John F. Kennedy

At 46 years old, John F. Kennedy has this physical status:

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by the initials JFK and Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from January 1961 to his assassination in November 1963.

Kennedy was president during the Cold War and the bulk of his service was concerned with Soviet Union and Cuba.

Prior to becoming president, a Democrat from Massachusetts served in the House of Representatives and Senate. In Brookline, Massachusetts, Kennedy was born to a wealthy, political family.

He graduated from Harvard University in 1940 before joining the United States. The following year, the Naval Reserve was the subject of a rebuilding effort.

He commanded a fleet of PT boats in the Pacific theater during World War II and received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his service.

Kennedy served in the 11th congressional district of Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953.

Early life and education

John Fitzgerald (Jack) Kennedy was born outside Boston, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917, to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., a businessman and politician, and Rose Kennedy (née Fitzgerald), a philanthropist and socialite. P. J. Kennedy, his paternal grandfather, served as a Massachusetts state legislator. John F. Fitzgerald, Kennedy's maternal grandfather and namesake John F. Fitzgerald served as a U.S. senator. As Mayor of Boston, a congressman and senator was elected to two terms. Both four of his grandparents were children of Irish immigrants. Joseph Johnson, Jr., and seven younger siblings were born in Kennedy's hometown, Kathleen, Eunice, Robert, Jean, and Edward.

Kennedy lived in Brookline for the first ten years of his life. He was baptized on June 19, 1917 at the local St. Aidan's Church, where he was baptized on June 19, 1917. He was educated in the 4th grade at the Edward Devotion School, the Noble and Greenough Lower School, and the Dexter School, both located in the Boston area. His earliest memories involved accompanying his grandfather Fitzgerald on walking tours of Boston's historic sites and discussions at the family dinner table about politics, sparking his interest in history and public service. His father's business had kept him away from the family for a long time, and his ventures were concentrated on Wall Street and Hollywood. After a polio outbreak in Massachusetts in 1927, the Dexter School announced that it would not reopen until October. The family migrated from Boston by "private railway car" to New York City's Riverdale neighborhood in September. Several years later, Robert, his brother, told Look magazine that his father had left Boston because of the following: "No Irish Need Apply." The family spent summers and early autumns at their home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, a Cape Cod village, where they loved swimming, sailing, and touch football. At their winter retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, the Christmas and Easter holidays were spent. Young John attended the Riverdale Country School, a private school for boys, from 5th to 7th grade, and he was a member of Boy Scout Troop 2 in Bronxville, New York. In September 1930, Kennedy, who had been 13 years old at the Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut, for the 8th grade. He had an appendectomy in April 1931, after which he withdrew from Canterbury and recuperated at home.

In September 1931, Kennedy began attending Choate School, a prestigious preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut. Joe Jr., his older brother, had been playing football and a leading student at Choate for two years. Jack spent his first years in Choate with his older brother's shadow and rewarded him with rebellious behaviour that attracted a clique. Their most popular stunt was exploding a toilet seat with a potent firecracker. In the upcoming chapel assembly, strict headmaster George St. John brandished the toilet seat and spoke of certain "muckers" who would "spit in our sea. Kennedy took a cue and named his group "The Muckers Club," which included roommate and lifelong friend Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings.

Kennedy was beset by health issues that culminated in his emergency hospitalization at Yale New Haven Hospital in 1934, where doctors suspected leukemia. He was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in June 1934; his primary illness was colitis. Kennedy graduated from Choate in June of the following year, placing 64th in a class of 112 students. He had been the school yearbook's business manager, and was named the "most likely to succeed."

Kennedy and his parents and sister Kathleen went to London for their first trip abroad in September 1935. He planned to study under Harold Laski at the London School of Economics (LSE), as his older brother did. Ill-health forced him to return to the United States in October of this year, when he enrolled late and attended Princeton University but had to leave after two months due to a gastrointestinal disorder. He was then hospitalized in Boston for observation at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. He declined even more at the family's winter home in Palm Beach, then spent the spring of 1936 as a ranch hand on the 40,000-acre (16,000-hectare) Jay Six cattle ranch outside Benson, Arizona. According to reports, rancher Jack Speiden served both brothers (Joe Jr. and John) "very hard."

Kennedy enrolled at Harvard College in September 1936, and his admission essay said: "I have a number of reasons for wanting to go to Harvard." Harvard provides me with a greater background and a more liberal education than any other college. I have always wanted to go to school as I have found that it is not just another college, but it is also a university with something concrete to offer. I would also like to attend the same college as my father. To be a 'Harvard man' is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I'll achieve." He produced that year's annual "Freshman Smoker," dubbed "an intricate entertainment" by a reviewer, and incorporated outstanding personalities from the radio, screen, and sports industries.

He tried out for the football, golf, and swimming teams, winning a spot on the varsity swimming team. Kennedy competed in the Star Class and received the 1936 Nantucket Sound Star Championship. Kennedy sailed to France in 1937, carrying his convertible—and spent ten weeks in Europe with Billings. Kennedy and his older brother departed overseas in June 1938 to work at the American embassy in London, where his father, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's U.S., was based in London. St. James' ambassador is en route to the Court of Justice.

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 US diplomatic representative gave him a classified warning about the war raging out soon to pass on to his father, and Czechoslovakia before returning to London on September 1, 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland to mark World War II's start. The family appeared in the House of Commons for speeches opposing the United Kingdom's declaration of war on Germany two days later. On his first transatlantic flight from Foynes, Ireland, Kennedy was sent as his father's representative to help American survivors of SS Athenia.

Though Kennedy was an upperclassman at Harvard, he began to take his studies more seriously and developed an interest in political philosophy. In his junior year, he made the dean's list. "Appeasement in Munich," the British talks during the Munich Agreement, was completed in 1940 by Kennedy. The thesis became a best-selling book under the heading Why England Slept? The book also called for an Anglo-American alliance against the growing totalitarian powers in reaction to Britain's inability to develop its military in the lead-up to World War II. Kennedy became increasingly supportive of US involvement in World War II, as well as his father's cynical convictions, resulting in the former's dismissal as ambassador to the United Kingdom. The Kennedy and Roosevelt families were split up by this time.

Kennedy obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard in 1940, focusing on international affairs. He enrolled in Stanford Graduate School of Business and audited classes there during the fall. Kennedy left and helped his father write a memoir about his time as an American ambassador in early 1941. He then travelled around South America, visiting Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Personal life, family, and reputation

The Kennedy family is one of the country's most established political families, having produced a president, three senators, three ambassadors, and a number of other politicians and politicians, both at the federal and state level. In 1951, when he began traveling to India, Japan, Vietnam, and Israel, he and his then 25-year-old brother Bobby, as well as his 27-year-old sister Pat became close, despite their seven-week journey. The brothers had never met each other before they were several years old. This 25,000-mile (40,000 km) journey was their first extended time together, resulting in their becoming their best friends. Bobby will continue to play a major role in his brother's career as both his brother's attorney general and presidential advisor. Bobby ran for president in 1968 before his assassination, and Ted Kennedy, another Kennedy brother, ran for president in 1980.

In Gallup's list of Highly Admired People of the 20th Century, Kennedy came in third (behind Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa). Kennedy was a life member of the National Rifle Association.

When he was a congressman, Kennedy met Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Bouvier (1929-1994). At a dinner party, Charles L. Bartlett, a journalist, introduced the pair. They were married a year after being elected senator on September 12, 1953. Caroline was born in 1957 and was the only living member of JFK's immediate family after suffering a miscarriage in 1955 and a stillbirth in 1956 (their daughter Arabella). John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr., dubbed "John-John" by the press as a youth, was born in late November 1960, 17 days after his father was elected. In 1999, John Jr., a Brown University graduate, died after the tiny plane he was piloting crashed en route to Martha's Vineyard. Jackie gave birth to Patrick in 1963, a month before JFK's assassination. However, he died after 2 days due to birth complications.

In comparison to the presidents and first ladies who preceded them, Kennedy and his wife were younger, and both were more popular in the media culture in ways that were more popular to pop singers and movie stars than politicians, influencing fashion trends and becoming the subject 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 insist that they be broadcast live and made good use of the technology. In 1961, the Radio-Television News Directors Association presented Kennedy with the Paul White Award, in recognition of his openness to the media.

Mrs. Kennedy brought new art and furniture to the White House and supervised its restoration. They welcomed a diverse range of writers, writers, and academics to rounds of White House dinners, raising the profile of the arts in America. The Kennedys created a swimming pool and tree house on the White House lawn, while Caroline and ten other children were outside the house.

Kennedy was closely linked to popular culture, as shown by songs like "Twisting at the White House." About four million copies of Vaughn Meader's First Family comedy album, which parodied the president, the first lady, their family, and the administration, selling about four million copies.

"Don't forget that once there was a spot for a brief, shining moment in a week after JFK's death," Jacqueline Kennedy expressed his admiration for the Broadway musical Camelot's closing lines: "Don't forget, that once there was a moment, not to forget, that was once a little, shining moment that was regarded as Camelot." The Kennedy administration and the Kennedy family's charisma have come to be used as shorthand.

Kennedy was plagued by a string of childhood illnesses, including whooping cough, chicken pox, measles, and ear infections during his privileged youth. These ailments compelled him to spend a considerable amount of time in bed (or at least indoors) convalescing. Kennedy was diagnosed with scarlet fever, a highly infectious and life-threatening disease three months before his third birthday in 1920, and was admitted to Boston City Hospital.

It was revealed in September 1947, when Kennedy was 30 and in his first term in Congress, with Addison's disease, a rare endocrine disorder, years after Kennedy's death. Kennedy will not live for another year, according to Davis, while Kennedy himself hopes he would live for another ten years. Dr. Janet Travell, a White House physician, revealed in 1966 that Kennedy had hypothyroidism as well. Kennedy's autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 2 (APS 2).

Kennedy also suffered from persistent and acute back pains, for which he underwent surgery. During the 1961 Vienna Summit with Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev, Kennedy's illness may have had diplomatic repercussions as he appears to have been taking a combination of drugs to relieve severe back pain. The combination contained hormones, animal organ cells, steroids, enzymes, and amphetamines, as well as potential side effects such as hyperactivity, overactive, impaired judgment, and mood swings. Kennedy was seen by three doctors, one of whom, Max Jacobson, was unknown to the other two as his mode of care was tumultuous and used for the most severe bouts of back pain.

Doctors in Kennedy's late 1960s had differences about the right combination of drugs and exercise. Because he was short on time and needed immediate assistance, Kennedy selected the former. During that period, George Burkley, the president's surgeon, did set up some gym equipment in the White House basement, where Kennedy did stretching exercises for his back three times a week. During Kennedy's lifetime, the truth of these and other medical conditions were not revealed openly. George Burkley, President George Burkley's primary White House physician, learned that Jacobson and Travell's medically ineffective treatments, aspiration of steroids and amphetamines, were medically harmful, and they took steps to exclude Kennedy from their care.

Robert Dallek, a biologist, published an extensive history of Kennedy's health in 2002. Dallek was able to examine a collection of Kennedy-related papers from 1956–1963, as well as X-rays and prescriptions from Dr. Travell's files. During his presidential years, Kennedy suffered from high fevers; stomach, colon, and prostate disease; absces; elevated cholesterol; and adrenal problems, according to Travell's records. "Instinctive and ingested corticosteroids for his adrenal insufficiency; procaine shots and ultrasound packs for his back; Lomotil, Metamucil, parabolic, testosterone, and trasentine to prevent his diarrhea, abdominal pain, and weight loss; and Tumors for his bladder, urinary tract infections and an absces; and Tumescent to help him sleep."

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., Kennedy's older brother, was killed in combat in 1944 at the age of 29 when his plane exploded over the English Channel during Operation Aphrodite's first attack execution during World War II. Rose Marie "Rosemary" Kennedy was born in 1918 with intellectual impairments and underwent a prefrontal lobotomy at the age of 23, rendering her incapacitated until her death in 2005. Kathleen Agnes "Kick" Kennedy, another sister, died in a plane crash en route to France in 1948. Jacqueline Kennedy's wife died in 1955 after a miscarriage and a late birth in 1956: a daughter who was officially named Arabella. Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, a son, died two days after being born in August 1963.

When Kennedy was single in the 1940s, he was having friendships with Danish journalist Inga Arvad and actress Gene Tierney. During his time as a senator, he had an affair with Gunilla von Post, who later stated that before having any children with him. Marilyn Monroe, Judith Campbell, Mary Pinchot Meyer, Marlene Dietrich, Mimi Alford, and his wife's press secretary, Pamela Turnure, were all suspected of having affairs with women, including Marilyn Monroe, Judith Campbell, Mary Pinchot Meyer, Mary Pinchot Meyer, Marlene Dietrich, Mimi Alford, and his wife's press secretary, Pamela Turnure.

The full extent of Kennedy's friendship with Monroe (who sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" at Kennedy's birthday party in 1962 has been unclear, although it has been revealed that they spent a weekend together in March 1962 while staying at Bing Crosby's house. In addition, people on the White House switchboard reported that Monroe had called Kennedy during 1962. J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI chief, was the first to know about Kennedy's indiscretions. Ellen Rometsch, a suspected East German spy, was one of them. Hoover reportedly warned Bobby Kennedy of the affair in July 1963, according to historian Michael Beschloss. Hoover told the Attorney General that he didn't only have news that the president had been involved with a woman who had been "suspected as a Soviet intelligence agent, someone connected to East German intelligence." According to reports, Bobby Kennedy regarded the issue sufficiently serious to bring it to a joint meeting of leading Democratic and Republican figures in Congress. Larry Newman, a former Secret Service agent, also remembers the president's "morale issues" that entangled the service.

Kennedy was surrounded by the members of his staff and his allies, who enriched him with love and support. "The logistics of Kennedy's liaisons [which] necessitated secrecy and adoration that were unusual in the annals of the vivacious service demanded by assassinated politicians," Reeves outlined. Kennedy believed that his closeness with journalists would help shield him from public revelations of his sex life.

Lem Billings was Kennedy's "oldest and best friend" from the time they attended Choate together until Kennedy's death.

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Congressional career (1947–1960)

Joe, JFK's elder brother, had been the family's political norm-bearer and had been chosen by their father to run for president. Joe's death in 1944 changed direction, and JFK became the second oldest of the Kennedy siblings.

U.S. Representative James Michael Curley vacated his seat in Massachusetts's heavily Republican 11th congressional district to become mayor of Boston in 1946 at the behest of Kennedy's father. Kennedy lived in a 122 Bowdoin Street apartment building across the street from the Massachusetts State House. Kennedy took the Democratic primary with 42 percent of the vote, beating ten other candidates, with his father funding and running his campaign under the slogan "The New Generation Offers a Leader." "I could have chosen my chauffeur with the money I earned," his father joked during the campaign. Campaigners in Boston, Kennedy, called for increased housing for veterans, improved health care for all, and more for organized labor's fight for longer working hours, a safe workplace, and the right to organise, bargain, and strike. In addition, he campaigned for peace through the United Nations and a vocal opposition to the Soviet Union. Though Republicans gained power in the House in the 1946 presidential elections, Kennedy defeated his Republican adversary in the general election, winning 73% of the vote. Kennedy, along with Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy, was one of many World War II veterans elected to Congress this year.

Kennedy served in the House for six years, including the influential Education and Labor Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee. He concentrated his attention on international affairs, favoring the Truman Doctrine as the correct response to the escalating Cold War. He also approved public housing and voted against the 1947 Labor Management Relations Act, which restricted the power of labor unions. Though not as vocal an anti-communist as McCarthy, Kennedy endorsed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which mandated communists to register with the government, and he mourned the "loss of China."

Kennedy was active in the Boston Council from 1946 to 1955 as district vice chairman, member of the executive board, vice president, and National Council Representative, having served as a boy scout during his youth. Almost every weekend that Congress was in session, Kennedy would fly back to Massachusetts to address veteran, fraternal, and civic organizations, as well as maintaining an index card database on individuals who might be useful for a future bid for state-wide office. Prior to 1952, JFK set a target of speaking in every city and town in Massachusetts.

Kennedy began campaigning for the Senate in 1952 against Republican three-term incumbent Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., with the campaign slogan "KENNEDY WILL DO MORE FOR MASSACHUSETTS." Joseph Kennedy funded his son's candidacy once more, although John Kennedy's younger brother Robert F. Kennedy emerged as a key figure in the campaign as the campaign's leader. To reach out to female voters, the campaign mounted a string of "teas" (sponsored by Kennedy's mother and sisters) at hotels and parlors around Massachusetts. 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 in the presidential election. He married Jacqueline Bouvier the following year.

Over the next two years, Kennedy underwent multiple spinal surgeries. He was often absent from the Senate and received Catholic last rites at times. During his convalescence in 1956, he published Profiles in Courage, a book about American senators who risked their careers for their personal convictions for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1957. In Sorensen's 2008 autobiography, there are rumors that this work was co-authored by his close advisor and speechwriter Ted Sorensen.

Kennedy emphasized Massachusetts-specific problems at the start of his first term by sponsoring bills to support the fishing, textile manufacturing, and watchmaking industries. Senator Kennedy voted in favor of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, which would link the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean in 1954, despite Massachusetts politicians' resistance, which included the Port of Boston. Three years ago, Kennedy chaired a committee to select the five top U.S. senators in history, so their portraits may grace the Senate Reception Room. Kennedy and his brother Robert (who was chief counsel) were among the Senate Labor Rackets Committees in 1998 to look at labor unions elution. Kennedy introduced a bill (S. 3974), which became the first major labor bill to pass either house since the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. The bill dealt with large aspects of union abuses exposed by the McClellan committee, but not include President Eisenhower's tough Taft–Hartley amendments. It passed through Senate floor attempts to include Taft-Hartley amendments and gained permission, but was rejected by the House.

Kennedy delivered the party's presidential nominee, Adlai Stevenson II, at the 1956 Democratic National Convention. The vice presidential nominee was chosen by Stevenson at the convention. Kennedy came in second place in the voting, losing to Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee but being recognized nationally for his effort as a result.

President Eisenhower's bill for the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which was a subject that attracted Kennedy's attention in the Senate. The vote was a procedural vote against it, and some believed it to be an appeasement of Southern Democratic opponents of the bill. Although Kennedy voted for Title III of the act, which would have given the Attorney General the ability to enjoin, Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson said the provision was not to be considered as a compromise measure, it was decided that the clause would die as a compromise measure. Kennedy also voted for Title IV, the "Jury Trial Amendment." Many civil rights campaigners at the time chastised that the vote would be one that would weaken the legislation. In September 1957, a final compromise bill, which Kennedy endorsed, was passed. On July 2, 1957, he suggested that the United States assist Algeria's struggle to regain autonomy from France. Following year, Kennedy authored A Nation of Immigrants (later published in 1964), a book that explored the country's history and made proposals to re-evaluate immigration laws.

Kennedy was re-elected to a second term in the Senate in 1958, defeating Republican opponent Vincent J. Celeste by a narrow margin of 874,608 votes, the largest margin in Massachusetts politics. Robert E. Thompson, Kennedy's press secretary at the time, produced a film titled The United States. Senator John F. Kennedy's biography, which featured a day in the senator's life and showcased his office's internal workings, was on display in Boston, MA. It was the most comprehensive documentary about Kennedy that had been released at the time. Following his re-election, Kennedy began to run for president by traveling around the United States with the intention of boosting his candidacy in 1960.

Kennedy, a Massachusetts Audubon Society supporter, wanted to ensure that Cape Cod's shorelines were untarnished by future industrialization. Kennedy cosponsored the Cape Cod National Seashore bill with his Republican coworker Senator Leverett Saltonstall on September 3, 1959.

Senator Joseph McCarthy's father, Robert Kennedy, was a devoted promoter and mentor. Bobby Kennedy was also a member of McCarthy's subpoena, and McCarthy dated Kennedy's sister Patricia. "Hell, half of my voters [especially Catholics] in Massachusetts regard McCarthy as a hero," Kennedy told historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. The Senate confirmed McCarthy's censure in 1954, and Kennedy delivered a statement in favor of censure. However, it wasn't delivered because Kennedy was hospitalized at the time. Kennedy was put in the apparent position of participating "pairing" his vote against that of another senator and opposing the censure. Although Kennedy never disclosed how he might have voted, the occasion ended his confidence among liberal voters, including Eleanor Roosevelt, in the 1956 and 1960 elections.

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