennedy Administration increased military support, but the South Vietnamese military was unable to make headway against the pro-independence and  forces. By July 1963, Kennedy faced a crisis in Vietnam. The Administration's response was to assist in the of the Catholic President of South Vietnam,. In 1963, South Vietnamese generals overthrew the Diem government, arresting Diem and later killing him (though the exact circumstances of his death remain unclear) Kennedy sanctioned Diem's overthrow. One reason for the support was a fear that Diem might negotiate a neutralist coalition government which included Communists, as had occurred in in 1962. , Secretary of State, remarked "This kind of neutralism...is tantamount to surrender."

It remains a point of controversy among historians whether or not Vietnam would have escalated to the point it did had Kennedy served out his full term and possibly been re-elected in 1964. Fueling this speculation are statements made by Kennedy's and Johnson's Secretary of Defense that Kennedy was strongly considering pulling out of Vietnam after the 1964 election. In the film "The Fog of War", not only does McNamara say this, but a tape recording of Lyndon Johnson confirms that Kennedy was planning to withdraw from Vietnam, a position Johnson states he disapproved of. Additional evidence is Kennedy's National Security Action Memorandum (NSAM) #263 on, that gave the order for withdrawal of 1,000 military personnel by the end of 1963. Nevertheless, given the stated reason for the overthrow of the Diem government, such action would have been a dramatic policy reversal, but Kennedy was generally moving in a less hawkish direction in the Cold War since his acclaimed speech about World Peace at American University the previous,.

After Kennedy's assassination, new President Lyndon B. Johnson immediately reversed Kennedy's order to withdraw 1,000 military personnel by the end of 1963 with his own NSAM #273 on,.

West Berlin speech
Under simultaneous and opposing pressures from the Allies and the Soviets, Germany was divided. The separated West and East Berlin, the latter being under the control of the Soviets. On, , Kennedy visited and gave a public speech criticizing communism. Kennedy used the construction of the as an example of the failures of communism: " has many difficulties and  is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in." The speech is known for its famous phrase "". Nearly five-sixths of the population was on the street when Kennedy said the famous phrase. He remarked to aides afterwards: "We'll never have another day like this one."

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Troubled by the long-term dangers of and, Kennedy pushed for the adoption of a Limited or , which prohibited atomic testing on the ground, in the atmosphere, or underwater, but did not prohibit testing underground. The United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were the initial signatories to the treaty. Kennedy signed the treaty into law in August 1963.

Ireland


On the occasion of his visit to in 1963, President Kennedy joined with Irish President  to form The American Irish Foundation. The mission of this organization was to foster connections between Americans of Irish descent and the country of their ancestry. Kennedy furthered these connections of cultural solidarity by accepting a grant of from the. Kennedy had near-legendary status in Ireland, as the first person of Irish heritage to have a position of world power. Irish citizens who were alive in 1963 often have very strong memories of Kennedy's momentous visit. He also visited the original cottage where previous Kennedys had lived before emigrating to America, and said: "This is where it all began ..." On, , the Irish Justice Department released declassified police documents that indicated that Kennedy was the subject of three death threats during this visit. It was interpreted as a hoax.

Iraq
In 1963, the Kennedy administration backed a coup against the government of Iraq headed by General Abdel Karim Kassem, who five years earlier had deposed the Western-allied Iraqi monarchy. The CIA helped the new government in ridding the country of suspected leftists and Communists. In a Baathist bloodbath, the government used lists of suspected Communists and other leftists provided by the CIA, to systematically murder untold numbers of Iraq's educated elite--killings in which Saddam Hussein himself is said to have participated. The victims included hundreds of doctors, teachers, technicians, lawyers and other professionals as well as military and political figures. According to an in the New York Times, the U.S. sent arms to the new regime, weapons later used against the same ish insurgents the U.S. supported against Kassem and then abandoned. American and UK oil and other interests, including Mobil, Bechtel and British Petroleum, were conducting business in Iraq.

Domestic policy
Kennedy called his domestic program the "". It ambitiously promised federal funding for, for the elderly, and government intervention to halt the recession. Kennedy also promised an end to. In 1963, he proposed a which included income, but this was not passed by Congress until 1964, after his death. Few of Kennedy's major programs passed Congress during his lifetime, although, under his successor Johnson, Congress did vote them through in 1964–65.

As President, Kennedy oversaw the last pre-Furman federal execution, and last, to date, military execution. In both cases he refused to ask for commutation of the death sentences (  personally contacted Kennedy to request clemency for, who was sentenced to death under federal law in Iowa, and executed on , ).

Civil rights
The turbulent end of state-sanctioned racial discrimination was one of the most pressing domestic issues of Kennedy's era. The had ruled in 1954 that  in public schools was unconstitutional. However, many schools, especially in southern states, did not obey the Supreme Court's judgment. Segregation on buses, in restaurants, movie theaters, bathrooms, and other public places remained. Kennedy supported and civil rights, and during the 1960 campaign he telephoned, wife of the jailed Reverend , which perhaps drew some additional black support to his candidacy. John and Robert Kennedy's intervention secured the early release of King from jail.

In 1962, tried to enroll at the, but he was prevented from doing so by white students. Kennedy responded by sending some 400 and 3,000 troops to ensure that Meredith could enroll in his first class. Kennedy also assigned federal marshals to protect.

As President, Kennedy initially believed the grassroots movement for civil rights would only anger many Southern whites and make it even more difficult to pass civil rights laws through Congress, which was dominated by Southern Democrats, and he distanced himself from it. As a result, many civil rights leaders viewed Kennedy as unsupportive of their efforts.

On, , President Kennedy intervened when Governor  blocked the doorway to the  to stop two  students,  and , from enrolling. George Wallace moved aside after being confronted by federal marshals, Deputy Attorney General and the Alabama. That evening Kennedy gave his famous civil rights address on national television and radio. Kennedy proposed what would become the.

Immigration
John F. Kennedy initially proposed an overhaul of American immigration policy that later was to become the, sponsored by Kennedy's brother Senator. It dramatically shifted the source of immigration from Northern and Western European countries towards immigration from Latin America and Asia and shifted the emphasis of selection of immigrants towards facilitating family reunification. Kennedy wanted to dismantle the selection of immigrants based on country of origin and saw this as an extension of his civil rights policies.

Space program


Kennedy was eager for the United States to lead the way in the. says Kennedy approached his father, Nikita, twice about a "joint venture" in space exploration&mdash;in June 1961 and autumn 1963. On the first occasion, Russia was far ahead of America in terms of space technology. Kennedy first made the goal for landing a man on the in speaking to a Joint Session of Congress on, , saying "'First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him back safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.'" Kennedy later made a speech at  on September 12, 1962, in which he said "'No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space.'" and "'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.'" On the second approach to Khrushchev, the Russian was persuaded that cost-sharing was beneficial and American space technology was forging ahead. The U.S. had launched a satellite and Kennedy had asked Congress to approve more than $25 billion for the.

Khrushchev agreed to a joint venture in late 1963, but Kennedy died before the agreement could be formalized. On, , almost six years after JFK's death, Project Apollo's goal was finally realized when men landed on the Moon.

Supreme Court appointments
Kennedy appointed the following Justices to the :


 *  &mdash; 1962
 *  &mdash; 1962

Image, social life and family


Kennedy and his wife "Jackie" were very young in comparison to earlier presidents and first ladies, and were both extraordinarily popular in ways more common to s and s than politicians, influencing fashion trends and becoming the subjects of numerous photo spreads in popular magazines. Jacqueline bought new and, and eventually restored all the rooms in the White House.

Outside the White House lawn the Kennedys established a preschool, swimming pool and tree house. Jacqueline allowed very few photographs of the children to be taken of them but when she was gone, the President would allow the White House photographer Cecil Stoughton to take pictures of the children. The resulting photos are probably the most famous of the children, and especially of John Jr., after he was photographed playing underneath the President’s desk.

The president was closely tied to popular culture. Things such as "Twisting at the White House" and "" (the popular play) were part of the JFK culture. "First Family" comedy album – an album parodying the President, First Lady, their family and administration – sold about 4 million copies. On, ,  at a large birthday party in.

Behind the glamorous facade, the Kennedys also suffered many personal tragedies. Jacqueline suffered a miscarriage in 1955 and gave birth to a stillborn daughter,, in 1956. The death of their newborn son,, in August 1963, was a great loss. Since Kennedy's death, allegations have been made that Kennedy carried on numerous extramarital dalliances during his presidency with women such as actress  and.

The of Kennedy and his family led to the figurative designation of "Camelot" for his administration, credited by his widow to his affection for the contemporary Broadway  of the same name. She gave an interview to, where she mentioned the musical Camelot, and White later said that he had "found the headline".

He holds a record acknowledged by the  as the world's fastest speaker in public life, with a speed of 327 words in one minute in a speech given in December 1961.

In October 1951, during his third term as,  the then 34-year-old Kennedy embarked on a seven-week Asian trip to , ,  and  with his then 25-year-old brother  (who had just graduated from  four months earlier) and his then 27-year-old sister. Because of their eight-year separation in age, the two brothers had previously seen little of each other. This 25000 mi trip was the first extended time they had spent together and resulted in their becoming best friends in addition to being brothers. Robert was for Kennedy's successful 1952 Senate campaign and successful 1960 Presidential campaign. The two brothers worked closely together from 1957 to 1959 on the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor and Management Field when Robert was its chief counsel. During Kennedy's presidency, Robert served in his as  and was his closest advisor.

Kennedy came third (behind Martin Luther King, Jr. and ) in a.

Assassination


President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. on, , while on a political trip through Texas. He was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m.

was arrested, in a theatre about 80 minutes after the assassination and was charged by Dallas police for the murder of Dallas policeman, before eventually being charged for the murder of Kennedy. Oswald denied shooting anyone, claiming he was a, and was killed by before he could be  or.

On, , President Johnson created the &mdash;chaired by Chief Justice &mdash;to investigate the assassination. It concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin, but this remains widely disputed by some scholars and eye witnesses of the assassination. Approximately 80% of the American people have consistently not believed the Commission's findings since the mid-1960s in many s taken on the issue of Oswald's guilt or innocence, partly due to the findings in the that many believe shows the fatal shot being fired from the front, allege many witnesses who ran towards the infamous Grassy Knoll area.

Over the years, much more has become known about the assassination as nearly every related document is now available to the general public. Also, more sophisticated methods of analyzing photographs and films have led to discoveries that have only served to support the contention that all the shots fired at the presidential limousine came from behind, and not from the area of the Grassy Knoll. Much of which appeared very suspicious and conspiratorial has now taken on rather innocent explanations. , a book written by famed prosecutor, discredits the many conspiracy theories that surround this event. It appears almost certain that the 's initial findings, that Oswald acted alone in the shooting and that there was no conspiracy involved, was correct. Yet, the notion of a conspiracy persists amongst a majority of Americans due to their lack of awareness of the latest discoveries and their exposure to numerous conspiracy-promoting books and films such as 's movie, .

Burial
On, , Kennedy's body was moved to a permanent burial place and memorial at. Kennedy is buried with his wife and their deceased minor children, and his brother, the late Senator is also buried nearby. His grave is lit with an "". In the film , then Secretary of Defense claims that he picked the location in the cemetery — a location which Jackie agreed was suitable. Kennedy and are the only two U.S. Presidents buried at Arlington.

Legacy
became the primary source by which people were kept informed of events surrounding John F. Kennedy's assassination. Newspapers were kept as souvenirs rather than sources of updated information. All three major U.S. television networks suspended their regular schedules and switched to all-news coverage from 22 November through 25 November 1963. and the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald were all broadcast live in America and in other places around the world. The was the first of three in a span of 12 months: The other two were for  and.

The assassination had an effect on many people, not only in the U.S. but also among the world population. Many vividly remember where they were when first learning of the news that Kennedy was assassinated, like with the on,  before it and the  after it. U.N. Ambassador said of the assassination, "all of us... will bear the grief of his death until the day of ours."

Ultimately, the death of President Kennedy and the ensuing confusion surrounding the facts of his assassination are of political and historical importance insofar as they marked a decline in the faith of the American people in the political establishment &mdash; a point made by commentators from to

Coupled with the murder of his own brother, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, D-N.Y., and that of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the five tumultuous years from 1963 to 1968 signaled a growing disillusionment within the well of hope for political and social change which so defined the lives of those who lived through the 1960s. Kennedy's continuation of Presidents 's and 's policies of giving economic and military aid to the preceded President Johnson's escalation of the conflict. This contributed to a decade of national difficulties and disappointment on the political landscape. Many of Kennedy's speeches (especially his inaugural address) are considered iconic; and despite his relatively short term in office and lack of major legislative changes during his term, Americans regularly vote him as one of the best presidents, in the same league as, and. Some excerpts of Kennedy's inaugural address are engraved on a plaque at his grave at Arlington.

He was posthumously awarded the. It was named after a 1963 letter by   that calls upon all people of goodwill to secure peace among all nations. is for 'Peace on Earth.'

President Kennedy is the only president to have predeceased both his mother and father. He is also the only president to have predeceased his grandparent. His grandmother,, died in 1964, just 8.5 months after his assassination.

Children
John F. Kennedy had 2 children that survived infancy. was born in 1957 and was born in 1960, just a few weeks after his father was elected. John died in 1999. Caroline is currently the only surviving member of JFK's immediate family.

Memorials

 * New York International Airport (formerly known as Idlewild Airport) was renamed on, . Today, the airport is widely referred to as "JFK."
 * The, a major expressway in , was renamed for Kennedy by unanimous vote of Chicago City Council a few days after the president's assassination.
 * in was renamed for Kennedy in 1964 by unanimous vote of the Tampa City Council. Kennedy visited Tampa on,  only four days before his assassination. His motorcade drove five miles (8 km) down Grand Central Avenue to the heart of the business district.
 * On, , the bridge, spanning the  between  and , was named the.
 * The North Padre Island Causeway, connecting to the  mainland, was renamed the John F. Kennedy Causeway,
 * 's Launch Operations Center at was renamed the . Cape Canaveral itself was likewise renamed Cape Kennedy, but a referendum passed by Florida voters in 1973 reverted it to its original name.
 * A Kennedy memorial was established in, , where the was signed.
 * A stretch of in, running from the  to the State Line, where it becomes the , had been dedicated by President Kennedy on , , eight days before his assassination.  It was soon renamed the.
 * The U.S. Navy  was named on, , and served until ,.
 * The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library opened in 1979 as Kennedy's official.
 * opened in, in 1964 as a school for adult education.
 * The preserves his home in Brookline.
 * At Harvard University:
 * The serves as a living memorial which promotes public service in his name.
 * The School of Government is known as the.
 * The opened in 1971 in  as a living memorial to him.
 * Hundreds of schools across the U.S. were named in Kennedy's honor. The first school in the  named after had been the, in , while he was alive.  In the week after Kennedy's death, the first schools renamed for him were the Kennedy Elementary School in  and the John F. Kennedy Middle School on Long Island in.
 * Philadelphia Municipal Stadium was renamed in 1964.
 * Kennedy was posthumously awarded the in 1963.
 * Since 1964, Kennedy's portrait has appeared on the, replacing.
 * , a memorial to the U.S. president, was established on a crest in the Jerusalem Forest, on the southwest outskirts of near.
 * One of the is named.
 * The city of observed John F. Kennedy Day on,  to mark the 40th anniversary of his death.
 * One of the five residential towers at the is named Kennedy Tower in his honor.
 * In February 2007, Kennedy's name, along with his wife's, was included on a list taken aboard the Japanese  spacecraft to the, as part of 's "Wish Upon the Moon" campaign.
 * The U.S. Army's is named after the late president because of his support for the Army Rangers and.
 * The park in Eyre Square, Galway City, Ireland is called John F. Kennedy Park, after his visit in 1963.
 * One suggestion that was rejected was that the State of be renamed in Kennedy's honor.  .  Emile J. Hodel, editor of the Post-Herald of, wrote an editorial asking, "Why not change the name of West Virginia to Kennedy?  Or perhaps Kennediana?  What greater respect could the man receive than the renaming of the state he said he held most dear, after his home state of Massachusetts, in his honor?"

Criticism


The Civil Rights Act which he sent to Congress in June 1963 was, in large part, conceived by his brother, Attorney General, and it was signed into law by his successor to the Presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson, in 1964.

Kennedy dated actress, who was separated from her then husband fashion designer in 1946. In her book Self-portrait Ms. Tierney recalls how over an informal brunch Jack stated that he could never marry her because of her pending divorce, if he was to be the first elected Catholic President (moreover, she was also a Protestant). Subsequently, Tierney folded her napkin and left the cafe. Mr. Cassini was hired as the exclusive designer for the First Lady after the election.

Seymour Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot (1998) presents a critical analysis of the Kennedy administration, stating that Kennedy "was probably one of the unhealthiest men ever to sit in the Oval Office". Robert Dallek's An Unfinished Life (2003) is a more traditional biography, but it contains many details about Kennedy's health issues.

Media
President Kennedy comments on the possible prevention of the Cold War.

The sound file of the message to President  and The Turkish People on the Anniversary of the Death of, ,

The Text of the message to Turkish President Cemal Gursel and The Turkish People on the Anniversary of the Death of Kemal Ataturk, ,


 * The White House Situation Room reports on the assassination to an airplane with several Cabinet members as it flies to Hawaii, Nov 22,1963 (MP3 format 7.5 MB 33-Min.)