John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th <a href="/facts/President_of_the_United_States/oMsfmLb1">president of the United States</a>, serving from 1961 until <a href="/facts/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy/yGHhF2ap">his assassination</a> in 1963. He was the first <a href="/facts/Catholic_Church_in_the_United_States/cW6Q4oxk">Roman Catholic</a> and <a href="/facts/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_by_age/zr3Q1Gh8">youngest</a> person <a href="/facts/United_States_presidential_election/kHjebjsW">elected</a> president at 43 years. Kennedy served at the height of the <a href="/facts/Cold_War/spJdJQ3q">Cold War</a>, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> and <a href="/facts/Cuba/vHjTXLPW">Cuba</a>. A member of the <a href="/facts/Democratic_Party_(United_States)/MNe3nDrL">Democratic Party</a>, Kennedy represented <a href="/facts/Massachusetts/9uumCbFI">Massachusetts</a> in both houses of the <a href="/facts/United_States_Congress/mJlU46K7">United States Congress</a> prior to his presidency.
Born into the prominent <a href="/facts/Kennedy_family/qYch9lc3">Kennedy family</a> in <a href="/facts/Brookline%2c_Massachusetts/UouEcmuN">Brookline, Massachusetts</a>, Kennedy graduated from <a href="/facts/Harvard_University/Lhy9L1cx">Harvard University</a> in 1940, joining the <a href="/facts/U.S._Naval_Reserve/xwbzlJ0t">U.S. Naval Reserve</a> the following year. During <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>, he commanded <a href="/facts/PT_boat/qrQnYKfe">PT boats</a> in the <a href="/facts/Pacific_War/yNu6op98">Pacific theater</a>. Kennedy's survival following the sinking of <a href="/facts/PT-109/SemJj6mo">PT-109</a> and his rescue of his fellow sailors made him a war hero and earned the <a href="/facts/Navy_and_Marine_Corps_Medal/zUkgAPqB">Navy and Marine Corps Medal</a>, but left him with serious injuries. After a brief stint in journalism, Kennedy represented <a href="/facts/Massachusetts%2527s_11th_congressional_district/x33we8nb">a working-class Boston district</a> in the <a href="/facts/U.S._House_of_Representatives/cdBPb9pY">U.S. House of Representatives</a> from 1947 to 1953. He was subsequently elected to the <a href="/facts/U.S._Senate/VyzXHE01">U.S. Senate</a>, serving as the junior <a href="/facts/List_of_United_States_senators_from_Massachusetts/MMC9S4uN">senator for Massachusetts</a> from 1953 to 1960. While in the Senate, Kennedy published his book, <a href="/facts/Profiles_in_Courage/sgAQ4znT">Profiles in Courage</a>, which won a <a href="/facts/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Biography_or_Autobiography/K3PMMxGg">Pulitzer Prize</a>. Kennedy ran in the <a href="/facts/John_F._Kennedy_1960_presidential_campaign/p4h5Fl18">1960 presidential election</a>. His campaign gained momentum after <a href="/facts/1960_United_States_presidential_debates/XNbz4B6J">the first televised presidential debates</a> in American history, and he was elected president, narrowly defeating <a href="/facts/Republican_Party_(United_States)/XXM1EVPr">Republican</a> opponent <a href="/facts/Richard_Nixon/HS8uXAoC">Richard Nixon</a>, the incumbent vice president.
Kennedy's presidency saw high tensions with communist states in the Cold War. He increased the number of <a href="/facts/Military_advisor/DIvKNjLJ">American military advisers</a> in <a href="/facts/South_Vietnam/2QwTFmzd">South Vietnam</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Strategic_Hamlet_Program/Jm9Ns2q5">Strategic Hamlet Program</a> began during his presidency. In 1961, he authorized attempts to overthrow the Cuban government of <a href="/facts/Fidel_Castro/W9WwblTq">Fidel Castro</a> in the failed <a href="/facts/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion/MR31HmRe">Bay of Pigs Invasion</a> and <a href="/facts/Operation_Mongoose/nCQuBN5R">Operation Mongoose</a>. In October 1962, U.S. spy planes discovered Soviet missile bases had been deployed in Cuba. The resulting period of tensions, termed the <a href="/facts/Cuban_Missile_Crisis/GmDGYcWA">Cuban Missile Crisis</a>, nearly resulted in <a href="/facts/Nuclear_war/HLRLRh4F">nuclear war</a>. In August 1961, after <a href="/facts/East_Germany/PwI902Q6">East German</a> troops erected the <a href="/facts/Berlin_Wall/WhKAVUE4">Berlin Wall</a>, Kennedy sent an army convoy to reassure West Berliners of U.S. support, and delivered <a href="/facts/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner/67wYPTaP">one of his most famous speeches</a> in West Berlin in June 1963. In 1963, Kennedy signed the first <a href="/facts/Partial_Nuclear_Test_Ban_Treaty/vhF6shhg">nuclear weapons treaty</a>. He presided over the establishment of the <a href="/facts/Peace_Corps/6FWo2THj">Peace Corps</a>, <a href="/facts/Alliance_for_Progress/ltRnHITD">Alliance for Progress</a> with Latin America, and the continuation of the <a href="/facts/Apollo_program/IC1Ek1Ao">Apollo program</a> with the goal of <a href="/facts/We_choose_to_go_to_the_Moon/l6qzlpck">landing a man on the Moon</a> before 1970. He supported the <a href="/facts/Civil_rights_movement/llwscvvR">civil rights movement</a> but was only somewhat successful in passing his <a href="/facts/New_Frontier/x707rlV5">New Frontier</a> domestic policies.
On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was assassinated in <a href="/facts/Dallas/f3c7MQn0">Dallas</a>. His vice president, <a href="/facts/Lyndon_B._Johnson/PKNthHX1">Lyndon B. Johnson</a>, <a href="/facts/First_inauguration_of_Lyndon_B._Johnson/G2tdoqr9">assumed the presidency</a>. <a href="/facts/Lee_Harvey_Oswald/9dyukusQ">Lee Harvey Oswald</a> was arrested for the assassination, but he was shot and killed by <a href="/facts/Jack_Ruby/JrYoQwkJ">Jack Ruby</a> two days later. The <a href="/facts/FBI/UY93jwX6">FBI</a> and the <a href="/facts/Warren_Commission/EqttjHeL">Warren Commission</a> both concluded Oswald had acted alone, but <a href="/facts/John_F._Kennedy_assassination_conspiracy_theories/NsfxD6jR">conspiracy theories about the assassination</a> persist. After Kennedy's death, Congress enacted many of his proposals, including the <a href="/facts/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964/QYpd5bfc">Civil Rights Act of 1964</a> and the <a href="/facts/Revenue_Act_of_1964/sSztyjIg">Revenue Act of 1964</a>. Kennedy ranks highly in <a href="/facts/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States/SzRz5GwT">polls of U.S. presidents</a> with historians and the general public. His personal life has been the focus of considerable sustained interest following public revelations in the 1970s of his chronic health ailments and <a href="/facts/Extramarital_affair/5mVtD8sl">extramarital affairs</a>. Kennedy is the most recent <a href="/facts/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_who_died_in_office/V4jF4PRj">U.S. president to have died in office</a>.

John F. Kennedy open-in-new

John F. Kennedy