Across the centuries and across the continents, important figures have played key roles in the upbringing of our beloved America. As a country we have grown through the strengths of many people. John F.
Kennedy has made his mark in Americas political and social society. On the histories plains of the state of Massachusetts, May 29, 1917 marked an important day in history. The birth of Americas 35th president: John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, his mother, would bear four boys and five girls. She kept note cards for each of them in a small wooden file box and made a point of writing down everything from a doctors visit to the shoe size they had at a particular age (Menendez). Johns father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, was appointed United States Ambassador to England and moved their with the family.
There was always something going on in the Kennedy family. During the summer, the Kennedy childrens childhoods consisted of rendezvous to their summer home in cape cod. Jack attended a boarding school for boys named Choate. He was very popular with the other boys, though his head master once quoted, He wasnt the best student (Menendez). In 1936, John graduated from Choate, where he ventured into his first year at Harvard, where his brother Joe was already a student.
After graduating from Harvard, John joined the Navy with his brother. Jack was made Lieutenant and assigned to the South Pacific as commander of a patrol torpedo boat, the PT-109. Lieutenant Kennedy had a crew of twelve men whose mission was to stop the enemy Japanese ships from delivering supplies to their soldiers. On August 2, 1943, Kennedy and his crew were patrolling the waters looking for enemy ships to sink and suddenly a Japanese destroyer traveling at full speed towards them became visible.
With Kennedy at the wheel, he tried his best to veer sharply out of the way, but time proved no friend to him. The destroyer cut the PT 109 straight in half and killed two of Kennedys men. With Johns keen and clever tactics he was able to get the surviving men to an island and get help. Kennedys political apprenticeship began when he sought the nomination for the eleventh congressional district in the Democratic Party primary of Massachusetts ( Silvestri 03 ).
As the years went on, John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, served three terms in the House of Representatives, and in 1952 he was elected to the U. S. Senate. John Kennedy was soon becoming a poplular politician with America, and even in 1956 he was almost chosen to run for Vice President.
With his integrity not shaken, John decided that he would run for President in the next election. The Democratic party nominated John Kennedy for presidential candidate on July 13, 1960 and John asked Lyndon B. Johnson to run for Vice President with him. In a very close battle, John Fitzgerald Kennedy beat out Richard M.
Nixon on November 8th 1960 and was elected the 35th president of the United States. During the period between his election and h is inauguration, Kennedy mixed rest and relaxation with planning for his administration (Heath 49 ). He had done it. At age 43, John had become the youngest president elected and the first catholic. Kennedys first year in office was dominated by boundaries that only Kennedy could meet paths with ( Silvestri 181). As the United States had been growing as a world power so were the Soviets.
One of the things that John worried about most was the possibility of nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. This war would happen in the years following WWII, and it would be called the Cold War. One of John Kennedys handicaps was that he was the youngest president ever elected at 43, and with that title came criticism that the white house needed older and experienced ruling. So while under such pressure from older members of the government, John proved them wrong with his handling in events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedys efforts were outstanding ( Goldzwig 55 ).When he returned home from the war, Jack was awarded the Navy and Marine
