John F. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts; and was the second son of Joseph Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald.
He was brought up into a life of privilege and benefits, however he was plagued with horrible illnesses and spent most of his life in a hospital bed battling numerous medical troubles including Addison's disease, and spinal problems. All of his suffering quickly ended on a November afternoon in Dallas, when his short life of 46 ended, with a single shot to head.
Kennedy attended private elementary schools, including a year at Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut, and four years at Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut. He entered Princeton University but was forced to leave during his freshman year because of an attack of jaundice. In the fall of 1936 he enrolled at Harvard University, graduating cum laude in June 1940, with a degree in government.
Lyndon B. Johnson taking the oath of office on Air...
Rifle of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of Presid...
English: Commission Exhibit 514: Position of the C...During World War II, he commanded PT- 109 in the Pacific. When the boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer in August 1943, Kennedy led the surviving crew through miles of perilous waters to safety.
After the war, Kennedy worked for several months in 1945 as a reporter for the Hearst newspaper, covering a conference in San Francisco that established the United Nations.
In 1947, he became a Democratic Congressman from Boston, and in 1952, he successfully campaigned against Henry Cabot Lodge in Massachusetts to advance to the Senate.
He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953, and the couple had two children, Caroline Bouvier (born 1957) and John Fitzgerald (born 1960).
While recuperating from back surgery, Kennedy wrote Profiles in Courage (1956), a study of courageous political acts by eight United States senators, which won a Pulitzer Prize.
Kennedy campaigned for, but ultimately lost the Democratic nomination...