John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29th, 1917 and died
on November the 22nd, 1963. He was the thirty-fifth President of the
United States, and was assassinated in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey
Oswald as his limousine drove by the Texas School Book Depository
building and through Dealey Plaza. He was in office from 1961-1963,
he was the youngest man elected President, and the youngest to die in
the office. Of Irish descent, he was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He
graduated from Harvard University in 1940 and he entered the navy.
In 1943, he became commander of a PT boat in the Pacific in World
War II. In action off the Solomon Islands, his boat was sheared in two
and sunk, and Kennedy was credited with saving the life of at least one
of his crew. After the war he was briefly a journalist. He became a
congressmen from Massachusetts in 1947 until 1953. He consistently
supported the domestic programs of the Truman Administration but
In 1952, despite the Eisenhower Landslide, he defeated Henry
Cabot Lodge for a seat in the United States Senate, where he served on
the labor and Public Committee and on the Foreign Relations
In 1953, Kennedy married Jacklyn Lee Bouvier. While
recuperating in 1955 from a serious operation to repair a spinal injury,
he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize in history.
In 1956 Kennedy almost gained the Democratic Nomination for
Vice-President, four years later was a first ballot nominee for President.
Millions watched his television debates with the Republican candidate,
Richard M. Nixon. Winning by narrow margin in the popular vote,
Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic President. His Inaugural
Address offered the memorable injunction: "Ask not what your country
can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." As President, he
...