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John F. Kennedy

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: USA Presidents

   John Fitzgerald Kennedy
   John F. Kennedy
     __________________________________________________________________

   35th President of the United States
   In office
   January 20, 1961 –  November 22, 1963
   Vice President(s)   Lyndon B. Johnson
   Preceded by Dwight D. Eisenhower
   Succeeded by Lyndon B. Johnson
     __________________________________________________________________

   Born May 29, 1917
   United States Brookline, Massachusetts, USA
   Died November 22, 1963
   Dallas, Texas, USA
   Political party Democratic
   Spouse Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy
   Religion Roman Catholic
   Signature

   John Fitzgerald Kennedy ( May 29, 1917– November 22, 1963), also
   referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, John Kennedy, or Jack Kennedy, was
   the 35th President of the United States. He served from 1961 until his
   assassination in 1963. His leadership during the ramming of his USS
   PT-109 during World War II led to being cited for bravery and heroism
   in the South Pacific. Kennedy represented Massachusetts during
   1947–1960, as both a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and
   U.S. Senate. He was elected President in 1960 in one of the closest
   elections in American history. He is, to date, the only Roman Catholic
   to be elected President of the United States.

   Major events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs invasion,
   the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space
   Race, early events of the Vietnam War, and the American Civil Rights
   Movement.

   John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. The Warren
   Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing the
   president, although later the House Select Committee on Assassinations
   concluded that a conspiracy may have been involved in the assassination
   , and the subject remains controversial. Kennedy's assassination is
   considered to be a defining moment in U.S. history due to its traumatic
   impact on the nation as well as on the political history of the ensuing
   decades, his subsequent branding as an icon for a new generation of
   Americans and American aspirations, and for the mystery and conspiracy
   allegations which surround it.

Biography

Early life and education

   Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, the son of Joseph P.
   Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald; Rose, in turn, was the eldest child
   of John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, a prominent figure in Boston politics
   who was the city's mayor and a three-term member of Congress.

   Kennedy attended Edward Devotion School for four years ( kindergarten
   in 1922 to third grade), Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, the
   Dexter School in Boston, a year at Canterbury School, and then The
   Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut, one of the country's most
   elite private boarding schools for boys, from which he graduated in
   1935. On September 25, 1935, he sailed to London with his parents and
   his sister Kathleen. There he enrolled at the London School of
   Economics with the intention of studying political economy for a year
   under the tutelage of Professor Harold Laski, but an illness
   hospitalized him shortly after his enrollment. His father insisted he
   return to the US. Later during the autumn of 1935, he enrolled in
   Princeton University, but was forced to leave after developing
   jaundice. The next autumn, he began attending Harvard College, where he
   resided in Winthrop House. Kennedy traveled to Europe twice during his
   Harvard years, visiting Britain, where his father was serving as
   ambassador to the Court of St. James. In 1937, Kennedy was prescribed
   steroids to control his colitis, which only increased his medical
   problems, causing him to develop osteoporosis of the lower lumbar spine
   . After graduating from Harvard, he attended Stanford University’s
   business school for a few months and then traveled to South America.

   In 1940, Kennedy wrote his honours thesis, entitled "Appeasement in
   Munich" about the British dealings concerning the Munich Agreement. He
   initially intended for his thesis to be only for college use, but his
   father encouraged him to publish it in a book. He graduated cum laude
   from Harvard with a degree in international affairs in June 1940. His
   thesis was published in 1940 as a book entitled, " Why England Slept,"
   and became a bestseller.

   Years later, it was revealed that, as a young man, Kennedy had been
   diagnosed with Addison's disease, a rare endocrine disorder. This and
   other medical disorders were kept from the press and public throughout
   Kennedy's lifetime.

Military service

   In the spring of 1941, Kennedy volunteered for the U.S. Army but was
   rejected, mainly because of his troublesome back. Nevertheless, in
   September of that year, the U.S. Navy accepted him, due to the
   influence of the director of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), a
   former naval attaché to Ambassador Joseph Kennedy. As an ensign, he
   served in the office which supplied bulletins and briefing information
   for the Secretary of the Navy. It was during this assignment that the
   attack on Pearl Harbour occurred. He attended the Naval Reserve
   Officers Training School and Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Training
   Centre before being assigned for duty in Panama and eventually the
   Pacific theatre. He participated in various commands in the Pacific
   theatre and earned the rank of lieutenant, commanding a patrol torpedo
   (PT) boat.
   Lt. Kennedy on his navy patrol boat, PT 109.
   Enlarge
   Lt. Kennedy on his navy patrol boat, PT 109.

   On August 2, 1943, Kennedy's boat, the PT-109, was taking part in a
   nighttime maritime raid near New Georgia (near the Solomon Islands)
   when it was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy was thrown across
   the deck, injuring his already-troubled back. Still, Kennedy towed a
   wounded man three miles (5 km) in the ocean, arriving at an island
   where his crew was subsequently rescued. Kennedy said that he blacked
   out for periods of time during the life-threatening ordeal. For these
   actions, Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal under the
   following citation:


   John F. Kennedy

    For heroism; the rescue of 3 men following the ramming and sinking of
   his motor torpedo boat while attempting a torpedo attack on a Japanese
   destroyer in the Solomon Islands area on the night of Aug 1–2, 1943.
     Lt. KENNEDY, Capt. of the boat, directed the rescue of the crew and
   personally rescued 3 men, one of whom was seriously injured. During the
    following 6 days, he succeeded in getting his crew ashore, and after
   swimming many hours attempting to secure aid and food, finally affected
   the rescue of the men. His courage, endurance and excellent leadership
   contributed to the saving of several lives and was in keeping with the
           highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.


   John F. Kennedy

   Kennedy's other decorations in World War II included the Purple Heart,
   Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. He
   was honorably discharged in early 1945, just a few months before Japan
   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 G.I. Joe
   figures based on the incident were still being produced in the 2000s.
   The coconut which was used to scrawl a rescue message given to Solomon
   Islander scouts who found him was kept on his presidential desk and is
   still at the John F. Kennedy library.

   In May 2002, a National Geographic 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 inauguration because of communication problems. The
   Australian coastwatcher who dispatched the natives was also invited to
   the White House.

Early political career

   After World War II, John thought about being a journalist for a while
   before he decided to run for political office. Prior to the war, he
   hadn't really thought about being a politician primarily because his
   older brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. had been tabbed by the family as
   the future politician, and hopefully, the future President. Tragically,
   Joe was killed in World War II, making Jack next in line to fulfill his
   father's political ambitions. In 1946, Representative James Michael
   Curley vacated his seat in an overwhelmingly Democratic district to
   become mayor of Boston, and Kennedy ran for that 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
   Harry S. Truman and the rest of the Democratic Party. In 1952, he
   defeated incumbent Republican Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. for the U.S.
   Senate. Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier on September 12, 1953.
   He underwent several spinal operations in the two following years,
   nearly dying (receiving the Catholic faith's "last rites" four times
   during his life), and was often absent from the Senate. During this
   period, he published Profiles in Courage, highlighting eight instances
   in which U.S. Senators risked their careers by standing by their
   personal beliefs. The book was awarded the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for
   Biography.

   John F. Kennedy voted for final passage of the Civil Rights Act of
   1957, after having earlier voted for the "Jury Trial Amendment", which
   effectively rendered the Act toothless, because convictions for
   violations could not be obtained. Staunch segregationists such as James
   Eastland, John McClellan, and Mississippi Governor James Coleman were
   early supporters in Kennedy's presidential campaign. [T. Reeves, "A
   Question of Character', p. 140]

   Sen. Joseph McCarthy was a friend of the Kennedy family; Robert F.
   Kennedy worked on the staff of McCarthy's committee, and McCarthy dated
   Patricia Kennedy. In 1954, when the Senate was poised to condemn
   McCarthy, John Kennedy had a speech drafted calling for the censure of
   McCarthy but he never delivered it. When the Senate rendered its highly
   publicized decision to censure McCarthy on December 2, 1954, Senator
   Kennedy was in hospital and never indicated then or later how he would
   have voted. The episode seriously hurt Kennedy in the liberal
   community, especially with Eleanor Roosevelt, as late as the 1960
   election. [T Reeves, & Collier & Horowitz]

1960 presidential election

   Kennedy campaigning with Jackie Kennedy in Appleton, Wisconsin, in
   March 1960
   Enlarge
   Kennedy campaigning with Jackie Kennedy in Appleton, Wisconsin, in
   March 1960

   In 1960, Kennedy declared his intent to run for President of the United
   States. In the Democratic primary election, he faced challenges from
   Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of
   Texas, and Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic nominee in 1952 and 1956,
   who was not officially running but was a favorite write-in candidate.
   Kennedy won key primaries like Wisconsin and West Virginia. In the
   latter state, Kennedy made a visit to a coal mine, and talked to the
   mine workers to win their support; most people in that conservative,
   mostly Protestant state were deeply suspicious about Kennedy being a
   Catholic. Kennedy emerged as a universally acceptable candidate for the
   party after that victory. On July 13, 1960, the Democratic Party
   nominated Kennedy as its candidate for President. Kennedy asked Johnson
   to be his Vice-Presidential candidate, despite clashes between the two
   during the primary elections. He needed Johnson's 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,
   Kennedy's Catholicism, Cuba, and whether both the Soviet space and
   missile programs had surpassed those of the U.S. To allay fears that
   his Catholicism would impact his decision-making, he said in a famous
   speech in Houston, Texas (to the Greater Houston Ministerial
   Association), on September 12, 1960, "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 Vice
   President Richard Nixon in the first televised U.S. presidential
   debates. During the debates, Nixon looked tense and uncomfortable,
   while Kennedy was composed, which led the television audience to deem
   Kennedy the winner, although radio listeners in general thought Nixon
   had won or the debate was a draw. Nixon did not wear make-up during the
   debate unlike Kennedy. The debates are considered a political landmark:
   the point at which the medium of television played an important role in
   politics.

Presidency

   John Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President on January 20, 1961. In
   his inaugural address he spoke of the need for all Americans to be
   active citizens. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what
   you can do for your country", he said. 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."

Foreign policies

Cuba and the Bay of Pigs Scandal

   In hopes of overthrowing the leftist Castro regime, Kennedy and his
   young cabinet drew the Bay of Pigs operation. U.S. trained Cuban
   insurgents would invade Cuba and instigate the Cuban people in hopes of
   achieving their goal. On April 17, 1961, Kennedy gave orders allowing
   the previously planned invasion of Cuba to proceed. With support from
   the Central Intelligence Agency (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 Fidel Castro. However,
   the CIA proceeded to allow the troops to go even though Kennedy did not
   authorize air support. By April 19, Castro's government had captured or
   killed most of the invading exiles and Kennedy was forced to negotiate
   for the release of the 1,189 survivors. 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
   incidient made Castro wary of the U.S. and untrusting, leading him to
   believe that another invasion such as that one would occur.

Cuban Missile Crisis

   Kennedy's Cabinet meets during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
   Enlarge
   Kennedy's Cabinet meets during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

   The Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962, when American U-2
   spy planes took photographs of a Soviet intermediate-range ballistic
   missile site under construction in Cuba. America would soon be posed
   with a serious nuclear threat. Here Kennedy faced a dilemma: if the
   U.S. attacked the sites it might lead to nuclear war with the U.S.S.R.
   If the U.S. did nothing, it would endure the perpetual threat of
   nuclear weapons within its region—in such close proximity that if the
   weapons were launched pre-emptively, the U.S. may have been unable to
   retaliate. Another fear was that the U.S. would appear to the world as
   weak in its own hemisphere. Many military officials and cabinet members
   pressed for an air assault on the missile sites, but Kennedy ordered a
   naval blockade in which the U.S. Navy inspected all ships. He began
   negotiations with the Soviets. He ordered the Soviets to remove all
   "defensive" material that is being built off the Cuban island. Without
   doing so, the Soviet people would face a naval blockade, as well as
   Cuba. A week later, he and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reached an
   agreement. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles while the U.S.
   publicly promised never to invade Cuba and also secretly promised to
   remove U.S. ballistic missiles from Turkey within six months. Following
   this incident, 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 communism in
   Latin America by establishing the Alliance for Progress, which sent
   foreign aid to troubled countries in the region and sought greater
   human rights standards in the region. He worked closely with Puerto
   Rican Governor Luis Muñoz Marín for the development of the Alliance of
   Progress, as well as developments on the autonomy of the Commonwealth
   of Puerto Rico.

Peace Corps

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

Vietnam

   Kennedy used limited military action to contain the spread of
   communism. Determined to stand firm against the spread of communism,
   Kennedy's policy included political, economic, and military support for
   the unstable South Vietnamese government, which included sending 18,000
   military advisors and U.S. Special Forces to the area. Kennedy also
   agreed to the use of napalm, defoliants, free-fire zones and jet
   planes. U.S. involvement in the area continually escalated until
   regular U.S. forces were directly fighting the Vietnam War in the next
   administration. The Kennedy Administration increased military support,
   but it was not working. By July 1963 Kennedy faced a crisis in Vietnam.
   The Administration's response was to assist in the coup d'état of the
   President of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem (LeFeber, "America, Russia
   and the Cold War", p. 233). In 1963, South Vietnamese generals
   overthrew the Diem government, by assassinating Diem. 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 Laos in 1962. Dean Rusk, 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.

West Berlin Speech

   Kennedy meeting with West Berlin mayor Willy Brandt, March 1961
   Enlarge
   Kennedy meeting with West Berlin mayor Willy Brandt, March 1961

   Under simultaneous and opposing pressures from the Allies and the
   Soviets, Germany was divided. The Berlin Wall separated the West and
   East Berlin, the latter being in control of the Soviets. On June 26,
   1963, Kennedy visited West Berlin and gave a public speech criticizing
   communism. Kennedy used the construction of the Berlin Wall as an
   example of the failures of communism: " Freedom has many difficulties
   and democracy 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 " Ich
   bin ein Berliner". Nearly 5/6th of the population were on the street
   when Kennedy said that famous phrase. He remarked to aides afterwards:
   "We'll never have another day like this one." {(trueman,C.). (2003).
   Berlin Wall. history learning site. 10/31/06.}

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

   Troubled by the long-term dangers of radioactive contamination and
   nuclear weapons proliferation, Kennedy pushed for the adoption of a
   Limited or Partial Test Ban Treaty, 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

   President Kennedy in motorcade in Ireland on June 27, 1963.
   Enlarge
   President Kennedy in motorcade in Ireland on June 27, 1963.

   On the occasion of his visit to Ireland in 1963, President Kennedy
   joined with Irish President Éamon de Valera 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 armorial bearings from the Chief Herald of Ireland.

   He also visited the original cottage where previous Kennedys had lived
   before emigrating to America, and said, "This is where it all
   began...."

Domestic policies

   Kennedy called his domestic program the " New Frontier". It ambitiously
   promised federal funding for education, medical care for the elderly,
   and government intervention to halt the recession. Kennedy also
   promised an end to racial discrimination. In 1963, he proposed a tax
   reform which included income tax cuts, 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
   Lyndon 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 ask for
   commutation the death sentences ( Iowa Governor Harold Hughes
   personally contacted Kennedy to request clemency for Victor Feguer who
   was sentenced to death under federal law in Iowa and executed on March
   15, 1963).

Civil rights

   Kennedy during the State of the Union address, 1963.
   Enlarge
   Kennedy during the State of the Union address, 1963.

   The turbulent end of state-sanctioned racial discrimination was one of
   the most pressing domestic issues of Kennedy's era. The U.S. Supreme
   Court had ruled in 1954 that racial segregation in public schools would
   no longer be permitted. However, many schools, especially in southern
   states, did not obey the Supreme Court's injunction. Segregation on
   buses, in restaurants, movie theaters, bathrooms, and other public
   places remained. Kennedy supported racial integration and civil rights,
   and during the 1960 campaign he telephoned Coretta Scott King; wife of
   the jailed Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., which perhaps drew some
   additional black support to his candidacy.

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

   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 June 11, 1963, President Kennedy intervened when Alabama Governor
   George Wallace blocked the doorway to the University of Alabama to stop
   two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from enrolling.
   George Wallace moved aside after being confronted by federal marshals,
   Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, and the Alabama National
   Guard. That evening Kennedy gave his famous civil rights address on
   national television and radio. Kennedy proposed what would become the
   Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Space program

   JFK looks at the space craft Friendship 7, the spacecraft which made
   three earth orbits, piloted by astronaut John Glenn.
   Enlarge
   JFK looks at the space craft Friendship 7, the spacecraft which made
   three earth orbits, piloted by astronaut John Glenn.

   Kennedy was eager for the United States to lead the way in the space
   race. Sergei Khrushchev says JFK approached his father, Nikita, twice
   about a "joint venture" in space exploration—in June 1961 and Autumn
   1963. On the first occasion, Russia was far ahead of America in terms
   of space technology. JFK later made a speech at Rice University in
   September 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 geostationary satellite and Kennedy had
   asked Congress to approve more than $22 billion for the Apollo Project,
   which had the goal of landing an American man on the moon before the
   end of the decade. Khrushchev agreed to a joint venture in Autumn 1963,
   but JFK died in November before the agreement could be formalized. On
   July 20, 1969, almost six years after Kennedy's death, the Project
   Apollo's goal was realized when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became
   the first men to land on the moon.

Cabinet

   OFFICE             NAME                  TERM
   President          John F. Kennedy       1961–1963
   Vice President     Lyndon B. Johnson     1961–1963
   State              Dean Rusk             1961–1963
   Treasury           C. Douglas Dillon     1961–1963
   Defense            Robert S. McNamara    1961–1963
   Justice            Robert F. Kennedy     1961–1963
   Postmaster General J. Edward Day         1961–1963
                      John A. Gronouski     1963
   Interior           Stewart L. Udall      1961–1963
   Agriculture        Orville L. Freeman    1961–1963
   Commerce           Luther H. Hodges      1961–1963
   Labor              Arthur J. Goldberg    1961–1962
                      W. Willard Wirtz      1962–1963
   HEW                Abraham A. Ribicoff   1961–1962
                      Anthony J. Celebrezze 1962–1963

Supreme Court appointments

   Kennedy appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the
   United States:
     * Byron Raymond White – 1962
     * Arthur Joseph Goldberg – 1962

Image, social life and family

   John F. Kennedy with wife Jacqueline and children, 1962.
   Enlarge
   John F. Kennedy with wife Jacqueline and children, 1962.

   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 pop singers and movie stars than politicians,
   influencing fashion trends and becoming the subjects of numerous photo
   spreads in popular magazines.

   The Kennedys brought new life and vigor — a favorite word of Kennedy —
   to the atmosphere of the White House. They believed that the White
   House should be a place to celebrate American history, culture, and
   achievement, and they invited artists, writers, scientists, poets,
   musicians, actors, Nobel Prize winners and athletes to visit,
   notwithstanding Kennedy's own well-known middle-brow intellectual and
   aesthetic tastes. Jacqueline Kennedy also bought new art and furniture
   and eventually restored all the rooms in the White House.

   The White House also seemed like a more fun, youthful place, because of
   the Kennedys' two young children, Caroline and John Jr. (who came to be
   known in the popular press as "John-John" though years later Jacqueline
   Kennedy denied that the family called him by that name). Outside the
   White House lawn, the Kennedys established a preschool, swimming pool,
   and tree house. Jackie did not like the children to be photographed,
   and during her frequent absences, Kennedy asked photographers to come
   and photograph the children in the Oval Office. He was quoted as
   saying, "Jackie's not here, so you'd better come over right away." The
   resulting photos are probably the most famous of the children, and
   especially 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 "Camelot" (the popular Broadway play)
   were part of the JFK culture. Vaughn Meader's "First Family" comedy
   album—an album parodying the President, First Lady, their family and
   administration—sold about 4 million copies. On May 19, 1962 Marilyn
   Monroe sang for the president at a large birthday party in Madison
   Square Garden.

   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, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, was a great loss. In the years following
   the Kennedy presidency it came to be known that Kennedy carried on
   numerous extramarital dalliances throughout his presidency, all
   connived at by those members of the presidential staff.

   The charisma 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 musical of the same
   name. She gave an interview to Theodore H. White, where she mentioned
   Camelot (the musical), and White later said that he had "found the
   headline".

Assassination

   President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. CST
   on November 22, 1963, while on a political trip through Texas. He was
   struck by at least two bullets. Texas Governor John Connally, seated
   ahead of Kennedy, was also struck by a bullet, but survived.

   Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested in a theatre about 80 minutes after the
   assassination and charged at 7:00 p.m. for killing a Dallas policeman
   by "murder with malice", and also charged at 11:30 p.m. for the murder
   of Kennedy (there being no charge for "assassination" of a president at
   that time). Oswald denied shooting anyone; he claimed that he was being
   set up as a " patsy", and that photographs of him holding the alleged
   murder weapon were fabrications. Oswald was fatally shot less than two
   days later in a Dallas police station by Jack Ruby, in front of live TV
   cameras. Consequently, Oswald's guilt or innocence was never determined
   in a court of law, and some critics (such as New Orleans District
   Attorney Jim Garrison, and conspiracy researchers Mark Lane and David
   Lifton) contend that Oswald was not involved at all and that he was
   framed.

   Five days after Oswald was killed, President Lyndon B. Johnson created
   the Warren Commission—chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren—to
   investigate the assassination. It concluded that Oswald was the lone
   assassin. A later investigation in the 1970s by the House Select
   Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) also concluded that Oswald was the
   assassin, but that there was a "probable conspiracy" as well.

   The assassination was captured on Super 8 mm film by Dallas dress
   manufacturer Abraham Zapruder. The film shows President Kennedy
   clutching his throat after a bullet struck him. Shortly after, it shows
   the effect of the second, fatal blow to the head. There is visible
   blood spatter, and then the president slumps to his left onto the seat.

Legacy and memorials

   Kennedy's casket departs the White House.
   Enlarge
   Kennedy's casket departs the White House.

   Television 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. U.S.
   networks switched to 24-hour news coverage for the first time ever.
   Kennedy's state funeral procession and the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald
   were all broadcast live in America and in other places around the
   world.

   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.
   U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson 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 — a point made by
   commentators from Gore Vidal to Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

   Coupled with the murder of his own brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy,
   and that of 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 introduction of the U.S. to the
   Vietnam War preceded President Johnson's escalation of a conflict which
   contributed to a decade of national difficulties and disappointment on
   the political landscape. The Watergate scandal of President Richard
   Nixon's administration is widely recognized as being the final stroke
   in this process of diminishing trust in government.
   Kennedy's grave at Arlington National Cemetery
   Enlarge
   Kennedy's grave at Arlington National Cemetery

   On March 14, 1967, Kennedy's body was moved to a permanent burial place
   and memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Kennedy is buried with his
   wife and their deceased minor children; his brother Robert is also
   buried nearby. His grave is lit with an " Eternal Flame". Kennedy and
   William Howard Taft are the only two U.S. Presidents buried at
   Arlington.

   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 Abraham
   Lincoln, George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Some excerpts of
   Kennedy's inaugural address are engraved on a plaque at his grave at
   Arlington.

   Kennedy is also sometimes credited with giving American Catholics the
   full recognition they deserved as American citizens. He is also seen as
   responsible for giving Catholics full opportunities in politics outside
   of the Northeast.

Memorials

   Kennedy has appeared on the US half-dollar coin since 1964
   Enlarge
   Kennedy has appeared on the US half-dollar coin since 1964

   Kennedy's legacy has been memorialized in various aspects of American
   culture. They include:
     * Kennedy came third (behind Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother
       Teresa) in a Gallup list of the most admired people of the
       twentieth century
     * New York International Airport was renamed John F. Kennedy
       International Airport on December 24, 1963. Short forms of this,
       particularly "JFK," have replaced its former commonly used nickname
       "Idlewild."
     * The John F. Kennedy Expressway, a major expressway in Chicago was
       renamed after the President by unanimous vote of the city council,
       just days after the president's assassination.
     * NASA's Launch Operations Centre at Cape Canaveral was renamed the
       John F. Kennedy Space Centre. Cape Canaveral itself was likewise
       renamed Cape Kennedy, but reverted to its original name in 1973.
     * A stretch of Interstate 95 in Maryland, running from the Baltimore
       Beltway to the State Line, where it becomes the Delaware Turnpike,
       had been dedicated by President Kennedy on November 14, 1963, just
       eight days before his assassination. It was soon renamed the John
       F. Kennedy Memorial Highway.
     * The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy was named on
       April 30, 1964.
     * The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library opened in 1979 as
       Kennedy's official presidential library.
     * John F. Kennedy University opened in Pleasant Hill, California, in
       1964 as a school for adult education.
     * The John F. Kennedy National Historic Site preserves his home in
       Brookline, Massachusetts.
     * At Harvard University:
          + The Harvard Institute of Politics serves as a living memorial
            which promotes public service in his name.
          + The School of Government is known as the John F. Kennedy
            School of Government.
     * The John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts opened in 1971
       in Washington, D.C., as a living memorial to him.
     * A new, unnamed bridge spanning the Ohio River between Louisville,
       Kentucky, and Jeffersonville, Indiana, completed four days ahead of
       Kennedy's assassination, was afterwards quickly named the John F.
       Kennedy Memorial Bridge.
     * Hundreds of schools across the U.S were also renamed in his honour.
     * Philadelphia Municipal Stadium was renamed John F. Kennedy Stadium
       in 1964, and stood until 1992.
     * Posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963
     * Since 1964, Kennedy's portrait has appeared on the United States
       half dollar coin, replacing Benjamin Franklin.
     * At the southwest outskirts of Jerusalem is Yad Kennedy, reached by
       following the winding mountain roads past Aminadav Moshav. On top
       of an 825 m. high mountain is a monument in the shape of a cut tree
       trunk, symbolizing a life cut short. 51 columns, each bearing the
       emblem of a state of the Union, plus the District of Columbia,
       encircle the mountaintop memorial. An eternal flame burns in the
       very centre. The site was opened in 1966 with funds donated by
       Jewish communities in the USA. The monument and adjoining picnic
       grounds are part of the John F. Kennedy Peace Forest.

Criticism

   A right-wing anti-Kennedy handbill/poster circulated on November 21,
   1963 in Dallas, Texas — one day before the assassination of John F.
   Kennedy
   Enlarge
   A right-wing anti-Kennedy handbill/poster circulated on November 21,
   1963 in Dallas, Texas — one day before the assassination of John F.
   Kennedy

   A number of critics argue that his reputation is undeserved. His
   immense popularity, according to some critics, was the result of the
   optimistic beginnings of many programs declared to be of great benefit
   to the United States, its people, and various global issues, and the
   national trauma of his assassination. The Civil Rights Act which he
   sent to Congress in June 1963 was, in large part, conceived by his
   brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and it was signed into law
   by his successor, Lyndon Johnson, in 1964.

   Other critics point out that Kennedy started the process which led to
   the U.S. getting involved in a complete war in Vietnam. They point to
   Kennedy sending over 18,000 military advisers and introducing napalm,
   defoliants, strategic hamlet, free-fire zones and jet planes to the
   Vietnam conflict, which the previous administration was not willing to
   do.

   According to the US Senate Church Committee, Kennedy had an affair with
   Judith Campbell Exner, who was simultaneously having an affair with Sam
   Giancana, the boss of the Chicago Mafia, while Giancana was conspiring
   with the CIA to assassinate Fidel Castro.

   It is suggested by Kennedy's critics that his failure to disclose the
   severity of his health concerns represented something of a failure of
   professional integrity. Seymour Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot (1998)
   presents one such critical analysis of the Kennedy administration,
   stating that Kennedy "was probably one of the unhealthiest men ever to
   sit in the Oval Office," because of Addison's Disease and a bad back,
   as well as recurring childhood illnesses and venereal infections.
   Robert Dallek's An Unfinished Life (2003) is a more traditional
   biography but contains a lot of detail about Kennedy's health issues.

   Thomas Reeves' A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy is a
   sharply critical analysis of Kennedy's "revisionism". Noam Chomsky, in
   his book Rethinking Camelot: JFK, the Vietnam War, and US Political
   Culture (1993), presents a thesis on the Kennedy administration in
   opposition to the one that lingers in the memory of many Americans.

   Source:

Trivia

     * All eight of Kennedy's great-grandparents were Irish immigrants.
     * Kennedy's superlative in his Choate Rosemary Hall yearbook was
       "Most likely to become President".
     * Kennedy suffered from a variety of health problems, even during his
       years as president. He believed he did not have much time to live
       and wanted to accomplish what he could as soon as possible, thus
       gaining his way to the presidency at a young age.
     * Through 2006, Kennedy was the last President to die while still in
       office.
     * Through the election of 2004, Kennedy was the last Democrat from
       outside the South to be elected, and the last president to be
       elected while serving in the U.S. Senate.
     * Through 2006, at age 43, Kennedy was the youngest person ever
       elected President of the United States, but he was not the youngest
       ever to serve as President. (Theodore Roosevelt, while
       Vice-President and at age 42, was elevated to the Presidency
       following the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901.
       Roosevelt was subsequently elected to a full term as President in
       his own right when he was 46).
     * Kennedy was the first person born in the 20th century to serve as
       President of the United States. Four subsequent presidents were
       born before him (also in the 20th Century): Johnson, Nixon, Ford,
       and Reagan.
     * Kennedy was a collector of scrimshaw carvings made by sailors from
       bones of whales and other marine mammals. His interest in scrimshaw
       helped to popularize this particular folk art.
     * Through 2006, Kennedy had the shortest life span of any President,
       and was the only US President to have been survived by both of his
       parents.
     * The commander of his PT boat squadron was future Attorney General
       John Mitchell.
     * Through 2006, Kennedy has been the only Roman Catholic president in
       the history of the United States. Among Catholics, only Al Smith
       and John Kerry, also Democrats, have been major-party nominees for
       President.
     * Several popular songs have mentioned him. These include:
     * "April Sun In Cuba," by Dragon, Talks about the Cuba Missile Crisis
       at the Time of President Kennedy..."See Castro in the alley way,
       Talkin' 'bout missile love, Talkin' 'bout J.F.K., And the way he
       shook him up."
     * " I Shall Be Free," by Bob Dylan, in which Dylan imagines Kennedy
       calling him on the phone.
     * "PT-109," by Jimmy Dean in 1962, became a Top 10 single and was
       written in honour of President Kennedy.
     * "Harvey and Sheila," by Allan Sherman, a comedy recording to the
       tune of " Hava Nagila," filled with initials involving the
       protagonists... "And on Election Day, worked for JFK!" but, after
       they "moved to West L.A.," "switched to the G.O.P."
     * "Love Me, I'm a Liberal," by Phil Ochs, a satire in which he says
       he cried when Kennedy and Medgar Evers were shot, but not when
       Malcolm X was.
     * " Abraham, Martin and John," by Dion, a memorial to Kennedy, his
       brother Robert, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King.
     * "Foreign Policy", by The Buckinhams released in 1968 and has a
       portion of a speech made by JFK, on the flip side of "Susan".
     * " Sympathy for the Devil," by the Rolling Stones, in which lead
       singer Mick Jagger, in character as Satan, says that "you and me"
       killed the Kennedys. The lyrics were changed from "Kennedy" to
       "Kennedy's" when Robert Kennedy was assassinated during the
       recording session for the song.
     * "She Is Always Seventeen," by Harry Chapin, referencing Kennedy's
       Inauguration.
     * "The Day John Kennedy Died," by Lou Reed, in which Reed lists some
       things he dreamed he forgot.
     * " Life in a Northern Town," by The Dream Academy.
     * " We Didn't Start the Fire," by Billy Joel, in which Kennedy and
       Richard Nixon are the only two people mentioned twice.
     * Glenn Danzig wrote a song about the assassination, called ' Bullet'
       for his band at that time, The Misfits.
     * " Civil War" by * Guns 'n Roses contains the lyrics "and in my
       first memory they shot Kennedy...."
     * In the live version of "Something to Believe In" by Bon Jovi, Jon
       adds a lyric that says "for John F. Kennedy, for Robert Kennedy,
       for Martin Luther King, for all those who believe, say 'hey, hey,
       hey, hey...'"
     * "Dallas 1 P.M.," by Saxon. References by the English Heavy Metal
       band to the events of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
     * "The Brain of JFK," by Pearl Jam.
     * "President Kennedy" by Son House
     * "Purple Toupee" by They Might Be Giants Contains the line "I
       remember the book depository where they crowned the king of Cuba",
       a reference to Kennedy's assassination.
     * "Glad I'm Not A Kennedy" by Shona Laing conjures up the whole
       Kennedy family myth.
     * "Born In The 50's" by The Police has the line "my mother
       cried...when President Kennedy died...she said it was the
       Communists...but I knew better".
     * "A built-in remedy for Kruschev and Kennedy..." by Queen in song
       Killer Queen.
     * "Last Straw" by Jack's Mannequin includes the lyric "I won't wait
       for you forever, while you run around like JFK"
     * Yolanda Adams' song "The Things We Do" on her album "Mountain High,
       Valley Low" included audio of Kennedy's inaguration speech at the
       beginning and Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech at the
       end.
     * The Postal Service's song "Sleeping In" opens with the lines "Last
       week I had the strangest dream where everything was exactly how it
       seemed where there wasn't any mystery of who shot John F. Kennedy"
       referring to the Kennedy conspiracy
     * Kennedy's ghost appeared in the comic book Hellblazer, in an arc
       titled "Damnation's Flame", where he accompanied protagonist John
       Constantine across a Hellish version of America.
          + "Superman" N0170 and Action Comics N0's 285 and 309 published
            by DC Comics, where President Kennedy appears as himself
            within fictional comic story lines.
     * Kennedy died the very same day that The Chronicles Of Narnia author
       C.S. Lewis and writer Aldous Huxley died.
     * Kennedy's life and assassination appears to have strange parallels
       with Abraham Lincoln.

     * On the cartoon show Clone High, one of the main characters is a
       young, aggressive, hyper macho clone of Kennedy's who seems to very
       much look up to his forefather and namesake. Like Kennedy, he was
       outgoing, charismatic,a ladies man, and athletic. Unfortunately,
       the clone only recognized those aspects of Kennedy's personality,
       and when told that Kennedy was a caring leader who inspired a
       generation of young people, the clone responded "I thought he was a
       macho womanizing stud who " conquered the moon."

Kennedy in film

     * PT 109 (1963): played by Cliff Robertson
     * The Missiles of October (1974, TV): played by William Devane
     * The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (1977): played by William
       Jordan
     * Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye (1977, TV): played by Paul Rudd
     * Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977, TV): played by Sam Chew Jr.
     * King (1978, TV): played by William Jordan
     * Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1981, TV): played by James Franciscus
     * Blood Feud (1983, TV): played by Sam Groom
     * Kennedy (1983, TV): played by Martin Sheen
     * Prince Jack (1985): played by Robert Hogan
     * Robert Kennedy & His Times (1985, TV): played by Cliff De Young
     * J. Edgar Hoover (1987, TV): played by Art Hindle
     * LBJ: The Early Years (1987, TV): played by Charles Frank
     * Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988, TV): played by David
       Gillum
     * The Kennedys of Massachusetts (1990, TV): played by Steven Weber
     * A Woman Named Jackie (1991, TV): played by Stephen Collins
     * JFK (1991): Film about the assassination; Kennedy played by Steve
       Reed
     * Malcolm X (1992): played by Steve Reed
     * Ruby (1992): played by Gérard David and Kevin Wiggins
     * Sinatra (1992, TV): played by James F. Kelly
     * J.F.K.: Reckless Youth (1993, TV): played by Patrick Dempsey
     * Forrest Gump (1994): played by Jed Gillin
     * Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996, TV): played by Perry Stephens
     * Red Dwarf: Tikka To Ride (1997, TV): played by Michael Shannon
     * The Rat Pack (1998, TV): played by William L. Petersen
     * Bonanno: A Godfather's Story (1999, TV): played by Matt Norklun
     * Thirteen Days (2000): played by Bruce Greenwood
     * Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (2000, TV): played by Tim Matheson,
       who at the time was also playing a fictional vice-president on the
       series The West Wing.
     * Clone High played by Chris Miller
     * Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot (2001, TV): played by
       Daniel Hugh Kelly
     * Bubba Ho-Tep (2002): played by Ossie Davis
     * Power and Beauty (2002, TV): played by Kevin Anderson
     * RFK (2002, TV): played by Martin Donovan
     * America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story (2003, TV): played
       by Randy Triggs

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