JFK

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate August 2001

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John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a young, good looking, and bright President. He was liked by many people and it showed when the millions of people mourned after his tragic murder. He was the youngest person ever to be elected President, but he was also the youngest person who had ever died in office. He was shot to death on November 22, 1963.

After college, Kennedy enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor he was assigned to a PT boat squadron on 1942. He learned how to command one of the small ships. Then his boat was assigned patrol duty by the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean.

On August 2,1943 just after midnight, his boat was cut in two by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy and the ten men that survived hung onto the wreckage of the boat all night. That morning Kennedy ordered his men to swim to a near by island.

Even though his back was injured Kennedy spent five hours towing one of the injured crewmen. After five days of searching for help he found natives on an island. On August 7 him and his crew were rescued. For his great leadership he got a Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and for being wounded he received a Purple Heart. In December of that year he went back to the United States. He had malaria and his back was still bothering him, so after that he became a naval instructor.

After the war Kennedy started in his political career. He ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. He easily defeated his opponent. His brothers, sisters, and mother helped him a lot in winning the nomination. His sisters and mother had tea in the homes of voters, but his dad did not do anything to...