John F. Kennedy: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|President of the United States from 1961 to 1963}}
{{Redirect-multi|2|JFK|John Kennedy}}
{{about|the president of the United States}}
{{redirect-multi|3|JFK|John Kennedy|Jack Kennedy}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{pp-semi-indef|Reason=Vandalism}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Very long|date=June 2022|rps=109}}
{{Infobox officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = John F. Kennedy, White House color photo portrait.jpg<!--DO NOT change without gaining talk page consensus-->
|name          = John F. Kennedy
| caption             = [[Oval Office]] portrait, 1963
|image         = John F. Kennedy, White House color photo portrait.jpg<!--DO NOT change without gaining talk page consensus-->
| alt                = Portrait of President Kennedy smiling
|caption       = Oval Office portrait, 1963
| order              = 35th
|office        = 35th [[President of the United States]]
| office              = President of the United States
|vicepresident = Lyndon B. Johnson
| vicepresident       = Lyndon B. Johnson
|term_start   = January 20, 1961
| term_start         = January 20, 1961
|term_end     = November 22, 1963
| term_end           = November 22, 1963
|predecessor   = [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
| predecessor         = [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
|successor     = [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
| successor           = [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
|jr/sr1       = United States Senator
| jr/sr1             = United States Senator
|state1       = [[Massachusetts]]
| state1             = [[Massachusetts]]
|term_start1   = January 3, 1953
| term_start1         = January 3, 1953
|term_end1     = December 22, 1960
| term_end1           = December 22, 1960
|predecessor1 = [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]]
| predecessor1       = [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]]
|successor1   = [[Benjamin A. Smith II]]
| successor1         = [[Benjamin A. Smith II]]
|state2       = [[Massachusetts]]
| state2             = [[Massachusetts]]
|district2     = {{ushr|MA|11|11th}}
| district2           = {{ushr|MA|11|11th}}
|term_start2   = January 3, 1947
| term_start2         = January 3, 1947
|term_end2     = January 3, 1953
| term_end2           = January 3, 1953
|predecessor2 = [[James Michael Curley]]
| predecessor2       = [[James Michael Curley]]
|successor2   = [[Tip O'Neill]]
| successor2         = [[Tip O'Neill]]
|birth_name   = John Fitzgerald Kennedy
| birth_name         = John Fitzgerald Kennedy
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1917|5|29}}
| birth_date         = {{birth date |1917|5|29}}
|birth_place   = [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| birth_place         = [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], U.S.
|death_date   = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|1963|11|22|1917|5|29}}}}
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1963|11|22|1917|5|29}}
|death_cause   = [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|Assassination]]
| death_cause         = [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|Assassination]]
|death_place   = [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], U.S.
| death_place         = [[Dallas]], Texas, U.S.
|restingplace  = [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
| resting_place      = [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
|party         = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|spouse       = {{marriage|[[Jacqueline Lee Bouvier]]|September 12, 1953}}
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Jacqueline Bouvier]]|September 12, 1953}}
|children     = 4 (including [[John F. Kennedy Jr.|John Jr.]] and [[Caroline Kennedy|Caroline]])
| children           = {{flatlist|
|parents      = [[Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.]]<br>[[Rose Kennedy|Rose Fitzgerald]]
* Arabella
|relatives    = See [[Kennedy family]]
* [[Caroline Kennedy|Caroline]]
|education    = [[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Stanford University]]
* [[John F. Kennedy Jr.|John Jr.]]
|signature    = John F Kennedy Signature 2.svg
* [[Patrick Bouvier Kennedy|Patrick]]
|signature_alt = Cursive signature in ink
|allegiance    = {{flag|United States|1912}}
|branch        = {{flag|United States Navy}}
|serviceyears  = 1941–1945
|rank          = [[File:US Navy O3 infobox.svg|25px]] [[Lieutenant (naval)|Lieutenant]]
|unit          = Motor Torpedo Squadron 2<br>{{*}}[[Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109|Patrol Torpedo Boat 109]]<br>{{*}}[[Motor Torpedo Boat PT-59|Patrol Torpedo Boat 59]]
|battles      = [[World War II]]<br>{{*}}[[Solomon Islands campaign]]
|mawards      = [[File:Navy and Marine Corps Medal ribbon.svg|border|23px]] [[Navy and Marine Corps Medal]]<br>[[File:Purple Heart BAR.svg|border|23px]] [[Purple Heart]]<br>[[File:American Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|border|23px]] [[American Defense Service Medal]]<br>[[File:American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|border|23px]] [[American Campaign Medal]]<br>[[File:Asiatic-Pacific Campaign ribbon.svg|border|23px]] [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] (with 3 [[service star]]s)<br>[[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|border|23px]] [[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory]]<ref name="JFKlibrary.org misc">{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/John+F.+Kennedy+Miscellaneous+Information.htm |title=John F. Kennedy Miscellaneous Information |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |accessdate=February 22, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831043852/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical%2BResources/Archives/Reference%2BDesk/John%2BF.%2BKennedy%2BMiscellaneous%2BInformation.htm |archivedate=August 31, 2009}}</ref>
}}
}}
| father              = [[Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.]]
'''John Fitzgerald Kennedy''' (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963),<ref name=nytimes_garrow>{{cite news|last=Garrow|first=David J.|title=Substance Over Sex In Kennedy Biography|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/28/books/books-of-the-times-substance-over-sex-in-kennedy-biography.html|accessdate=January 20, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 28, 2003}}</ref> often called '''JFK''' and '''Jack''', was the 35th [[president of the United States]]. He was in office from January 20, 1961 until his [[assassination]] on November 22, 1963. He was the youngest president elected to the office, at the age of 43. Events during his presidency included the [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]], the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], the building of the [[Berlin Wall]], the [[Space Race]], the [[Civil Rights Movement]], and early stages of the [[Vietnam War]]. He was the youngest president of the United States to die in office.<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnfkennedy John F. Kennedy] at White House.gov</ref>
| mother              = [[Rose Fitzgerald]]
| relatives          = [[Kennedy family]]
| occupation          = {{hlist|Politician|journalist}}
| education          = [[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| signature          = John F Kennedy Signature 2.svg
| signature_alt      = Cursive signature in ink
| allegiance          = <!-- United States -->
| branch              = [[United States Navy]]
| serviceyears        = 1941–1945
| rank                = [[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]]
| unit                = {{plainlist|
* Motor Torpedo Squadron 2
** [[Patrol Torpedo Boat 109]]
** [[Patrol Torpedo Boat 59]]
}}
| battles            = {{tree list}}
* [[World War II]]
** [[Solomon Islands campaign]]
| mawards            = {{plainlist|
* [[Navy and Marine Corps Medal]]
* [[Purple Heart]]
* [[American Defense Service Medal]]
* [[American Campaign Medal]]
* [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] (with 3 [[service star]]s)
* [[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory]]<ref name="JFKlibrary.org misc">{{cite web|url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/John+F.+Kennedy+Miscellaneous+Information.htm |title=John F. Kennedy Miscellaneous Information |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum |access-date=February 22, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831043852/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical%2BResources/Archives/Reference%2BDesk/John%2BF.%2BKennedy%2BMiscellaneous%2BInformation.htm |archive-date=August 31, 2009}}</ref>
}}
}}
'''John Fitzgerald Kennedy Sr.''' (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials as '''JFK''' or by the nickname '''Jack''', was an American politician who served as the 35th [[president of the United States]] from 1961 until [[assassination of John F. Kennedy|his assassination]] near the end of his third year in office. Kennedy was the youngest person to assume the presidency by [[United States presidential election|election]]. He was also the youngest president at the end of his tenure, and his lifespan was the shortest of any president.<ref>{{cite web| title=John F. Kennedy| url=https://www.whitehousehistory.org/bios/john-kennedy| website=whitehousehistory.org| publisher=White House Historical Association| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> Kennedy served at the height of the [[Cold War]], and the majority of his work as president concerned relations with the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Cuba]]. A [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], he represented [[Massachusetts]] in both houses of the [[U.S. Congress]] prior to his presidency.
 
Born into the prominent [[Kennedy family]] in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], Kennedy graduated from [[Harvard University]] in 1940 before joining the [[U.S. Naval Reserve]] the following year. During [[World War II]], he commanded a series of [[PT boat]]s in the [[Pacific War|Pacific theater]]. Kennedy's survival of the sinking of [[PT-109]] and rescue of his fellow sailors made him a war hero for which he earned the [[Navy and Marine Corps Medal]], but left him with serious injuries. After a brief stint in journalism, Kennedy represented [[Massachusetts's 11th congressional district|a working-class Boston district]] in the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from 1947 to 1953. He was subsequently elected to the [[U.S. Senate]] and served as the junior [[List of United States senators from Massachusetts|senator for Massachusetts]] from 1953 to 1960. While in the Senate, Kennedy published his book, ''[[Profiles in Courage]]'', which won a [[Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography|Pulitzer Prize]]. In the [[1960 United States presidential election|1960 presidential election]], he narrowly defeated [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] opponent [[Richard Nixon]], who was the incumbent [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]]. Kennedy's humor, charm, and youth in addition to his father's money and contacts were great assets in [[John F. Kennedy 1960 presidential campaign|his campaign]]. Kennedy's campaign gained momentum after [[1960 United States presidential election#Debates|the first televised presidential debates]] in American history. He was the first [[Catholic]] elected president.
 
Kennedy's administration included high tensions with [[communist state]]s in the Cold War. As a result, he increased the number of [[Military advisor#US advisors in Vietnam|American military advisers]] in [[South Vietnam]]. The [[Strategic Hamlet Program]] began in Vietnam during his presidency. In April 1961, he authorized an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of [[Fidel Castro]] in the failed [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]].<ref>de Quesada, Alejandro ''The Bay of Pigs: Cuba 1961'' (2011) p. 17</ref> In November 1961, he authorized the [[Operation Mongoose]], also aimed at removing the communists from power in Cuba. He rejected [[Operation Northwoods]] in March 1962, but his administration continued to plan for an invasion of Cuba in the summer of 1962.<ref name="eu.usatoday.com">{{cite web|url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/30/u-s-planned-261-000-troop-invasion-force-cuba-newly-released-documents-show/813376001/ |title=U.S. planned massive Cuba invasion force, the kidnapping of Cuban officials |work=USA Today |date=October 30, 2017 |access-date=April 15, 2019}}</ref> The following October, U.S. spy planes discovered Soviet missile bases had been deployed in Cuba; the resulting period of tensions, termed the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], nearly resulted in the breakout of a global thermonuclear conflict. He also signed the first [[Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty|nuclear weapons treaty]] in October 1963. Kennedy presided over the establishment of the [[Peace Corps]], [[Alliance for Progress]] with Latin America, and the continuation of the [[Apollo program]] with the goal of [[We choose to go to the Moon|landing a man on the Moon]] before 1970. He also supported the [[civil rights movement]] but was only somewhat successful in passing his [[New Frontier]] domestic policies.
 
On November 22, 1963, he was assassinated in [[Dallas]]. [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], the vice president, [[First inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson|assumed the presidency]] upon Kennedy's death. [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], a former [[U.S. Marine]], was arrested for the assassination, but he was shot and killed by [[Jack Ruby]] two days later. The [[FBI]] and the [[Warren Commission]] both concluded Oswald had acted alone. After Kennedy's death, Congress enacted many of his proposals, including the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the [[Revenue Act of 1964]]. Despite his truncated presidency, Kennedy ranks highly in [[polls of U.S. presidents]] with historians and the general public. His personal life has also been the focus of considerable sustained interest following public revelations in the 1970s of his chronic health ailments and [[extramarital affair]]s. Kennedy is the most recent [[U.S. president to have died in office]].
 
{{TOC limit|3}}
 
==Early life and education==
[[File:John F. Kennedy home, Brookline, Massachusetts LCCN2011630152.tif|thumb|upright=1.05|Kennedy's birthplace in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]]]]
 
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born outside [[Boston]] in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]] on May 29, 1917, at [[83 Beals Street]],{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=20}} to [[Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.]], a businessman and politician, and [[Rose Kennedy]] (née Fitzgerald), a philanthropist and socialite.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=20}} His paternal grandfather, [[P. J. Kennedy]], served as a [[Massachusetts Senate|Massachusetts state legislator]]. Kennedy's maternal grandfather and namesake, [[John F. Fitzgerald]], served as a U.S. Congressman and was elected to two terms as [[Mayor of Boston]]. All four of his grandparents were children of Irish immigrants.<ref name="JFKlibrary.org misc"/> Kennedy had an older brother, [[Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.|Joseph Jr.]], and seven younger siblings: [[Rosemary Kennedy|Rosemary]], [[Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish|Kathleen]], [[Eunice Kennedy Shriver|Eunice]], [[Patricia Kennedy Lawford|Patricia]], [[Robert F. Kennedy|Robert]], [[Jean Kennedy Smith|Jean]], and [[Ted Kennedy|Edward]].
 
[[File:Kfc2073p crop.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Kennedy in a football uniform at [[Dexter Southfield School|Dexter School (Massachusetts)]], 1926]]
 
Kennedy lived in Brookline for the first ten years of his life. He attended the local [[St. Aidan's Church (Brookline, Massachusetts)|St. Aidan's Church]], where he was baptized on June 19, 1917.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyjfk.com/days/june-19-1917/|title=JFK John F Kennedy baptism St. Aidan's church Brookline}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy/churches-attended-by-john-f-kennedy|title=Churches Attended by John F. Kennedy &#124; JFK Library|website=www.jfklibrary.org}}</ref> He was educated through the 4th grade at the [[Edward Devotion School]], the [[Noble and Greenough School|Noble and Greenough Lower School]], and the [[Dexter School]]; all located in the [[Greater Boston|Boston area]]. His earliest memories involved accompanying his grandfather Fitzgerald on walking tours of historic sites in Boston and discussions at the family dinner table about politics, sparking his interest in history and public service.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=26–27}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Evan |title=Robert Kennedy: His Life |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=47}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/john_f_kennedy_birthplace.html|title=John F Kennedy's Birthplace--Presidents: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary|website=www.nps.gov}}</ref> His father's business had kept him away from the family for long stretches of time, and his ventures were concentrated on [[Wall Street]] and Hollywood. In 1927, the Dexter School announced it would not reopen before October after an outbreak of [[polio]] in [[Massachusetts]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Logevall |first1=Fredrik |title=JFK Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 |date=2020 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-8129-9713-2 |page=57}}</ref> In September, the family decided to move from Boston by "private railway car" to the [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]] neighborhood of New York City.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=21}}<ref name="John F. Kennedy: Early Years">{{cite web | title = John F. Kennedy: Early Years | access-date = April 17, 2017 | url = http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/jfk/section1.rhtml}}</ref> Several years later, his brother Robert told ''Look'' magazine that his father had left Boston because of signs that read: "No Irish Need Apply."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Evan |title=Robert Kennedy: His Life |publisher=Simon & Schuster |page=33}}</ref> The family spent summers and early autumns at [[Kennedy Compound|their home]] in [[Hyannis Port, Massachusetts]], a village on [[Cape Cod]], where they enjoyed swimming, sailing, and touch football.<ref name="jfklibrary.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy|title=Life of John F. Kennedy &#124; JFK Library|website=www.jfklibrary.org}}</ref> Christmas and Easter holidays were spent at their winter retreat in [[Palm Beach, Florida]].<ref name=Kennedy37>{{cite book|title=True Compass: A Memoir|first=Edward M.|last=Kennedy|page=[https://archive.org/details/truecompassmemoi00kenn/page/37 37]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-446-53925-8|publisher=Twelve; First edition|url=https://archive.org/details/truecompassmemoi00kenn/page/37}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = John F. Kennedy's Residences| access-date = April 17, 2017 | url = https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/JFK-Fast-Facts/Homes.aspx}}</ref> Young John attended the [[Riverdale Country School]] – a private school for boys – from 5th to 7th grade, and was a member of [[Boy Scouts (Boy Scouts of America)|Boy Scout]] Troop 2 in [[Bronxville, New York]].<ref name="JFKlibrary.org misc"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://bronxville.dailyvoice.com/lifestyle/looking-back-on-jfks-time-in-bronxville/512600/|title=Looking Back on JFK's Time in Bronxville|last=Failla|first=Zak|date=November 18, 2013|work=[[The Daily Voice (U.S. hyperlocal news)|The Daily Voice]]|access-date=August 14, 2017}}</ref> In September 1930, Kennedy, then 13 years old, was shipped off to the [[Canterbury School (Connecticut)|Canterbury School]] in [[New Milford, Connecticut]], for 8th grade. In April 1931, he had an [[appendectomy]], after which he withdrew from Canterbury and recuperated at home.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=34}}
 
In September 1931, Kennedy started attending [[Choate Rosemary Hall|Choate]], a prestigious boarding school in [[Wallingford, Connecticut]], for 9th through 12th grade. His older brother Joe Jr. had already been at Choate for two years and was a football player and leading student. He spent his first years at Choate in his older brother's shadow and compensated with rebellious behavior that attracted a coterie. Their most notorious stunt was exploding a toilet seat with a powerful firecracker. In the next chapel assembly, the strict headmaster, George St. John, brandished the toilet seat and spoke of certain "muckers" who would "spit in our sea". Defiantly Kennedy took a cue and named his group "The Muckers Club", which included roommate and lifelong friend [[Lem Billings|Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings]].{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=11}}
 
[[File:TheKennedyFamily1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|The Kennedy family in [[Hyannis Port, Massachusetts]], with JFK at top left in the white shirt, 1931]]
 
During his years at Choate, Kennedy was beset by health problems that culminated with his emergency hospitalization in 1934 at [[Yale New Haven Hospital]], where doctors suspected leukemia.<ref name = "Dallek">{{cite journal|last1=Dallek|first1=Robert|title=The Medical Ordeals of JFK|journal=The Atlantic|date=December 2002|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/12/the-medical-ordeals-of-jfk/305572/?single_page=true|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801185019/http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/12/the-medical-ordeals-of-jfk/305572/?single_page=true|archive-date=August 1, 2016 }}</ref> In June 1934, he was admitted to the [[Mayo Clinic]] in [[Rochester, Minnesota]]; the ultimate diagnosis there was [[colitis]].<ref name = "Dallek"/> Kennedy graduated from Choate in June of the following year, finishing 64th in a class of 112 students.<ref name="John F. Kennedy: Early Years"/> He had been the business manager of the school yearbook and was voted the "most likely to succeed".{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=11}}
 
In September 1935, Kennedy made his first trip abroad when he traveled to London with his parents and his sister Kathleen. He intended to study under [[Harold Laski]] at the [[London School of Economics]] (LSE), as his older brother had done. Ill-health forced his return to the United States in October of that year, when he enrolled late and attended [[Princeton University]] but had to leave after two months due to a gastrointestinal illness.<ref>{{cite web|title=John F. Kennedy's Princeton University undergraduate alumni file|url=https://blogs.princeton.edu/mudd/2013/11/john-f-kennedys-princeton-university-undergraduate-alumni-file/|website=Mudd Manuscript Library Blog|access-date=December 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801185334/https://blogs.princeton.edu/mudd/2013/11/john-f-kennedys-princeton-university-undergraduate-alumni-file/|archive-date=August 1, 2016 |date=November 22, 2013}}</ref> He was then hospitalized for observation at [[Brigham and Women's Hospital|Peter Bent Brigham Hospital]] in Boston. He [[Convalescence|convalesced]] further at the family winter home in Palm Beach, then spent the spring of 1936 working as a ranch hand on the {{convert|40000|acre|ha|abbr=off|adj=on}} Jay Six cattle ranch outside [[Benson, Arizona]].{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=42}} It is reported that ranchman [[Jack Speiden]] worked both brothers "very hard".<ref name='The "House That Jack Built": JFK And His Late Brother Built Adobe Shack For Arizona Rancher'>{{cite news|last1=Benson|first1=Kenneth Arline|title=The "House That Jack Built": JFK And His Late Brother Built Adobe Shack For Arizona Rancher|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=757&dat=19630814&id=frxOAAAAIBAJ&pg=6934,3275374|access-date=August 29, 2016|date=August 14, 1963|newspaper=The Daily News|location=Virgin Islands}}</ref><ref name="The Civilian Conservation Corps in Southern Arizona: Jack and Joe Kennedy in Arizona">{{cite web|last1=Hunt|first1=Sharon E.|title=The Civilian Conservation Corps in Southern Arizona: Jack and Joe Kennedy in Arizona|url=http://cccsouthernarizona.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/jack-and-joe-kennedy-in-arizona.html|website=The Civilian Conservation Corps in Southern Arizona |access-date=August 29, 2016|language=en|date=May 14, 2013}}</ref>
 
In September 1936, Kennedy enrolled at [[Harvard College]], and his application essay stated: "The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several. I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university. I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer. Then too, I would like to go to the same college as my father. To be a 'Harvard man' is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/jfks-very-revealing-harvard-application-essay/281699/|title=JFK's Very Revealing Harvard Application Essay|first=Eleanor|last=Barkhorn|date=November 21, 2013|work=The Atlantic}}</ref> He produced that year's annual "Freshman Smoker", called by a reviewer "an elaborate entertainment, which included in its cast outstanding personalities of the radio, screen and sports world".<ref name="Harvard Crimson 1937">{{cite news | url = http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1937/5/5/memorial-hall-auditorium-filled-to-capacity/ | title = Memorial Hall Auditorium Filled to Capacity at Annual Freshman Smoker | work = The Harvard Crimson | date = May 5, 1937 | access-date =February 18, 2012 }}</ref>
 
He tried out for the football, golf, and swimming teams and earned a spot on the varsity swimming team.{{sfn|Donovan|2001|p=7}} Kennedy also sailed in the [[Star (keelboat)|Star class]] and won the 1936 Nantucket Sound Star Championship.<ref>{{citation|first=John|last=Clarke|title=Selling J.F.K.'s Boat|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/selling-j-f-k-s-boat|date=May 19, 2015| magazine = [[The New Yorker]] | access-date = October 2, 2015}}</ref> In July 1937, Kennedy sailed to France—taking his convertible—and spent ten weeks driving through Europe with Billings.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=49}} In June 1938, Kennedy sailed overseas with his father and older brother to work at the [[U.S. Embassy, London|American embassy in London]], where his father was President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s U.S. Ambassador to the [[Court of St. James's]].{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=54}}
 
In 1939, Kennedy toured Europe, the [[Soviet Union]], the [[Balkans]], and the Middle East in preparation for his Harvard senior honors thesis. He then went to Berlin, where the U.S. diplomatic representative gave him a secret message about war breaking out soon to pass on to his father, and to [[Czechoslovakia]] before returning to London on September 1, 1939, the day that [[Invasion of Poland|Germany invaded Poland]] to mark the beginning of [[World War II]].{{sfn|Daum|2008|pp=127}} Two days later, the family was in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] for speeches endorsing the United Kingdom's declaration of war on Germany. Kennedy was sent as his father's representative to help with arrangements for American survivors of {{SS|Athenia|1922|6}} before flying back to the U.S. from [[Foynes]], Ireland, on his first transatlantic flight.
 
While Kennedy was an upperclassman at Harvard, he began to take his studies more seriously and developed an interest in [[political philosophy]]. He made the [[Dean's List|dean's list]] in his junior year.<ref name="Harvard Presidents">{{cite web | url = http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/11/obama-joins-list-of-seven-presidents-with-harvard-degrees/ | title = Obama joins list of seven presidents with Harvard degrees | work = Harvard Gazette | publisher = [[Harvard University]] | date = November 6, 2008 | access-date =February 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801190338/http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/11/obama-joins-list-of-seven-presidents-with-harvard-degrees/|archive-date=August 1, 2016 }}</ref> In 1940 Kennedy completed his thesis, "Appeasement in Munich", about British negotiations during the [[Munich Agreement]]. The thesis eventually became a bestseller under the title ''[[Why England Slept]]''.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|pp=61–66}} In addition to addressing Britain's unwillingness to strengthen its military in the lead-up to World War II, the book also called for an [[Anglo-American alliance]] against the rising totalitarian powers. Kennedy became increasingly supportive of U.S. intervention in World War II, and his father's isolationist beliefs resulted in the latter's dismissal as ambassador to the United Kingdom. This created a split between the Kennedy and Roosevelt families.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=15–17}}
 
In 1940, Kennedy graduated ''[[cum laude]]'' from Harvard with a Bachelor of Arts in government, concentrating on [[international affairs]]. That fall, he enrolled at the [[Stanford Graduate School of Business]] and audited classes there.{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=18}} In early 1941, Kennedy left and helped his father write a memoir of his time as an American ambassador. He then traveled throughout South America; his itinerary included Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=68}}{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=21}}
 
==U.S. Naval Reserve (1941–1945)==
Kennedy planned to attend [[Yale Law School]] after auditing courses on [[business law]] at Stanford, but canceled when American entry into World War II seemed imminent.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|pp=114, 117-118}} In 1940, Kennedy attempted to enter the army's [[Officer Candidate School (United States Army)|Officer Candidate School]]. Despite months of training, he was medically disqualified due to his chronic lower back problems. On September 24, 1941, Kennedy, with the help of the director of the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] (ONI) and the former naval [[attaché]] to Joseph Kennedy, Alan Kirk, joined the [[United States Naval Reserve]]. He was commissioned an [[ensign (rank)|ensign]] on October 26, 1941,<ref name="VT">{{cite web | url=http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=240 | title=John F. Kennedy, Jr. | publisher=Veteran Tributes | access-date=August 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801193040/http://www.veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=240|archive-date=August 1, 2016 }}</ref> and joined the staff of the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C.<ref name="maritimequest.com">{{cite web | url=http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109_john_f_kennedy.htm | title=President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963) | publisher=Michael W. Pocock and MaritimeQuest.com | access-date=August 1, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801193146/http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109_john_f_kennedy.htm|archive-date=August 1, 2016 }}</ref><ref name="history.navy.mil">{{cite web | url=http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-k/kennedy-john-f.html | title=John Fitzgerald Kennedy 29 May 1917 – 22 November 1963 | publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command | access-date=August 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801194504/http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-k/kennedy-john-f.html|archive-date=August 1, 2016 }}</ref>{{sfn|Ballard|2002|pp=12, 36}}
 
[[File:PT-109 crew.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Lieutenant (junior grade)]] Kennedy (standing at right) with his ''PT-109'' crew, 1943]]
 
In January 1942, Kennedy was assigned to the ONI field office at Headquarters, [[Sixth Naval District]], in [[Charleston, South Carolina]].<ref name="history.navy.mil"/> He attended the [[Naval Reserve Officer Training School]] at [[Northwestern University]] in Chicago from July 27 to September 27<ref name="maritimequest.com"/> and then voluntarily entered the [[Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons Training Center]] in [[Melville, Rhode Island]].<ref name="history.navy.mil"/>{{sfn|Donovan|2001|pp=19, 20}} On October 10, he was promoted to [[Lieutenant (junior grade)|lieutenant junior grade]].<ref name="history.navy.mil"/> In early November, Kennedy was still mourning the death of his close, childhood friend, [[U.S. Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] Second Lieutenant George Houk Mead Jr., who had been killed in action at [[Guadalcanal]] that August and awarded the [[Navy Cross]] for his bravery. Accompanied by a female acquaintance from a wealthy [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]] family, the couple had stopped in [[Middletown, Rhode Island]] at the cemetery where the decorated, [[U.S. Navy|naval]] spy, Commander [[Hugo W. Koehler]], USN, had been buried the previous year. Ambling around the plots near the tiny [[St. Columba's Chapel (Middletown, Rhode Island)|St. Columba's chapel]], Kennedy paused over Koehler's white granite cross grave marker and pondered his own mortality, hoping out loud that when his time came, he would not have to die without religion. "But these things can't be faked," he added. "There's no bluffing."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ineSPsErHYC&q=the+kennedys+at+war+hugo+koehler&pg=PT219|title=The Kennedys at War: 1937–1945|first=Edward J. Renehan|last=Jr|year=2002|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-385-50529-1}}</ref> Two decades later, Kennedy and Koehler's stepson, [[U.S. Senator]] [[Claiborne Pell]] had become good friends and political allies, although they had been acquaintances since the mid-1930s during their "[[salad days]]" on the same Newport [[debutante]] party "circuit" and when Pell had dated Kathleen ("Kick") Kennedy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKOH/Pell%2C%20Claiborne/JFKOH-CLP-01/JFKOH-CLP-01|title=Pell, Claiborne: Oral History Interview – JFK #1, 2/6/1967 &#124; JFK Library|website=www.jfklibrary.org}}</ref> Kennedy completed his training on December 2 and was assigned to Motor Torpedo Squadron FOUR.<ref name="maritimequest.com"/>
 
His first command was ''PT-101'' from December 7, 1942, until February 23, 1943:<ref name="history.navy.mil"/> It was a [[PT boat|patrol torpedo (PT) boat]] used for training while Kennedy was an instructor at Melville.{{sfn|Donovan|2001|p=20}} He then led three Huckins PT boats—''PT-98'', ''PT-99'', and ''PT-101'', which were being relocated from MTBRON 4 in Melville, Rhode Island, back to Jacksonville, Florida, and the new MTBRON 14 (formed February 17, 1943). During the trip south, he was hospitalized briefly in Jacksonville after diving into the cold water to unfoul a propeller. Thereafter, Kennedy was assigned duty in [[Panama]] and later in the [[Pacific War|Pacific theater]], where he eventually commanded two more PT boats.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-2.htm |title=Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, USN |access-date=September 17, 2007 |date=June 18, 2002 |work=Naval Historical Center |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912113627/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-2.htm |archive-date=September 12, 2007 }}</ref>
 
===Commanding ''PT-109''===
[[File:Lt. John F. Kennedy aboard the PT-109.jpg|thumb|upright|Kennedy on his navy patrol boat, the [[Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109|''PT-109'']], 1943]]
In April 1943, Kennedy was assigned to Motor Torpedo Squadron TWO,<ref name="maritimequest.com"/> and on April 24 he took command of ''[[Patrol torpedo boat PT-109|PT-109]]'',<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109.htm | title=USS PT 109| publisher=Michael W. Pocock and MaritimeQuest.com | access-date=August 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801200054/http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109.htm| archive-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref> which was based at the time on [[Tulagi]] Island in the [[Solomon Islands|Solomons]].<ref name="history.navy.mil"/> On the night of August 1–2, in support of the [[New Georgia campaign]], ''PT-109'' was on its 31st mission with fourteen other PTs ordered to block or repel four Japanese destroyers and floatplanes carrying food, supplies, and 900 Japanese soldiers to the Vila Plantation garrison on the southern tip of the Solomon's [[Kolombangara]] Island. Intelligence had been sent to Kennedy's Commander Thomas G. Warfield expecting the arrival of the large Japanese naval force that would pass on the evening of August 1. Of the 24 torpedoes fired that night by eight of the American PTs, not one hit the Japanese convoy.{{sfn|Donovan|2001|pp=99, 100}} On that dark and moonless night, Kennedy spotted a Japanese destroyer heading north on its return from the base of Kolombangara around 2:00&nbsp;a.m., and attempted to turn to attack, when ''PT-109'' was rammed suddenly at an angle and cut in half by the [[Japanese destroyer Amagiri (1930)|destroyer ''Amagiri'']], killing [[Andrew Jackson Kirksey and Harold William Marney|two ''PT-109'' crew]] members.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109_final_crew_list.htm | title=USS PT-109 Final Crew List | publisher=Michael W. Pocock and MaritimeQuest.com | access-date=August 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801201103/http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109_final_crew_list.htm |archive-date=August 1, 2016 }}</ref>{{sfn|Donovan|2001|pp=106}}<ref name="history.navy.mil"/>{{efn|After the war, Kennedy contacted the captain of the ''Amagiri'', Kohei Hanami, and formed a friendship with him. Hanami later supported Kennedy's election campaign.<ref>{{cite web|title=「きのうの敵は今日の友」― ケネディ大統領と日本人艦長の友情秘話|url=https://amview.japan.usembassy.gov/jfk-japanese-captain/|website=American View|date=April 5, 2015|access-date=July 26, 2020|language=ja|publisher=Embassy of the United States of America in Japan}}</ref>}}
 
Kennedy gathered around the wreckage his surviving ten [[Patrol torpedo boat PT-109#Crew on PT-109's last mission|crew members]] to vote on whether to "fight or surrender". Kennedy stated: "There's nothing in the book about a situation like this. A lot of you men have families and some of you have children. What do you want to do? I have nothing to lose." Shunning surrender, around 2:00&nbsp;p.m. on August 2, the men swam towards [[Plum Pudding Island]] {{convert|3.5|mi|km}} southwest of the remains of ''PT-109''.<ref name="history.navy.mil"/>{{sfn|Donovan|2001|pp=106–107, 119}} Despite re-injuring his back in the collision, Kennedy towed a badly burned crewman through the water to the island with a life jacket strap clenched between his teeth.{{sfn|Donovan|2001|pp=106–107, 124}} Kennedy made an additional two-mile swim the night of August 2, 1943, to Ferguson Passage to attempt to hail a passing American PT boat to expedite his crew's rescue and attempted to make the trip on a subsequent night, in a damaged canoe found on Naru Island where he had swum with Ensign George Ross to look for food.{{sfn|Doyle|2015|pp=66–106, 134–139}}
 
On August 4, 1943, he and his executive officer, Ensign Lenny Thom, assisted his injured and hungry crew on a demanding swim {{convert|3.75|mi|km}} southeast to Olasana Island, which was visible to the crew from their desolate home on Plum Pudding Island. They swam against a strong current, and once again Kennedy towed the badly burned motor machinist "Pappy" MacMahon by his life vest. The somewhat larger Olasana Island had ripe coconut trees, but still no fresh water.<ref name="BBC">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3107103.stm "JFK's epic Solomons swim"] BBC News July 30, 2003.</ref> On the following day, August 5, Kennedy and Ensign George Ross made the one-hour swim to Naru Island, an additional distance of about {{Convert|.5|mi|km}} southwest, in search of help and food. Kennedy and Ross found a small canoe, packages of crackers, candy and a fifty-gallon drum of drinkable water left by the Japanese, which Kennedy paddled another half mile back to Olasana in the acquired canoe to provide his hungry crew.  Native coast watchers [[Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana]] first discovered the 109 crew on Olasana Island and paddled their messages to Ben Kevu, a Senior Scout who sent them on to coast watcher Lieutenant Reginald Evans. On the morning of August 7, Evans radioed the PT base on Rendova.  Lieutenant "Bud" Liebenow, a friend and former tentmate of Kennedy's, rescued Kennedy and his crew on Olasana Island on August 8, 1943, aboard his boat, ''PT-157''.{{sfn|Doyle|2015|pp=143–148}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109_ens_leonard_j_thom.htm | title=Leonard Jay "Lenny" Thom (1917–1946) | publisher=Michael W. Pocock and MaritimeQuest.com | access-date=August 1, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208134953/http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/pt_boats/uss_pt_109_ens_leonard_j_thom.htm | archive-date=December 8, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.petertare.org/americanhero/body.htm | title=The Story of Leonard Jay Thom. (Executive Officer PT 109) | publisher=petertare.org | access-date=August 1, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801202811/http://www.petertare.org/americanhero/body.htm | archive-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/John-F-Kennedy-and-PT109.aspx?p=3 | title=John F. Kennedy and PT 109 | publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum | access-date=August 1, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801203240/http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/John-F-Kennedy-and-PT109.aspx?p=3 | archive-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref>
 
===Commanding ''PT-59''===
It only took Kennedy a month to recover and return to duty, commanding the ''[[PT-59]]''. He and his crew removed the original torpedo tubes and depth charges and refitted the vessel into a heavily armed gunboat, mounting two automatic 40mm guns and ten .50 caliber Browning machine guns. The new plan involved attaching a gunboat to each PT boat section adding gun range and defensive power against barges and shore batteries which the ''59'' went on to encounter on several occasions from mid-October to mid-November.{{sfn|Doyle|2015|pp=181, 187}} On October 8, 1943, Kennedy was promoted to full lieutenant.{{sfn|Doyle|2015|p=182}} On November 2, Kennedy's ''PT-59'' took part with two other PTs in the successful rescue of 40–50 marines. The ''59'' acted as a shield from shore fire and protected them as they escaped on two rescue landing craft at the base of the Warrior River at [[Raid on Choiseul|Choiseul Island]], taking ten marines aboard and delivering them to safety.{{sfn|Donovan|2001|pp=172–184}}{{sfn|Donovan|2001|p=189}} Under doctor's orders, Kennedy was relieved of his command of ''PT-59'' on November 18, and sent to the hospital on Tulagi.{{sfn|Doyle|2015|pp=193}} From there he returned to the United States in early January 1944. After receiving treatment for his back injury, he was released from active duty in late 1944.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-2.htm |title=Record of John F. Kennedy's Naval Service |work=[[Naval History & Heritage Command]] |date=June 18, 2002 |access-date=June 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527184324/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-2.htm |archive-date=May 27, 2012 }}</ref>
 
Kennedy was hospitalized at the [[Chelsea Naval Hospital]] in [[Chelsea, Massachusetts]] from May to December 1944.<ref name="maritimequest.com"/> On June 12, he was presented the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his heroic actions on August 1–2, 1943, and the Purple Heart Medal for his back injury while on ''PT-109''.<ref name="sptimes.com">{{cite web | url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/111199/JFK/timeline.shtml | title=JFK: A Timeline of His Life 1917–1963 | publisher=St. Petersburg Times. | access-date=August 1, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801205613/http://www.sptimes.com/News/111199/JFK/timeline.shtml | archive-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref> Beginning in January 1945, Kennedy spent three more months recovering from his back injury at [[Castle Hot Springs (Arizona)|Castle Hot Springs]], a resort and temporary military hospital in Arizona.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|pp=179, 180}}<ref name="peoriaaz.gov">{{cite web| title=Peoria Open Space Master Plan: Chapter 4 – Historic and Cultural Resources| url=http://www.peoriaaz.gov/uploadedFiles/NewPeoriaAZ/About_Peoria/Sonoran_Preservation_Program/Chapter4_HistoricCulturalResources.pdf| access-date=January 22, 2014| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201191814/http://www.peoriaaz.gov/uploadedFiles/NewPeoriaAZ/About_Peoria/Sonoran_Preservation_Program/Chapter4_HistoricCulturalResources.pdf| archive-date=February 1, 2014| df=mdy-all}}</ref> After the war, Kennedy felt that the medal he had received for heroism was not a combat award and asked that he be reconsidered for the [[Silver Star Medal]] for which he had been recommended initially. Kennedy's father also requested that his son receive the Silver Star, which is awarded for gallantry in action.
 
On August 12, 1944, Kennedy's older brother, [[Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.|Joe Jr.]], a navy pilot, was killed while on a special and hazardous air mission for which he had volunteered; his [[Operation Aphrodite|explosive-laden plane]] blew up when its bombs detonated prematurely over the [[English Channel]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.history.com/topics/joseph-kennedy-jr | title=Joseph Kennedy Jr | publisher=A+E Networks Corp. | access-date=August 1, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801215357/http://www.history.com/topics/joseph-kennedy-jr | archive-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref>
 
On March 1, 1945, Kennedy retired from the [[United States Navy Reserve|Navy Reserve]] on physical disability and was honorably discharged with the full rank of lieutenant.<ref name="sptimes.com"/> When later asked how he became a war hero, Kennedy joked: "It was easy. They cut my [[PT boat]] in half."{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=98}}
 
In 1950, the [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]] offered Kennedy a [[Bronze Star Medal]] in recognition of his meritorious service, which he declined.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/jfk-received-non-combat-recognition-for-wartime-action/ | title=John F. Kennedy Received "Non-Combat" Recognition for Wartime Action | publisher=Defense Media Network, Faircount Media Group | access-date=August 1, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801204422/http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/jfk-received-non-combat-recognition-for-wartime-action/ | archive-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref> Kennedy's two original medals are currently on display at the [[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Wyn_KJvaFUOgyG_1-dY3eQ.aspx | title=Lt. John F. Kennedy's WWII Medals: Navy Marine Corps Medal and Purple Heart | publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum | access-date=August 1, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801212832/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Wyn_KJvaFUOgyG_1-dY3eQ.aspx | archive-date=August 1, 2016}}</ref>
 
===Military awards===
In addition to the various campaign medals received for his war service, Kennedy was awarded the [[Navy and Marine Corps Medal]] for his conduct during and after the loss of PT-109, as well as the [[Purple Heart Medal|Purple Heart]] for being wounded.<ref name="JFKlibrary.org misc" />
 
{| style="margin:auto;"
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Navy and Marine Corps Medal ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Purple Heart BAR.svg|width=103}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=American Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=3|type=service-star|ribbon=Asiatic-Pacific Campaign ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|}
 
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto; text-align: center;"
|-
|[[Navy and Marine Corps Medal]]
|[[Purple Heart]]
|[[American Defense Service Medal]]
|-
|[[American Campaign Medal]]
|[[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]]<br />with three [[Service star|stars]]
|[[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]]
|}
 
====Navy and Marine Corps Medal citation====
{{blockquote|text=For extremely heroic conduct as Commanding Officer of Motor Torpedo Boat 109 following the collision and sinking of that vessel in the Pacific War area on August 1–2, 1943. Unmindful of personal danger, Lieutenant (then [[Lieutenant, Junior Grade]]) Kennedy unhesitatingly braved the difficulties and hazards of darkness to direct rescue operations, swimming many hours to secure aid and food after he had succeeded in getting his crew ashore. His outstanding courage, endurance and leadership contributed to the saving of several lives and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
|author=[[James Forrestal]], Secretary of the Navy<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Z4KRbK-qiU2tPZb4W23MkA.aspx | title=Citation for the Navy Marine Corps Medal | publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum | access-date=3 August 2016}}</ref>}}
 
== Journalism and personal diary ==
In April 1945, Kennedy's father, who was a friend of [[William Randolph Hearst]], arranged a position for his son as a special correspondent for [[Hearst Communications|Hearst Newspapers]]; the assignment kept Kennedy's name in the public eye and "expose[d] him to journalism as a possible career".{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=180}} He worked as a correspondent that May and went to Berlin for a second time,{{sfn|Daum|2008|pages=127}} covering the [[Potsdam Conference]] and other events.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=104}}
During this time, he kept a diary—his only known—in which he wrote that [[Adolf Hitler]] "had a mystery about him in the way he lived and in the manner of [[Death of Adolf Hitler|his death]] that will live and grow after him", and speculated that the dictator [[Conspiracy theories about Adolf Hitler's death|could still be alive]]. Kennedy gave the diary to a research assistant, who auctioned it in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 March 2017 |title=JFK diary calls Hitler 'stuff of legends' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39371715 |access-date=20 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McIntyre |first=Niamh |date=2017-03-25 |title=JFK thought Hitler could have survived Second World War, his diary reveals |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/john-f-kennedy-jfk-hitler-still-alive-diary-auction-a7649531.html |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=[[The Independent]] |language=en}}</ref>
 
==Congressional career (1947–1960)==
JFK's elder brother Joe had been the [[Kennedy family|family's political standard-bearer]] and had been tapped by their father to seek the presidency. Joe's death during the war in 1944 changed that course and the assignment fell to JFK as the second eldest of the Kennedy siblings.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=118}}
 
===House of Representatives (1947–1953)===
At the urging of Kennedy's father, U.S. Representative [[James Michael Curley]] vacated his seat in the strongly Democratic [[11th congressional district of Massachusetts]] to become mayor of Boston in 1946. Kennedy established his residency at an apartment building on 122 Bowdoin Street across from the [[Massachusetts State House]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Kennedy|url=https://archive.org/details/kennedysorerich|url-access=registration|first=Ted|last=Sorensen|pages=[https://archive.org/details/kennedysorerich/page/21 21]|year=1965|isbn= 978-1-56852-035-3|publisher=Harper & Row}}</ref> With his father financing and running his campaign under the slogan "The New Generation Offers a Leader",<ref>{{cite web | url=https://fansinaflashbulb.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/the-new-generation-offers-a-leader/ |title = The New Generation Offers a Leader|date = March 21, 2016}}</ref> Kennedy won the Democratic primary with 42 percent of the vote, defeating ten other candidates.<ref>{{cite book|title=Massachusetts Secretary of Commonwealth: Election Statistics 1946|url=https://archive.org/details/electionstatisti19461948mass/page/n75/mode/2up}}</ref> His father joked after the campaign, "With the money I spent, I could have elected my chauffeur."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/jfk/#transcript |title = JFK &#124; American Experience &#124; PBS|website = [[PBS]]}}</ref> Campaigning around [[Boston]], Kennedy called for better housing for veterans, better health care for all, and support for organized labor's campaign for reasonable work hours, a healthy workplace, and the right to organize, bargain, and strike. In addition, he campaigned for peace through the [[United Nations]] and strong opposition to the Soviet Union.<ref name="archives.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2017/spring/jfk-congress|title=JFK in Congress|date=March 24, 2017|website=National Archives}}</ref> Though Republicans took control of the House in the [[1946 United States House of Representatives elections|1946 elections]], Kennedy defeated his Republican opponent in the general election, taking 73 percent of the vote. Along with [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Joseph McCarthy]], Kennedy was one of several World War II veterans elected to Congress that year.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=24–26}}
 
Kennedy served in the House for six years, joining the influential [[Education and Labor Committee]] and the [[Veterans' Affairs Committee]]. He concentrated his attention on international affairs, supporting the [[Truman Doctrine]] as the appropriate response to the emerging [[Cold War]]. He also supported public housing and opposed the [[Labor Management Relations Act of 1947]], which restricted the power of labor unions. Though not as vocal an anti-communist as McCarthy, Kennedy supported the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952]], which required communists to register with the government, and he deplored the "[[loss of China]]".{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=26–29}}
 
Having served as a boy scout during his childhood, Kennedy was active in the [[Scouting in Massachusetts|Boston Council]] from 1946 to 1955 as district vice chairman, member of the executive board, vice-president, and National Council Representative.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy|title=Fast Facts about John F. Kennedy &#124; JFK Library|website=www.jfklibrary.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyjfk.com/boy-scouts/|title=JFK John F. Kennedy boy scouts|date=January 2, 1961}}</ref> Almost every weekend that Congress was in session, Kennedy would fly back to Massachusetts to give speeches to veteran, fraternal, and civic groups, while maintaining an index card file on individuals who might be helpful for a future campaign for state-wide office.<ref>{{cite book|title=John F. Kennedy: A Biography|url=https://archive.org/details/johnfkennedybiog00phdm|url-access=limited|first=Michael|last=Meagher|pages=[https://archive.org/details/johnfkennedybiog00phdm/page/n51 35]|year=2011|publisher=Greenwood}}</ref> JFK set a goal of speaking in every city and town in Massachusetts prior to 1952.<ref name="archives.gov"/>
 
===Senate (1953–1960)===
{{See also|1952 United States Senate election in Massachusetts|1958 United States Senate election in Massachusetts}}
As early as 1949, Kennedy began preparing to run for the Senate in [[1952 United States Senate election in Massachusetts|1952]] against Republican three-term incumbent [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]] with the campaign slogan "KENNEDY WILL DO ''MORE'' FOR MASSACHUSETTS".{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=254}} Joseph Kennedy again financed his son's candidacy, while John Kennedy's younger brother [[Robert F. Kennedy]] emerged as an important member of the campaign as manager.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=29–31}} The campaign hosted a series of "teas" (sponsored by Kennedy's mother and sisters) at hotels and parlors across Massachusetts to reach out to women voters.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=John T. |title=JFK in the Senate |date=October 15, 2013 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-230-34183-8 |page=41}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kennedy Jr. |first1=Robert F. |title=American Values: Lessons I Learned from My Family |date=May 15, 2018 |publisher=Harper |isbn=978-0-06-084834-7 |page=142}}</ref> In the presidential election, Republican [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] carried Massachusetts by a margin of 208,000 votes, but Kennedy defeated Lodge by 70,000 votes for the Senate seat.<ref name="John F. Kennedy">{{cite encyclopedia |title=John F. Kennedy |access-date=January 16, 2017 |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> The following year, he married [[Jacqueline Bouvier]].{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=29}}
 
Kennedy underwent several spinal operations over the next two years. Often absent from the Senate, he was at times critically ill and received Catholic [[last rites]]. During his convalescence in 1956, he published ''[[Profiles in Courage]]'', a book about U.S. senators who risked their careers for their personal beliefs, for which he won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Biography]] in 1957.<ref name="Jean3" /> Rumors that this work was co-written by his close adviser and [[speechwriter]], [[Ted Sorensen]], were confirmed in Sorensen's 2008 autobiography.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tofel |first=Richard J. |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121029817046479539 |title=In His Own Words |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=May 9, 2008 |access-date=March 28, 2010}}</ref>
[[File:John F. Kennedy nominates Adlai Stevenson 1956 (cropped).JPG|thumb|upright|left|Kennedy endorsing [[Adlai Stevenson II]] for the presidential nomination at the [[1956 Democratic National Convention]] in Chicago]]
 
At the start of his first term, Kennedy focused on Massachusetts-specific issues by sponsoring bills to help the [[Fishing industry|fishing]], [[textile manufacturing]], and [[watchmaking]] industries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldbookonline.com/advanced/article?id=ar297420&st=john+fitzgerald+kennedy#tab=homepage|title=World Book}}</ref> In 1954, Senator Kennedy voted in favor of the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]] which would connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, despite opposition from Massachusetts politicians who argued that the project would cripple New England's shipping industry, including the [[Port of Boston]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sparknotes.com/biography/jfk/section5/ |title=SparkNotes: John F. Kennedy: The Star Senator}}</ref> Three years later, Kennedy chaired a special committee to select the five greatest U.S. senators in history so their portraits could decorate the [[United States Senate Reception Room|Senate Reception Room]].<ref name="The Famous Five">{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Famous_Five_Seven.htm|title=The 'Famous Five'|date=March 12, 1959|publisher=United States Senate|access-date=May 11, 2019}}</ref> That same year, Kennedy joined the [[Senate Labor Rackets Committee]] with his brother Robert (who was chief counsel) to investigate crime infiltration of labor unions.<ref name="pophistorydig.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/jfks-1957-campaign/|title="JFK's Early Campaign"1957 &#124; The Pop History Dig}}</ref> In 1958, Kennedy introduced a bill (S. 3974) which became the first major labor relations bill to pass either house since the [[Taft–Hartley Act]] of 1947. The bill dealt largely with the control of union abuses exposed by the [[McClellan committee]] but did not incorporate tough Taft–Hartley amendments requested by President Eisenhower. It survived Senate floor attempts to include Taft-Hartley amendments and gained passage but was rejected by the House.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy/voting-record-and-stands-on-issues-page2|title=John F. Kennedy's Pre-Presidential Voting Record & Stands on Issues (p. 2 of 9) &#124; JFK Library|website=www.jfklibrary.org}}</ref>
 
At the [[1956 Democratic National Convention]], Kennedy gave the nominating speech for the party's presidential nominee, [[Adlai Stevenson II]].{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=34–35}} Stevenson let the convention [[1956 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection|select the vice presidential nominee]]. Kennedy finished second in the balloting, losing to Senator [[Estes Kefauver]] of Tennessee but receiving national exposure as a result.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://us.macmillan.com/jfkinthesenatepathwaytothepresidency/johntshaw |title=JFK in the Senate: Pathway to the Presidency |publisher=Macmillan |access-date=August 3, 2016 |author=Shaw, John T. }}{{dead link|date=April 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>
[[File:1958 United States Senate election in Massachusetts results map by municipality.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|Results of the 1958 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts. Kennedy's margin of victory of 874,608 votes was the largest in [[Politics of Massachusetts|Massachusetts political]] history.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy|title=John F. Kennedy – Presidential candidate and president|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=37}}]]
 
A matter demanding Kennedy's attention in the Senate was President Eisenhower's bill for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957]].{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=370}} Kennedy cast a procedural vote against it and this was considered by some to be an appeasement of Southern Democratic opponents of the bill.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=370}} Kennedy did vote for Title III of the act, which would have given the Attorney General powers to enjoin, but Majority Leader [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] agreed to let the provision die as a compromise measure.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|pp=370, 371}} Kennedy also voted for Title IV, termed the "Jury Trial Amendment". Many civil rights advocates at the time criticized that vote as one which would weaken the act.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=372}} A final compromise bill, which Kennedy supported, was passed in September 1957.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=374}} He proposed on July 2, 1957, that the U.S. support [[Algerian War|Algeria's effort to gain independence]] from France.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy/voting-record-and-stands-on-issues|title=John F. Kennedy's Pre-Presidential Voting Record & Stands on Issues (p. 1 of 9) &#124; JFK Library|website=www.jfklibrary.org}}</ref> The following year, Kennedy authored ''[[A Nation of Immigrants]]'' (later published in 1964), which analyzed the importance of immigration in the country's history as well as proposals to re-evaluate [[immigration law]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Book by President Kennedy To Be Published on Oct. 7 |work=The New York Times |date=September 3, 1964}}</ref>
 
In 1958, Kennedy was re-elected to a second term in the Senate, defeating Republican opponent, Boston lawyer Vincent J. Celeste, by a margin of 874,608 votes, the largest margin in the history of Massachusetts politics.<ref name="John F. Kennedy" /> It was during his re-election campaign that Kennedy's press secretary at the time, [[Robert E. Thompson (journalist)|Robert E. Thompson]], put together a film entitled ''The U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy Story'', which exhibited a day in the life of the Senator and showcased his family life as well as the inner workings of his office to solve Massachusetts-related issues. It was the most comprehensive film produced about Kennedy up to that time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKPPP-64.aspx|title=The U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy Story|work=jfklibrary.org|access-date=August 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802120837/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKPPP-64.aspx |archive-date=August 2, 2016}}</ref> In the aftermath of his re-election, Kennedy began preparing to run for president by traveling throughout the U.S. with the aim of building his candidacy for 1960.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=35–36}}<ref name="pophistorydig.com" />
 
When it came to [[conservation (ethic)|conservation]], Kennedy, a [[Massachusetts Audubon Society]] supporter, wanted to make sure that the shorelines of [[Cape Cod]] remained unsullied by future industrialization. On September 3, 1959, Kennedy cosponsored the [[Cape Cod National Seashore]] bill with his Republican colleague Senator [[Leverett Saltonstall]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.audubon.org/magazine/may-june-2012/rachel-carson-and-jfk-environmental-tag-team|title=Rachel Carson and JFK, an Environmental Tag Team|date=May 8, 2012|website=Audubon}}</ref>
 
Kennedy's father was a strong supporter and friend of Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]]. Additionally, Bobby Kennedy worked for McCarthy's subcommittee, and McCarthy dated Kennedy's sister Patricia. Kennedy told historian [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.]], "Hell, half my voters [particularly Catholics] in Massachusetts look on McCarthy as a hero."<ref name=amex>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/kennedys/ ''The Kennedys'']. ''[[American Experience]]''. Boston, Massachusetts: [[WGBH-TV|WGBH]]. 2009.</ref>{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|p=12}} In 1954, the Senate voted to censure McCarthy, and Kennedy drafted a speech supporting the censure. However, it was not delivered because Kennedy was hospitalized at the time. The speech put Kennedy in the apparent position of participating by "pairing" his vote against that of another senator and opposing the censure. Although Kennedy never indicated how he would have voted, the episode damaged his support among members of the [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]] community, including [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], in the 1956 and 1960 elections.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|pp=274–79, 394–99}}
 
==1960 presidential election==
{{main|John F. Kennedy 1960 presidential campaign|1960 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1960 United States presidential election}}
[[File:Leadership for the 60's (a).jpg|thumb|upright|1960 campaign poster]]
[[File:IFP-135-F109-1M Kennedy Jingle Campaign Spot.webm|thumb|left|A television advertisement from the 1960 campaign]]
On December 17, 1959, a letter from Kennedy's staff which was to be sent to "active and influential Democrats" was leaked stating that he would announce his presidential campaign on January 2, 1960.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45982923/tampa-bay-times/ |title=Kennedy Letter Opens Campaign For Presidency |date=December 18, 1959 |work=Tampa Bay Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200302162505/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45982923/tampa-bay-times/ |archive-date=March 2, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On January 2, 1960, Kennedy announced his candidacy for the [[1960 Democratic Party presidential primaries|Democratic presidential nomination]]. Though some questioned Kennedy's age and experience, his charisma and eloquence earned him numerous supporters. Many Americans held [[Anti-Catholicism in the United States|anti-Catholic attitudes]], but Kennedy's vocal support of the [[separation of church and state in the United States|separation of church and state]] helped defuse the situation. His religion also helped him win a devoted following among many Catholic voters. Kennedy faced several potential challengers for the Democratic nomination, including Senate Majority Leader [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], [[Adlai Stevenson II]], and Senator [[Hubert Humphrey]].{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=38–45}}
 
Kennedy's presidential campaign was a family affair, funded by his father and with his younger brother Robert, acting as his campaign manager. John preferred Ivy League policy advisors, but unlike his father, he enjoyed the give and take of Massachusetts politics and built a largely Irish team of campaigners, headed by [[Larry O'Brien]] and [[Kenneth O'Donnell]]. Kennedy traveled extensively to build his support among Democratic elites and voters. At the time, party officials controlled most of the delegates, but several states also held primaries, and Kennedy sought to win several primaries to boost his chances of winning the nomination. In his first major test, Kennedy won the Wisconsin primary, effectively ending Humphrey's hopes of winning the presidency. Nonetheless, Kennedy and Humphrey faced each other in a competitive West Virginia primary in which Kennedy could not benefit from a Catholic bloc, as he had in Wisconsin. Kennedy won the West Virginia primary, impressing many in the party, but at the start of the [[1960 Democratic National Convention]], it was unclear as to whether he would win the nomination.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=38–45}}
 
When Kennedy entered the convention, he had the most delegates, but not enough to ensure that he would win the nomination. Stevenson—the 1952 and 1956 presidential nominee—remained very popular in the party, while Johnson also hoped to win the nomination with the support from party leaders. Kennedy's candidacy also faced opposition from former president [[Harry S. Truman]], who was concerned about Kennedy's lack of experience. Kennedy knew that a second ballot could give the nomination to Johnson or someone else, and his well-organized campaign was able to earn the support of just enough delegates to win the presidential nomination on the first ballot.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|pp=45–47}}
 
Kennedy ignored the opposition of his brother, who wanted him to choose labor leader [[Walter Reuther]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://time.com/3491219/behind-the-picture-jfk-and-rfk-los-angeles-july-1960/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114201919/http://time.com/3491219/behind-the-picture-jfk-and-rfk-los-angeles-july-1960/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2014|title=Head to Head: JFK and RFK, Los Angeles, July 1960|last=Cosgrave|first=Ben|date=May 24, 2014|website=Time Magazine|access-date=March 19, 2018}}</ref> and other liberal supporters when he [[Democratic Party vice presidential candidate selection, 1960|chose Johnson]] as his vice presidential nominee. He believed that the Texas Senator could help him win support from the [[Southern United States|South]].{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|p=47}} The choice infuriated many in labor. AFL-CIO President [[George Meany]] called Johnson "the arch foe of labor", while Illinois AFL-CIO President [[Reuben G. Soderstrom|Reuben Soderstrom]] asserted Kennedy had "made chumps out of leaders of the American labor movement."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson|last=Caro|first=Robert|publisher=Vintage Books|year=2012|isbn=978-0-375-71325-5|location=New York|page=406}}</ref><ref>Soderstrom, Carl; Soderstrom, Robert; Stevens, Chris; Burt, Andrew (2018). [http://www.fortygavels.com/ ''Forty Gavels: The Life of Reuben Soderstrom and the Illinois AFL-CIO''.] '''3'''. Peoria, IL: CWS Publishing. pp. 175-176. {{ISBN|978-0-9982575-3-2}}.</ref> In accepting the presidential nomination, Kennedy gave his well-known "[[New Frontier]]" speech, saying, "For the problems are not all solved and the battles are not all won—and we stand today on the edge of a New Frontier. ... But the New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises—it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them."<ref name="JFKlibrary.org Accepting Dem Nom Pres">{{cite web | title = Address of Senator John F. Kennedy Accepting the Democratic Party Nomination for the Presidency of the United States | url = http://www.jfklibrary.org/About-Us/News-and-Press/Press-Releases/50-Years-Ago--Senator-John-F-Kennedy-of-Massachusetts-Wins-Presidential-Nomination-at-Democratic-Nat.aspx | date = July 15, 1960 | first = John F. | last = Kennedy | publisher = [[John F. Kennedy Library|John F. Kennedy Presidential Library]] | access-date = August 2, 2016 }}</ref>
 
At the start of the fall general election campaign, the Republican nominee and incumbent vice president Richard Nixon held a six-point lead in the polls.{{sfn|Brinkley|2012|p=49}} Major issues included how to get the economy moving again, Kennedy's Roman Catholicism, the [[Cuban Revolution]], and whether the space and missile programs of the Soviet Union had surpassed those of the U.S. To address fears that his being Catholic would impact his decision-making, he famously told the Greater Houston Ministerial Association on September 12, 1960: "I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party candidate for president who also happens to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my Church on public matters—and the Church does not speak for me."<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkhoustonministers.html | title = Address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association | access-date =September 17, 2007 | last = Kennedy | first = John F. | date = June 18, 2002 | work = American Rhetoric | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802122054/http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkhoustonministers.html | archive-date=August 2, 2016}}</ref> Kennedy questioned rhetorically whether one-quarter of Americans were relegated to second-class citizenship just because they were Catholic, and once stated that "[n]o one asked me my religion [serving the Navy] in the South Pacific".{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=15}} Despite Kennedy's efforts to quell anti-Catholic concerns and similar statements by high-profile Protestant figures, religious bigotry would dog the Democratic candidate through the end of the campaign. His score among white Protestants would ultimately be lower than Adlai Stevenson's in 1956, though Stevenson lost his election. Some Catholic leaders also expressed reservations about Kennedy, but the vast majority of laypeople rallied to him.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Carty |first1=Thomas J. |title=A Catholic in the White House? Religion, Politics, and John F. Kennedy's Presidential Campaign |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York City}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Casey |first1=Shaun A. |title=The Making of a Catholic President: Kennedy vs. Nixon 1960 |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York City}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lacroix |first1=Patrick |title=John F. Kennedy and the Politics of Faith |date=2021 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |location=Lawrence |pages=21–44}}</ref>
 
[[File:Kennedy Nixon Debat (1960).jpg|thumb|Kennedy and Richard Nixon participate in the nation's second televised [[United States presidential election debates#1960 Kennedy–Nixon debates|presidential debate]], Washington, D.C., 1960]]
Between September and October, Kennedy squared off against Nixon in the first televised [[1960 United States presidential debates|presidential debates]] in U.S. history. During these programs, Nixon had an injured leg, "[[five o'clock shadow]]", and was perspiring, making him look tense and uncomfortable. Conversely, Kennedy wore makeup and appeared relaxed, which helped the large television audience to view him as the winner. On average radio listeners thought that Nixon had won or that the debates were a draw.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/kennedy-nixon/kennedy-nixon.htm | title = The Kennedy–Nixon Presidential Debates, 1960 | access-date = September 18, 2007 | last = Tyner Allen | first = Erika | work = museum.tv | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080727140850/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/kennedy-nixon/kennedy-nixon.htm | archive-date = July 27, 2008 | url-status=dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> The debates are now considered a milestone in American political history—the point at which the medium of television began to play a dominant role in politics.<ref name="Jean3">{{cite web | url = http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1967/mar-apr/smith.html | title = Kennedy and Defense The formative years | access-date = September 18, 2007 | last = Edward Smith | first = Dr. Jean | date = March 1967 | work = Air University Review | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081212113925/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1967/mar-apr/smith.html | archive-date = December 12, 2008 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
 
Kennedy's campaign gained momentum after the first debate, and he pulled slightly ahead of Nixon in most polls. On [[Election Day (United States)|Election Day]], Kennedy defeated Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the 20th century. In the national popular vote, [[United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote#1960 Alabama results ambiguity|by most accounts]], Kennedy led Nixon by just two-tenths of one percent (49.7% to 49.5%), while in the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]], he won 303 votes to Nixon's 219 (269 were needed to win).{{sfn|Dudley|Shiraev|2008|p=83}} Fourteen electors from Mississippi and Alabama refused to support Kennedy because of his support for the [[civil rights movement]]; they voted for Senator [[Harry F. Byrd]] of Virginia, as did an elector from Oklahoma.{{sfn|Dudley|Shiraev|2008|p=83}} Kennedy became the [[List of presidents of the United States by age|youngest person]] (43) ever elected to the presidency, though [[Theodore Roosevelt]] was a year younger at 42 when he automatically assumed the office after the [[assassination of William McKinley]] in 1901.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=21}}
 
==Presidency (1961–1963)==
{{Main|Presidency of John F. Kennedy}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of the John F. Kennedy presidency}}
{{Wikisource|John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address}}
[[File:Jfk inauguration.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[Earl Warren]] administers the [[oath of office of the President of the United States|presidential oath of office]] to John F. Kennedy at [[United States Capitol|the Capitol]], January 20, 1961.]]
 
John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president at noon on January 20, 1961. In [[Inaugural address of John F. Kennedy|his inaugural address]], he spoke of the need for all Americans to be active citizens, famously saying, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." He asked the nations of the world to join to fight what he called the "common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself".<ref name="JFKlibrary.org Inaugural Address">{{cite web|title=Inaugural Address |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations/Inaugural-Address.aspx |date=January 20, 1961 |first=John F. |last=Kennedy |publisher=[[John F. Kennedy Library|John F. Kennedy Presidential Library]] |access-date=February 22, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111193541/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations/Inaugural-Address.aspx |archive-date=January 11, 2012 }}</ref> He added:
 
<blockquote>"All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin." In closing, he expanded on his desire for greater internationalism: "Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you."<ref name="JFKlibrary.org Inaugural Address"/></blockquote>
 
The address reflected Kennedy's confidence that his administration would chart a historically significant course in both domestic policy and foreign affairs. The contrast between this optimistic vision and the pressures of managing daily political realities at home and abroad would be one of the main tensions running through the early years of his administration.{{sfn|Kempe|2011|p=52}}
[[File:Meeting with President Eisenhower. President Kennedy, President Eisenhower, military aides. Camp David, MD. - NARA - 194198.jpg|thumb|right|Kennedy with retired president [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] at Camp David]]
Kennedy brought to the White House a contrast in organization compared to the decision-making structure of former General Eisenhower, and he wasted no time in scrapping Eisenhower's methods.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=22}} Kennedy preferred the organizational structure of a wheel with all the spokes leading to the president. He was ready and willing to make the increased number of quick decisions required in such an environment. He selected a mixture of experienced and inexperienced people to serve in his cabinet. "We can learn our jobs together", he stated.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=23, 25}}
 
Much to the chagrin of his economic advisors, who wanted him to reduce taxes, Kennedy quickly agreed to a balanced budget pledge. This was needed in exchange for votes to expand the membership of the [[House Rules Committee]] in order to give the Democrats a majority in setting the legislative agenda.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=56}} Kennedy focused on immediate and specific issues facing the administration and quickly voiced his impatience with pondering deeper meanings. [[Deputy National Security Advisor (United States)|Deputy National Security Advisor]] [[Walt Whitman Rostow]] once began a diatribe about the growth of communism, and Kennedy abruptly cut him off, asking, "What do you want me to do about that today?"{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=66}}
 
Kennedy approved Defense Secretary [[Robert McNamara]]'s controversial decision to award the contract for the [[F-111]] TFX (Tactical Fighter Experimental) fighter-bomber to [[General Dynamics]] (the choice of the civilian Defense department) over [[Boeing]] (the choice of the military).<ref>{{cite book|last=Art|first=Robert J.|year=1968|title=The TFX decision; McNamara and the military|location=Boston|publisher=Little, Brown|oclc=294546|pages=ix–xi}}</ref> At the request of Senator [[Henry M. Jackson|Henry Jackson]], Senator [[John Little McClellan|John McClellan]] held 46 days of mostly closed-door hearings before the [[United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations|Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations]] investigating the TFX contract from February to November 1963.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shapley|first=Deborah|year=1993|title=Promise and power: the life and times of Robert McNamara|location=Boston|publisher=Little, Brown|isbn=978-0-316-78280-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/promisepowerlife00shap/page/202 202–223]|url=https://archive.org/details/promisepowerlife00shap/page/202}}</ref>
 
During the summer of 1962, Kennedy had a secret taping system set up in the White House, most likely to aid his future memoir. It recorded many conversations with Kennedy and his Cabinet members, including those in relation to the "Cuban Missile Crisis".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-john-f-kennedy|title=10 Things You May Not Know About John F. Kennedy|first=Christopher|last=Klein|website=HISTORY}}</ref>
 
===Foreign policy===
{{main|Foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration}}
[[File:US President John Kennedy Presidential Trips.PNG|thumb|left|upright=1.5|Foreign trips of John F. Kennedy during his presidency]]
 
Kennedy's foreign policy was dominated by American confrontations with the Soviet Union, manifested by proxy contests in the early stage of the [[Cold War]]. In 1961 he anxiously anticipated a summit with [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Soviet Premier]] [[Nikita Khrushchev]]. He started off on the wrong foot by reacting aggressively to a routine Khrushchev speech on Cold War confrontation in early 1961. The speech was intended for domestic audiences in the Soviet Union, but Kennedy interpreted it as a personal challenge. His mistake helped raise tensions going into the [[Vienna summit]] of June 1961.{{sfn|Kempe|2011|pp=76–78}}
 
On the way to the summit, Kennedy stopped in Paris to meet French President [[Charles de Gaulle]], who advised him to ignore Khrushchev's abrasive style. The French president feared the United States' presumed influence in Europe. Nevertheless, de Gaulle was quite impressed with the young president and his family. Kennedy picked up on this in his speech in Paris, saying that he would be remembered as "the man who accompanied Jackie Kennedy to Paris".{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=145}}
 
[[File:President Kennedy in Vienna, 1961, USIA.ogv|thumb|right|Clip of Kennedy meeting with Nikita Khrushchev in [[Vienna]], 1961]]
On June 4, 1961, Kennedy met with Khrushchev in Vienna and left the meetings angry and disappointed that he had allowed the premier to bully him, despite the warnings he had received. Khrushchev, for his part, was impressed with the president's intelligence but thought him weak. Kennedy did succeed in conveying the bottom line to Khrushchev on the most sensitive issue before them, a proposed treaty between Moscow and [[East Berlin]]. He made it clear that any treaty interfering with U.S. access rights in [[West Berlin]] would be regarded as an act of war.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=161–171}} Shortly after Kennedy returned home, the U.S.S.R. announced its plan to sign a treaty with East Berlin, abrogating any third-party occupation rights in either sector of the city. Depressed and angry, Kennedy assumed that his only option was to prepare the country for nuclear war, which he personally thought had a one-in-five chance of occurring.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=175}}
 
In the weeks immediately following the Vienna summit, more than 20,000 people [[Republikflucht|fled from East Berlin]] to the western sector, reacting to statements from the U.S.S.R. Kennedy began intensive meetings on the Berlin issue, where [[Dean Acheson]] took the lead in recommending a military buildup alongside NATO allies.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=185}} In a July 1961 speech, Kennedy announced his decision to add $3.25&nbsp;billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|3.25|1961|r=2}}&nbsp;billion in {{Inflation-year|US}}) to the defense budget, along with over 200,000 additional troops, stating that an attack on West Berlin would be taken as an attack on the U.S. The speech received an 85% approval rating.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=201}}
 
A month later, both the Soviet Union and East Berlin began blocking any further passage of East Germans into West Berlin and erected barbed wire fences, which were quickly upgraded to the [[Berlin Wall]], around the city. Kennedy's initial reaction was to ignore this, as long as free access from the West to West Berlin continued. This course was altered when West Berliners had lost confidence in the defense of their position by the United States. Kennedy sent Vice President Johnson and [[Lucius D. Clay]], along with a host of military personnel, in convoy through East Germany, including Soviet-armed checkpoints, to demonstrate the continued commitment of the U.S. to West Berlin.{{sfn|Daum|2008|pages=51–55}}{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=213}}
 
Kennedy gave a speech at [[Saint Anselm College]] on May 5, 1960, regarding America's conduct in the emerging Cold War. His address detailed how he felt American foreign policy should be conducted towards African nations, noting a hint of support for modern African nationalism by saying, "For we, too, founded a new nation on revolt from colonial rule."<ref name="JFKlibrary.org Saint Anselm's College">{{cite web | url = http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Saint-Anselms-College-NH_19600305.aspx | title = Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at Saint Anselm's College, Manchester, New Hampshire, March&nbsp;5, 1960 | publisher = John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum | work = JFKlibrary.org | date = March 5, 1960 | access-date =March 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802131108/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Saint-Anselms-College-NH_19600305.aspx | archive-date=August 2, 2016 }}</ref>
 
====Cuba and the Bay of Pigs Invasion====
{{main|Bay of Pigs Invasion}}
[[File:President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson prior to ceremony.jpg|thumb|left|Kennedy and Vice President Johnson walking on the White House grounds]]
 
The Eisenhower administration had created a plan to overthrow [[Fidel Castro]]'s regime in Cuba. Led by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA), with help from the U.S. military, the plan was for an invasion of Cuba by a counter-revolutionary insurgency composed of U.S.-trained, anti-Castro Cuban exiles{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|pp=233, 238}}<ref>Gleijeses (1995), pp. 9–19</ref> led by CIA paramilitary officers. The intention was to invade Cuba and instigate an uprising among the Cuban people, hoping to remove Castro from power.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=69–73}} Kennedy approved the final invasion plan on April 4, 1961.
 
The [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]] began on April 17, 1961. Fifteen hundred U.S.-trained Cubans, dubbed [[Brigade 2506]], landed on the island. No U.S. air support was provided. [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] [[Director of the CIA|director]] [[Allen Welsh Dulles|Allen Dulles]] later stated that they thought Kennedy would authorize any action that was needed for success once the troops were on the ground.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=71, 673}}
 
By April 19, 1961, the Cuban government had captured or killed the invading exiles, and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release of the 1,189 survivors. Twenty months later, Cuba released the captured exiles in exchange for $53&nbsp;million worth of food and medicine.{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|pp=268–294, 838–839}} The incident made Castro feel wary of the U.S. and led him to believe that another invasion would take place.<ref>[[Jean Edward Smith]], "Bay of Pigs: The Unanswered Questions", ''The Nation'', April 13, 1964.</ref>
 
Biographer [[Richard Reeves (American writer)|Richard Reeves]] said that Kennedy focused primarily on the political repercussions of the plan rather than military considerations. When it proved unsuccessful, he was convinced that the plan was a setup to make him look bad.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=95–97}} He took responsibility for the failure, saying, "We got a big kick in the leg and we deserved it. But maybe we'll learn something from it."{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|pp=290, 295}} He appointed Robert Kennedy to help lead a committee to examine the causes of the failure.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hayes|first=Matthew A.|date=2019|title=Robert Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis: A Reassertion of Robert Kennedy's Role as the President's 'Indispensable Partner' in the Successful Resolution of the Crisis|journal=History|language=en|volume=104|issue=361|pages=473–503|doi=10.1111/1468-229X.12815|s2cid=164907501|issn=1468-229X|url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10075581/1/Hayes_%20Robert%20Kennedy%20and%20the%20Cuban%20Missile%20Crisis%20Final%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf}}</ref>
 
In late-1961, the White House formed the Special Group (Augmented), headed by Robert Kennedy and including [[Edward Lansdale]], Secretary [[Robert McNamara]], and others. The group's objective—to overthrow Castro via espionage, sabotage, and other covert tactics—was never pursued.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=264}} In March 1962, Kennedy rejected [[Operation Northwoods]], proposals for [[false flag]] attacks against American military and civilian targets,<ref name="1962USJCOS">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/1962USJointChiefsOfStaffOperationNorthwoodsUnclassifiedDocument/page/n11|title=1962 US Joint Chiefs Of Staff Operation Northwoods Unclassified Document Bolsheviks NWO|date=1962|website=Internet Archive}}</ref> and blaming them on the Cuban government in order to gain approval for a war against Cuba. However, the administration continued to plan for an invasion of Cuba in the summer of 1962.<ref name="eu.usatoday.com"/>
 
====Cuban Missile Crisis====
{{main|Cuban Missile Crisis}}
[[File:President confers with Attorney General. Attorney General Kennedy, President Kennedy. White House, West Wing Collonade. - NARA - 194239.jpg|thumb|left|Kennedy confers with Attorney General [[Robert Kennedy]], October 1962]]
{{listen | filename = John F Kennedy Address on the Buildup of Arms in Cuba.ogg | title = Address on the Buildup of Arms in Cuba | description = Kennedy addressing the nation on October 22, 1962, about the buildup of arms on Cuba}}
{{Wikisource|Cuban Missile Crisis}}
 
On October 14, 1962, CIA [[Lockheed U-2|U-2]] spy planes [[Aerial reconnaissance#Cold War|took photographs]] of the Soviets' construction of [[intermediate-range ballistic missile]] sites in Cuba. The photos were shown to Kennedy on October 16; a consensus was reached that the missiles were offensive in nature and thus posed an immediate nuclear threat.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=345}}
 
Kennedy faced a dilemma: if the U.S. attacked the sites, it might lead to [[nuclear war]] with the U.S.S.R., but if the U.S. did nothing, it would be faced with the increased threat from close-range nuclear weapons. The U.S. would also appear to the world as less committed to the defense of the hemisphere. On a personal level, Kennedy needed to show resolve in reaction to Khrushchev, especially after the Vienna summit.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=245}}
 
More than a third of [[U.S. National Security Council]] (NSC) members favored an unannounced air assault on the missile sites, but for some of them this conjured up an image of "[[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] in reverse".{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=387}} There was also some concern from the international community (asked in confidence), that the assault plan was an overreaction in light of the fact that Eisenhower had placed [[PGM-19 Jupiter]] missiles in Italy and Turkey in 1958. It also could not be assured that the assault would be 100% effective.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=388}} In concurrence with a majority-vote of the NSC, Kennedy decided on a naval quarantine. On October 22, he dispatched a message to Khrushchev and announced the decision on TV.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=389}}
 
The U.S. Navy would stop and inspect all Soviet ships arriving off Cuba, beginning October 24. The [[Organization of American States]] gave unanimous support to the removal of the missiles. Kennedy exchanged two sets of letters with Khrushchev, to no avail.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=390}} United Nations (UN) Secretary General [[U Thant]] requested both parties to reverse their decisions and enter a cooling-off period. Khrushchev agreed, but Kennedy did not.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=403}}


One Soviet-flagged ship was stopped and boarded. On October 28, Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the missile sites, subject to UN inspections.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=426}} The U.S. publicly promised never to invade Cuba and privately agreed to remove its Jupiter missiles from Italy and Turkey, which were by then obsolete and had been supplanted by submarines equipped with [[UGM-27 Polaris]] missiles.{{sfn|Kenney|2000|pp=184–186}}
==Childhood and education==


This crisis brought the world closer to nuclear war than at any point before or after. It is considered that "the humanity" of both Khrushchev and Kennedy prevailed.{{sfn|Kenney|2000|p=189}} The crisis improved the image of American willpower and the president's credibility. Kennedy's approval rating increased from 66% to 77% immediately thereafter.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=425}}
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born at 83 Beals Street in the Coolidge Corner neighborhood in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]] on May 29, 1917. He was the second of nine children of [[Kennedy Family|Joseph P. Kennedy]] (1888–1969). His father was a businessman and later US [[ambassador]] in the [[United Kingdom]] from 1938 until 1940. His mother was [[Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy|Rose Fitzgerald]] (1890–1995). The family was Roman Catholic.  


====Latin America and communism====
Kennedy graduated from [[Harvard University]] with a [[Bachelor's degree|Bachelor's Degree]] in [[International relations|International Relations]]. Before [[World War II]] began, he tried joining the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]], but was rejected because he had back problems; he instead joined the [[United States Navy|Navy]]. When his [[PT boat]] was sunk by a Japanese [[warship|destroyer]] in 1943, he seriously injured his back. He still saved his surviving crew, for which he was later rewarded with a medal for his bravery.
{{main|Foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration#Latin America}}
[[File:President Kennedy - signing Cuba Quarantine Proclamation.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.85|Kennedy signs the [[Cuban Missile Crisis|Proclamation for Interdiction of the Delivery of Offensive Weapons to Cuba]] in the Oval Office, October 23, 1962]]


Believing that "those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable,"<ref>JFK's "Address on the First Anniversary of the Alliance for Progress", White House reception for diplomatic cors of the Latin American republics, March 13, 1962. ''Public Papers of the Presidents''&nbsp;– John F. Kennedy (1962), p. 223.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/4730892.1962.001|title=John F. Kennedy: 1962 : containing the public messages, speeches, and statements of the president, January 20 to December 31, 1962.|last=Kennedy|first=John F. (John Fitzgerald)|date=2005}}</ref> Kennedy sought to contain the perceived threat of communism in Latin America by establishing the [[Alliance for Progress]], which sent aid to some countries and sought greater human rights standards in the region.{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|pp=788, 789}} He worked closely with [[Governor of Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican Governor]] [[Luis Muñoz Marín]] for the development of the Alliance of Progress and began working to further [[Puerto Rico]]'s autonomy.
He was elected to the [[US Congress]] in 1946, and the [[US Senate]] in 1952. He married [[Jacqueline Kennedy|Jacqueline Bouvier]] on September 12, 1953. The couple had four children; a [[Stillbirth|stillborn]] daughter (b. 1956), [[Caroline Bouvier Kennedy|Caroline]] (b. 1957), [[John F. Kennedy Jr.|John]] (1960–1999) and Patrick, who was [[Premature birth|born prematurely]] in August 1963 and lived only for two days.


The Eisenhower administration, through the CIA, had begun formulating plans to assassinate Castro in Cuba and [[Rafael Trujillo]] in the [[Dominican Republic]]. When Kennedy took office, he privately instructed the CIA that any plan must include [[plausible deniability]] by the U.S. His public position was in opposition.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=140–142}} In June 1961, the Dominican Republic's leader was assassinated; in the days following, Undersecretary of State [[Chester Bowles]] led a cautious reaction by the nation. Robert Kennedy, who saw an opportunity for the U.S., called Bowles "a gutless bastard" to his face.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=152}}
== Presidency, 1961–63 ==


====Peace Corps====
Kennedy was a member of the [[United States Democratic Party]]. He beat his [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] opponent, [[Richard Nixon]], in the [[1960 United States presidential election|1960 presidential election]]. Kennedy was the youngest president ever elected. He was also the first [[Roman Catholic]] President and the first president to win a [[Pulitzer Prize]]. Kennedy was a very good speaker and inspired a new generation of young Americans.
{{listen
| title = Establishment of the Peace Corps
| filename = JFK Establishment of the Peace Corps edit.ogg
| description = John F. Kennedy's announcement of the establishment of the [[Peace Corps]]
| image = [[File:Executive Order 10924 from NARA.jpg|alt=Physical text copy of the [[Executive order (United States)|Executive Order]] establishing the [[Peace Corps]]|upright=0.4|thumb|Executive Order 10924]]
}}
In one of his first presidential acts, Kennedy asked Congress to create the [[Peace Corps]]. His brother-in-law, [[Sargent Shriver]], was its first director.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|pp=338–339}} Through this program, Americans volunteered to help developing nations in fields like education, farming, health care, and construction. The organization grew to 5,000 members by March 1963 and 10,000 the year after.{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|pp=606–607}} Since 1961, over 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, representing 139 countries.<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Meisler | first1 = Stanley | title = When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and Its First Fifty Years | publisher = Beacon Press | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-8070-5049-1 | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780807050491 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/fast-facts/| title = Peace Corps, Fast Facts | access-date = August 2, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802133017/https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/fast-facts/ | archive-date=August 2, 2016}}</ref>


====Southeast Asia====
In the beginning of his term, he approved the [[CIA|CIA's]] plan to [[Invasion|invade]] [[Cuba]].  After the invasion turned out to be a failure, the Cuban Missile Crisis began.  During the crisis, Cuba ordered a lot of [[nuclear missile]]s from the [[Soviet Union]]. It was the closest the world was to having a [[nuclear war]]. Kennedy ordered US Navy ships to surround Cuba. He ended the crisis peacefully by making an agreement with the Soviet Union. They agreed that the Soviet Union would stop selling nuclear weapons to Cuba. In return, the U.S. would take its missiles out of [[Turkey]] and promise to never invade Cuba again.
{{main|Laotian Civil War|Taylor-Rostow Report|1963 South Vietnamese coup|Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem|Reaction to the 1963 South Vietnamese coup|Cable 243|Buddhist crisis|Thích Quảng Đức|Xá Lợi Pagoda raids|Krulak Mendenhall mission|McNamara Taylor mission}}


As a U.S. Congressman in 1951, Kennedy became fascinated with Vietnam after visiting the area as part of a big fact-finding mission to Asia and the Middle East, even stressing in a subsequent radio address that he strongly favored "check[ing] the southern drive of communism."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vva.org/books-in-review/jfk-in-the-senate-by-john-t-shaw/|title=JFK in the Senate by John T. Shaw:Books in Review|publisher=Vietnam Veterans of America|access-date=October 8, 2020}}</ref> As a U.S. senator in 1956, Kennedy publicly advocated for greater U.S. involvement in Vietnam.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://iowaculture.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/cold-war-vietnam/americas-stake-vietnam|title="America's Stake in Vietnam" Speech by U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy, June 1, 1956|date=January 25, 2019|publisher=State Historical Society of Iowa|access-date=November 22, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKPOF/135/JFKPOF-135-015|title='America's Stake In Vietnam' Speech, 1 June 1956|publisher=JFK Library|access-date=November 22, 2019}}</ref> When briefing Kennedy, Eisenhower emphasized that the communist threat in Southeast Asia required priority; Eisenhower considered [[Laos]] to be "the cork in the bottle" regarding the regional threat. In March 1961, Kennedy voiced a change in policy from supporting a "free" Laos to a "neutral" Laos, indicating privately that [[Vietnam]], and not Laos, should be deemed America's tripwire for communism's spread in the area.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=75}} In May, he dispatched Lyndon Johnson to meet with South Vietnamese President [[Ngo Dinh Diem]]. Johnson assured Diem more aid to mold a fighting force that could resist the communists.{{sfn|Karnow|1991|pp=230, 268}} Kennedy announced a change of policy from support to partnership with Diem to defeat of communism in [[South Vietnam]].{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=119}}
He also created a plan called the [[New Frontier]]. This was a series of government programs, such as [[urban renewal]], to help [[Poverty|poor]] and [[working class]] people. He created the [[Peace Corps]] to help poor countries all over the world. He agreed to a large [[tax]] cut to help the [[economy]]. He also called for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which would make [[discrimination]] and [[segregation]] illegal. Kennedy intended to reach a [[detente|détente]] with Cuban Premier, [[Fidel Castro]], and to withdraw all US military advisers from [[Vietnam]].<ref>[http://consortiumnews.com/2013/11/25/jfks-embrace-of-third-world-nationalists/ JFK's embrace of third world nationalists]</ref>


During his presidency, Kennedy continued policies that provided political, economic, and military support to the governments of South Korea and South Vietnam.{{sfn|Dunnigan|Nofi|1999|p=257}}<ref name="JFKennedy1962"/>
== Death ==
 
<blockquote>We have one-million Americans today serving outside the United-States. There's no other country in history that's carried this kind of a burden. Other countries have had forces serving outside their own country, but for conquest. We have two divisions in South-Korea, not to control South-Korea, but to defend it. We have a lot of Americans in South Vietnam. Well, no other country in the world has ever done that since the beginning of the world; [[Greece]], Rome, [[Napoleon]], and all the rest, always had conquest. We have a million men outside, and they try to defend these countries.<ref name="JFKennedy1962">President [[John Fitzgerald Kennedy]], {{YouTube|u2bJ-aoxFvE|President John F. Kennedy: "After Two Years: A Conversation with the President"}}, Interview with the President / December 16, 1962, minutes 54:50–55:18.</ref></blockquote>
[[File:President Kennedy 1961 CIA map (30253020214).jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|News conference, March 23, 1961]]
The [[Viet Cong]] began assuming a predominant presence in late 1961, initially seizing the provincial capital of Phuoc Vinh.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=240}} After a mission to Vietnam in October, presidential adviser General [[Maxwell D. Taylor]] and [[Deputy National Security Adviser]] [[Walt Whitman Rostow|Walt Rostow]] [[Taylor-Rostow Report|recommended]] the deployment of 6,000 to 8,000 U.S. combat troops to Vietnam.<ref>{{cite book |last= Halberstam|first= David|author-link= David Halberstam|date= 1992|title= The Best and the Brightest|location= New York|publisher= Ballantine Books|pages= 169–172|isbn=0-449-90870-4}}</ref>  Kennedy increased the number of military advisers and [[U.S. Special Forces|special forces]] in the area, from 11,000 in 1962 to 16,000 by late 1963, but he was reluctant to order a full-scale deployment of troops.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=242}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/conscientiousobjection/OverviewVietnamWar.htm | title=Brief Overview of Vietnam War | publisher=Swarthmore College Peace Collection | access-date=August 2, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803124531/http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/conscientiousobjection/OverviewVietnamWar.htm | archive-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref> However, Kennedy, who was wary about the region's successful war of independence against France, was also eager to not give the impression to the Vietnamese people that the United States was acting as the region's new colonizer, even stating in his journal at one point that the United States was "more and more becoming colonists in the minds of the people."<!--<ref name=colony />--> A year and three months later on March 8, 1965, his successor, President Lyndon Johnson, committed the first combat troops to Vietnam and greatly escalated U.S. involvement, with forces reaching 184,000 that year and 536,000 in 1968.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.americanwarlibrary.com/vietnam/vwatl.htm | title=Vietnam War Allied Troop Levels 1960–73 | publisher=The American War Library | access-date=August 2, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802134052/http://www.americanwarlibrary.com/vietnam/vwatl.htm | archive-date=August 2, 2016}}</ref>
 
In late 1961, Kennedy sent [[Roger Hilsman]], then director of the State Department's [[Bureau of Intelligence and Research]], to assess the situation in Vietnam. There, Hilsman met Sir [[Robert Grainger Ker Thompson]], head of the British Advisory Mission to South Vietnam, and the [[Strategic Hamlet Program]] was formed. It was approved by Kennedy and South Vietnam President [[Ngo Dinh Diem]]. It was implemented in early 1962 and involved some forced relocation, village internment, and segregation of rural South Vietnamese into new communities where the peasantry would be isolated from communist insurgents. It was hoped that these new communities would provide security for the peasants and strengthen the tie between them and the central government. By November 1963, the program waned and officially ended in 1964.{{sfn|Tucker|2011|p=1070}}
 
In early 1962, Kennedy formally authorized escalated involvement when he signed the National Security Action Memorandum&nbsp;– "Subversive Insurgency (War of Liberation)".{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=281}} "[[Operation Ranch Hand]]", a large-scale aerial defoliation effort, began on the roadsides of South Vietnam.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=259}} Depending on which assessment Kennedy accepted (Department of Defense or State), there had been zero or modest progress in countering the increase in communist aggression in return for an expanded U.S. involvement.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=283}}
 
[[File:President meets with Secretary of Defense. President Kennedy, Secretary McNamara. White House, Cabinet Room - NARA - 194244.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|Kennedy and Secretary of Defense [[Robert McNamara]], 1962]]
 
In April 1963, Kennedy assessed the situation in Vietnam, saying, "We don't have a prayer of staying in Vietnam. Those people hate us. They are going to throw our asses out of there at any point. But I can't give up that territory to the communists and get the American people to re-elect me."{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=484}}
 
On August 21, just as the new U.S. Ambassador [[Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.]] arrived, Diem and his brother [[Ngo Dinh Nhu]] ordered South Vietnam forces, funded and trained by the CIA, to quell Buddhist demonstrations. The crackdowns heightened expectations of a coup d'état to remove Diem with (or perhaps by) his brother, Nhu.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=558}} Lodge was instructed to try getting Diem and Nhu to step down and leave the country. Diem would not listen to Lodge.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=559}} [[Cable 243]] (DEPTEL 243) followed, dated August 24, declaring that Washington would no longer tolerate Nhu's actions, and Lodge was ordered to pressure Diem to remove Nhu.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=562–563}} Lodge concluded that the only option was to get the South Vietnamese generals to overthrow Diem and Nhu.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=573}} At week's end, orders were sent to Saigon and throughout Washington to "destroy all coup cables".{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=577}} At the same time, the first formal anti-Vietnam war sentiment was expressed by U.S. clergy from the Ministers' Vietnam Committee.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=560}}
 
A White House meeting in September was indicative of the different ongoing appraisals; Kennedy received updated assessments after [[Krulak Mendenhall mission|personal inspections on the ground]] by the Departments of Defense (General [[Victor Krulak]]) and State ([[Joseph Mendenhall]]). Krulak said that the military fight against the communists was progressing and being won, while Mendenhall stated that the country was civilly being lost to any U.S. influence. Kennedy reacted, asking, "Did you two gentlemen visit the same country?" Kennedy was unaware that both men were so much at odds that they did not speak to each other on the return flight.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=595}}
 
In October 1963, Kennedy appointed Defense Secretary McNamara and General [[Maxwell D. Taylor]] to a Vietnamese mission in another effort to synchronize the information and formulation of policy. The objective of the [[McNamara Taylor mission]] "emphasized the importance of getting to the bottom of the differences in reporting from U.S. representatives in Vietnam".{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=602}} In meetings with McNamara, Taylor, and Lodge, Diem again refused to agree to governing measures, helping to dispel McNamara's previous optimism about Diem.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=609}} Taylor and McNamara were enlightened by Vietnam's vice president, [[Nguyen Ngoc Tho]] (choice of many to succeed Diem), who in detailed terms obliterated Taylor's information that the military was succeeding in the countryside.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=610}} At Kennedy's insistence, the mission report contained a recommended schedule for troop withdrawals: 1,000 by year's end and complete withdrawal in 1965, something the NSC considered to be a "strategic fantasy".{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=613}}
 
In late October, intelligence wires again reported that a coup against the Diem government was afoot. The source, Vietnamese General [[Duong Van Minh]] (also known as "Big Minh"), wanted to know the U.S. position. Kennedy instructed Lodge to offer covert assistance to the coup, excluding assassination.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=617}} On November 1, 1963, South Vietnamese generals, led by "Big Minh", [[1963 South Vietnamese coup|overthrew the Diem government]], arresting [[Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem|and then killing Diem and Nhu]]. Kennedy was shocked by the deaths.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=650}}
 
News of the coup led to renewed confidence initially—both in America and in South Vietnam—that the war might be won.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=651}} [[McGeorge Bundy]] drafted a National Security Action Memo to present to Kennedy upon his return from Dallas. It reiterated the resolve to fight communism in Vietnam, with increasing military and economic aid and expansion of operations into Laos and Cambodia. Before leaving for Dallas, Kennedy told [[Michael Forrestal]] that "after the first of the year&nbsp;... [he wanted] an in depth study of every possible option, including how to get out of there&nbsp;... to review this whole thing from the bottom to the top". Asked what he thought Kennedy meant, Forrestal said, "It was devil's advocate stuff."{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=660}}
 
[[File:President Kennedy American University Commencement Address June 10, 1963.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|left|Kennedy delivers the [[commencement speech]] at [[American University]], June 10, 1963]]
 
Historians disagree on whether the [[Vietnam War]] would have escalated if Kennedy had not been assassinated and had won re-election in 1964.<ref>{{cite journal | first = Joseph J. | last = Ellis | title = Making Vietnam History | journal = Reviews in American History | volume = 28 | issue = 4 | year = 2000 | pages = 625–629 | doi = 10.1353/rah.2000.0068 | s2cid = 144881388 }}</ref> Fueling the debate were statements made by Secretary of Defense McNamara in the film "[[The Fog of War]]" that Kennedy was strongly considering pulling the United States out of Vietnam after the 1964 election.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1635958_1635999_1634954-5,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628213900/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1635958_1635999_1634954-5,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=June 28, 2007 | work=Time Magazine | title=Warrior For Peace | date=June 21, 2007 | access-date=March 1, 2012 | first1=David | last1=Talbot}}</ref> The film also contains a tape recording of Lyndon Johnson stating that Kennedy was planning to withdraw, a position in which Johnson disagreed.{{sfn|Blight|Lang|2005|p=276}} Kennedy had signed National Security Action Memorandum (NSAM) 263, dated October 11, which ordered the withdrawal of 1,000 military personnel by year's end, and the bulk of them out by 1965.<ref name="NSAM 263">{{cite web |url = http://www.jfklancer.com/NSAM263.html |work = JFK Lancer |last = Bundy |first = McGeorge| author-link=McGeorge Bundy |title = National Security Action Memorandum # 263 |date = October 11, 1963 |access-date =February 19, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803124810/http://www.jfklancer.com/NSAM263.html | archive-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref>{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=680}} Such an action would have been a policy reversal, but Kennedy was publicly moving in a less hawkish direction since his speech on world peace at [[American University]] on June 10, 1963.<ref name="AmUniv">{{cite web | url=http://www.american.edu/alumni/news/JFK-50th-Anniversary.cfm | title=Marking the 50th Anniversary of JFK's Speech on Campus | publisher=American University | access-date=August 2, 2016}}</ref>
 
At the time of Kennedy's death, no final policy decision was made to Vietnam.{{sfn|Matthews|2011|pp=393, 394}} In 2008, Kennedy administration [[White House Counsel]] and speechwriter [[Ted Sorensen]] wrote, "I would like to believe that Kennedy would have found a way to withdraw all American instructors and advisors [from Vietnam]. But ... I do not believe he knew in his last weeks what he was going to do."{{sfn|Sorensen|1966|p=359}} Sorensen added that, in his opinion, Vietnam "was the only foreign policy problem handed off by JFK to his successor in no better, and possibly worse, shape than it was when he inherited it."{{sfn|Sorensen|1966|p=359}} U.S. involvement in the region escalated until his successor Lyndon Johnson directly deployed regular U.S. military forces for fighting the [[Vietnam War]].{{sfn|Karnow|1991|pp=339, 343}}<ref>{{cite journal|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080202203114/http://people-press.org/commentary/display.php3?AnalysisID=57| title = Generations Divide Over Military Action in Iraq | publisher = Pew Research Center|date=October 2002 | url = http://people-press.org/commentary/?analysisid=57 | archive-date=February 2, 2008}}</ref> After Kennedy's assassination, President Johnson signed NSAM 273 on November 26, 1963. It reversed Kennedy's decision to withdraw 1,000 troops, and reaffirmed the policy of assistance to the South Vietnamese.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.jfklancer.com/NSAM273.html | work = JFK Lancer | last = Bundy | first = McGeorge | title = National Security Action Memorandum Number 273 |date = November 26, 1963 | access-date =February 19, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = NSAM 273: South Vietnam | url = http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/NSAMs/nsam273.asp | access-date =February 19, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803125146/http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/NSAMs/nsam273.asp | archive-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref>
 
====American University speech====
{{Listen
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{{Wikisource|A Strategy of Peace}}
On June 10, 1963, Kennedy, at the high point of his rhetorical powers,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mufson|first1=Steve|title=Obama will echo Kennedy's American University nuclear speech from 1963|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-will-echo-kennedys-american-university-nuclear-speech-from-1963/2015/08/04/b037d0fe-3ab8-11e5-b3ac-8a79bc44e5e2_story.html|access-date=August 6, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 4, 2015}}</ref> delivered the [[American University speech|commencement address at American University]] in Washington, D.C. Also known as "A Strategy of Peace", not only did Kennedy outline a plan to curb nuclear arms, but he also "laid out a hopeful, yet realistic route for world peace at a time when the U.S. and Soviet Union faced the potential for an escalating nuclear arms race."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wang|first1=Joy Y.|title=Obama to follow in John F. Kennedy's historic footsteps|url=https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-follow-john-f-kennedy-historic-footsteps|website=msnbc.com|publisher=msnbc.com|access-date=August 6, 2015|date=August 4, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803125334/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-follow-john-f-kennedy-historic-footsteps | archive-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref> Kennedy wished
 
<blockquote>to discuss a topic on which too often ignorance abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived—yet it is the most important topic on earth: world peace&nbsp;... I speak of peace because of the new face of war ... in an age when a singular nuclear weapon contains ten times the explosive force delivered by all the allied forces in the Second World War&nbsp;... an age when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and air and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn&nbsp;... I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men&nbsp;... world peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor—it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance&nbsp;... our problems are man-made—therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=513–514}}</blockquote>
 
Kennedy also made two announcements: 1.) that the Soviets had expressed a desire to negotiate a nuclear test ban treaty, and 2.) that the U.S. had postponed planned atmospheric tests.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=514}}
 
====West Berlin speech====
[[File:JFKBerlinSpeech.jpg|thumb|Kennedy delivering his speech in [[West Berlin]]]]
{{Wikisource|Ich bin ein Berliner|JFK's Ich bin ein Berliner speech}}
 
In 1963, Germany was enduring a time of particular vulnerability due to Soviet aggression to the east as well as the impending retirement of West German Chancellor [[Adenauer]].{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=534}} At the same time, French President Charles de Gaulle was trying to build a Franco-West German counterweight to the American and Soviet spheres of influence.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=skWRAgAAQBAJ&q=de+gaulle+and+germany+european+counterweight&pg=PA96|title=Christian Democracy in Europe Since 19455|isbn=978-1-135-75385-6|last1=Gehler|first1=Michael|last2=Kaiser|first2=Professor of European Studies Wolfram|last3=Kaiser|first3=Wolfram|year=2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4U6yAAAAQBAJ&q=de+gaulle+and+germany+european+counterweight&pg=PA204|title=The Militant Face of Democracy|isbn=978-1-107-03740-3|last1=Geis|first1=Anna|last2=Müller|first2=Harald|last3=Schörnig|first3=Niklas|year=2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/degaulleworld00kuls|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/degaulleworld00kuls/page/29 29]|quote=de gaulle and germany european counterweight.|title=De Gaulle and the World|publisher=Syracuse University Press|last1=Kulski|first1=W. W|year=1966}}</ref> To Kennedy's eyes, this Franco-German cooperation seemed directed against [[NATO]]'s influence in Europe.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IY3EAo4Tz1wC&q=de+gaulle+germany+counterweight+kennedy&pg=PA264|title=Modernity and Power|isbn=978-0-226-58650-2|last1=Ninkovich|first1=Frank|year=1994}}</ref>
 
To reinforce the U.S. alliance with West Germany, Kennedy travelled to West Germany and West Berlin in June 1963. On June 26, Kennedy toured West Berlin, culminating in a public speech at [[West Berlin]]'s city hall in front of hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic Berliners.{{sfn|Daum|2008|pages=125–63}}  He reiterated the American commitment to Germany and criticized communism, and was met with an ecstatic response from a massive audience.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=624}} Kennedy used the construction of the Berlin Wall as an example of the failures of communism: "Freedom has many difficulties, and democracy is not perfect. But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us." The speech is known for its famous phrase ''"[[Ich bin ein Berliner]]"'' ("I am a resident of Berlin"), which Kennedy himself had begun to try out in preparation for the trip.{{sfn|Daum|2008|pages=147–56}} Kennedy remarked to Ted Sorensen afterwards: "We'll never have another day like this one, as long as we live."{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=537}}
 
====Israel====
In 1960, Kennedy stated, "Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom."<ref>John F. Kennedy: "Speech by Senator John F. Kennedy, Zionists of America Convention, Statler Hilton Hotel, New York, NY," August 26, 1960</ref>
 
As president, Kennedy initiated the creation of security ties with Israel, and he is credited as the founder of the US-Israeli military alliance, which would be continued under subsequent presidents. Kennedy ended the arms embargo that the Eisenhower and Truman administrations had enforced on Israel. Describing the protection of Israel as a moral and national commitment, he was the first to introduce the concept of a "special relationship" (as he described it to [[Golda Meir]]) between the US and Israel.<ref>{{cite book | title=Balancing Act: US Foreign Policy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict | publisher=Ashgate Publishing | author=Shannon, Vaughn P. | year=2003 | location=Aldershot | page=55 | isbn=978-0-7546-3591-8}}</ref>
 
[[File:Kennedy-Golda Meir.jpg|thumb|upright|Kennedy with Israeli Foreign Minister [[Golda Meir]], December 27, 1962]]
 
Kennedy extended the first informal security guarantees to Israel in 1962 and, beginning in 1963, was the first US president to allow the sale to Israel of advanced US weaponry (the [[MIM-23 Hawk]]) as well as to provide diplomatic support for Israeli policies, which were opposed by Arab neighbors; those policies included Israel's water project on the [[Jordan River]].<ref>Walt, Stephen M. (1987). ''The Origins of Alliances'', Cornell University Press, pp. 95–96</ref>
 
As a result of this newly created security alliance, Kennedy also encountered tensions with the Israeli government over the production of nuclear materials in [[Dimona]], which he believed could instigate a nuclear arms-race in the Middle East. After the existence of a nuclear plant was initially denied by the Israeli government, [[David Ben-Gurion]] stated in a speech to the Israeli [[Knesset]] on December 21, 1960, that the purpose of the nuclear plant at [[Beersheba]] was for "research in problems of arid zones and desert flora and fauna".{{sfn|Salt|2008|p=201}} When Ben-Gurion met with Kennedy in New York, he claimed that Dimona was being developed to provide nuclear power for desalinization and other peaceful purposes "for the time being".{{sfn|Salt|2008|p=201}}
 
In 1963 the Kennedy administration was engaged in a now-declassified diplomatic standoff with the leaders of Israel.<ref name="Haaretz2019">{{Cite news | url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-how-a-standoff-with-the-u-s-almost-blew-up-israel-s-nuclear-program-1.7193419 |title = How a Standoff with the U.S. Almost Blew up Israel's Nuclear Program|newspaper = Haaretz|date = May 3, 2019|last1 = Cohen|first1 = Avner}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/nuclear-vault/2019-05-02/battle-letters-1963-john-f-kennedy-david-ben-gurion-levi-eshkol-us-inspections-dimona | title=The Battle of the Letters, 1963: John F. Kennedy, David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol, and the U.S. Inspections of Dimona &#124; National Security Archive| date=April 29, 2019}}</ref> In a May 1963 letter to Ben-Gurion, Kennedy wrote that he was skeptical and stated that American support to Israel could be in jeopardy if reliable information on the Israeli nuclear program was not forthcoming, Ben-Gurion repeated previous reassurances that Dimona was being developed for peaceful purposes. The Israeli government resisted American pressure to open its nuclear facilities to [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] (IAEA) inspections. In 1962 the US and Israeli governments had agreed to an annual inspection regime. A science attaché at the embassy in Tel Aviv concluded that parts of the Dimona facility had been shut down temporarily to mislead American scientists when they visited.{{sfn|Salt|2008|p=202}}
 
According to [[Seymour Hersh]], the Israelis set up false control rooms to show the Americans. Israeli lobbyist Abe Feinberg stated: "It was part of my job to tip them off that Kennedy was insisting on [an inspection]."{{sfn|Salt|2008|p=202}} Hersh contends that the inspections were conducted in such a way that it "guaranteed that the whole procedure would be little more than a whitewash, as the president and his senior advisors had to understand: the American inspection team would have to schedule its visits well in advance, and with the full acquiescence of Israel."<ref>Hersh, ''Samson Option'', pp. 110–11</ref> [[Marc Trachtenberg]] argued that "[a]lthough [he was] well aware of what the Israelis were doing, Kennedy chose to take this as satisfactory evidence of Israeli compliance with America's non-proliferation policy."<ref>{{cite book|author=Trachtenberg, Marc|title=A Constructed Peace: The Making of the European Settlement, 1945–1963|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|date=February 8, 1999|page=403, Appendix Eight (Chapter Nine, Note 134)|url= http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/trachtenberg/appendices/appendixVIII.html|access-date=November 20, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803125625/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/trachtenberg/appendices/appendixVIII.html | archive-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref> The documents reveal the deep concern the Kennedy Administration had over Dimona, and while Kennedy understood the United States and the international community may not be capable of preventing Israel or any nation, he certainly was not satisfied to learn Israel was using Dimona for the production of plutonium.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/u-s-seeks-to-impede-israel-s-nuclear-development-august-1961|title = U.S. Seeks to Impede Israel's Nuclear Development (August 1961)}}</ref> The American who led the inspection team stated that the essential goal of the inspections was to find "ways to not reach the point of taking action against Israel's nuclear weapons program".<ref>Hersh, ''Samson Option'', p. 112</ref>
 
[[Rodger Davies]], the director of the State Department's Office of Near Eastern Affairs, concluded in March 1965 that Israel was developing [[nuclear weapons]]. He reported that Israel's target date for achieving nuclear capability was 1968–1969.{{sfn|Salt|2008|p=203}} On May 1, 1968, Undersecretary of State [[Nicholas Katzenbach]] told President Johnson that Dimona was producing enough plutonium to produce two bombs a year. The State Department argued that if Israel wanted arms, it should accept international supervision of its nuclear program.{{sfn|Salt|2008|p=202}} Dimona was never placed under IAEA safeguards. Attempts to write Israeli adherence to the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] (NPT) into contracts for the supply of U.S. weapons continued throughout 1968.{{sfn|Salt|2008|pp=201–205}}
 
Israeli national interests to an extent were also at odds with Kennedy's endorsement of the United Nation's Johnson Plan, which devised a plan to return a small percentage of displaced Palestinians from the war of 1948 into what was by then, Israel. This continuation of the late UN Secretary General [[Dag Hammarskjold]]'s plan for Palestinian repatriation particularity disturbed persons who had a hard line view of even Arab resettlement in Israel, or the more heavily feared, full repatriation. The later plan was spearheaded by the Palestine Conciliation Commission's Dr. Joseph E. Johnson, while the United Nations attempted to oversee progression from writing - into action.
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/president-kennedy-discussion-of-johnson-plan-august-1962|title=President Kennedy Discussion of Johnson Plan (August 1962)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/nasser-kennedy-the-middle-east-and-israel|title=Kennedys and King - Nasser, Kennedy, the Middle East, and Israel}}</ref>
 
====Iraq====
{{Main|Foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration#Iraq}}
[[File:Kennedy with Shah of Iran, 1961.jpg|thumb|Shah [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] of Iran, Kennedy, and U.S. Defense Secretary [[Robert McNamara]] in the [[Cabinet Room (White House)|White House Cabinet Room]] on April 13, 1962]]
 
Relations between the United States and Iraq became strained following the overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy on July 14, 1958, which resulted in the declaration of a republican government led by Brigadier [[Abd al-Karim Qasim]].{{sfn|Gibson|2015|pp=3–5}} On June 25, 1961, Qasim mobilized troops along the border between Iraq and [[Kuwait]], declaring the latter nation "an indivisible part of Iraq" and causing a short-lived "Kuwait Crisis". The United Kingdom—which had just granted Kuwait independence on June 19, and whose economy was dependent on Kuwaiti oil—responded on July 1 by dispatching 5,000 troops to the country to deter an Iraqi invasion. At the same time, Kennedy dispatched a U.S. Navy task force to [[Bahrain]], and the UK, at the urging of the Kennedy administration, brought the dispute to United Nations Security Council, where the proposed resolution was vetoed by the Soviet Union. The situation was resolved in October, when the British troops were withdrawn and replaced by a 4,000-strong [[Arab League]] force, which acted as a barrier against the Iraqi threat.{{sfn|Gibson|2015|pp=36}}
 
In December 1961, Qasim's government passed Public Law 80, which restricted the partially American-controlled [[Iraq Petroleum Company]] (IPC)'s [[concessionary holding]] to those areas in which oil was actually being produced, effectively expropriating 99.5% of the IPC concession. U.S. officials were alarmed by the expropriation as well as the recent Soviet veto of an Egyptian-sponsored UN resolution requesting the admittance of Kuwait as UN member state, which they believed were connected. Senior National Security Council adviser [[Robert Komer]] worried that if the IPC ceased production in response, Qasim might "grab Kuwait" (thus achieving a "stranglehold" on Middle Eastern oil production) or "throw himself into Russian arms". Komer also made note of widespread rumors that a nationalist coup against Qasim could be imminent, and had the potential to "get Iraq back on [a] more neutral keel".{{sfn|Gibson|2015|pp=37, 40–42}}
 
In April 1962, the State Department issued new guidelines on Iraq that were intended to increase American influence there. Meanwhile, Kennedy instructed the CIA—under the direction of [[Archibald Bulloch Roosevelt Jr.]]—to begin making preparations for a military coup against Qasim.{{sfn|Gibson|2015|pp=43–45}}
 
The anti-imperialist and anti-communist [[Iraqi Ba'ath Party]] [[Ramadan Revolution|overthrew and executed Qasim in a violent coup]] on February 8, 1963. While there have been persistent rumors that the CIA orchestrated the coup, declassified documents and the testimony of former CIA officers indicate that there was no direct American involvement, although the CIA was actively seeking a suitable replacement for Qasim within the Iraqi military and had been informed of an earlier Ba'athist coup plot.{{sfn|Gibson|2015|pp=45, 57–58}} The Kennedy administration was pleased with the outcome and ultimately approved a $55-million arms deal for Iraq.{{sfn|Gibson|2015|pp=60–61, 80}}
 
====Ireland====
[[File:President's Trip to Europe- Motorcade in Dublin. President Kennedy, motorcade, spectators. Dublin, Ireland - NARA - 194227.jpg|thumb|left|Kennedy's motorcade through [[Cork (city)|Cork]], Ireland on June 28, 1963]]
 
During his four-day visit to his ancestral home of Ireland beginning on June 26, 1963,<ref>{{cite web |title=President John F. Kennedy on His Historic Trip to Ireland |url=http://www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?kennedy-ireland-trip |work=Shapell Manuscript Collection |publisher=Shapell Manuscript Foundation}}</ref> Kennedy accepted a grant of [[Achievement (heraldry)|armorial bearings]] from the [[Chief Herald of Ireland]], received honorary degrees from the [[National University of Ireland]] and [[Trinity College Dublin]], attended a State Dinner in Dublin, and was conferred with the freedom of the towns and cities of Wexford, Cork, Dublin, Galway, and Limerick.{{sfn|Sorensen|1966|p=656}}<ref name="homecoming">{{cite web |url=http://jfkhomecoming.com/timeline/introduction/ |title=Timeline |website=JFKhomecoming |date=2013}}</ref> He visited the cottage at Dunganstown, near [[New Ross]], County Wexford, where his ancestors had lived before emigrating to America.<ref name="BBC 1963">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/27/newsid_4461000/4461115.stm |title=1963: Warm welcome for JFK in Ireland |access-date=February 23, 2012 |work=[[BBC News]] | date=June 27, 1963 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803125829/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/27/newsid_4461000/4461115.stm  |archive-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref>
 
Kennedy also was the first foreign leader to address the [[Oireachtas|Houses of the Oireachtas]], the Irish parliament.<ref name="homecoming" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rte.ie/archives/2013/0628/459367-jfk-is-first-foreign-leader-to-address-the-dail/ |title=JFK is First Foreign Leader to Address Dáil Éireann (Text and video) |work=[[RTÉ]] Archives |date=June 28, 1963}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/lPAi7jx2s0i7kePPdJnUXA.aspx |title=Address Before the Irish Parliament in Dublin, June 28, 1963 (Text and audio) |website=[[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]] |date=June 28, 1963}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1722-john-f-kennedy/ |title=President Kennedy in Ireland (Text and video) |work=[[RTÉ]] Archives |access-date=July 3, 2013}}</ref>
Kennedy later told aides that the trip was the best four days of his life.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20234703.html |title=The best four days of JFK's life |first=Ray |last=Ryan |date=21 June 2013 |newspaper=[[Irish Examiner]] |issn=1393-9564 |location=Cork |language=en-ie |access-date=2022-02-06}}</ref>
 
====Nuclear Test Ban Treaty====
{{main|Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty}}
[[File:President Kennedy signs Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, 07 October 1963.jpg|thumb|right|Kennedy signs the [[Partial Test Ban Treaty]], a major milestone in early [[nuclear disarmament]] ]]
 
Troubled by the long-term dangers of [[radioactive contamination]] and [[nuclear proliferation|nuclear weapons proliferation]], Kennedy and Khrushchev agreed to negotiate a nuclear test ban treaty, originally conceived in Adlai Stevenson's 1956 presidential campaign.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=552}} In their Vienna summit meeting in June 1961, Khrushchev and Kennedy both reached an informal understanding against nuclear testing, but the Soviet Union began testing nuclear weapons that September. In response, the United States conducted tests five days later.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=227}} Shortly afterwards, new U.S. satellites began delivering images that made it clear that the Soviets were substantially behind the U.S. in the arms race.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=229}} Nevertheless, the greater nuclear strength of the U.S. was of little value as long as the U.S.S.R. perceived itself to be at parity.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=243}}
 
In July 1963, Kennedy sent [[W. Averell Harriman]] to Moscow to negotiate a treaty with the Soviets.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=542}} The introductory sessions included Khrushchev, who later delegated Soviet representation to [[Andrei Gromyko]]. It quickly became clear that a comprehensive test ban would not be implemented, due largely to the reluctance of the Soviets to allow inspections that would verify compliance.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=548}}
 
Ultimately, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union were the initial signatories to a limited treaty, which prohibited atomic testing on the ground, in the atmosphere, or underwater, but not underground. The U.S. Senate ratified this and Kennedy signed it into law in October 1963. France was quick to declare that it was free to continue developing and testing its nuclear defenses.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=550}}
 
===Domestic policy===
{{See also|New Frontier}}
 
Kennedy called his domestic program the "New Frontier". It ambitiously promised federal funding for education, medical care for the elderly, economic aid to rural regions, and government intervention to halt the recession. He also promised an end to [[racial discrimination]],<ref name="Jaikumar 2011">{{cite news | last=Jaikumar| first=Arjun| title=On taxes, let's be Kennedy Democrats. Or Eisenhower Republicans. Or Nixon Republicans. | url = http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/10/992860/-On-taxes,-lets-be-Kennedy-Democrats-Or-Eisenhower-Republicans-Or-NixonRepublicans- | work=Daily Kos | date=July 10, 2011 | access-date=February 23, 2012 }}</ref> although his agenda, which included the endorsement of the [[Voter Education Project]] (VEP) in 1962, produced little progress in areas such as Mississippi, where the "VEP concluded that discrimination was so entrenched".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/voter-education-project-vep|title=Voter Education Project|website=kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu|date=July 5, 2017|access-date=December 3, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/kennedy-john-fitzgerald|title=Kennedy, John Fitzgerald|website=kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu|date=May 31, 2017|access-date=December 3, 2019}}</ref>
 
In his 1963 [[State of the Union address]], he proposed substantial tax reform and a reduction in income tax rates from the current range of 20–90% to a range of 14–65% as well as a reduction in the corporate tax rates from 52 to 47%. Kennedy added that the top rate should be set at 70% if certain deductions were not eliminated for high-income earners.<ref name="Jaikumar 2011"/> Congress did not act until 1964, a year after his death, when the top individual rate was lowered to 70%, and the top corporate rate was set at 48%.<ref>{{cite book |title=Why Budgets Matter: Budget Policy and American Politics |last=Ippolito |first=Dennis |year=2004 |publisher=Penn State Press |pages=173–175|isbn=978-0-271-02260-4}}</ref>
 
To the [[Economic Club of New York]], he spoke in 1963 of "...&nbsp;the paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high and revenues too low; and the soundest way to raise revenue in the long term is to lower rates now."{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=453}} Congress passed few of Kennedy's major programs during his lifetime, but did vote them through in 1964 and 1965 under his successor Johnson.{{sfn|Barnes|2007|p=8}}
 
====Economy====
{{See also|Recession of 1960–1961|Kennedy Slide of 1962}}
[[File:Bill Signing- Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962. President Kennedy, Secretary of Labor Arthur Goldberg... - NARA - 194205.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Kennedy signing the [[New Frontier#Unemployment|Manpower Development and Training Act]], March 1962]]
 
Kennedy ended a period of tight fiscal policies, loosening monetary policy to keep [[interest rate]]s down and to encourage growth of the economy.{{sfn|Frum|2000|p=293}} He presided over the first government budget to top the $100&nbsp;billion mark, in 1962, and his first budget in 1961 resulted in the nation's first non-war, non-recession [[Government budget deficit|deficit]].{{sfn|Frum|2000|p=324}} The economy, which had been through two recessions in three years and was in one when Kennedy took office, accelerated notably throughout his administration. Despite low inflation and interest rates, the GDP had grown by an average of only 2.2% per annum during the Eisenhower administration (scarcely more than population growth at the time), and it had declined by 1% during Eisenhower's last twelve months in office.<ref name="Bureau of Economic Analysis">{{cite web | url = https://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=6&ViewSeries=NO&Java=no&Request3Place=N&3Place=N&FromView=YES&Freq=Qtr&FirstYear=1953&LastYear=1964&3Place=N&Update=Update&JavaBox=no | title = BEA: Quarterly GDP figures by sector, 1953–1964 | publisher = United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis | access-date = February 23, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120306070717/http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=6&ViewSeries=NO&Java=no&Request3Place=N&3Place=N&FromView=YES&Freq=Qtr&FirstYear=1953&LastYear=1964&3Place=N&Update=Update&JavaBox=no | archive-date = March 6, 2012 | url-status=dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref>
 
The economy turned around and prospered during Kennedy's years as president. The GDP expanded by an average of 5.5% from early-1961 to late-1963,<ref name="Bureau of Economic Analysis" /> while inflation remained steady at around 1% and unemployment eased.<ref name="GDP 1913 to 2002">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/statab/hist/HS-36.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050511134314/http://www.census.gov/statab/hist/HS-36.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 11, 2005 |title=Consumer and Gross Domestic Price Indices: 1913 to 2002 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |year=2003 |access-date=February 23, 2012 }}</ref> Industrial production rose by 15% and motor vehicle sales increased by 40%.<ref name="Statistical Abstract 1964">{{cite web | url = http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1964-01.pdf | title = Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1964 | publisher = U.S. Department of Commerce| date = July 1964 | access-date =March 28, 2010 }}</ref> This rate of growth in GDP and industry continued until 1969, and has yet to be repeated for such a sustained period of time.<ref name="Bureau of Economic Analysis" />
 
Attorney General Robert Kennedy took the position that [[Roger Blough|steel executives]] had illegally colluded to fix prices. He stated, "We're going for broke. [...] their expense accounts, where they've been and what they've been doing. [...] the FBI is to interview them all. [...] we can't lose this."{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=298}} The administration's actions influenced [[U.S. Steel]] to rescind the price increase.<ref name="Time 1962">{{cite news | title = The Presidency: Smiting the Foe | date = April 20, 1962 | magazine = TIME | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873526-3,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081204091736/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873526-3,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = December 4, 2008 }}</ref> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' wrote that the administration had acted "by naked power, by threats, [and] by agents of the state security police".{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=645}} Yale law professor [[Charles Reich]] opined in ''[[The New Republic]]'' that the administration had violated civil liberties by calling a grand jury to indict U.S. Steel for collusion so quickly.{{sfn|O'Brien|2005|p=645}} An editorial in ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised Kennedy's actions and said that the steel industry's price increase "imperil[ed] the economic welfare of the country by inviting a tidal wave of inflation".<ref name="NY Times 1962">{{cite news | title = Inflation in Steel | date = April 12, 1962 | work = [[The New York Times]] | url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00615FD3F5C117B93C0A8178FD85F468685F9}}</ref> Nevertheless, the administration's Bureau of Budget reported the price increase would have caused a net gain for the GDP as well as a net budget surplus.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=300}} The stock market, which had steadily declined since Kennedy's election in 1960, dropped 10% shortly after the administration's action on the steel industry took place.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=318–320}}
 
====Federal and military death penalty====
During his administration, Kennedy oversaw the last federal execution prior to ''[[Furman v. Georgia]]'', a 1972 case that led to a moratorium on federal executions.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/DATA%20FEDERAL.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030413002030/http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/DATA%20FEDERAL.htm | archive-date = April 13, 2003 | title = Executions 1790 to 1963 | date = April 13, 2003 | access-date =February 23, 2012 }}</ref> [[Victor Feguer]] was sentenced to death by an Iowa federal court and was executed on March 15, 1963.<ref name="Goldberg 2001">{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/06/us/federal-executions-have-been-rare-but-may-increase.html | title = Federal Executions Have Been Rare but May Increase | date = May 6, 2001 | last = Goldberg |first = Carey | work = The New York Times | access-date =February 23, 2012 }}</ref> Kennedy commuted a death sentence imposed by a military court on seaman Jimmie Henderson on February 12, 1962, changing the penalty to life in prison.<ref name="Riechmann 2008">{{cite news | url = https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=5468945 | title = Bush: Former Army cook's crimes warrant execution | work = [[ABC News]] | last = Riechmann | first= Deb | agency = Associated Press | date = July 29, 2008 | access-date =February 23, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080731085456/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=5468945 | archive-date = July 31, 2008 }}</ref>
 
On March 22, 1962, Kennedy signed into law HR5143 (PL87-423), which abolished the mandatory death penalty for [[First degree murder in the United States|first degree murder]] suspects in the District of Columbia, the only remaining jurisdiction in the United States with such a penalty.<ref name="JFKlibrary.org leg">{{cite web | url = http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/Legislative-Summary-Main-Page/District-of-Columbia.aspx | title = Legislative Summary: District of Columbia | access-date =June 8, 2015 | publisher = [[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library]] }}</ref> The death penalty has not been applied in the District of Columbia since 1957 and has now been abolished.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.norton.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=478 | title = Norton Letter to U.S. Attorney Says Death Penalty Trial That Begins Today Part of Troubling and Futile Pattern | date = January 8, 2007 | access-date =February 23, 2012 | publisher = Office of Congresswoman [[Eleanor Holmes Norton]] }}</ref>
 
====Civil rights movement====
{{further|Civil rights movement}}
The turbulent end of state-sanctioned racial discrimination was one of the most pressing domestic issues of the 1960s. "[[Jim Crow]]" [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregation]] was the established law in the [[Deep South]].<ref name=Grantham_p156>Grantham (1988), ''The Life and Death of the Solid South: A Political History'', p. 156</ref> The [[U.S. Supreme Court]] had ruled in 1954 in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' that [[racial segregation]] in public schools was unconstitutional. Many schools, especially those in southern states, did not obey the Supreme Court's decision. The Court also prohibited segregation at other public facilities (such as buses, restaurants, theaters, courtrooms, bathrooms, and beaches) but it continued nonetheless.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|pp=292–293}}
 
[[File:Thurgood Marshall 1957-09-17.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Thurgood Marshall]], appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by Kennedy in May 1961]]
Kennedy verbally supported [[racial integration]] and [[civil rights]]; during his 1960 presidential campaign, he telephoned [[Coretta Scott King]], wife of the Reverend [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], who had been jailed while trying to integrate a department store lunch counter. Robert Kennedy called Georgia governor [[Ernest Vandiver]] and obtained King's release from prison, which drew additional black support to his brother's candidacy.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|pp=292–293}} Upon taking office in 1961, Kennedy postponed promised civil rights legislation he made while campaigning in 1960, recognizing that conservative Southern Democrats controlled congressional legislation.{{sfn|Brauer 2002|p=487}} During his first year in office, Kennedy appointed many Black people to office including his May appointment of civil rights attorney [[Thurgood Marshall]] to the federal bench.{{sfn|Brauer 2002|p=490}}
 
In his first State of the Union Address in January 1961, President Kennedy said, "The denial of constitutional rights to some of our fellow Americans on account of race—at the ballot box and elsewhere—disturbs the national conscience, and subjects us to the charge of world opinion that our democracy is not equal to the high promise of our heritage."<ref>"John F. Kennedy", Urs Swharz, Paul Hamlyn, 1964</ref> Kennedy believed the grassroots movement for civil rights would anger many Southern whites and make it more difficult to pass civil rights laws in Congress, including anti-poverty legislation, and he distanced himself from it.{{sfn|Bryant|2006|pp=60, 66}}
 
Kennedy was concerned with other issues in the early part of his administration, such as the Cold War, Bay of Pigs fiasco, and the situation in Southeast Asia. As articulated by his brother Robert, the administration's early priority was to "keep the president out of this civil rights mess". Civil rights movement participants, mainly those on the front line in the South, viewed Kennedy as lukewarm,{{sfn|Brauer 2002|p=490}} especially concerning the [[Freedom Riders]], who organized an integrated public transportation effort in the south, and who were repeatedly met with white mob violence, including by law enforcement officers, both federal and state. Kennedy assigned [[federal marshal]]s to protect the Freedom Riders rather than using federal troops or uncooperative FBI agents.{{sfn|Brauer 2002|p=490}} Robert Kennedy, speaking for the president, urged the Freedom Riders to "get off the buses and leave the matter to peaceful settlement in the courts".{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=123–126}} Kennedy feared sending federal troops would stir up "hated memories of [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]]" after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] among conservative Southern whites.{{sfn|Brauer 2002|p=490}}
 
On March 6, 1961, Kennedy signed [[Executive Order 10925]], which required government contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin".<ref>[[s:Executive Order 10925|wikisource – Executive Order No. 10925]]</ref> It established the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission#Background|President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity]]. Displeased with Kennedy's pace addressing the issue of segregation, Martin Luther King Jr. and his associates produced a document in 1962 calling on Kennedy to follow in the footsteps of [[Abraham Lincoln]] and use an Executive Order to deliver a blow for civil rights as a kind of [[Second Emancipation Proclamation]]. Kennedy did not execute the order.<ref name=kennedyandking1>{{cite web|url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/emancipation-proclamation|title=Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle|date=April 26, 2017|publisher=Stanford University|access-date=December 3, 2019}}</ref>
 
[[File:Mary Collins, Mayor John F. Collins, President John F. Kennedy, and unidentified woman and men (10559425146).jpg|thumb|right|Kennedy with [[Mayor of Boston|Boston Mayor]] [[John F. Collins]] (1960–1968) and his wife. On November 20, 1962, Kennedy issued [[Executive Order 11063]] requiring all federal agencies to prevent racial discrimination in federally-funded [[subsidized housing in the United States]].]]
 
In September 1962, [[James Meredith]] enrolled at the [[University of Mississippi]] but was prevented from entering. In response to that, Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent 127 [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals]] and 316 [[United States Border Patrol|U.S. Border Patrol]] and 97 [[Federal Bureau of Prisons|Federal correctional officers]] who were deputized as marshals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usmarshals.gov/news/chron/2012/093012.htm|title=U.S. Marshals Mark 50th Anniversary of the Integration of 'Ole Miss'|website=www.usmarshals.gov|access-date=April 25, 2020|archive-date=May 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523031013/https://www.usmarshals.gov/news/chron/2012/093012.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Ole Miss riot of 1962]] left two civilians dead and 300 people injured, prompting President Kennedy to send in 3,000 troops to quell the riot.{{sfn|Bryant|2006|p=71}} Meredith did finally enroll for a class, and Kennedy regretted not sending in troops earlier. Kennedy began doubting as to whether the "evils of Reconstruction" of the 1860s and 1870s he had been taught or believed in were true.{{sfn|Brauer 2002|p=490}} The instigating subculture during the Ole Miss riot, and many other racially ignited events, was the [[Ku Klux Klan]].<ref name=Gitlin_p29>Gitlin (2009), ''The Ku Klux Klan: A Guide to an American Subculture'', p. 29</ref> On November 20, 1962, Kennedy signed [[Executive Order 11063]], which prohibited racial discrimination in federally supported housing or "related facilities".{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=580}} Despite this, in [[Boston]], the [[Boston Housing Authority]] (BHA) Board would continue to actively [[Housing segregation in the United States|segregate]] the [[Subsidized housing in the United States|public housing developments]] in the city during the [[John F. Collins#Public housing|John F. Collins administration]] (1960–1968), with BHA departments engaging in bureaucratic resistance against integration through at least 1966 and the Board retaining control over tenant assignment until 1968.<ref name="Vale pp. 301–320">{{cite book|last=Vale|first=Lawrence J.|year=2000|title=From the Puritans to the Projects: Public Housing and Public Neighbors|place=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge, MA]]|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|pages=301–320|isbn=978-0674025752}}</ref>
 
Both Kennedy and Robert Kennedy were concerned about King's ties to suspected communists [[Jack O'Dell]] and [[Stanley Levison]]. After Kennedy and his civil rights expert [[Harris Wofford]] pressed King to ask both men to resign from the SCLC, King agreed to ask only O'Dell to resign from the organization and allowed Levison, whom he regarded as a trusted advisor, to remain.<ref name=kennedyandking2>{{cite web|url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/kennedy-robert-francis|title=Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle|date=May 31, 2017|publisher=Stanford University|access-date=December 3, 2019}}</ref>
 
In early 1963, Kennedy related to Martin Luther King Jr. his thoughts on the prospects for civil rights legislation: "If we get into a long fight over this in Congress, it will bottleneck everything else, and we will still get no bill."{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=467}} Civil rights clashes were on the rise that year.<ref>In the first week of June there were 160 incidents of violence. {{harvnb|Reeves|1993|p=515}}.</ref> His brother Robert and Ted Sorensen pressed Kennedy to take more initiative on the legislative front.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=515}}
 
[[File:President Kennedy addresses nation on Civil Rights, 11 June 1963.jpg|thumb|left|Kennedy's [[Report to the American People on Civil Rights]], June 11, 1963]]
 
On June 11, 1963, President Kennedy intervened when Alabama Governor [[George Wallace]] blocked the [[Stand in the Schoolhouse Door|doorway]] to the [[University of Alabama]] to stop two African American students, [[Vivian Malone]] and [[James Hood]], from attending. Wallace moved aside only after being confronted by Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach and the Alabama [[United States National Guard|U.S. National Guard]], which had just been federalized by order of the president. That evening Kennedy gave his famous [[Report to the American People on Civil Rights]] on national television and radio, launching his initiative for civil rights legislation—to provide equal access to public schools and other facilities, and greater protection of voting rights.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=521–523}}<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkcivilrights.htm | title = Civil Rights Address | access-date =September 20, 2007 | last = Kennedy | first = John F. | work = AmericanRhetoric.com }}</ref>
 
His proposals became part of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. The day ended with the murder of an NAACP leader, [[Medgar Evers]], in front of his home in Mississippi.{{sfn|Schlesinger|2002|p=966}} As Kennedy had predicted, the day after his TV speech, and in reaction to it, House Majority leader Carl Albert called to advise him that his two-year signature effort in Congress to combat poverty in Appalachia (Area Redevelopment Administration) had been defeated, primarily by the votes of Southern Democrats and Republicans.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=524}} When Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. complimented Kennedy on his remarks, Kennedy bitterly replied, "Yes, and look at what happened to area development the very next day in the House." He then added, "But of course, I had to give that speech, and I'm glad that I did."{{sfn|Cohen|2016|p=357}} On June 16, ''[[The New York Times]]'' published an editorial which argued that while Kennedy had initially "moved too slowly and with little evidence of deep moral commitment" in regards to civil rights he "now demonstrate[d] a genuine sense of urgency about eradicating racial discrimination from our national life".{{sfn|Goduti Jr.|2012|p=206}}
 
Earlier, Kennedy had signed the executive order creating the [[Presidential Commission on the Status of Women]] on December 14, 1961.<ref name="executive order">{{cite web | url = http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=58918/ | title = John F. Kennedy: Executive Order 10980 | access-date =January 25, 2011 }}</ref> Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt led the commission. The Commission statistics revealed that women were also experiencing discrimination; its final report, documenting legal and cultural barriers, was issued in October 1963.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=433}} Further, on June 10, 1963, Kennedy signed the [[Equal Pay Act of 1963]], which amended the [[Fair Labor Standards Act]] and abolished wage disparity based on sex.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.eeoc.gov/epa/anniversary/epa-40.html |title=The Equal Pay Act Turns 40|publisher=Archive.eeoc.gov|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626131413/http://archive.eeoc.gov/epa/anniversary/epa-40.html|archive-date=June 26, 2012}}</ref>
 
[[File:Photograph of Meeting with Leaders of the March on Washington August 28, 1963 - NARA - 194276.jpg|thumb|Kennedy meetings with leaders of the [[March on Washington]] in the Oval Office, August 28, 1963]]
 
Over a hundred thousand, predominantly African Americans gathered in Washington for the civil rights [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]] on August 28, 1963. Kennedy feared the March would have a negative effect on the prospects for the civil rights bills in Congress, and declined an invitation to speak. He turned over some of the details of the government's involvement to the Dept. of Justice, which channelled hundreds of thousands of dollars to the six sponsors of the March, including the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People|N.A.A.C.P.]] and Martin Luther King's [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]] (SCLC).{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=580–584}}
 
To ensure a peaceful demonstration, the organizers and Kennedy personally edited speeches that were inflammatory and agreed the March would be held on a Wednesday and would be over at 4:00&nbsp;pm. Thousands of troops were placed on standby. Kennedy watched King's speech on TV and was very impressed. The March was considered a "triumph of managed protest", and not one arrest relating to the demonstration occurred. Afterwards, the March leaders accepted an invitation to the White House to meet with Kennedy and photos were taken. Kennedy felt that the March was a victory for him as well and bolstered the chances for his civil rights bill.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=580–584}}
 
Nevertheless, the struggle was far from over. Three weeks later on Sunday, September 15, [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing|a bomb exploded]] at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham; by the end of the day, four African American children had died in the explosion, and two other children were shot to death in the aftermath.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=599–600}} Due to this resurgent violence, the civil rights legislation underwent some drastic amendments that critically endangered any prospects for passage of the bill, to the outrage of the president. Kennedy called the congressional leaders to the White House and by the following day the original bill, without the additions, had enough votes to get it out of the House committee.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=628–631}} Gaining Republican support, Senator [[Everett Dirksen]] promised the legislation would be brought to a vote preventing a [[Filibuster in the United States Senate|Senate filibuster]].{{sfn|Brauer 2002|p=492}} The legislation was enacted by Kennedy's successor President Lyndon B. Johnson, prompted by Kennedy's memory, after his assassination in November, enforcing voting rights, public accommodations, employment, education, and the administration of justice.{{sfn|Brauer 2002|p=492}}
 
====Civil liberties====
 
In February 1962,<ref name=kingandkennedy3/> FBI Director [[J. Edgar Hoover]], who was suspicious of civil-rights leader [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and viewed him as an upstart troublemaker,<ref name="american public radio">{{cite news | title = The FBI's War on King | publisher = American Public Radio | url = http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/king/d1.html | access-date = November 13, 2015 }}</ref> presented the Kennedy administration with allegations that some of King's close confidants and advisers were communists. Concerned by these allegations, the FBI deployed agents to monitor King in the following months.<ref name=kingandkennedy3 /> Robert Kennedy and President Kennedy also both warned King to discontinue the suspect associations. After the associations continued, Robert Kennedy issued a written directive authorizing the FBI to wiretap King and other leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King's civil rights organization, in October 1963.<ref name=kingandkennedy3>{{cite web | url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/federal-bureau-investigation-fbi| title=Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) | date=May 2, 2017 | publisher=Stanford University | access-date=December 3, 2019}}</ref>
 
Although Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's phones "on a trial basis, for a month or so",{{sfn|Herst|2007|p=372}} Hoover extended the clearance so his men were "unshackled" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy.{{sfn|Herst|2007|pp=372–374}} The wiretapping continued through June 1966 and was revealed in 1968.<ref name="the atlantic">{{cite news | title = The FBI and Martin Luther King | last = Garrow | first = David J. | author-link = David Garrow | date = July 8, 2002 | work = The Atlantic | url = https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200207/garrow }}</ref>
 
====Immigration====
 
During the 1960 campaign, Kennedy proposed an overhaul of American immigration and naturalization laws to ban discrimination based on national origin. He saw this proposal as an extension of his planned civil rights agenda as president.<ref>{{cite web | last = Kennedy | first = John F. | url = http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=60440 | title = From Press Office: Senator John F. Kennedy, Immigration and Naturalization Laws, Hyannis Inn Motel, Hyannis, MA | access-date =September 20, 2007 | date = August 6, 1960 | others = Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project }}</ref> These reforms later became [[United States Code|law]] through the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]], which dramatically shifted the source of immigration from Northern and Western European countries towards immigration from Latin America and Asia. The policy change also shifted the emphasis on the selection of immigrants in favor of family reunification. The late president's brother, Senator [[Ted Kennedy|Edward Kennedy]] of Massachusetts helped steer the legislation through the Senate.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5393857 | title = Q&A: Sen. Kennedy on Immigration, Then & Now | access-date =September 20, 2007 | last = Ludden | first = Jennifer | work = NPR | date = May 9, 2006 }}</ref>
 
====Native American relations====
 
{{further|Kinzua Dam#Native Americans|Seneca nation#Kinzua Dam}}
 
Construction of the [[Kinzua Dam]] flooded {{convert|10000|acre|sigfig=1|abbr=off}} of [[Seneca nation]] land that they had occupied under the [[Treaty of Canandaigua|Treaty of 1794]], and forced 600 Seneca to relocate to [[Salamanca (town), New York|Salamanca, New York]]. Kennedy was asked by the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] to intervene and to halt the project, but he declined, citing a critical need for flood control. He expressed concern about the plight of the Seneca and directed government agencies to assist in obtaining more land, damages, and assistance to help mitigate their displacement.{{sfn|Bilharz|2002|p=55}}<ref name="Kennedy letter 1961">{{cite web | last = Kennedy | first = John F. | url = http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8279 | title = 320—Letter to the President of the Seneca Nation of Indians Concerning the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River | publisher = The American Presidency Project | date = August 11, 1961 | access-date =February 25, 2012 }}</ref>
 
====Space policy====
{{further|Space policy of the United States|Space Race}}
[[File:JFK inspects Mercury capsule, 23 February 1962.jpg|thumb|left|Accompanied by astronaut [[John Glenn]], Kennedy inspects the Project Mercury capsule ''[[Friendship 7]]'', February 23, 1962]]
The [[Apollo program]] was conceived early in 1960, during the Eisenhower administration, as a follow-up to [[Project Mercury]], to be used as a shuttle to an Earth-orbital [[space station]], flights around the Moon, or landing on it. While [[NASA]] went ahead with planning for Apollo, funding for the program was far from certain, given Eisenhower's ambivalent attitude to manned spaceflight.<ref>Murray and Cox, ''Apollo'', p. 60.</ref> As senator, Kennedy had been opposed to the space program and wanted to terminate it.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=138}}
 
[[File:Kennedy with von Braun.jpg|thumb|[[Wernher von Braun]] and Kennedy]]
 
In constructing his presidential administration, Kennedy elected to retain Eisenhower's last science advisor [[Jerome Wiesner]] as head of the [[President's Science Advisory Committee]]. Wiesner was strongly opposed to manned space exploration,{{sfn|Nelson|2009|p=145}} having issued a report highly critical of Project Mercury.<ref>Levine, ''Future of the US Space Program'', p. 71.</ref><ref>Levine, Anold S. (1982). [https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4102/ch2.htm ''Managing NASA in the Apollo Era'', chapter 27, "The Lunar Landing Decision and Its Aftermath". NASA SP-4102.]</ref> Kennedy was turned down by seventeen candidates for NASA administrator before the post was accepted by [[James E. Webb]], an experienced Washington insider who served President Truman as budget director and undersecretary of state. Webb proved to be adept at obtaining the support of Congress, the President, and the American people.{{sfn|Nelson|2009|p=146}} Kennedy also persuaded Congress to amend the [[National Aeronautics and Space Act]] to allow him to delegate his chairmanship of the National Aeronautics and Space Council to the Vice President,
{{sfn|Nelson|2009|p=146}}{{sfn|Kenney|2000|pp=115–116}} both because of the knowledge of the space program Johnson gained in the Senate working for [[the creation of NASA]], and to help keep the politically savvy Johnson occupied.{{sfn|Nelson|2009|p=146}}
 
[[File:Kennedy Giving Historic Speech to Congress - GPN-2000-001658.jpg|thumb|Kennedy proposing a program to Congress that will land men on the Moon, May 1961. Johnson and Sam Rayburn are seated behind him.]]
 
In Kennedy's January 1961 State of the Union address, he had suggested international cooperation in space. Khrushchev declined, as the Soviets did not wish to reveal the status of their rocketry and space capabilities.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=502}} Early in his presidency, Kennedy was poised to dismantle the manned space program but postponed any decision out of deference to Johnson, who had been a strong supporter of the space program in the Senate.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=138}} Kennedy's advisors speculated that a Moon flight would be prohibitively expensive,{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=392}} and he was considering plans to dismantle the Apollo program due to its cost.<ref>Sidey, Hugh (1964), ''John F. Kennedy'', pp. 117–118.</ref>
 
This quickly changed on April 12, 1961, when Soviet cosmonaut [[Yuri Gagarin]] became the first person to fly in space, reinforcing American fears about being left behind in a technological competition with the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=393}} Kennedy now became eager for the U.S. to take the lead in the [[Space Race]], for reasons of national security and prestige. On April 20, he sent a memo to Johnson, asking him to look into the status of America's space program, and into programs that could offer NASA the opportunity to catch up.<ref name="jfkmemo">{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/6XnAYXEkkkSMLfp7ic_o-Q.aspx |title=Memorandum for Vice President |last=Kennedy |first=John F. |author-link=John F. Kennedy |date=April 20, 1961 |work=[[White House|The White House]] |publisher=[[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]] |location=Boston |type=Memorandum |access-date=August 1, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Launius |first=Roger D. |title=Apollo: A Retrospective Analysis |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollomon/cover.html |format=PDF |access-date=August 1, 2013 |series=Monographs in Aerospace History Number 3 |date=July 1994 |publisher=NASA |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=31825096 |chapter=President John F. Kennedy Memo for Vice President, 20 April 1961 |chapter-url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollomon/apollo1.pdf}} [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollomon/docs.htm Key Apollo Source Documents].</ref> After consulting with [[Wernher von Braun]], Johnson responded approximately one week later, concluding that "we are neither making maximum effort nor achieving results necessary if this country is to reach a position of leadership".<ref name="lbjmemo">{{cite web |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/DjiWpQJegkuIlX7WZAUCtQ.aspx |title=Memorandum for the President |last=Johnson |first=Lyndon B. |author-link=Lyndon B. Johnson |type=Memorandum |date=April 28, 1961 |work=[[Office of the Vice President of the United States|Office of the Vice President]] |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum |location=Boston |access-date=August 1, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Launius |first=Roger D. |title=Apollo: A Retrospective Analysis |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollomon/cover.html |format=PDF |access-date=August 1, 2013 |series=Monographs in Aerospace History Number 3 |date=July 1994 |publisher=NASA |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=31825096 |chapter=Lyndon B. Johnson, Vice President, Memo for the President, 'Evaluation of Space Program,' 28 April 1961 |chapter-url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollomon/apollo2.pdf}} [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Apollomon/docs.htm Key Apollo Source Documents].</ref> His memo concluded that a manned Moon landing was far enough in the future that it was likely the United States would achieve it first.<ref name="lbjmemo" /> Kennedy's advisor Ted Sorensen advised him to support the Moon landing, and on May 25, Kennedy announced the goal in a speech titled "Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs":
 
<blockquote>... I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.<ref name="Kennedy at Congress 1961">{{cite web | last = Kennedy | first = John F. |url= https://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-2-1.html |title=Apollo Expeditions to the Moon: Chapter 2 |work=history.nasa.gov |year=1961 |access-date=February 26, 2012}}</ref> {{Cws |title=Full text |link=Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs|nobullet=yes}}</blockquote>
 
[[File:President Kennedy speech on the space effort at Rice University, September 12, 1962.ogg|thumb|thumbtime=17:32|Kennedy speaks at Rice University, September 12, 1962 (duration 17:47)]]
 
After Congress authorized the funding, Webb began reorganizing NASA, increasing its staffing level, and building two new centers: a [[Kennedy Space Center|Launch Operations Center]] for the [[Saturn V|large Moon rocket]] northwest of [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station]], and a [[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center|Manned Spacecraft Center]] on land donated through [[Rice University]] in [[Houston]]. Kennedy took the latter occasion as an opportunity to deliver another [[We choose to go to the Moon|speech]] at Rice to promote the space effort on September 12, 1962, in which he said:
 
<blockquote> No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space. ...&nbsp;We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.<ref name="Kennedy at Rice 1961">{{cite web|url=http://webcast.rice.edu/speeches/19620912kennedy.html|title=President John F. Kennedy: The Space Effort|last=Kennedy|first=John F.|date=September 12, 1962|publisher=[[Rice University]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060708190606/http://webcast.rice.edu/speeches/19620912kennedy.html|archive-date=July 8, 2006}}</ref> {{Cws |title=Full text |link=We choose to go to the moon |nobullet=yes}}</blockquote>
 
On November 21, 1962, in a cabinet meeting with NASA administrator Webb and other officials, Kennedy explained that the Moon shot was important for reasons of international prestige, and that the expense was justified.<ref>{{cite news|title=JFK and the Space Race |last=Selverstone |first=Marc |publisher=White House Tapes–Presidential Recordings Program, Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia |url=http://whitehousetapes.net/exhibit/jfk-and-space-race |access-date=February 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305205812/http://whitehousetapes.net/exhibit/jfk-and-space-race |archive-date=March 5, 2012 }}</ref> Johnson assured him that lessons learned from the space program had military value as well. Costs for the Apollo program were expected to reach $40&nbsp;billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|40|1962|r=2}}&nbsp;billion in {{Inflation-year|US}}).{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=652–653}}
 
In a September 1963 speech before the United Nations, Kennedy urged cooperation between the Soviets and Americans in space, specifically recommending that Apollo be switched to "a joint expedition to the Moon".<ref>[[s:John F. Kennedy's Address Before the 18th General Assembly of the United Nations|Wikisource: John F. Kennedy's Address Before the 18th General Assembly of the United Nations]]</ref> Khrushchev again declined, and the Soviets did not commit to a manned Moon mission until 1964.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=654}} On July 20, 1969, almost six years after Kennedy's death, [[Apollo 11]] landed the first manned spacecraft on the Moon.
 
===Administration, Cabinet, and judicial appointments===
{{Infobox U.S. Cabinet
|align=left
|Name=Kennedy
|President =John F. Kennedy
|President start =1961
|President end =1963
|Vice President =[[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
|Vice President start =1961
|Vice President end =1963
|State =[[Dean Rusk]]
|State start =1961
|State end =1963
|Treasury =[[C. Douglas Dillon]]
|Treasury start =1961
|Treasury end =1963
|Defense =[[Robert McNamara]]
|Defense start =1961
|Defense end =1963
|Justice =[[Robert F. Kennedy]]
|Justice start =1961
|Justice end =1963
|Post =[[J. Edward Day]]
|Post start =1961
|Post end =1963
|Post 2 =[[John A. Gronouski]]
|Post date 2 =1963
|Interior =[[Stewart Udall]]
|Interior start =1961
|Interior end =1963
|Agriculture =[[Orville Freeman]]
|Agriculture start =1961
|Agriculture end =1963
|Commerce =[[Luther H. Hodges]]
|Commerce start =1961
|Commerce end =1963
|Labor =[[Arthur Goldberg]]
|Labor start =1961
|Labor end =1962
|Labor 2=[[W. Willard Wirtz]]
|Labor start 2 =1962
|Labor end 2 =1963
|Health, Education, and Welfare =[[Abraham A. Ribicoff]]
|Health, Education, and Welfare start =1961
|Health, Education, and Welfare end =1962
|Health, Education, and Welfare 2 =[[Anthony J. Celebrezze]]
|Health, Education, and Welfare start 2 =1962
|Health, Education, and Welfare end 2 =1963
}}
[[File:John F. Kennedy, Bestanddeelnr 915-7756.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|John F. Kennedy, and members of his Cabinet]]
{{clear}}
 
====Judicial appointments====
=====Supreme Court=====
{{main|John F. Kennedy Supreme Court candidates}}
{{further|List of nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States}}
Kennedy appointed the following Justices to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]:
* [[Byron White]]&nbsp;– 1962
* [[Arthur Goldberg]]&nbsp;– 1962
 
=====Other courts=====
{{main|List of federal judges appointed by John F. Kennedy}}
In addition to his two Supreme Court appointments, Kennedy appointed 21 judges to the [[United States Courts of Appeals]], and 102 judges to the [[United States district court]]s.
 
==Assassination==
{{main|Assassination of John F. Kennedy}}
{{main|Assassination of John F. Kennedy}}
{{For timeline|Timeline of the John F. Kennedy assassination}}
[[File:JFK limousine.png |thumb|upright=1.15|The Kennedys and the Connallys in the presidential limousine moments before the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination]] in Dallas]]


President Kennedy was assassinated in [[Dallas]] at 12:30&nbsp;p.m. [[Central Standard Time]] (CST) on Friday, November 22, 1963. He was in Texas on a political trip to smooth over frictions in the Democratic Party between liberals [[Ralph Yarborough]] and [[Don Yarborough]] (no relation) and conservative [[John Connally]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Russ |url=http://www.lifeinlegacy.com/display.php?weekof=September |title=26, 2009#P12844 Life in Legacy |publisher=Lifeinlegacy.com |access-date=March 28, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512002820/http://lifeinlegacy.com/display.php?weekof=September |archive-date=May 12, 2011 }}</ref> Traveling in a presidential [[motorcade]] through downtown Dallas, he was shot once in the back, the bullet exiting via his throat, and once in the head.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/press.htm|title=Doctors attending to Kennedy reported.|access-date=May 15, 2018|date=November 1963}}</ref>
Kennedy was shot dead on November 22, 1963, in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]]. He was being driven through the city in an open-top car, along with [[John Connally]], the [[Governor of Texas]]. As the car drove into [[Dealey Plaza]], [[Gunshot|shots]] were fired. He was shot once in the throat and once in the head. Kennedy was taken to [[Parkland Memorial Hospital]] {{convert|4|mi}} away and he was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m.


Kennedy was taken to [[Parkland Hospital]] for emergency medical treatment, where he was pronounced dead 30 minutes later, at 1:00&nbsp;p.m. ([[Central Standard Time|CST]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=November 22, 1963: Death of the President {{!}} JFK Library |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/november-22-1963-death-of-the-president |website=www.jfklibrary.org |access-date=July 25, 2021}}</ref> He was 46 years old and had been in office for 1,036 days. [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], an order filler at the [[Texas School Book Depository]] from which the shots were fired, was arrested for the murder of police officer [[J. D. Tippit]] and was subsequently charged with Kennedy's assassination. He denied shooting anyone, claiming he was a [[wikt:patsy|patsy]],<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZYAIiErTNg Lee Oswald claiming innocence (film)], Youtube.com</ref><ref>Warren Commission Hearings, vol. 20, p. 366, [http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh20/html/WH_Vol20_0193b.htm Kantor Exhibit No. 3—Handwritten notes made by Seth Kantor concerning events surrounding the assassination]</ref> and was shot dead by [[Jack Ruby]] on November 24, before he could be prosecuted. Ruby was arrested and convicted for the murder of Oswald. Ruby successfully appealed his conviction and death sentence but became ill and died of cancer on January 3, 1967, while the date for his new trial was being set.
[[Lee Harvey Oswald]], a former [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine]], was the prime suspect in the murder, and he was arrested on the same day for the murder of a [[policeman]] called [[J. D. Tippit]]. Oswald denied shooting anyone and was killed two days later on November 24 by [[Jack Ruby]].


President Johnson quickly issued an [[executive order]] to create the [[Warren Commission]]—chaired by Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]]—to investigate the assassination. The commission concluded that Oswald acted alone in killing Kennedy and that Oswald was not part of any conspiracy.{{sfn|Brauer 2002|p=497}} The results of this investigation are disputed by many.<ref name="Russo">[http://www.americanheritage.com/content/did-castro-ok-kennedy-assassination Gus Russo and Stephen Molton] "Did Castro OK the Kennedy Assassination?," ''American Heritage'', Winter 2009.</ref> The assassination proved to be a pivotal moment in [[U.S. history]] because of its impact on the nation, and the ensuing political repercussions. A 2004 [[Fox News]] poll found that 66% of Americans thought there had been a [[conspiracy to kill President Kennedy]], while 74% thought that there had been a cover-up.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,102511,00.html|first=Dana|last=Blanton|title=Poll: Most Believe 'Cover-Up' of JFK Assassination Facts|work=Fox News|date=June 18, 2004|access-date=September 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416210237/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,102511,00.html|archive-date=April 16, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> A [[Gallup Poll]] in November 2013 showed 61% believed in a conspiracy, and only 30% thought that Oswald did it alone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/165893/majority-believe-jfk-killed-conspiracy.aspx |title=Majority in U.S. Still Believe JFK Killed in a Conspiracy: Mafia, federal government top list of potential conspirators |publisher=Gallup, Inc. |date=November 15, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801184321/http://www.gallup.com/poll/165893/majority-believe-jfk-killed-conspiracy.aspx |archive-date=August 1, 2016 }}</ref> In 1979, the [[U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations]] concluded, with one third of the committee dissenting, that it believed "that Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a [[John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories|conspiracy]]. The committee was unable to identify the other gunmen or the extent of the conspiracy." This conclusion was based largely on audio recordings of the shooting.<ref>[https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/ "Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives"]. U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved November 11, 2013.</ref> Subsequently, investigative reports from the FBI's Technical Services Division and a specially appointed [[National Academy of Sciences]] Committee determined that "reliable acoustic data do not support a conclusion that there was a second gunman."<ref>{{cite book |title=Report of the Committee on Ballistic Acoustics |url=http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10264/report-of-the-committee-on-ballistic-acoustics |doi=10.17226/10264 |first=National Research |last=Council |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-309-25372-7}}</ref> The Justice Department concluded "that no persuasive evidence can be identified to support the theory of a conspiracy" in the Kennedy assassination.<ref>{{cite web |title=PDF Justice Department of JFK-King Reinvestigation |url=http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Subject%20Index%20Files/J%20Disk/Justice%20Department%20of/Justice%20Department%20of%20JFK-King%20Reinvestigation/Item%2014.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109192941/http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Subject%20Index%20Files/J%20Disk/Justice%20Department%20of/Justice%20Department%20of%20JFK-King%20Reinvestigation/Item%2014.pdf |archive-date=November 9, 2021 |access-date=2022-01-17 |website=The Harold Weisberg Archive |page=5}}</ref>
Kennedy had a [[state funeral]] on November 25, three days after his murder, near to the [[White House]]. He was buried in [[Arlington National Cemetery]] in [[Arlington, Virginia]].


===Funeral===
== Legacy ==
{{main|State funeral of John F. Kennedy}}
[[File:JFK's family leaves Capitol after his funeral, 1963.jpg|thumb|President Kennedy's family leaving his [[State funeral of John F. Kennedy|funeral]] at the [[U.S. Capitol Building]]]]


A [[Requiem Mass]] was celebrated for Kennedy at the [[Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle]] on November 25, 1963.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=211}} Afterwards, Kennedy was interred in a small plot, 20&nbsp;by 30&nbsp;ft., in [[Arlington National Cemetery]]. Over a period of three years (1964–1966), an estimated 16&nbsp;million people visited his grave. On March 14, 1967, Kennedy's remains were disinterred and moved only a few feet away to a permanent burial plot and memorial. It was from this memorial that the graves of both Robert and Ted Kennedy were modeled.
After Kennedy died, [[Lyndon Johnson]] (his [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]) took over and put many of Kennedy's ideas into law (see [[Great Society]]).


The [[honor guard]] at Kennedy's graveside was the 37th Cadet Class of the [[Irish Army]]. Kennedy was greatly impressed by the Irish Cadets on his last official visit to Ireland, so much so that Jacqueline Kennedy requested the Irish Army to be the honor guard at her husband's funeral.{{sfn|Bugliosi|2007|p=312}}
Kennedy was a very popular president and still is today. He is considered one of the greatest presidents, ranking highly in public [[survey]]s and [[opinion poll]]s.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=700}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/35_kennedy/kennedy_legacy.html|title=The American Experience – JFK|website=[[PBS]]|access-date=2017-08-31|archive-date=2011-10-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018132942/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/35_kennedy/kennedy_legacy.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
Jacqueline and their two deceased minor children were later interred in the same plot. Kennedy's brother Robert [[Robert F. Kennedy assassination|was buried nearby]] in June 1968. In August 2009, Ted was also buried near his two brothers. John F. Kennedy's grave is lit with an "[[John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame|Eternal Flame]]". Kennedy and [[William Howard Taft]] are the only two U.S. presidents buried at Arlington.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090225234855/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=278 This Day in History 1967: JFK's body moved to permanent gravesite], [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History.com]]. Retrieved April 8, 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IHYSwK9Xac | title = Broadcast Yourself | publisher = YouTube | access-date =January 2, 2010 }}</ref>
 
==Personal life, family, and reputation==
{{further|Kennedy family}}
[[File:ARC194238-JFK-Robert-Edward.jpg|thumb|The Kennedy brothers: Attorney General [[Robert F. Kennedy]], Senator [[Ted Kennedy]], and President John F. Kennedy in 1963]]
The Kennedy family is one of the most established political families in the United States, having produced a president, three senators, three ambassadors, and multiple other representatives and politicians, both at the federal and state level. While a Congressman, Kennedy embarked on a seven-week trip to India, Japan, [[Vietnam]], and Israel in 1951, at which point he became close with his then 25-year-old brother [[Robert F. Kennedy|Bobby]], as well as his 27-year-old sister Pat. Because they were several years apart in age, the brothers had previously seen little of each other. This {{convert|25000|mi|km|-3|adj=on}} trip was the first extended time they had spent together and resulted in their becoming best friends.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=29}} Bobby would eventually play a major role in his brother's career, serving as his brother's [[United States Attorney General|attorney general]] and presidential advisor.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=29}} Bobby would later run for president in [[1968 United States presidential election|1968]] before his [[assassination of Robert F. Kennedy|assassination]], while another Kennedy brother, Ted, ran for president in [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]].
 
Kennedy came in third (behind Martin Luther King Jr. and [[Mother Teresa]]) in [[Gallup's List of Widely Admired People]] of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Gallup Poll 1999 | url = https://archive.org/details/galluppollcumula0000gall | url-access = registration | publisher = Scholarly Resources Inc. | year = 1999 | location = Wilmington, DE | pages = [https://archive.org/details/galluppollcumula0000gall/page/248 248–249] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Greatest of the Century | date = December 20–21, 1999 | publisher = Gallup/CNN/USA Today Poll | url = http://www.pollingreport.com/20th.htm | access-date =January 5, 2007 }}</ref> Kennedy was a life member of the [[National Rifle Association]].<ref>{{cite book| title = From my cold, dead hands: Charlton Heston and American politics | first = Emilie | last = Raymond | publisher = University Press of Kentucky | year = 2006 | page = [https://archive.org/details/frommycolddeadha00emil/page/246 246] | isbn = 978-0-8131-2408-7 | url = https://archive.org/details/frommycolddeadha00emil/page/246 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title = Books for Lawyers | journal = American Bar Association Journal | year = 1975 | page = 556 }}</ref>
 
===Wife and children===
[[File:JFK and family in Hyannis Port, 04 August 1962.jpg|thumb|left|The First Family in [[Hyannis Port, Massachusetts]], 1962]]
Kennedy met his future wife, [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis|Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Bouvier]] (1929–1994), when he was a congressman. [[Charles L. Bartlett (journalist)|Charles L. Bartlett]], a journalist, introduced the pair at a dinner party.<ref>Cover story, ''Time magazine'', January 20, 1961</ref> They were married a year after he was elected senator, on September 12, 1953.<ref>Specious allegations in 1997 by UK journalist Terry O'Hanlon {{cite web|title=JFK The Bigamist. ... . The Truth At Last; Kennedy was already married when he got wed to Jackie. ... . |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/JFK+THE+BIGAMIST...+THE+TRUTH+AT+LAST%3b+Kennedy+was+already+married...-a061139564 |work=Sunday Mirror |access-date=October 31, 2010 |author=Golden, Andrew |date=July 27, 1997 }} and by author Seymour Hersh {{cite web|last=Reingold |first=Joyce |title=JFK 'Secret Marriage' A Story With Legs |url=http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/pbupd8/entries/2008/03/26/durie_appleton_spent_a_lifetim.html |work=Palm Beach Daily News |access-date=October 31, 2010 |date=March 26, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510034800/http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/pbupd8/entries/2008/03/26/durie_appleton_spent_a_lifetim.html |archive-date=May 10, 2011 }} that Kennedy had married previously have been soundly disproven. Reeves states that [[Ben Bradlee]], then at ''[[Newsweek]]'', inspected FBI files on it, and confirmed the falsehood. {{harvnb|Reeves|1993|p=348}}; for further refutation, see {{harvnb|O'Brien|2005|p=706}}.</ref> After suffering a miscarriage in 1955 and a stillbirth in 1956 (their daughter Arabella), their daughter [[Caroline Kennedy|Caroline]] was born in 1957 and is the only surviving member of JFK's immediate family. [[John F. Kennedy Jr.|John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr.]], nicknamed "John-John" by the press as a child, was born in late November 1960, 17 days after his father was elected. John Jr., a graduate of [[Brown University]], died in 1999 when the [[John F. Kennedy, Jr. plane crash|small plane he was piloting crashed]] en route to [[Martha's Vineyard]].<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/jfkjr/stories/kennedy073199.htm | title = Kennedy Plane Found to Be Fully Functional |newspaper=The Washington Post | date = July 31, 1999 | access-date =January 2, 2010 }}</ref> In 1963, months before JFK's assassination, Jackie gave birth to a son, [[Patrick Bouvier Kennedy|Patrick]]. However, he died after 2 days due to complications from birth.
 
===Popular image===
[[File:President and First Lady, Portrait Photograph. President Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy. White House, Yellow Oval Room. - NARA - 194262 (cropped).jpg|right|thumb|{{center|[[Yellow Oval Room]] portrait}}]]
Kennedy and his wife were younger in comparison to the presidents and first ladies who preceded them, and both were popular in the [[media culture]] in ways more common to pop singers and movie stars than politicians, influencing fashion trends and becoming the subjects of numerous photo spreads in popular magazines. Although Eisenhower had allowed presidential press conferences to be filmed for television, Kennedy was the first president to ask for them to be broadcast [[Live television|live]] and made good use of the medium.<ref name="american chronicle">{{cite news|url=http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/6883|publisher=American Chronicle|date=March 15, 2006|title=Happy Anniversary to the first scheduled presidential press conference—93 years young!|first=Robert|last=Rouse|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913094418/http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/6883|archive-date=September 13, 2008}}</ref> In 1961 the [[Radio Television Digital News Association|Radio-Television News Directors Association]] presented Kennedy with its highest honor, the [[Paul White (journalist)|Paul White]] Award, in recognition of his open relationship with the media.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rtdna.org/article/rtdna_s_kennedy_connections |title=RTDNA's Kennedy connections|publisher=[[Radio Television Digital News Association]], November 26, 2013 |access-date=May 27, 2014}}</ref>
 
Mrs. Kennedy brought new art and furniture to the White House and directed its restoration. They invited a range of artists, writers and intellectuals to rounds of White House dinners, raising the profile of the arts in America. On the White House lawn, the Kennedys established a swimming pool and tree house, while Caroline attended a preschool along with 10 other children inside the home.
 
Kennedy was closely tied to popular culture, emphasized by songs such as "[[Twist (dance)|Twisting]] at the White House". [[Vaughn Meader]]'s ''First Family'' comedy album, which parodied the president, the first lady, their family, and the administration, sold about four million copies. On May 19, 1962, [[Marilyn Monroe]] sang "[[Happy Birthday, Mr. President]]" at a large party in [[Madison Square Garden (1925)|Madison Square Garden]], celebrating Kennedy's upcoming forty-fifth birthday.
 
===Health===
[[File:John F. Kennedy after spinal surgery cph.3c33052.jpg|thumb|upright|Kennedy and Jackie leaving the hospital following his spinal surgery, December 1954]]
 
Despite a privileged youth, Kennedy was plagued by a series of childhood diseases, including [[whooping cough]], [[chicken pox]], [[measles]], and ear infections. These ailments compelled JFK to spend a considerable amount of time in bed (or at least indoors) convalescing. Three months prior to his third birthday, in 1920, Kennedy came down with [[scarlet fever]], a highly contagious and life-threatening disease, and was admitted to [[Boston City Hospital]].{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=32}}<ref name="jfklibrary.org"/>
 
Years after Kennedy's death, it was revealed that in September 1947, while Kennedy was 30 and in his first term in Congress, he was diagnosed by Sir Daniel Davis at [[The London Clinic]] with [[Addison's disease]], a rare endocrine disorder. Davis estimated that Kennedy would not live for another year, while Kennedy himself hoped he could live for an additional ten.<ref>{{cite episode|title=JFK (Part 1)|series=American Experience|series-link=American Experience|network=[[PBS]]|station=[[WGBH-TV|WGBH]]|date=November 11, 2013|season=25|number=7|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/jfk/|access-date=September 24, 2019}}</ref> In 1966, White House physician Dr. [[Janet Travell]] revealed that Kennedy also had [[hypothyroidism]]. The presence of two endocrine diseases raises the possibility that Kennedy had [[autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 2]] (APS 2).<ref name="Mandel, Lee R. 2009 350–354">{{cite journal | author = Mandel, Lee R. | title = Endocrine and Autoimmune Aspects of the Health History of John F. Kennedy | journal = Annals of Internal Medicine | year = 2009 | issue = 5 | pages = 350–354 | pmid = 19721023 | doi = 10.7326/0003-4819-151-5-200909010-00011 | volume = 151 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
 
Kennedy also suffered from chronic and severe back pain, for which he had surgery. Kennedy's condition may have had diplomatic repercussions, as he appears to have been taking a combination of drugs to treat severe back pain during the 1961 [[Vienna Summit]] with Soviet Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]]. The combination included hormones, animal organ cells, steroids, vitamins, enzymes, and amphetamines, and possible potential side effects included hyperactivity, [[hypertension]], impaired judgment, nervousness, and mood swings.{{sfn|Kempe|2011|p=213}} Kennedy at one time was regularly seen by no fewer than three doctors, one of whom, [[Max Jacobson]], was unknown to the other two, as his mode of treatment was controversial<ref>[http://www.nysun.com/out-and-about/dr-feelgood/20251/ New York Sun September 20, 2005: "Dr. Feelgood"] Retrieved July 11, 2011</ref> and used for the most severe bouts of back pain.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=42, 158–159}}
 
Into late 1961, disagreements existed among Kennedy's doctors concerning his proper balance of medication and exercise. Kennedy preferred the former because he was short on time and desired immediate relief.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=243}} During that time, the president's physician, George Burkley, did set up some gym equipment in the White House basement, where Kennedy did stretching exercises for his back three times a week.{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=244}} Details of these and other medical problems were not publicly disclosed during Kennedy's lifetime.<ref>Online NewsHour with Senior Correspondent [[Ray Suarez]] and physician Jeffrey Kelman, [https://web.archive.org/web/20021122141641/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec02/jfk_11-18.html "Pres. Kennedy's Health Secrets"], ''[[The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer]]'' transcript, November 18, 2002</ref> The President's primary White House physician, George Burkley, realized that treatments by Jacobson and Travell, including the excessive use of steroids and amphetamines, were medically inappropriate, and took action to remove Kennedy from their care.<ref name="jfkwhmd">{{cite web|last1=Ghaemi M.D., M.P.H.|first1=Nassir|title=What Jackie Kennedy Didn't Say—and Didn't Know|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mood-swings/201109/what-jackie-kennedy-didnt-say-and-didnt-know|website=Psychology Today|access-date=August 22, 2016|date=September 14, 2011}}</ref>
 
In 2002, [[Robert Dallek]] wrote an extensive history of Kennedy's health. Dallek was able to consult a collection of Kennedy-associated papers from the years 1955–1963, including X-rays and prescription records from the files of Dr. Travell. According to Travell's records, during his presidential years Kennedy suffered from high fevers; stomach, colon, and prostate issues; abscesses; high cholesterol; and adrenal problems. Travell kept a "Medicine Administration Record", cataloging Kennedy's medications: "injected and ingested corticosteroids for his adrenal insufficiency; procaine shots and ultrasound treatments and hot packs for his back; Lomotil, Metamucil, paregoric, phenobarbital, testosterone, and trasentine to control his diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, and weight loss; penicillin and other antibiotics for his urinary-tract infections and an abscess; and [[Tuinal]] to help him sleep."<ref name = "Dallek"/>
 
===Family incidents===
{{Main|Kennedy curse}}
Kennedy's older brother [[Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.]] was killed in action in 1944 at age 29 when his plane exploded over the English Channel during a first attack execution of [[Operation Aphrodite]] during [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fly.historicwings.com/2012/08/operation-aphrodite/|title=Operation Aphrodite ‹ HistoricWings.com :: A Magazine for Aviators, Pilots and Adventurers|work=historicwings.com}}</ref> His sister [[Rosemary Kennedy|Rose Marie "Rosemary" Kennedy]] was born in 1918 with intellectual disabilities and underwent a prefrontal [[lobotomy]] at age 23, leaving her incapacitated for the rest of her life until her death in 2005. Another sister [[Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington|Kathleen Agnes "Kick" Kennedy]] died in a plane crash en route to France in 1948. His wife Jacqueline Kennedy suffered a [[miscarriage]] in 1955 and a [[stillbirth]] in 1956: a daughter informally named Arabella.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstladies.org/blog/the-children-of-jacqueline-kennedy/|title=The Children of Jacqueline Kennedy|website=www.firstladies.org|access-date=April 16, 2016}}</ref> A son, [[Patrick Bouvier Kennedy]], died two days after birth in August 1963.
 
===Affairs and friendships===
[[File:JFK and Marilyn Monroe 1962.jpg|thumb|Attorney General [[Robert F. Kennedy]], [[Marilyn Monroe]], and John Kennedy talk during the president's May 19, 1962, early birthday party, where Monroe publicly serenaded Kennedy with "[[Happy Birthday, Mr. President]]"]]
 
Kennedy was single in the 1940s while having relationships with Danish journalist [[Inga Arvad]]{{sfn|Dallek|2003|pp=83–85}} and actress [[Gene Tierney]].{{sfn|Osborne|2006|p=195}} During his time as a Senator, he had an affair with [[Gunilla von Post]], who later wrote that the future President tried to end his marriage to be with her before having any children with his wife.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/jfk-love-letters-to-swedish-mistress-to-be-sold-at-auction/7ZN6EXIJSFDWFITDSABHEAO5L4/|title=JFK love letters to Swedish mistress to be sold at auction|first=William J.|last=Kole|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|date=May 5, 2021|access-date=May 8, 2021}}</ref> Kennedy was also reported to have had affairs with women such as [[Marilyn Monroe]],{{sfn|Reeves|1993|pp=315–316}} [[Judith Exner|Judith Campbell]],{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=289}} [[Mary Pinchot Meyer]],{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=475}} [[Marlene Dietrich]],{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=58}} [[Mimi Alford]],<ref name=nytimes_garrow>{{cite news|last=Garrow|first=David J.|title=Substance Over Sex In Kennedy Biography|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/28/books/books-of-the-times-substance-over-sex-in-kennedy-biography.html|access-date=January 20, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 28, 2003}}</ref> and his wife's [[press secretary]], [[Pamela Turnure]].{{sfn|Dallek|2003|pp=475, 476}}
 
The full extent of Kennedy's relationship with Monroe is not known, although it has been reported that they spent a weekend together in March 1962 while he was staying at [[Bing Crosby]]'s house.{{sfn|Leaming|2006|pp=379–380}} Furthermore, people at the White House switchboard noted that Monroe had called Kennedy during 1962.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=581}} J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director, received reports about Kennedy's indiscretions.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=376}} These included an alleged East German spy [[Ellen Rometsch]]. According to historian [[Michael Beschloss]], in July 1963, Hoover reportedly informed Bobby Kennedy about the affair. Hoover told the Attorney General that he not only had information that the president, but also others in Washington, had been involved with a woman "suspected as a Soviet intelligence agent, someone linked to East German intelligence". Bobby Kennedy reportedly took the matter sufficiently seriously to raise it with leading Democratic and Republican figures in Congress.<ref>''Booknotes'' interview with historian Michael Beschloss on ''[https://www.c-span.org/video/?19109-1/the-crisis-years-kennedy-khrushchev The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev]'' (C-SPAN: June 21, 1991)</ref><ref>Taylor Branch, "[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-18-vw-756-story.html Kennedys and Hoover: How Their Battles Affected King]" ''Los Angeles Times'' (December 18, 1988)</ref> Former Secret Service agent Larry Newman also remembered "morale problems" that the president's indiscretions engendered within the Secret Service.<ref>Larry Sabato, "[https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/10/16/john-f-kennedys-final-days-reveal-a-man-who-craved-excitement/?sh=7c58c16e71a9 John F. Kennedy's Final Days Reveal A Man Who Craved Excitement]" ''Forbes'' (October 16, 2013)</ref>
 
Kennedy inspired affection and loyalty from the members of his team and his supporters.{{sfn|Barnes|2007|p=116}} According to Reeves, this included "the logistics of Kennedy's liaisons ... [which] required secrecy and devotion rare in the annals of the energetic service demanded by successful politicians."{{sfn|Reeves|1993|p=291}} Kennedy believed that his friendly relationship with members of the press would help protect him from public revelations about his sex life.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=478}}
 
[[Lem Billings]] was Kennedy's "oldest and best friend" from the time they attended Choate together until Kennedy's death.{{refn|{{cite book|page=xi|last=Pitts|first=David|year=2007|title=John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship}} }}
 
==Historical evaluations and legacy==
===Effect of assassination===
[[File:US Half Dollar Obverse 2015.png|thumb|left|upright=0.6|The [[Kennedy half dollar]] was first issued in 1964]]
[[File:John F. Kennedy statue outside the Capitol, Boston, Massachusetts LCCN2011630418.tif|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Statue of John F. Kennedy (Boston)|John F. Kennedy statue]] outside the [[Massachusetts State House]] in Boston]]
[[File:JFK library Stitch Crop.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]], in [[Boston]] ]]
 
Television was the primary source that kept people informed of the events that surrounded Kennedy's assassination. In fact, television started to come of age before the assassination. On September 2, 1963, Kennedy helped inaugurate network television's first half-hour nightly evening newscast according to an interview with ''[[CBS Evening News]]'' anchor [[Walter Cronkite]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Cronkite|first=Walter|title=A Reporter's Life|location=New York|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|year=1996|isbn=978-0-394-57879-8}}</ref>
 
Newspapers were kept as souvenirs rather than sources of updated information.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} In this sense his assassination was the first major TV news event of its kind. TV coverage united the nation, interpreting what went on, and creating memories of this space in time.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} All three major U.S. television networks suspended their regular schedules and switched to all-news coverage from November 22 through November 26, 1963, being on the air for 70 hours, making it the longest uninterrupted news event on American TV until 9/11.<ref>{{cite news | last = Sanford | first = Bill | title = Viewers Again Return To Traditional Networks |newspaper=The New York Times | date = September 15, 2001 | page = A14 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/15/us/after-the-attacks-television-viewers-again-return-to-traditional-networks.html }}</ref>
 
The assassination had an effect on many people, not only in the United States but around the world. Many vividly remember where they were when they first learned the news that Kennedy was assassinated, as with the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] on December 7, 1941, before it and the [[September 11 attacks]] after it. UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson II said of the assassination: "All of us. ... . will bear the grief of his death until the day of ours." Many people have also spoken of the shocking news, compounded by the pall of uncertainty about the identity of the assassin(s), the possible instigators, and the causes of the killing, as an end to innocence, and in retrospect, it has coalesced with other changes of the tumultuous decade of the 1960s, especially the Vietnam War.
 
==="Camelot Era"===
The term "Camelot" came to be used retrospectively as iconic of the Kennedy administration, and the charisma of Kennedy and his family. The term was first publicly used by his wife in a post-assassination [[Life (magazine)|''Life'' magazine]] interview with [[Theodore H. White]], in which she revealed his affection for the contemporary [[Camelot (musical)|Broadway musical of the same name]], particularly the closing lines of the title song:<ref name="JFKlibrary.org White. Series 11. Camelot Documents">[https://web.archive.org/web/20060906065903/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical%2BResources/Archives/Archives%2Band%2BManuscripts/fa_white_theodore.htm The Personal Papers of Theodore H. White (1915–1986): Series 11. Camelot Documents], ''John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum'' quotation:{{blockquote|The 1963 LIFE article represented the first use of the term "Camelot" in print and is attributed with having played a major role in establishing and fixing this image of the Kennedy Administration and period in the popular mind.}}</ref>
 
{{blockquote|Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief, shining moment that was known as Camelot.<br />
There'll be great presidents again ... but there will never be another Camelot.|Jacqueline Kennedy<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=T1IEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA158 ''An Epilogue''], in ''LIFE'', Dec 6, 1963, pp.158–9</ref>}}
 
On television, this era was represented by Mary Tyler Moore's ''[[Dick Van Dyke Show]]'' character Laura Petrie, who would often dress like Kennedy's wife Jackie as well.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Sixties Chronicles|first=David|last=Farber|page=153|publisher=Publications International Ltd.|isbn=1-4127-1009-X|date=2004}}</ref>
 
===Presidency===
[[File:John F Kennedy Official Portrait.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|Official White House portrait of John F. Kennedy, by [[Aaron Shikler]]]]
 
The [[Special Forces (United States Army)|US Special Forces]] had a special bond with Kennedy. "It was President Kennedy who was responsible for the rebuilding of the Special Forces and giving us back our Green Beret," said Forrest Lindley, a writer for the US military newspaper ''[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]'' who served with Special Forces in Vietnam.{{efn|name=Green Beret|Kennedy reversed the Defense Department rulings that prohibited the Special Forces wearing of the Green Beret. {{harvnb|Reeves|1993|p=116}}.}} This bond was shown at [[State funeral of John F. Kennedy|Kennedy's funeral]]. At the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Kennedy's death, General [[Michael D. Healy]], the last commander of Special Forces in Vietnam, spoke at Arlington National Cemetery. Later, a wreath in the form of the Green Beret would be placed on the grave, continuing a tradition that began the day of his funeral when a sergeant in charge of a detail of Special Forces men guarding the grave placed his beret on the coffin.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jfks-personal-connection-to-armys-green-berets/ | title=JFK's personal connection to Army's Green Berets | publisher=CBS Interactive Inc. | access-date=August 3, 2016}}</ref> Kennedy was the first of six presidents to have served in the U.S. Navy,<ref name="PresInNavy">{{cite web|title=Presidents Who Served in the U.S. Navy |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-1.htm |date=January 11, 2007 |work=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=[[Naval History & Heritage Command]] |access-date=May 12, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505163726/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-1.htm |archive-date=May 5, 2011 }}</ref> and one of the enduring legacies of his administration was the creation in 1961 of another [[special forces]] command, the [[United States Navy SEALs|Navy SEALs]],<ref>{{cite web | title = Navy SEALs Were Launched in the JFK 'Man on the Moon' Speech | url = http://www.life.com/gallery/60031/image/1597398#index/1 | work = 11 Facts About Navy SEALs  | access-date =May 12, 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2015}}</ref> which Kennedy enthusiastically supported.<ref name="Salinger p97">{{cite book| title = John F. Kennedy: Commander in Chief: A Profile in Leadership | url = https://archive.org/details/johnfkennedycomm0000sali/page/97 | isbn = 978-0-670-86310-5 | first = Pierre | last = Salinger | author-link = Pierre Salinger | year = 1997 | publisher = Penguin Studio | location = New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/johnfkennedycomm0000sali/page/97 97] | access-date = February 22, 2012 }}</ref>
 
Kennedy's civil rights proposals led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|pp=594–606, 644}} President Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy's successor, took up the mantle and pushed the landmark Civil Rights Act through a bitterly divided Congress by invoking the slain president's memory.{{sfn|Dallek|2003|p=708}}<ref name="USA Today">{{cite news | url = http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-09-26-jfk-kennedy-mystique_N.htm | title = 50 years after win, Kennedy's legacy endures | work = USA Today | date = September 26, 2010 | access-date = April 4, 2013 }}</ref> President Johnson then signed the Act into law on July 2, 1964. This civil rights law ended what was known as the "[[Solid South]]" and certain provisions were modeled after the [[Civil Rights Act of 1875]], signed into law by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]].{{sfn|Walton Jr.|Smith|2000|p=205}}
 
Kennedy's continuation of Presidents Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower's policies of giving economic and military aid to South Vietnam left the door open for President Johnson's escalation of the conflict.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-09-26-jfk-kennedy-mystique_N.htm | work=USA Today | title=50 years after win, Kennedy's legacy endures | date=October 4, 2011 | access-date=December 25, 2011 | first1=Susan | last1=Page }}</ref> At the time of Kennedy's death, no final policy decision had been made as to Vietnam, leading historians, cabinet members, and writers to continue to disagree on whether the Vietnam conflict would have escalated to the point it did had he survived.<ref name="Douthat 2011-11-26">{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/opinion/sunday/Douthat-The-Enduring-Cult-of-Kennedy.html | newspaper = New York Times | title = The Enduring Cult of Kennedy | date = November 26, 2011 | access-date =December 3, 2011 | first = Ross | last = Douthat }}</ref>{{sfn|Matthews|2011|pp=393, 394}} His agreement to the NSAM 263<ref name="NSAM 263" /> action of withdrawing 1,000 troops by the end of 1963, and his earlier 1963 speech at American University,<ref name="AmUniv" /> suggest that he was ready to end the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War contributed greatly to a decade of national difficulties, amid violent disappointment on the political landscape.
 
Many of Kennedy's speeches (especially his inaugural address) are considered iconic; and despite his relatively short term in office, and the lack of major legislative changes coming to fruition during his term, he is considered by many Americans to be in the upper echelon of presidents.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} Some excerpts of Kennedy's inaugural address are engraved on a plaque at his grave at Arlington. In 2018 ''[[The Times]]'' published an audio recreation of the "watchmen on the walls of world freedom" speech he was scheduled to deliver at the [[Dallas Market Center|Dallas Trade Mart]] on November 22, 1963.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jfk-video-hear-kennedys-lost-dallas-speech-in-his-own-voice-xtkvhm255 |title=JFK video: hear Kennedy's 'lost' Dallas speech in his own voice |author=Rogan, Aaron |date=March 15, 2018 |newspaper=The Times |access-date=May 10, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Dallas-TX-Trade-Mart-Undelivered_19631122.aspx |title=Remarks Prepared for Delivery at the Trade Mart in Dallas, TX, November 22, 1963 [Undelivered] |author=Kennedy, John F. |date=November 22, 1963 |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum |access-date=May 10, 2018}}</ref>
 
In 1961, he was awarded the [[Laetare Medal]] by the [[University of Notre Dame]], considered the most prestigious award for [[American Catholics]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Recipients|url=https://laetare.nd.edu/recipients/#info1961|website=The Laetare Medal|publisher=University of Notre Dame|access-date=July 31, 2020}}</ref> He was posthumously awarded the [[Pacem in Terris Award|''Pacem in Terris'' Award]] ([[Latin]]: Peace on Earth). It was named after a 1963 [[encyclical]] letter by [[Pope John XXIII]] that calls upon all people of goodwill to secure peace among all nations. Kennedy also posthumously received the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] in 1963.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wetterau |first1=Bruce |title=The Presidential Medal of Freedom : winners and their achievements |date=1996 |publisher=Congressional Quarterly Inc. |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=1-56802-128-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/presidentialmeda00wett_0/page/58 58] |url=https://archive.org/details/presidentialmeda00wett_0 |url-access=registration |access-date=September 9, 2019}}</ref>
 
===Memorials and eponyms===
{{main|List of memorials to John F. Kennedy}}
[[File:JFK grave2.JPG|thumb|right|President's and his wife's graves at [[John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame]] memorial, [[Arlington National Cemetery]]]]
A small sample of the extensive list at the main article (link above) includes:
* Idlewild Airport in [[Queens]], New York City, nation's busiest international gateway, renamed [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]] on December 24, 1963
* NASA Launch Operations Center in [[Merritt Island, Florida]] named the [[John F. Kennedy Space Center]] on November 29, 1963.
* {{USS|John F. Kennedy|CV-67}}, U.S. Navy aircraft carrier ordered in April 1964, launched May 1967, decommissioned August 2007; nicknamed "Big John"
* [[Kennedy half dollar]], first minted in 1964
* [[John F. Kennedy School of Government]], part of [[Harvard University]], renamed in 1966
* [[John F. Kennedy Federal Building]] in the [[Government Center, Boston|Government Center]] section of [[Boston]], opened in 1966
* [[John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial]], opened in 1970 in [[Dallas]]
* National cultural center was named [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] in 1964, opened in 1971 in [[Washington, D.C.]]
* [[John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]] on [[Columbia Point, Boston|Columbia Point]] in [[Boston]]; opened in 1979
* [[Statue of John F. Kennedy (Boston)|Statue of John F. Kennedy]] by Isabel McIlvain on the grounds of the [[Massachusetts State House]] in Boston; dedicated on May 29, 1990.
* {{USS|John F. Kennedy|CVN-79}}, U.S. Navy aircraft carrier that began construction in 2011, and is scheduled to be placed in commission in 2020
 
==Works==
===Audio===
{{listen
| filename = JFK ColdWarsOrigin.ogg
| title = Kennedy comments on the possible prevention of the Cold War
| description = President Kennedy comments on the possible prevention of the Cold War
| format = [[Vorbis]]
|pos=left
}}
{{listen
| filename2 = JFKennedy November1963.ogg
| title2 = Kennedy's message to Turkey
| description2 = Kennedy's message to Turkish President [[Cemal Gursel]] and The Turkish People on the Anniversary of the Death of [[Kemal Atatürk]], November 10, 1963 ([[:File:JFKennedy on Ataturk 1963.pdf|accompanying text]])
| format2 = [[Vorbis]]
| filename3 = Discurso de Kennedy.ogg
| title3 = Announcement to go to the moon
| description3 = Announcement by John F. Kennedy to go to the moon (duration 00:11)
| format3 = [[Vorbis]]
| filename4 = Secret_Societies_speech.flac
| title4 = Secret Societies speech
| description4 = JFK Secret Societies speech
| format4 = [[FLAC]]
}}
{{Clear left}}
 
===Books===
* {{cite book
| first = Lorna
| last = Hahn
| contribution = John F. Kennedy (introduction)
| title = North Africa: Nationalism to Nationhood
| publisher = [[Public Affairs Press]]
| url = https://lccn.loc.gov/60011401
| date = 1960| lccn = 60011401}}
* {{cite book
| first = John F.
| last = Kennedy
| title = [[Why England Slept]]
| publisher = W. Funk
| date = 1940}}
* {{cite book
| first = John F.
| last = Kennedy
| title = [[Profiles in Courage]]
| publisher = Harper
| date = 1956}}
* {{cite book
| last=Kennedy
| first= John F.
| title=[[A Nation of Immigrants]]
| publisher=Anti-Defamation League
| date=1958
| isbn=978-0-06-144754-9}}
 
===Video===
* Newsreel footage of the inauguration ceremony and speeches
[[File:Kennedy inauguration footage.ogg|thumb|right|Newsreel footage of the inauguration ceremony and speeches]]
 
==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em|small=no}}
* [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy]]
* [[Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy]]
* [[Presidential transition of John F. Kennedy]]
* Doyle, William, [[PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy]], (2015), New York, Harper Collins, ISBN 978-0-06-234658-2
* [[Electoral history of John F. Kennedy]]
* [[1960 United States presidential debates]]
* [[Eyre Square]]
* [[Jesuit Ivy]]
* [[Kennedy Doctrine]]
* [[Lincoln–Kennedy coincidences urban legend]]
* [[List of memorials to John F. Kennedy]]
* [[Orville Nix]], photographer of a film of the assassination
* "[[Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy]]" retort by Senator Lloyd Bentsen, 1988 VP debate
* [[The Torch of Friendship]]
* [[Timeline of the presidency of John F. Kennedy]]
* [[Zapruder film]]
** [[Abraham Zapruder]], photographer of the primary film of assassination
{{div col end}}
 
===General===
{{div col|colwidth=20em|small=no}}
* [[History of the United States (1945–1964)]]
* [[List of assassinated American politicians]]
* [[List of presidents of the United States]]
* [[List of presidents of the United States by previous experience]]
* [[List of presidents of the United States who died in office]]
* [[List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots]]
* [[Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps]]
{{div col end}}
 
==Notes==
{{notes}}


==References==
==References==
 
{{reflist}}
===Citations===
{{Reflist|25em}}
 
===Works cited===
{{refbegin|20em}}
* {{cite book|last1=Alford|first1=Mimi|author1-link=Mimi Alford|last2=Newman|first2=Judith|year=2011|title=Once Upon A Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and its Aftermath|publisher=Hutchinson|location=London|isbn=978-0-09-193175-9|ref={{sfnRef|Alford|2011}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Ballard|first=Robert D.|author-link=Robert Ballard|year=2002|title=Collision With History: The Search for John F. Kennedy's PT 109|publisher=National Geographic|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=978-0-7922-6876-5|url=https://archive.org/details/collisionwithhis0000ball}}
* {{cite book|last=Barnes|first=John|year=2007|title=John F. Kennedy on Leadership|publisher=AMACOM|isbn=978-0-8144-7455-6|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/johnfkennedyonle00barn}}
* {{cite book|last=Bilharz|first=Joy Ann|year=2002|orig-year=1998|title=The Allegany Senecas and Kinzua Dam: Forced Relocation Through Two Generations|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln|isbn=978-0-8032-1282-4}}
* {{cite book|last1=Blight|first1=James G.|last2=Lang|first2=Janet M.|year=2005|title=The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|location=Lanham, MD|isbn=978-0-7425-4221-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Brinkley|first=Alan|author1-link=Alan Brinkley|title=John F. Kennedy|publisher=Times Books|year=2012|isbn=978-0-8050-8349-1|location=New York}}
* {{cite journal|last=Bryant|first=Nick|date=Autumn 2006|title=Black Man Who Was Crazy Enough to Apply to Ole Miss|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25073538|journal=The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education|issue=53|pages=31, 60–71|jstor=25073538|via=JSTOR}}
* {{cite book|last=Bugliosi|first=Vincent|author-link=Vincent Bugliosi|title=Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy|year=2007|publisher=Norton|location=New York|isbn=978-0-393-04525-3|title-link=Reclaiming History}}
* {{cite book|last=Cohen|first=Andrew|title=Two Days in June: John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours That Changed History|publisher=McClelland & Stewart|edition=illustrated, reprint|location=Toronto|orig-year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtIpDAAAQBAJ|year=2016|isbn=978-0-7710-2389-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Dallek|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Dallek|year=2003|title=An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963|publisher=Little, Brown and Co|location=Boston|isbn=978-0-316-17238-7|title-link=An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963}}
* {{cite book|last=Daum|first=Andreas|author-link=Andreas Daum|year=2008|title=Kennedy in Berlin|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-521-85824-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Donovan|first=Robert J.|author-link=Robert J. Donovan|year=2001|orig-year=1961|title=PT-109: John F. Kennedy in WW II|edition=40th Anniversary|location=New York|publisher=McGraw Hill|isbn=978-0-07-137643-3|url=https://archive.org/details/pt109johnfkenned00dono_0}}
* {{cite book|last=Doyle|first=William|year=2015|title=PT-109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy|publisher=Harper-Collins|location=New York|isbn=978-0-06-234658-2}}
* {{cite book|last1=Dudley|first1=Robert L.|last2=Shiraev|first2=Eric|year=2008|title=Counting Every Vote: The Most Contentious Elections in American History|url=https://archive.org/details/countingeveryvot0000dudl|url-access=registration|publisher=Potomac Books|location=Dulles, VA|isbn=978-1-59797-224-6}}
* {{cite book|last1=Dunnigan|first1=James|author-link1=Jim Dunnigan|last2=Nofi|first2=Albert|author-link2=Albert Nofi|year=1999|title=Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War|publisher=St. Martin's|isbn=978-0-312-19857-2|location=New York}}
* {{cite book|last=Frum|first=David|author-link=David Frum|year=2000|title=How We Got Here: The '70s|url=https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum|url-access=registration|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-465-04196-1|location=New York}}
* {{cite book|last=Gibson|first=Bryan R.|title=Sold Out? US Foreign Policy, Iraq, the Kurds, and the Cold War|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2015|isbn=978-1-137-48711-7|location=New York}}
* {{cite journal|last=Gleijeses|first=Piero|title=Ships in the Night: The CIA, the White House and the Bay of Pigs|journal=Journal of Latin American Studies|date=February 1995|volume=27|issue=1|pages=1–42|issn=0022-216X|via=Semantic Scholar|doi=10.1017/S0022216X00010154|s2cid=146390097|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/2304a969486887fe2978bfdf7082386cd0a29507}}
* {{cite book|last=Goduti Jr.|first=Philip A.|title=Robert F. Kennedy and the Shaping of Civil Rights, 1960–1964|publisher=McFarland|url=|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7864-4943-9|location=Jefferson, NC}}
* {{cite book|last=Herst|first=Burton|year=2007|title=Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-7867-1982-2|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/bobbyjedgarhisto00hers}}
* {{cite book|last=Jewell|first=Elizabeth|year=2005|title=U.S. Presidents Factbook|publisher=Random House|location=New York|isbn=978-0-375-72073-4|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780375720734}}
* {{cite book|last=Karnow|first=Stanley|author-link=Stanley Karnow|year=1991|title=Vietnam, A History|publisher=Viking Press–Random House|isbn=978-0-670-74604-0|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/vietnamhistory00karn}}
* {{cite book|last=Kempe|first=Frederick|author-link=Frederick Kempe|year=2011|title=Berlin 1961|publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons|location=New York|isbn=978-0-399-15729-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/berlin1961kenned0000kemp}}
* {{cite book|last=Kenney|first=Charles|year=2000|title=John F. Kennedy: The Presidential Portfolio|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=978-1-891620-36-2|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/johnfkennedypre00kenn}}
* {{cite book|last=Leaming|first=Barbara|year=2006|title=Jack Kennedy: The Education of a Statesman|publisher=W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393051-61-2|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/jackkennedy00barb}}
* {{cite book|last=Maier|first=Thomas|publisher=Basic Books|year=2004|isbn=978-0-7867-4016-1|location=New York|title=The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings|url=https://archive.org/details/kennedysamericas00maie|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Chris|author-link=Chris Matthews|year=2011|title=Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-4516-3508-9|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/jackkennedyelusi00matt}}
* {{cite book|last=McNamara|first=Robert S.|author-link=Robert McNamara|publisher=PublicAffairs|year=2000|isbn=978-1-891620-87-4|location=New York|title=Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy}}
* {{Cite book|last=Nelson|first=Craig|title=Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon|location=New York|publisher=John Murray|year=2009|isbn=978-0-670-02103-1|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780670021031}}
* {{cite book|last=O'Brien|first=Michael|year=2005|title=John F. Kennedy: A Biography|publisher=Thomas Dunne|isbn=978-0-312-28129-8|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/johnfkennedybiog00obri}}
* {{cite book|last=Osborne|first=Robert|year=2006|title=Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era|publisher=Chronicle Books|isbn=978-0-8118-5248-7|location=San Francisco}}
* {{cite book|last=Reeves|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Reeves (American writer)|year=1993|title=President Kennedy: Profile of Power|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|isbn=978-0-671-64879-4|url=https://archive.org/details/presidentkennedy00reev_0}}
* {{cite book|last=Salt|first=Jeremey|year=2008|title=The Unmaking of the Middle East: A History of Western Disorder in Arab lands|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-25551-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Schlesinger|first=Arthur M. Jr|author-link=Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.|title=A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House|orig-year=1965|year=2002|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|location=Boston|isbn=978-0-618-21927-8|title-link=A Thousand Days (book)}}
* {{cite book|last=Sorensen|first=Theodore|author-link=Ted Sorensen|title=Kennedy|url=https://archive.org/details/kennedys00sore|url-access=registration|publisher=Bantam|location=New York|type=paperback|orig-year=1965|year=1966|oclc=2746832}}
* {{cite book|last=Tucker|first=Spencer|title=The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History|publisher=ABC-CLIO|orig-year=1998|year=2011|isbn=978-1-85109-960-3|location=Santa Barbara}}
* {{cite book|last1=Walton Jr.|first1=Hanes|last2=Smith|first2=Robert C.|title=American Politics and the African American Quest for Universal Freedom|publisher=Addison, Wesley, Longman|year=2000|isbn=978-0-321-07038-8|location=New York}}
{{refend}}
 
==Further reading==
{{Main|Bibliography of John F. Kennedy}}
{{refbegin|35em}}
* {{Cite book|title=John F. Kennedy and the Second Reconstruction|last=Brauer|first=Carl. J|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1977|isbn=978-0-231-08367-6}}
* {{Cite book|title=John F. Kennedy and a New Generation|last=Burner|first=David|publisher=Pearson Longman|year=1988|isbn=978-0-205-60345-9}}
* Casey, Shaun. ''The Making of a Catholic President: Kennedy vs. Nixon 1960'' (2009, {{ISBN|978-0-19-537448-3}})
* Collier, Peter & Horowitz, David. ''The Kennedys'' (1984, {{ISBN|978-0-671-44793-9}})
* Cottrell, John. ''Assassination! The World Stood Still'' (1964, {{OCLC|605055832}})
* {{cite book| last = Douglass| first = James W.| author-link = James W. Douglass| title = JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters| year = 2008| location = Maryknoll, NY| publisher = Orbis Books| isbn = 978-1-57075-755-6| url = https://archive.org/details/jfkunspeakable00doug_0}}
* [[Fay, Paul B., Jr.]] ''The Pleasure of His Company'' (1966, {{OCLC|60678238}})
* [[Freedman, Lawrence]]. ''Kennedy's Wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam'' (2000, {{ISBN|978-0-19-513453-7}})
* Fursenko, Aleksandr and [[Timothy Naftali]]. ''One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro and Kennedy, 1958–1964'' (1997, {{ISBN|978-0-393-04070-8}})
* Giglio, James. ''The Presidency of John F. Kennedy'' (1991, {{ISBN|978-0-7006-1436-3}})
* Hamilton, Nigel. ''JFK: Reckless Youth'' (1992, {{ISBN|978-0-679-41216-8}})
* Harper, Paul, and Krieg, Joann P. eds. ''John F. Kennedy: The Promise Revisited'' (1988, {{ISBN|978-0-313-26201-2}})
* Harris, Seymour E. ''The Economics of the Political Parties, with Special Attention to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy'' (1962, {{OCLC|614522002}})
* Haas, Lawrence J. ''The Kennedys in the World: How Jack, Bobby, and Ted Remade America's Empire'' (2021)
* Heath, Jim F. ''Decade of Disillusionment: The Kennedy–Johnson Years'' (1976, {{ISBN|978-0-253-31670-7}})
* [[Hersh, Seymour]]. ''The Dark Side of Camelot'' (1997, {{ISBN|978-0-316-35955-9}})
* Kunz, Diane B. ''The Diplomacy of the Crucial Decade: American Foreign Relations during the 1960s'' (1994, {{ISBN|978-0-231-08176-4}})
* Logevall, Fredrik. ''[[JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956]]'' (Random House, 2020, {{ISBN|978-0-8129-9713-2}})
* Lynch, Grayston L. ''Decision for Disaster: Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs'' (2000, {{ISBN|978-1-57488-148-6}})
* Manchester, William. ''Portrait of a President: John F. Kennedy in Profile'' (1967, {{ISBN|978-0-316-54494-8}}) [https://archive.org/details/portraitofpresid00manc online], popular biography
* {{cite book| last = Manchester| first = William| author-link = William Manchester| title =The Death of a President: November 20–25, 1963| year = 1967| publisher =Harper & Row|location=New York| lccn= 67010496| title-link = The Death of a President}}
* Massa, Mark S. "A Catholic for President: John F. Kennedy and the Secular Theology of the Houston Speech, 1960." ''Journal of Church and State'' 39 (1997): 297–317.
* [[John M. Newman|Newman, John M.]] ''JFK and Vietnam: Deception, Intrigue, and the Struggle for Power'' (1992, {{ISBN|978-1-5304-7793-7}})
* Parmet, Herbert. ''Jack: The Struggles of John F. Kennedy'' (1980, {{ISBN|978-0-8037-4452-3}})
* Parmet, Herbert. ''JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy'' (1983, {{ISBN|978-0-385-27419-7}})
* Parmet, Herbert. "The Kennedy Myth". In ''Myth America: A Historical Anthology, Volume II''. Gerster, Patrick, and Cords, Nicholas. (editors.) (1997, {{ISBN|978-1-933385-13-6}})
* Rabe, Stephen G. ''John F. Kennedy: World Leader'' (Potomac Books, 2010) 189 pages
* Reeves, Thomas. ''A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy'' (1991, {{ISBN|978-0-02-925965-8}}); hostile biography
* [[Larry Sabato|Sabato, Larry J.]] ''The Kennedy Half-Century: The Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy'' (2013, {{ISBN|978-1-62040-280-1}})
* [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.|Schlesinger, Arthur Jr.]] ''Robert Kennedy and His Times'' (2018, {{ISBN|978-1-328-56756-7}}) [1978]
* Whalen, Thomas J. ''JFK and His Enemies: A Portrait of Power'' (2014, {{ISBN|978-1-4422-1374-6}})
 
===Primary sources===
* Goldzwig, Steven R. and Dionisopoulos, George N., eds. ''In a Perilous Hour: The Public Address of John F. Kennedy'' (1995, {{ISBN|978-0-313-27770-2}})
* [[Jacqueline Kennedy|Kennedy, Jacqueline]]. ''Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy'' (2011, {{ISBN|1-4013-2425-8}}). [[Hachette Books#Hyperion Books|Hyperion Books]].
 
===Historiography and memory===
* [[Abramson, Jill]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/books/review/the-elusive-president.html "Kennedy, the Elusive President"], ''[[The New York Times Book Review]]'' October 22, 2013, notes that 40,000 books have been published about JFK
* Craig, Campbell. "Kennedy's international legacy, fifty years on." ''International affairs'' 89.6 (2013): 1367–1378. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24538446 online]
* Hellmann, John. ''The Kennedy Obsession: The American Myth of JFK'' (1997, {{ISBN|978-0-231-10798-3}})
* {{Cite journal|last=Kazin|first=Michael|date=December 2017|title=An Idol and Once a President: John F. Kennedy at 100|journal=Journal of American History|language=en|volume=104|issue=3|pages=707–726|doi=10.1093/jahist/jax315|issn=0021-8723}}
* Santa Cruz, Paul H. ''Making JFK Matter: Popular Memory and the 35th President'' (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2015) xxiv, 363 pp.
* Selverstone, Marc J., ed. ''A Companion to John F. Kennedy'' (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014, {{ISBN|978-1-4443-5036-4}}), Topical essays by scholars focusing on the historiography
{{refend}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Sister project links |wikt=Kennedy |b=no |n=no |s=Author:John F. Kennedy |v=no}}
* [http://www.jfklibrary.org/ JFK Library and Museum]
* [http://store.jfklibrary.org/ JFK Library and Museum Online Store]
* {{Find a Grave|574|accessdate=2013-11-17}}


===Official===
{{USPresidents}}
* [http://www.jfklibrary.org/ John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum]
* [http://www.nps.gov/jofi/index.htm John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site]
* [https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/john-f-kennedy/ White House biography]
 
===Media coverage===
* {{NYT topic|people/k/john_fitzgerald_kennedy}}
* {{C-SPAN|2419}}
** [http://www.c-span.org/video/?151631-1/life-portrait-john-f-kennedy "Life Portrait of John F. Kennedy"], from [[C-SPAN]]'s ''[[American Presidents: Life Portraits]]'', November 5, 1999
* [http://radiotapes.com/specialpostings.html#JFK Radio coverage of the assassination of President Kennedy as broadcast on WCCO-AM Radio (Minneapolis) and CBS Radio]
 
===Other===
* {{CongBio|K000107}}
* [https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/presidents/kennedy/index.html John F. Kennedy: A Resource Guide] – the Library of Congress
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070811134522/http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/americanpresident/kennedy Extensive Essays on JFK] with shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady – [[Miller Center of Public Affairs]]
* [https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/kennedy Kennedy Administration] from [[Office of the Historian]], [[United States Government Printing Office]], Washington, D.C.
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=John Fitzgerald Kennedy |sopt=t}}
* {{Librivox author |id=2572}}
* {{Curlie|Society/History/By_Region/North_America/United_States/Presidents/Kennedy%2C_John_Fitzgerald/}}
* {{iMDb name|0448123}}
* {{Gutenberg author|id=1666}}
{{John F. Kennedy}}
{{Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis}}
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Latest revision as of 12:44, 28 October 2022

"JFK" and "John Kennedy" redirect here. For other uses, see JFK (disambiguation) and John Kennedy (disambiguation).
John F. Kennedy
Oval Office portrait, 1963
35th President of the United States
In office
January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963
Vice PresidentLyndon B. Johnson
Preceded byDwight D. Eisenhower
Succeeded byLyndon B. Johnson
United States Senator
from Massachusetts
In office
January 3, 1953 – December 22, 1960
Preceded byHenry Cabot Lodge Jr.
Succeeded byBenjamin A. Smith II
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 11th district
In office
January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1953
Preceded byJames Michael Curley
Succeeded byTip O'Neill
Personal details
Born
John Fitzgerald Kennedy

(1917-05-29)May 29, 1917
Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedNovember 22, 1963(1963-11-22) (aged 46)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Cause of deathAssassination
Resting placeArlington National Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 1953)
Children4 (including John Jr. and Caroline)
Parent(s)Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.
Rose Fitzgerald
RelativesSee Kennedy family
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Stanford University
SignatureCursive signature in ink
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/serviceTemplate:Country data United States Navy
Years of service1941–1945
Rank Lieutenant
UnitMotor Torpedo Squadron 2
 • Patrol Torpedo Boat 109
 • Patrol Torpedo Boat 59
Battles/warsWorld War II
 • Solomon Islands campaign
Awards Navy and Marine Corps Medal
File:Purple Heart BAR.svg Purple Heart
American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with 3 service stars)
World War II Victory[1]

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963),[2] often called JFK and Jack, was the 35th president of the United States. He was in office from January 20, 1961 until his assassination on November 22, 1963. He was the youngest president elected to the office, at the age of 43. Events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the Civil Rights Movement, and early stages of the Vietnam War. He was the youngest president of the United States to die in office.[3]

Childhood and education[edit | edit source]

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born at 83 Beals Street in the Coolidge Corner neighborhood in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917. He was the second of nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy (1888–1969). His father was a businessman and later US ambassador in the United Kingdom from 1938 until 1940. His mother was Rose Fitzgerald (1890–1995). The family was Roman Catholic.

Kennedy graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations. Before World War II began, he tried joining the U.S. Army, but was rejected because he had back problems; he instead joined the Navy. When his PT boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer in 1943, he seriously injured his back. He still saved his surviving crew, for which he was later rewarded with a medal for his bravery.

He was elected to the US Congress in 1946, and the US Senate in 1952. He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953. The couple had four children; a stillborn daughter (b. 1956), Caroline (b. 1957), John (1960–1999) and Patrick, who was born prematurely in August 1963 and lived only for two days.

Presidency, 1961–63[edit | edit source]

Kennedy was a member of the United States Democratic Party. He beat his Republican Party opponent, Richard Nixon, in the 1960 presidential election. Kennedy was the youngest president ever elected. He was also the first Roman Catholic President and the first president to win a Pulitzer Prize. Kennedy was a very good speaker and inspired a new generation of young Americans.

In the beginning of his term, he approved the CIA's plan to invade Cuba. After the invasion turned out to be a failure, the Cuban Missile Crisis began. During the crisis, Cuba ordered a lot of nuclear missiles from the Soviet Union. It was the closest the world was to having a nuclear war. Kennedy ordered US Navy ships to surround Cuba. He ended the crisis peacefully by making an agreement with the Soviet Union. They agreed that the Soviet Union would stop selling nuclear weapons to Cuba. In return, the U.S. would take its missiles out of Turkey and promise to never invade Cuba again.

He also created a plan called the New Frontier. This was a series of government programs, such as urban renewal, to help poor and working class people. He created the Peace Corps to help poor countries all over the world. He agreed to a large tax cut to help the economy. He also called for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would make discrimination and segregation illegal. Kennedy intended to reach a détente with Cuban Premier, Fidel Castro, and to withdraw all US military advisers from Vietnam.[4]

Death[edit | edit source]

Main article: Assassination of John F. Kennedy

Kennedy was shot dead on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. He was being driven through the city in an open-top car, along with John Connally, the Governor of Texas. As the car drove into Dealey Plaza, shots were fired. He was shot once in the throat and once in the head. Kennedy was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital 4 miles (6.4 km) away and he was pronounced dead at 1:00 p.m.

Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine, was the prime suspect in the murder, and he was arrested on the same day for the murder of a policeman called J. D. Tippit. Oswald denied shooting anyone and was killed two days later on November 24 by Jack Ruby.

Kennedy had a state funeral on November 25, three days after his murder, near to the White House. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Legacy[edit | edit source]

After Kennedy died, Lyndon Johnson (his Vice President) took over and put many of Kennedy's ideas into law (see Great Society).

Kennedy was a very popular president and still is today. He is considered one of the greatest presidents, ranking highly in public surveys and opinion polls.[5][6]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "John F. Kennedy Miscellaneous Information". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Archived from the original on August 31, 2009. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  2. ↑ Garrow, David J. (May 28, 2003). "Substance Over Sex In Kennedy Biography". The New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  3. ↑ John F. Kennedy at White House.gov
  4. ↑ JFK's embrace of third world nationalists
  5. ↑ Dallek 2003, p. 700.
  6. ↑ "The American Experience – JFK". PBS. Archived from the original on 2011-10-18. Retrieved 2017-08-31.

External links[edit | edit source]

Template:Time Persons of the Year 1951–1975

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