John F. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, the second of nine children. Joseph Kennedy (1888–1969), his father, was one of the wealthiest men in America, which allowed Kennedy to escape the economic
hardships of the Great Depression (1929–41; the period following the
stock market crash of 1929 in which there was high unemployment and
depressed world economies). Kennedy was often ill as a child and spent
many hours in bed, reading. In his senior year at Harvard University in
1940, Kennedy wrote his thesis on why England was not prepared for
World War II (1941–45). The paper was published as a book under the
title Why England Slept and became a best-seller.
Kennedy enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was commander of a small
vessel called a PT boat. On August 2, 1943, a Japanese destroyer sank
Kennedy’s boat in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Despite a seriously injured neck, Kennedy helped save the lives of several crew members and was awarded medals for
his bravery.
Enters the world of politics
Kennedy ran for U.S. Congress and won in 1946.
As a Democrat representing Massachusetts in
the House of Representatives, he worked for public housing and other social programs in his district. He ran for and won a U.S. Senate seat in
1952. During his first year as senator, Kennedy
married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier (see box).
Defeats Nixon
Kennedy had suffered back problems his entire
life. In 1954, he underwent two risky operations
on his back, and during recovery, he wrote a
study of American political leaders. Kennedy
won the Pulitzer Prize for Profiles in Courage in
1957. Kennedy was reelected to the Senate in 1958; two years later, he
won the Democratic nomination for president.
Kennedy’s Republican opponent was Vice President Richard M.
Nixon (1913–1994). For the first time in history, Americans watched a
presidential debate live on television. Kennedy won the election by only
twelve thousand votes and became the youngest person ever elected president. He was forty-three years old.
In his inaugural speech, President Kennedy explained his New
Frontier program, which included a tax cut, an increase in spending for
space exploration, and a call to action on the issue of civil rights. It was
during this speech that he made the famous quote, “Ask not what your
country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
Immediate conflict
As was true of so many presidents before him, Kennedy was concerned
about the spread of communism (a system of government in which the
state controls the economy and all property and wealth are shared
equally by the people). Since the end of World War II, America had been entangled in what is known as the Cold War (1945–91; an intense political and economic rivalry with the Soviet Union). Physical fighting
never occurs in a Cold War, nevertheless, there is much stress and tension between the opponents.
In 1961, Kennedy backed a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
plan to have refugee Cubans invade the island of Cuba and overthrow its
leader, Fidel Castro (1926–). The invasion occurred on April 17, but it
failed miserably due to poor communication and planning. Known as
the Bay of Pigs Invasion, it was a major embarrassment for the president,
and it strained relations with Cuba for many years.
Threat of nuclear war
Relations between Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
(1894–1971) broke down in the summer of 1961. At the time, Germany
was divided into East and West. Communist forces controlled East
Germany and built the Berlin Wall in August 1961 to keep Berliners
from escaping to West Germany.
In October 1962, American spy planes discovered nuclear missile
sites in Cuba, an ally of the Soviet Union. Kennedy responded by ordering a naval blockade of the island so that no more weapons could be
taken in. He demanded Khrushchev remove the missiles from Cuba; the
Soviet leader refused to back down. For one week, in what became
known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world waited anxiously to see
how the power struggle would end. Finally, Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles, but only if America would agree to withdraw its missiles from Turkey. Kennedy agreed, and the very real threat of nuclear
war was averted.
Kennedy’s problems were far from over. The United States had
signed a treaty in 1961 in which it pledged to help South Vietnam fight
against communist North Vietnam, which had invaded its tiny southern
neighbor in 1954. As the Vietnam War (1954–75) escalated, Kennedy
sent in troops. The nearly twenty years of fighting in Vietnam marked a
turbulent period in history as America divided into two camps: one that
supported sending Americans overseas to fight the war, and one that
publicly and loudly protested America’s involvement in another country’s conflict.
Helping those in need
Kennedy established the Alliance for Progress in 1961, an organization
dedicated to sending economic aid to Latin American countries. That
same year saw the founding of the Peace Corps. Still active in the twentyfirst century, this agency sends volunteers to help the needy in struggling
countries around the globe. Volunteers teach language and sciences, but they also train people in areas such as farming and environmental conservation in an effort to help them become self-sustaining.
The president’s humanitarian efforts were not limited to foreign
countries. On the homefront, he established a program to increase the
hiring of African Americans in government agencies. He assured the admittance of African Americans into the Universities of Mississippi and
Alabama. Not all of Kennedy’s reform measures were approved by
Congress. He unsuccessfully introduced a tax cut, federal aid for education, a program to fight poverty, and medical care for the elderly.
Shot in Dallas
Kennedy and his wife traveled to Dallas, Texas, to give a speech on
November 22, 1963. While riding in a motorcade in the back seat of an
open convertible car, the president was fatally shot. Police arrested Lee
Harvey Oswald (1939–1963), a communist supporter, and charged him
with Kennedy’s assassination. Oswald, who denied the shooting, was
murdered in a Dallas police station by nightclub owner Jack Ruby
(1911–1967) two days later. Although a formal investigation maintained
that Oswald was the lone gunman, many experts and historians dispute
that finding.
Kennedy’s death rocked the nation to its core as millions mourned
the loss of a president who brought hope into their lives. Kennedy was
buried in Arlington National Cemetery, his grave marked with an eternal flame. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) was sworn
in as president, Jackie Kennedy by his side. One week after Kennedy’s
death, the late president’s widow gave an interview to Life magazine in
which she repeatedly compared the reign of the Kennedy administration
to Camelot, the kingdom belonging to the legendary King Arthur.
Camelot was also the name of a 1960 Broadway musical about King
Arthur, his court, and the imminent downfall of all that was good and
wise and shining. One of Kennedy’s favorite lines from that musical was
“Don’t let it be forgot, that for one brief shining moment there was
Camelot.”
From the moment Jackie Kennedy’s interview was published, the
adoring public remembered the Kennedy administration as a modernday Camelot.