John F. Kennedy became an icon and is one of the most popular US presidents to this day.
John F. Kennedy
was
elected
one of the youngest and first Roman Catholic
Presidents of the United States
in 1960
From his marriage to
Jacqueline Kennedy
walked
two children
out
Kennedy was
murdered
in a
gun
assassination
attempt
in
1963
John F. Kennedy
(* May 29, 1917, † November 22, 1963) is still one of the most famous and popular presidents in US history.
In 1960, at the age of 43, he became one of the youngest
US presidents
and the first president of the Roman Catholic faith.
Born into one of America's wealthiest families, Kennedy used his elite training and reputation as a war hero to run for the US Congress in 1946 and the Senate in 1952. Together with his wife
Jacqueline
(* July 28, 1929, † May 19, 1994) Kennedy brought an unprecedented aura of youth and glamor to the
White House
.
His presidency was marked by numerous foreign policy tensions and crises, including in
Cuba
,
Berlin
and
Vietnam
.
In 1962, the US confrontation with the
Soviet Union
in the
Cuba Crisis brought
the world to the brink of nuclear war.
On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was
shot dead
in an assassination attempt in
Dallas,
Texas
.
The officially confirmed single perpetrator theory remains controversial to this day.
His assassination made Kennedy one of the most iconic presidents in the United States.
John F. Kennedy: Childhood and Adolescence
John F. Kennedy
(nickname Jack) was born on May 29, 1917 in
Brookline, Massachusetts,
the second of nine children.
His parents,
Joseph
(* 1888, † 1969) and
Rose Kennedy
(* 1890, † 1995) belonged to the most prominent Irish Catholic families of politicians in Boston.
As a child from a wealthy family, Kennedy enjoyed a very privileged youth.
The family owned oceanfront vacation homes in
Massachusetts
and
Florida
, among others
.
Since his father traveled a lot as an investment entrepreneur, the family had to move several times.
John F. Kennedy therefore attended several private schools in various states.
Kennedy struggled with health problems early on.
After graduating from school, Kennedy planned to study at the renowned
London School of Economics
, but had to return to the USA due to illness.
He also dropped out of studies at
Princeton University
due to health problems.
In the period from 1936 to 1940, Kennedy finally completed a degree in political science at the famous
Harvard University
in
Boston
.
John F. Kennedy: Military Service in World War II
In 1941,
John F. Kennedy
joined the
US Navy
and began his service with the Navy Intelligence Service in
Washington
.
In 1942 he was trained for service at sea and a year later he was
ordered
to the
South Pacific
, where he was given command of a patrol torpedo boat.
In August 1943 the boat was
sunk
by a Japanese destroyer near the
Solomon Islands
.
Kennedy reportedly helped some of his stranded comrades back to safety and was awarded the
Navy and Marine Corps Medal
for his heroism
.
His older brother, Joe Jr.
(* July 25, 1915, † August 12, 1944), however, was killed in an air raid on
Germany
.
The grieving father told John after his brother died that it was now his duty to fulfill the fate that was once destined for Joe Jr.: to become the first Catholic President of the United States.
John F. Kennedy: Entry into Politics
After
Kennedy gave up
his plans to become a journalist, he left the
Navy
in late 1944
.
He returned to
Boston
a year later
and was preparing to run for the
US Congress
in 1946.
As a moderately conservative Democrat and supported by his father's fortune, Kennedy won his party's nomination with ease and prevailed over his Republican opponents by a large margin in his constituency.
He entered Congress in January 1947, aged just 29, and quickly attracted the attention of the
Washington, DC
political establishment for his youthful appearance and relaxed, informal style
.
In 1948 and 1950, Kennedy was re-elected as a member of the House of Representatives and successfully ran for the
Senate in
1952
.
Kennedy had back surgery two years later.
He used the recovery period after the operation to write the bestseller Profiles in Courage, which won the 1957
Pulitzer Prize
for Biography.
John F. Kennedy: The Road to the White House
After
Kennedy
narrowly missed his party's nomination for the office of vice president in 1956, he announced his
candidacy for president
in January 1960
.
He won the
primaries of
the Democratic Party and then competed in the presidential election campaign against his Republican opponent
Richard Nixon
(* 9.1.1913, † 22.4.1994), who under
President Eisenhower
(* 14.10.1890, † 28.3.1969) was Vice President for two years was.
Kennedy offered a young and energetic alternative to Nixon and the political status quo in the US at the time.
Most notably, John F. Kennedy benefited from his telegenic and eloquent appearances in the very first
television debates
in the US presidential campaign, which were followed by an audience of millions.
In the November 1960 election, Kennedy won by a very narrow margin against Nixon and was
elected President of the United States
as the
youngest man
and
first Catholic
.
John F. Kennedy: Inauguration as President
With his beautiful young wife,
Jacqueline,
and their two young children, the
Kennedys gave
the
White House
an unprecedented aura of youth and glamor.
In his inaugural speech on 20 January 1961, the new president called on his fellow Americans to to work together for the
progress
and the
eradication of poverty
to fight, but also in the ongoing
Cold War
the
communist
combat around the world and defeat.
Kennedy's famous closing remarks expressed the need for cooperation and sacrifice on the part of the American people: “Don't ask what your country can do for you;
ask what you can do for your country. "
Just a few months after taking office, the young US president was
confronted
with his first
foreign policy crisis
.
In April 1961,
Kennedy
approved
the plan
to send
almost 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles in an amphibious landing to
Cuba
to overthrow
the communist head of state
Fidel Castro
(* 13.8.1926, † 25.11.2016).
The Bay of Pigs invasion ended in disaster as almost all of the exiles were captured or killed.
Another foreign policy crisis loomed when East German troops began building the
Berlin
Wall
at the end of 1961
.
In response, Kennedy sent an army convoy to assure the
West Berliners
of US support.
In Southeast Asia, however, Kennedy's policy of curbing communism resulted in the United States becoming increasingly drawn into the
conflict in
Vietnam
.
Despite his personal dismay at the escalation in Vietnam, Kennedy did little to de-escalate the conflict.
John F. Kennedy: The Cuban Crisis
In October 1962,
Kennedy's
worst foreign policy crisis
occurred
, and the world was on the verge of nuclear war.
After Kennedy learned that the
Soviet Union
had begun
building bases in
Cuba
for long-range missiles and nuclear weapons
, which posed a direct threat to the nearby mainland, the US president announced a
naval blockade of
Cuba.
The tense stalemate between Kennedy and the Soviet head of state
Khrushchev
(* April 15, 1894, † September 11, 1971)
lasted for almost two weeks
, during which the whole world held its breath.
In the end, Khrushchev gave in and agreed to dismantle the missile bases in Cuba.
In return, Kennedy assured him not to plan another invasion of the island and to
withdraw the
US missiles
stationed
in
Turkey
and other states near the Soviet Union
.
In July 1963, Kennedy achieved his greatest foreign policy success when he was able to convince Khrushchev
to agree to
a
ban on nuclear weapons tests
.
John F. Kennedy: Marriage and Affairs
In 1951,
at a dinner party
,
John F. Kennedy
met the journalist
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier
,
who was twelve years his junior
.
Two years later, the couple married in
Newport, Rhode Island
.
After two miscarriages, Jacqueline gave birth to daughter
Caroline
(born November 27,
1957) in 1957
.
In 1960, John and Jacqueline were parents to a son,
John F. Jr.
(* 1960, † 1999).
Another son of the couple died shortly after giving birth.
Throughout his life, Kennedy was considered a womanizer who is said to have had an almost magical effect on women.
Kennedy was said to have had numerous extramarital affairs, including with prominent film stars such as
Marilyn Monroe
(* 1926, † 1962).
Kennedy has also been shown to use White House call girls.
Kennedy's extramarital affairs clouded the flawless image of the US president, who was extremely popular throughout his life.
John F. Kennedy: The Assassination
On November 22, 1963,
Kennedy
landed
with his wife in
Dallas, Texas to
give a speech.
From the airport, the group traveled in a motorcade through downtown Dallas.
Shots rang out shortly after 12:30 p.m.
Kennedy, who was in an open top car, was hit by two bullets in the neck and head.
Shortly after arriving at a nearby hospital, the US president was pronounced dead.
Immediately after the crime,
Lee Harvey Oswald
(* 1939, † 1963), a young communist sympathizer, was arrested.
Two days later, Oswald was shot by nightclub owner
Jack Ruby
(* 1911, † 1967) while he was being
transported to a prison
.
Immediately after the assassination of Kennedy,
doubts
arose
about
Oswald's involvement and numerous
speculations
made the rounds that the Soviet secret service KGB, the Mafia or the US military-industrial complex were involved in the attack.
An investigative commission headed by Chief Federal Judge
Earl Warren
(* 1891, † 1974) came to the conclusion that Oswald was a lone perpetrator.
This judgment is still controversial today.