John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the thirty-fifth President of the United States. He was the first president born in the 20th century, the first Roman Catholic President and also the youngest president. He was born on May 29, 1917 and assassinated on November 22, 1963.
President Kennedy was born in Brooklyn, Massachusetts. His parents were Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Kennedy. He had three brothers and four sisters. He graduated from Harvard in 1940.
John Kennedy wanted to serve in World War II but was rejected by the U.S. Army because of an injury he received while playing football at Harvard. He was so determined to serve his country that he did special back exercises so that he could pass the United States Navy physical. In 1943 he was on a P.T. Boat in the South Pacific that was cut in half by a Japanese destroyer. Two of the thirteen men on board were killed.
After the war he became a reporter. He then decided to enter politics. In 1946 he won the Massachusetts seat in the House of Representatives. He was twenty-nine years old. He won re-election to Congress in 1948 and 1950.
In 1953 he married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. They had four children. A stillborn daughter was born in 1956 and Caroline was born in 1957. Also, his two sons John in 1960 and Patrick in 1963, who died two days after his birth.
John Kennedy decided he wanted the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination. He began working toward this goal in 1956. His only serious challenger was Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. When Kennedy won the nomination he asked Johnson to be his vice-president.
Many people feared his age and his religion would cause people not to vote for him. He had four debates on national television that...