Influential to American lives

             John Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917, a descendent of Irish Catholics who had immigrated to America in the previous century. His father Joseph Kennedy was a businessman who became a multimillionaire. John Kennedy grew up with role models and in a political environment, which influenced him into becoming a politician. In 1960, Kennedy put together a well-financed, highly organized presidential campaign. Kennedy performed well in television debates with his opponent Richard Nixon. His appearance and charm pushed him over the edge in defeating Nixon. This was the beginning of great president. He ended the Cuban missile crisis, he started the Peace Corps, and he started human rights. On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy told the world that the Soviet Union was building secret missile bases in Cuba, only 90 miles off the shores of Florida. After debating between an armed invasion of Cuba and air strikes against the missiles, Kennedy decided to go a safer route. In addition to making Russian President Nikita S. Khrushchev remove all the missile bases and weapons, Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba to stop Russian ships from bringing more missiles and materials to the island. President Khrushchev was unhappy with the naval blockade and gave permission to the Soviet Union in Cuba to launch their tactical nuclear weapons if invaded by the United States. Kennedy and Khrushchev both desperately were trying to avoid nuclear war. But both leaders would not back down. Until Khrushchev, on October 28, thinking intelligently ordering all Soviet supply ships away from Cuban waters and agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba. The crisis ended after several days of threatening to blow each other to pieces. President Kennedy handled this predicament very well. He did not panic nor take extreme measures, which could have possibly started a World War III. He handled the situation like a leader a...

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Influential to American lives. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 08:55, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/6436.html