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John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35 th president of the United States of America. He grew up in a family of political leaders and then became one himself. During his lifetime he had many accomplishments, both personal and political; he had a beautiful wife, and a wonderful family, he wrote award winning novels, started the Peace Corps, and he broke the barrier between us and the Soviet Union, among many others which will be discussed later. Nearing the end of his term of president, Kennedy was visiting Dallas, Texas to campaign for the next election. During a campaigning motorcade, his open convertible limousine was approaching a field known as Dealey Plaza when shots rang out. The shots were thought to have come from the seven-story Texas School Book Depository.
The shots were fatal for President John Kennedy. John Kennedy was a very influential leader of the 1960? s and will remain a hero forever. John Kennedy was born at 83 Beals Street, Brookline, Massachusetts on May 27, 1917.
He was born to Joseph and Rose Kennedy. John was the second oldest in his family of nine children. He was named after his grandfather, John Fitzgerald. His grandfather was elected mayor of Boston in 1905. His father, Joseph Patrick was a wealthy business man, and an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and also the US Ambassador to Great Britain from 1938 to 1940.
As you can see he was destined to be a successful leader. As a young boy JFK was called? Jack? by his family. He and his family moved to New York when John was 10 years old.
They spent summer months in Hyannis, Cape Cod. His family often traveled to other states and countries. He attended an elite prep school, Choate High School in Connecticut, he graduated in 1935. he then went on to Harvard College and graduated from there in 1940. In 1941 he joined the Navy, he became commander of a PT (patrol torpedo), assigned to the battle in the Pacific against the Japanese. During one night, Kennedy?
s boat was rammed by a large enemy boat, two of the thirteen crew men were killed, and the rest, led by Lt. Kennedy swam to a nearby deserted island off of the Solomon Islands. They managed to survive, mostly by eating coconuts until they were rescued a week later. Kennedy engraved a message in a coconut shell and it was found by Naval Officers.
After W. W. II was over, he had to decide what to do with his life, he possibly wanted to be a teacher or writer, but he decide to run for a political office. In 1946 he was elected to the US Congress, representing a large area in Boston. Becoming a congress man at the age of 29.
He was a Democrat, he served three terms, or six years in the House of Representatives. In 1952 he was elected to the US Senate. Kennedy barley missed being picked for the Democratic part? s candidate for Vice President in 1956. He started a long campaign to become president in 1960. At a convention on July 13, 1960, Democratic chose Kennedy ad their Presidential candidate.
Kennedy asked Lyndon B. Johnson, a senator from Texas to run with him as his vice President. Kennedy and Nixon had the first televised presidential debate, in which Kennedy proved himself to be a smooth, calm person in heated up times, and Nixon didn? t. In general election on November 8, 1959, Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M.
Nixon in a very close race. There was a record breaking 69 million voters that year, Kennedy won by 113, 000 votes. Kennedy was the youngest man ever elected to President, at 43 years old, he was also the first Catholic president. JFK was sworn in as President on January 20, 1960. During his Inaugural Address he spoke about the need for all Americans to be active citizens, this is where his famous quote, ? Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country? , came from.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy had many personal achievements throughout his life time. One of his firsts was a book he wrote during his college years at Harvard University. His book, Why England Slept, was on the Best Sellers list, it was about some of the decisions that led to W. W. II and about how Britain lack preparedness for the war. Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, another one of his great accomplishments.
Jacqueline was one of the most admired and looked upon First Ladies in our history, she was young, beautiful and loved by everyone. He was married to her on September 12, 1953. Four years after their marriage, in 1957, their first child was born, it was a girl, they named her Caroline. In 1959, two years later, their second child was born, John Jr. , named after his father. He was called, ?
John John? by his father. He had a beautiful family by the end of the 1950? s. In 1954 he had a serious operation on his back, after years of problems.
While he was recovering, he wrote another book, this one about senators who had risked everything for what they had believed. The book, called Profiles in Courage, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957. He was an American hero for his political achievements. In his first year of office, congress passed a law increasing minimum wage, the first change to the law since it became a law. Congress also passed a bill granting federal aid to the economically depressed areas.
He helped create the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps are American volunteers who go to other countries requesting assistance. Americans serve as, teachers, and help in farming, health care, and construction. In May 1961, after Alan Shepard was the first American astronaut to go into space, Kennedy asked congress to spend more money on space exploration, with the intention of landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade. In one bill, congress dedicated One billion dollars to finance the sending or a man to the moon. Kennedy also asked congress to pass a Civil Rights bill that would guarantee blacks the rights to vote, to attend public schools, to have equal job opportunities, and equal access to public accommodations.
In 1961, from the previous Administration, he inherited a secret plan to over throw Fidel Castro of Cuba. Kennedy approved an invasion, known as the Bay of Pigs. The invasion took place in April by refugees, the attempt failed and resulted in the capture of US refugees and personal embarrassment for President Kennedy. In 1962 he helped rescue the prisoners from the Bay of Pigs, 1113 prisoners were released in exchange for food and medical supplies valued at 53 million dollars. The Cuban Missile Crisis was perhaps the worlds closest approach to a Nuclear War. Ever since W.
W. II there had been a lot of anger and suspicion between the US and the Soviet Union. This? Cold War? was a struggle between the Soviet Union? s communist system of government and Americas democratic system.
Because there was no trust between two countries, they both spent large sum? s of money building nuclear weapons to use if a war did start. We placed some of our missiles in Turkey, which was in range of the USSR. In the Fall of 1962, we heard rumors that the USSR had placed in Cuba, which was in range of south eastern United States. Kennedy arranged for spy planes to fly over Cuba. The planes spotted a missile.
Kennedy demanded that the Soviet Union dismantle and remove the missiles or he was going to create a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent the arrival of anymore weapons. On October 28, the USSR agreed to remove the missiles, if we removed ours from Turkey. In August 1963, The United States and The Soviet Union signed a treaty that outlawed nuclear bomb tests in air, underwater, or in space. Kennedy did a lot for African Americans in the 1960?
s. In September 1962, the nation forced the threat of violence in the State of Mississippi. James Meredith, an African American and Air Force veteran, applied and was admitted to the University of Mississippi. However, when he arrived on campus, university officials would not let him go to class because he was black.
Both John and Robert (his brother) Kennedy had long talks over the telephone with the governor of Mississippi, Ross Barnett. However they failed to convince him to allow James Meredith to attend classes. In order to enforce the Constitution and to protect Meredith, Kennedy ordered the National Guard and federal marshals to the University. After a riot in which two people died and dozens were injured, Meredith registered for classes and segregation ended at the University of Mississippi. A similar incident happened almost a year later in Alabama. African American students were not allowed to attend the University of Alabama, once again, President Kennedy had to send in soldiers to protect the students.
He decided to speak on national television about civil rights. He said Americans had a legal and moral responsibility to provide equal access to education and guarantee voting rights for all citizens. He helped to end segregation in the south. John Kennedy accomplished so much in his three years as president of the Untied States of America.
It was a sunny November day in 1963, a plane called Air Force one landed at Love Field in Dallas. The crowds were friendly as the presidential motorcade wound through the streets. Since the day was so nice, the Kennedy? s, the governor of Texas and his wife, rode in an open convertible limousine. The limousine approached a diamond-shaped grassy field, called Dealey Plaza. Standing seven-stories above them was the Texas School Book Depository building.
The governor? s wife turned and smiled at the president. ? Well, Mr. President? , she said, ? you can?
t say that Dallas doesn? t love you! ? John Kennedy never answered. A crack of a rifle cut him down, and the world has never been the same since. Kennedy? s body lurched.
Governor john Connally slumped forward. A guard assigned to protect the president leaped onto the back of the limousine. He grabbed Mrs. Kennedy who had climbed onto the back of the car in terror. He saw blood soaking the car seats and pounded on the trunk.
The limousine sped toward Parkland Memorial Hospital. The announcement of Kennedy? s death came at 2: 00 P. M. eastern time on Friday, November 22, 1963. People who lived through this day can remember precisely where they were and what they were doing when they heard the stunning news.
Minutes after the shooting, police searched the building surrounding Dealey Plaza. One officer came upon a man who was drinking a Coke in the second-floor employees? lunchroom at the Texas School Book Depository, the man was twenty-four-year-old Lee Harvey Oswald. He would remain a dark and mysterious figure in history.
Evidence in the Texas School Book Depository put a suspicion on Oswald, which made him a wanted suspect. Dallas patrolman J. D. Tippit spotted Oswald hurrying down a sidewalk and ordered him to halt.
Oswald drew his pistol and shot three times killing Officer Tippit instantly. Thirty-five minutes later, Oswald was seized inside a movie theater. Oswald was to be routinely transferred to another jail facility on Sunday, November 24. As he was being escorted by two detectives holding each arm, a man jumped out of the crowd and shouted, ? You killed the president, you rat! ? Then shoved a pistol into Oswald's?
stomach, fired, and killed him. There are many theories on what happened to President John Kennedy on November 22, 1963. This is probably one of the most mysterious assassinations, in US history. He was one of four other assassinations, Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, and William McKinley.
The Single Bullet theory was a theory drafted by the Warren Commission, it was a theory used to explain the conclusions that they had come to during their investigation. The single bullet theory can be accepted, although there are many other theories that can equally just as well explain Kennedys assassination. With the aid of modern technology photographs, films, and sound recordings from the time have been examined. The findings of the examination show that the controversial incident regarding Governor Connally and President Kennedy could have been possible. If Connally had turned ever so slightly to his right which he is said to have recalled to doing so in hospital. Photographic evidence also supports this.
Due to the fact that Kennedy and Connally were of a similar size the single bullet theory that says Connally and Kennedy were hit by the same bullet could be true. There are of course facts that warp the single bullet theory such as the fact that the bullet that was found on a hospital stretcher was in perfect condition. Yet doctors have proven that the bullet had in fact gone through two major bones and torn out a great deal of muscle. Tests carried out on the bullet prove also that a bullet when fired through a sheep's spinal chord which is the same thickness as a humans, it becomes out of shape and shows signs of severe impact. So the single bullet theory could be disproved in this way. However chemical tests carried out on the bullet found on the stretcher in Parkfield Hospital, proves that it did in fact come from the same cartridge shells found hidden in the Texas School Book Depository Building.
his is the main question which is one everyones lips, and there are several points which are worth considering when deciding whether or not there was a second gunman. Photographic evidence also points towards a second gunman as a picture taken at the time, after enhancement shows a figure hiding in the grassy knoll, not far from were the assassination took place. Witnesses have also testified that they saw a man hiding in the bushes, cigarette stubs have also been found as well as footprints. Others say that they saw gun smoke, however this is unlikely due to the fact that modern rifles dont produce smoke visible to the human eye. In fact the only smoke that would have been visible by the human eye is when you are positioned less than a foot or so away from it. Secret service agents were reported to be at the scene when the shots went off.
However the positions of all the secret service agents show that there was no one in the immediate area. A Dallas policeman ran towards the area when the shots went off, however he was stopped by a group of gentlemen posing as secret service agents. In a statement later he admits that he should have asked the gentlemen for identification as they didnt look like secret service agents. Could these men have been comrades to a man standing in the grassy knoll. Dealey Plaza was unfortunately an echo valley, so the sound of gun shots would seem to come from different places. A recording made at Dallas Police headquarters, after analysis shows that the shots could have came from a variety of different places, but the recording seems to point towards the theory of three shots being fired.
To shoot from the grassy knoll, would of had to be a tracking shot, the gunman would have to have been moving his rifle left to right matching the motion of the car. Gun experts have said that it would have been a difficult shots from the Texas School Book Depository building, however the shot would have been a much easier one than from the grassy knoll. This obviously shows that there must have been some sort of a sound resembling a gun shot from the grassy knoll as there was people diving for cover on the floor, obviously scared of being hit. Also a Dallas police officer thought that there was a shot from the grassy knoll and indeed ran over, but only to be turned away by fake secret service agents. The major fact that alarms Americans is that the Warren Commission who investigated the assassination is that they were very single minded and seemed to have no other theories about the assassination. The commission were also criticized because they couldnt really prove it was Oswald or get a confession out of him.
The Warren commission believe that the assassination was carried out by a lone gunman, namely Lee Harvey Oswald. However another investigation into the assassination by the House Select Committee was carried out a number of years later because there was still public disbelief that Oswald was a lone gunman. The committee called witnesses to hear their version of the events, and in the end ruled that there could have been another assassin, possibly situated in the grassy knoll. Some points to raise into this matter are that the secret service agents were never found, even after a substantial investigation, could it have been a cover up?
Another point to raise is over the witnesses, several witnesses died under mysterious circumstances before they could give their version of events. The largest point to raise is Oswald's? claim that he was a patsy (he was framed). Could crucial eye witnesses have been assassinated to stop them from speaking out, could one of them held a vital clue to solve the mystery. In conclusion to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, as a person, as a leader, as the President of the United States of America, and most of all as our friend, was very influential to all of us. He was born into a family of leaders and politicians, it was his destine that he would be a political leader, and he was but not just the United States also for the whole world.
He created a wonderful family, which also became leaders of today? s world. He made many improvements during his three years in office to our nation. He improved health care, poverty, civil rights and relations with other countries. He was a president that really cared about his country, and the world and did as much as he could to make it as perfect as possible.
I think that he is the last president that we have had that has really tried to improve our country instead of just try to keep it form getting worse. He dealt with not just the big issues that existed but also with the smaller issues. I believe that he is a True American Hero and should be held in the highest of light for his leadership, personality, and accomplishments. I don? t not agree with the? Single Bullet?
theory. Gun experts even said that it would have been a very difficult shot to make from the Texas School Book Depository. It is almost impossible for it to have only been one bullet. It is said that the shots came from behind and above the limousine, which would have made a bullet whole in Kennedy that went down, then above that entry wound there was said to have been and exit wound, then below that whole it is said that it entered senator Connally in a downward direction. This means that this one, single bullet left seven injuries, the first downward, the second upwards, the third downwards and the rest downwards. How can this be?
I don? t think that it is possible. there had to have been more than one bullet causing these injuries. I think that there was another person shooting and they were all involved in a conspiracy. How do you explain the sounds people heard, the smoke, the fake secret service agents, the mysterious bullet that showed up on the hospital bed? It can?
t be explained if Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I think that Jack Ruby shot him because he was part of the conspiracy and got scared and thought that he was going to? rat? on them.
The only way all of this can be explained is if there are multiple people involved in. I? m not sure why there was a conspiracy against him but I think that it might have something to do with his civil rights movements or his thoughts of pulling out from Vietnam. I think that the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy is one of the most tragic events that has happened in our history, partially because of who he was and also because we still do not know to this day what really happened References -The Official Warren Commission Report, Doubleday and Company, Inc. , Garden, N.
Y. 1964 The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, R Conrad Stein, Children? s Press Chicago, 1992 The United States History: In the course of human events, West Publishing Company 1997 pages 868 - 976 Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Volume 14; pages, 355 - 356 Robert S. Phillips web web
Free research essays on topics related to: john fitzgerald kennedy, lee harvey oswald, w w ii, texas school book depository, single bullet theory
Research essay sample on Lee Harvey Oswald Single Bullet Theory
