On November 22, 1963, while being driven through the streets of Dallas, Texas, in his
open car, President John F. Kennedy was shot dead, apparently by the lone gunman, Lee
Harvey Oswald. The world had not only lost a common man, but a great leader of men.
>From his heroic actions in World War II to his presidency, making the decisions to
avert possible nuclear conflict with world superpowers, greatness can be seen. Kennedy
also found the time to author several best-selling novels from his experiences . His
symbolic figure represented all the charm, vigor and optimism of youth as he led a nation
into a new era of prosperity. From his birth into the powerful and influential Kennedy
clan, much was to be expected of him.
Kennedy was born on May 29,1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father, Joe, Sr., was
a successful businessman with many political connections. Appointed by President
Roosevelt, Joe, Sr., was given the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and
later the prestigious position of United States ambassador to Great Britain(Anderson 98).
His mother, Rose, was a loving housewife and took young John on frequent trips around
historic Boston learning about American So 2 revolutionary history. Both parents impressed
on their children that their country had been good to the Kennedys. Whatever benefits the
family received from the country they were told, must be returned by performing some
service for the country(Anderson 12). The Kennedy clan included Joe, Jr., Bobby, Ted and
their sisters, Eunice, Jean, Patricia, Rosemary, and Kathleen. Joe, Jr., was a significant
figure in young John's life as he was the figure for most of John's admiration. His older
brother was much bigger and stronger than John and took it upon himself to be John's coach
and protector. John's childhood was full of sports, fun and activity. This all ended when
John grew old enough to leave for school. At the age of thirteen, John left home to attend
an away school for the first time. Canterbury School, a boarding school in New Milford,
Connecticut and Choate Preparatory in Wallingford, Connecticut completed his elementary
education("JFK" 98). John graduated in 1934 and was promised a trip to London as
a graduation gift. Soon after, John became ill with jaundice and would have to go to the
hospital. He spent the rest of the summer trying to recover. He was not entirely well when
he started Princeton, several weeks later in the fall of 1935. Around Christmas the
jaundice returned and John had to drop out of school. Before the next school year began,
he told his father he wanted to go to Harvard("JFK" 98). On campus, young people
took interest in politics, social changes, and events in Europe.The United States was
pulling out of the Great Depression. Hitler's So 3 Nazi Germany followed aggressive
territorial expansion in Europe. It was at this time that John first became aware of the
vast social and economic differences in the United States.
In June 1940, John graduated cum laude(with praise or distinction) from Harvard. His
thesis earned a magna cum laude(great praise)( "JFK" 98). After graduation, John
began to send his paper to publishers, and it was accepted on his second try. Wilfrid Funk
published it under the title Why England Slept. It became a bestseller. John, at
twenty-five, became a literary sensation. In the spring of 1941, both John and Joe, Jr.,
decided to enroll in the armed services. Joe was accepted as a naval air cadet but John
was turned down by both the army and navy because of his back trouble and history of
illness("JFK" 98). After months of training and conditioning, John reapplied and
on September 19, John was accepted into the navy as a desk clerk in Washington. He was
disgusted and applied for a transfer.
In June 1941, Kennedy was sent to Naval Officers Training School at Northwestern
University in Evanston, Illinois and then for additional training at the Motor Torpedo
Boat Center at Melville, Rhode Island. In late April 1943, Lieutenant John F. Kennedy was
put in command of a PT 109, a fast, light, attack craft in the Solomon Islands in the
South Pacific. Kennedy saw action in the form of night patrols and participated in enemy
bombings. On August 1, 1943, during a routine night patrol, a Japanese destroyer collided
in the darkness with Kennedy's craft and the PT 109 was sunk. Through superhuman effort,
the injured Kennedy heroically swam So 4 back and forth rescuing his wounded crew. Two
were killed in the crash. The injury had once again aggravated his back. Still, Kennedy
pushed on swimming from island to island in the South Pacific hoping for a patrol to come
by. The lieutenant had no idea he had been in the water for eight hours. Finally, an
island was spotted that could provided cover from Japanese planes. With no edible plants
or water, Kennedy realized that he and the crew must move on. The next day, he once again
attempted to search for rescue. After treading water for hours, the lieutenant was forced
to admit no patrol boats were coming. He turned back for the island but was swept away by
a powerful current. Kennedy collapsed on an island and slept. He recovered enough energy
to return to the island and gathered the crew to move to another island in search of food.
JFK was now desperate enough to seek help from natives on a Japanese controlled island.
After making contact with the natives, Kennedy persuaded the natives to deliver a message
written on the back of a coconut shell to allied forces. The coconut fell into the hands
of allied scouts and a patrol was sent. The coconut would appear again on the desk of an
American President(Anderson 35). The crew of the PT 109 were given a hero's welcome when
they returned to base, but Kennedy would have none of it. He refused home leave and was
given another boat. In constant pain from the back injury, JFK soon contracted malaria,
became very ill, and lost twenty-five pounds. He was forced to give up command and was
sent So 5 home to Chelsea Naval Hospital near Hyannis Port. The lieutenant received the
Purple Heart, the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and a citation from Admiral W. F. Halsey.
John's back failed to recover was an operation was performed on his spine in the summer of
1944. During recovery, Kennedy received word that his brother Joe, Jr. had been killed in
action. Joe had been eligible for home leave, but had volunteered for a special bombing
mission. The bombs had detonated early and Joe and his copilot were caught in the
explosion. Kennedy put his feelings onto paper and a second book was published for the
family and close friends. He called it As We Remember Joe.
The family- particularly JFK's father- had assumed that Joe, Jr. would carry on the
family tradition and go into politics. Both of his grandfathers had been active in
politics(Anderson 41). Now , suddenly, JFK was the oldest Kennedy of his generation.
Kennedy's first chance in politics came when Congressman James Curley from the 11th
District of Massachusetts decided to retire in 1946(Gadney 42). JFK won his first
Congressional seat by a margin of more than two to one. At the age if twenty-nine, JFK was
placed on the front page of the New York Times and in Time Magazine. He was often mistaken
in Congress as a Senate page or an elevator operator. It was during this time period in
which Kennedy met and fell in love with Jacqueline Bouvier. "Jackie",as she was
known, came from a wealthy Catholic background as prestigious as the Kennedys. She
attended Vassar College and the Sorbonne in Paris, France. She So 6 spoke French, Italian,
and Spanish fluently. They were wed on September 12,1953, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in
Newport, Rhode Island. All seemed well, yet after three two-year terms as a Congressman,
Kennedy became frustrated with House rules and customs and decided to run for Senate. In
1952, Kennedy ran for Senate against Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. Fifteen years
older than Kennedy, Lodge was the incumbent of two terms in the Senate.
JFK prevailed in the victory but was soon stricken with Addison's disease during his
first year in the Senate and had to operate on a fifty-fifty chance for survival
procedure(Gadney 52). While recovering, Kennedy wrote Profiles in Courage, a bestseller on
examples of moral courage in the lives of eight senators who risked their careers for a
great cause or a belief. Kennedy returned to Senate and participated in the powerful
Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was also chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on
Labor. JFK believed strongly in education, equal job opportunity, and the civil rights
movement. His biggest success came in the form of his Labor Reform Bill which passed by a
margin of 90 to 1 in Senate debate. Kennedy's first child, Caroline, was born during this
time. Due to his enormous success in Congress, the Democratic party nominated him for the
presidential ticket in 1960. Lyndon Johnson was chosen as the running mate with Kennedy to
secure and build upon the democratic bases in the southern states while the Kennedys
sought out the younger voters, the factory So 7 workers, and the liberals(Gadney 61).
During the Kennedy Administration, a great deal of events were going on.Jackie had
given birth to JFK, Jr., while all over the south, the civil rights movement was going in
full force with incidents breaking out. Specific attention gathered around a black air
force veteran, James Meredith, applied for admission to the University of Mississippi. In
Cuba both the Bay of Pigs occurred, in which U.S. supported rebels revolted in a poorly
laid out plan of events that fell out beneath them, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in which
the Soviet Republic were building missile silos in Cuba, 100 miles away from Florida. The
Space Race was in full force with both Russia and the U.S. in competition to reach the
moon. U.S. involvement in Vietnam was in the latter stages with plans to withdraw after
the 1964 election. On a trip to Dallas to stir up support for the reelection, the
President's auto were coming down elm street when three shots rang out. The first
projectile entered at the base of Kennedy's neck and exited through the back of his head.
The second bullet hit Texas Governor John Connally. Seconds later there was another shot
and the back of the president's head was torn away. The assassin- Lee Harvey Oswald with a
mail-order rifle fired from the Texas School Book Depository(Warren 5). Oswald had
recently applied for a passport to Communist Russia which led to a series of private
meetings between Oswald and the Russian Government(Warren 614).
Oswald protested his innocence. President Johnson set up what quickly became known as
the So 8 Warren Commission headed by Chief Justice Warren to find the motive behind the
assassination, The Commission finds the lone, depressed, mentally unstable, anti-social
nut kills an American president("Theories" 1). Other theories have evolved over
time such as the Grassy Knoll theory. Witnesses say that a man in black was present and
fired simultaneously with Oswald and doubled the actual shots fired("Theories"
1) Another theory is that the fired CIA director Allen Dulles used his considerable
connections and plotted revenge("Theories 2"). On Nov. 24, 1963 as Oswald was
being escorted from the city jail, Jack Ruby shot Oswald with a single shot from a Colt
.38 revolver(Warren 350). Ruby was arrested and stood trial in Dallas. He was found guilty
and was sentenced to hang. He died in jail of cancer, on January 3,1967.
Kennedy was the first President to be born in the twentieth century and was very much a
man of his time. He was restless, seeking, with a thirst of knowledge, and he had a
feeling of deep commitment, not only to the people of the United States, but to the
peoples of the world. Many of the causes he fought for exist today because of what he did
for the rights of minorities, the poor, the very old and the very young. He never took
anything for granted and worked for everything he owned. Perhaps Kennedy summed up his
life best in his own inaugural speech: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but
ask what you can do for your country."
