John Fitzgerald Kennedy
             John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in the year 1917, in Brookline Massachusetts. In 1946, at the age of 29, Kennedy became a congressman for Massachusetts. When in Congress, Kennedy was known for voting his own ideas, not just those of his party. He openly criticized the actions of the Truman administration. He ran for the senate in 1952. During his first two years as senator he backed legislation beneficial to the Massachusetts textile, fishing, watch, and transportation industries. In 1955, he was the only New England senator to support renewal of the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act that gave the president the power to lower U.S. tariffs, or taxes on imported goods, in exchange for similar concessions from other countries. In 1956 he bid for the Vice Presidency but failed. Kennedy wanted the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination, and almost as soon as the 1956 election was over, he began working for it. He faced several major obstacles. Many party leaders considered hi!
             m too young and too inexperienced for the presidency. Many also doubted that a Roman Catholic could win a national election in a country that was mostly Protestant. He ran against Lyndon B. Johnson for the Democratic National Ticket. When he beat Johnson, he persuaded his defeated foe to join the ticket as his Vice President. Kennedy and Johnson beat the Republican nominee Richard M. Nixon.
             Kennedy's first year in office brought him considerable success in enacting new legislation. Congress passed a major housing bill, a law increasing the minimum wage, and a bill granting federal aid to economically depressed areas of the United States. Kennedy called for "a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved." He recognized the difficulties of this goal. "All this will not be finished in the first 100 days," he said. "Nor will it be finished in the first 1000 days...