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John Fitzgerald Jfk 2 JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35 th President of the United States and the youngest person ever elected to the presidency. He was also the first Roman Catholic president and the first president born during the 20 th century. He was born the second of nine children of the wealthy Joseph and Rose Kennedy in Brookline, Massachusetts. John F. Kennedy was not their most promising child until after the death of his brother Joseph Kennedy during World War II. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 before he completed his third year as president, leaving Lyndon B.
Johnson to fill his vacancy as the 36 th President of the United States. Therefore, his foreign and domestic achievements during his presidency were limited. Although, his influence was worldwide, for his handling of the Cuban missile crisis may have prevented war. He was admired especially by the younger generation, and he was perhaps the most popular man as President. He brought to the presidency an awareness of the cultural and historical traditions of the United States and an appreciation of intellectual excellence. Because Kennedy eloquently expressed the values of Americas 20 th century, his presidency had an importance beyond its legislative and political achievements (Encarta).
John Kennedy was born to wealth and privilege, grew up in Boston, attended the finest private schools, and graduated from Harvard (Ayers 990). He wrote several books: Why England Slept while he was attending Harvard, As We Remember Joe which was about his brothers death, and Profiles in Courage which received the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 and gave him some widespread national attention before running for presidency. His father Joseph P. Kennedy was the ambassador of England during Roosevelt s administration, and constantly preached competition and excellence to his children. John married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in 1953, and had three children: Caroline, John who recently died in a plane crash, and Patrick who died within 48 hours of his birth.
He was determined to serve in the Navy and was excepted in 1943 as commander of PT Boat 109 in the South Pacific. The navy torpedo boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer, which caused it to sink and kill 2 of the 12 men aboard. Kennedy was later awarded the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his courage, endurance, heroism, and his excellent leadership. At the age of 29 Kennedy became a congressman after defeating nine other candidates with a win of 42 percent of the votes (Encarta).
He was a unique member of the congress because he would often support the Republicans against the Truman administration, such as their handling of China. Kennedy then ran for Senate in 1952 against the Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. He went on to win as Senator of Massachusetts and backed any legislation beneficial to their textile, fishing, watch, and transportation industries during his first two years. In 1956 Kennedy attempted to win the nomination as Democratic vice president, but the convention chose Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. The failure probably did more good than harm to his political career, because it brought him to the attention of the nation without associating him with Stevenson, the loser to Eisenhower (Encarta). Kennedy wanted the 1960 presidential nomination badly, and began working hard for it as soon as the 1956 election was over.
He faced many obstacles such as being considered too young and too inexperienced for the presidency. It was also in doubt that Kennedy as a Catholic could win an election in a mainly Protestant country. Kennedy s presidency later challenged historians because he served a mere thousand days in office. In 1960 he announced that he would be running for president. The Democratic National Convention opened to reveal that Kennedy had already won seven primary victories.
His victory in West Virginia proved that a Roman Catholic could win in a predominantly Protestant state. Due to his success in congress, the Democratic Party nominated Kennedy for the presidential ticket in 1960. John F. Kennedy, with Lyndon B.
Johnson running as his vice president nominee, was to be running against the Republican Richard Nixon and his vice president nominee Henry Cabot Lodge (Encarta). Kennedy gained much of his support after he addressed the country s defense and economic needs in four televised debates with Richard Nixon. The series of televised debates marked the beginning of modern presidential campaigns, in which the first debate had 80 million Americans watching it on television or listening to it on the radio (Ayers 993). Kennedy sought out votes from the younger generation, minorities, and the working class, while Johnson helped secure votes in the southern states.
Kennedy went on to win the election with 303 electoral votes to Nixon s 219. Yet the popular vote was the closest since 1988, with Kennedy getting 49. 7 percent and Nixon getting 49. 6 percent (Ayers 993). Kennedy s inauguration was on January 20, 1961. His first year in office brought him a considerable amount of success in enacting new legislation. During the Kennedy administration congress passed a major housing bill, a law increasing the minimum wage, and a bill granting federal aid to economically depressed areas of the United States. Kennedy also passed a bill through congress to create the Peace Corps, an agency that trained American volunteers to perform social and humanitarian service overseas.
The Peace Corps was created to promote world peace and friendship with developing nations. Kennedy later tried to pass the Medicare bill, a bill to make medical care for the elderly a national benefit, which was defeated by the Southern Democrats and the Republicans. The Medicare bill was eventually passed after Kennedy s death in his honor. Kennedy also attempted to aid black civil rights by enforcing existing laws. He used the National Guard to enforce laws in order to allow the admittance of several black students into white schools of Mississippi and Alabama. Kennedy also asked congress to pass a civil rights bill that would guarantee blacks the right to vote, to attend public schools, to have equal access to jobs, and to have access to public accommodations (Encarta).
The Kennedy administration s greatest difficulties included the humiliating defeat at the Bay of Pigs and the missile crisis of October 1962, which elevated the specter of nuclear holocaust to its highest level. Although as a result the Kennedy foreign policy achieved a boost, and relations with the Soviet Union had mellowed (Giglio 189). In March 1961 Kennedy introduced the Alliance for Progress, in which the United States would fund a cooperative, long-term program to rebuild Europe after World War II. Also during Kennedy s administration was the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was probably the world s closest approach to nuclear war (Encarta). It was believed that the Cuban Missile Crisis was Kennedy s greatest moment as president, and that he may have prevented World War II by displaying America s courage and strength. On November 22, 1963, President John F.
Kennedy and wife Jacqueline Kennedy were in Dallas, Texas, to mend a political conflict that had weekend the state Democratic party for the coming election year. Kennedy and his wife were sitting in an open convertible at the head of a motorcade in downtown Dallas. As the motorcade was approaching an underpass there were two shots fired in rapid succession, which were fired from the sixth floor of a warehouse by Lee Harvey Oswald. One bullet passed through the president s neck and struck Governor Connally in the back, and the other bullet struck the president in the head. He was pronounced dead at 1: 00 p.
m. as his car was speeding to Parkland Hospital. Less than two hours after the shooting, aboard Airforce 1 at the Dallas airport, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the president. Kennedy remains the only 20 th century president to be assassinated since McKinley. In many respects how Kennedy died is as important as how he lived.
His tragic death has colored Americas perception of Kennedy and his presidency. Kennedy was a great leader, an actor, a writer and reporter, a hero, and very much a man of his time. His wit, self-centered ness, and charm along with his commitment to the people of the United States and the people around the world made him unique (Giglio). Many of the causes he fought for still exist today in the rights for minorities, the poor, the elderly, and the younger generation. Kennedy s life was best summed up in his own inaugural speech when he said, Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.
John F. Kennedy dedicated half his life in trying to make America a better place for the less fortunate.
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Research essay sample on Cuban Missile Crisis Henry Cabot Lodge
