President Kennedy

John F Kennedy Biography

John F Kennedy was born in Massachusetts on 29 May 1917 into a very wealthy family. He was of Irish and Roman Catholic descent and became the first Roman Catholic president. His father Joseph Kennedy Sr. was a very successful banker and his financial support played a large part in JFK's rise to the presidency.

His mother Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald also came from a wealthy background and was known as a philanthropist and a socialite. All nine of the Kennedy children were pushed to be competitive from a young age.

Fig. 1: Photograph of John F Kennedy, c.1961.

JFK graduated from Harvard in 1940. After graduating, Kennedy entered the Navy. In 1943, his patrol torpedo boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer and Kennedy received the US Navy and Marine Corps Medal for Heroism for leading the survivors to safety.

His older brother Joe Jr served as a pilot in the war but died in 1944. The Kennedy family had expected Joe to be the son who ran for political office; after his death, this passed to John.

John F Kennedy Facts

In 1947, JFK became a Democratic Congressman from the Boston area and advocated liberal policies including better working conditions, higher wages, and more public housing. In terms of foreign policy, he supported policies of containment during the beginning of the Cold War.

In 1953, he advanced to the Senate after a successful campaign run by his brother Robert. In September of that year, he married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier - her fashion sense and charisma endeared her to the American public when she later became First Lady.

As Senator, Kennedy earned a reputation for being responsive to his constituents. Issues that Kennedy argued for in the Senate included:

• Labour reform

• Civil rights legislation

• Foreign aid to emerging nations in Africa and Asia

• Fighting against the abolition of the Electoral College

In 1955, JFK published Profiles in Courage whilst recovering from an operation on his back (which caused him chronic pain throughout his life), and won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for it. The book recounted American political leaders who acted on conscience rather than popular opinion.

President Kennedy

Kennedy almost gained the Democratic nomination for Vice President in 1956, and in 1958 his re-election to the Senate saw him win by the largest ever margin in Massachusetts politics.

Fig. 2: Kennedy and Nixon during a Presidential debate on TV.

He won the Democratic nomination for President in 1960 and campaigned on the slogan "Let's get this country moving again" with running mate Lyndon B Johnson. Television debates with Republican candidate Richard Nixon made up a large part of Kennedy's campaign and were watched by 120 million Americans.

The public was charmed by "the Kennedy style" - Kennedy's glamorous identity comprising his charisma and wealthy background, his wife's beauty and style, the charm of their two young children, and the Harvard advisers he surrounded himself with.

He won the 1960 election by a narrow margin and became President in 1961.

President Kennedy Famous Speech

In his inaugural speech, President Kennedy famously said:

He also asked countries of the world to unite in fighting,

President Kennedy New Frontier

When he accepted the Democratic nomination for President, Kennedy spoke of a "New Frontier" for American politics. Kennedy's domestic program aimed to lower taxes, increase the minimum wage, help the unemployed, and support business and housing.

Key pieces of domestic legislation passed by JFK are detailed below.

He was however unable to get major pieces of his domestic program through Congress, including financial aid to education, the creation of a Department for Urban Affairs, and the introduction of Medicare - a health insurance program for those over 65. He succeeded in a cutting taxes but far less than he had initially wanted.

Fig. 3: Photograph of President Kennedy greeting Peace Corps volunteers, 1961 by Abbie Rowe.

JFK also introduced two important foreign policy bodies: the Peace Corps and the Alliance for Progress. The Peace Corps was founded in 1961, and organised sending American volunteers to developing countries around the world. The Alliance for Progress, also formed in 1961, aimed to foster greater economic ties with countries in Latin America, in order to tackle poverty and prevent the spread of communism.

President Kennedy Cold War

From the beginning of his political career, President Kennedy had been vocal about his support for containment of Communism. During his presidency, several key developments occurred in the Cold War.

President Kennedy Cold War Cuba

On 15 April 1961, Kennedy approved a mission by anti-communist Cuban exiles to invade Cuba in an attempt to overthrow the new communist government of Fidel Castro. These exiles had been trained by the CIA, and Kennedy was advised that the invasion would trigger an anti-communist uprising in Cuba. The Bay of Pigs Invasion, as it was called, was a disaster and the exiles were all either killed or captured. This was a huge failure and embarrassment for Kennedy.

Fig. 4: Women strike for peace.

In October 1962, the US discovered that the Soviet Union had missiles stationed in Cuba. Kennedy demanded the removal of the missiles and began a blockade of Cuba to stop Soviet ships reaching the island. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, but was eventually resolved after the Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles if Kennedy promised not to invade Cuba and to similarly remove missiles from Turkey.

After the Cuban Missile Crisis, a hotline telephone link was established between Washington and Moscow in an effort to reduce tensions. In August 1963 came Kennedy's greatest triumph in foreign policy when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan joined him in signing the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty.

President Kennedy Cold War Berlin

Another key arena for the Cold War was Berlin. In June 1961, Kennedy and Soviet leader Khrushchev met in Vienna for a summit in an effort to build trust. However, the summit mainly served to heighten tensions between the US and the USSR. Khrushchev threatened to cut off Allied access to West Berlin, and Kennedy increased US military output in response in case the US had to defend West Berlin.

On 13 August 1961, the communist government of East Germany began to build the Berlin Wall - one of the key symbols of the Cold War - in order to prevent migration from Soviet-controlled East Berlin to capitalist West Berlin. On 2 June 1963, Kennedy gave one of the most famous speeches of the Cold War: "Ich bin ein Berliner" translating to "I am a Berliner". In this speech, he said that the US stood with Berlin and that the city was a symbol of freedom and the continued struggle against communism.

President Kennedy Civil Rights Movement

Kennedy initially advanced slowly on the question of civil rights. He supported the cause but disapproved of public protests, believing they only made it more difficult for him to pass civil rights laws.

His first concrete action on civil rights came in September 1962 when he sent the National Guard to enable the first Black student James Meredith to enter the University of Mississippi against erupting violence.

He became a stronger advocate throughout his presidency and on 11 June 1963, he appeared on television asking America to end racism. Famous quotes from this speech include:

In the wake of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech on 28 August 1963, Kennedy sent a civil rights bill to Congress. This passed after his death as the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Act finally legally ended the Jim Crow Era of segregation.

President Kennedy Death

Fig. 5: Photograph of President Kennedy and his wife Jackie, minutes before his assassination.

JFK was assassinated on 22 November 1963 in Dallas, Texas as he rode in a motorcade. A man called Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and charged with the murder but two days later another man called Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald.

President Kennedy Assassination

The Kennedy assassination still remains somewhat a mystery and was a seminal event in American history. In public-opinion polls, Kennedy consistently ranks among the most popular American presidents of all time.