Background
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963) was the 35th President of the United States. He served as President for only two years before his assassination in 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald. He is the only Roman Catholic ever elected President and is the last Democratic President from outside the South. At age 43, he was the youngest President ever elected.
Early Life
John Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, MA as the second son of US Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald. His grandfather was John Fitzgerald, the mayor and three-term Congressman from Boston. Kennedy lived in Brookline until the age of ten, but spent the next eight years at schools throughout New England. He was voted "Most Likely to become President" by his high school class (Wikipedia). He attended Harvard College and graduated cum laude with a degree in international affairs. His thesis was published into a bestselling book, Why England Slept. After college, Kennedy attempted to join the US Army but was rejected because of back problems. He was later accepted by the US Navy, rising to the rank of Lieutenant (Junior Grade).
USS PT-109
During World War II, Lieutenant Kennedy captained patrol torpedo boat, USS PT-109, which was sunk in battle in the Pacific Ocean. Kennedy's following actions of saving his crew earned him several medals including the Purple Heart and solidified his "war hero" status which later helped him in politics.
Rise to the Presidency
Following the war, Kennedy had planned to become a journalist. His older brother Joseph Kennedy was the sibling expected to enter politics, but Joseph was killed in the War. After Representative John Michael Curley abdicated his seat, Kennedy decided to run, following in his family's legacy in politics. He served as a Representative for six years before winning a seat in the Senate. Kennedy often voted in opposition to the rest of the Democratic party. As a Senator, Kennedy published his Pulitzer Prize winning Biography Profiles in Courage. Kennedy narrowly lost the 1956 Vice Presidential Nomination, finishing second to Tennessee senator Kefauver. Despite the loss, Kennedy gained valuable political exposure from the experience.
Kennedy announced that he intended to run for President in January 1960. He asked Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson to be his running mate in an attempt to strengthen his ticket in the South. Voters were worried about Kennedy's Catholicism, but Kennedy tried to mitigate this aversion by making a speech in which he distanced himself from the Church. The major event of the election was the debate between Kennedy and Nixon. Although the debate was close, almost all who saw it agreed that Kennedy had won the debate because he presented himself better than Nixon. Kennedy won the election by an extremely thin margin.
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Prior to Kennedy's election, the Eisenhower Administration planned an assault on Cuba, known as the Bay of Pigs invasion, in order to overthrow Fidel Castro's communist government involving 1,500 US-trained Cuban exiles. Kennedy did not authorize air support in an effort to minimize America's perceivable involvement. Castro also anticipated the approaching soldiers, creating a situation where the attack was put down quickly and easily by the Cuban government. Kennedy took full responsibility for the event. This event was a major embarrassment for the United States in the Cold War. Twenty months later Kennedy negotiated an exchange for the remaining captured soldiers.
Cuban Missile Crisis
In October 1962, American spy planes identified Soviet intermediate range ballistic missile sites in Cuba. Kennedy was faced with a major decision. He could not attack Cuba without risking nuclear war. On the other hand, he could could not allow Soviet nuclear missiles within range of the United States; this would make Kennedy and the US appear weak in the eyes of Russia and the rest of the world. Many military advisers recommended an air strike on the missile sites, but Kennedy decided to respond with a naval blockade, a decision that historians deem essential to averting nuclear war. He ordered the removal of the Soviet missiles and began negotiations with the Soviet Union. A week later, the two reached an agreement in which the Soviets removed the missiles from Cuba, and the US removed its missiles from Turkey (which were already scheduled to be taken out). Although some criticize Kennedy's risky decisions in dealing with this situation, it is generally regarded as a political triumph for Kennedy and the United States. Kennedy successfully removed a threat to America without giving almost anything to the Soviets.
The Berlin Wall
The Soviet Union began building the Berlin Wall in the middle of Kennedy's presidency. In response, Kennedy gave a famous speech in Berlin which was attended by five-sixths of the city's population. Kennedy criticized communism and embarassed the Soviet Union in his speech with statements such as, "Freedom has many difficulties, and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in." For more on this subject see The Berlin Wall: Built 1961-Razed 1989.
Vietnam
Following the lead of the Eisenhower administration and America's containment policy, Kennedy supported the French South Vietnamese government. He sent in 16,000 military advisors and US Special Forces. The South Vietnamese did not make significant strides against the communist North Vietnamese, so in July 1963 he supported the coup of South Vietnamese President, Ngo Dinh Diem. The US feared that he would attempt to establish a neutral government that included Communists.
Whether or not Kennedy would have continued the war is uncertain. Evidence suggests that Kennedy was stongly considering pulling out of the war after the 1964 election. He also issued a memorandum ordering the removal of 1,000 military personnel by the end of 1963. After Kennedy's assassination, Johnson reversed this decision.
Latin America
The Kennedy Doctrine of the Cold War specifically saught to combat communism in Latin America. Kennedy established the Alliance for Progress in 1961 to send foreign aid and promote civil rights in this region. This program only had little to moderate success.
Civil Rights Movement
President Kennedy strongly supported the civil rights movement and took several steps to desegregate the United States. Kennedy's initially distanced himself from grassroots civil rights movements, believing that his support would anger Southern whites and hinder the progress of civil rights bills in Congress; however, Kennedy soon changed his mind. In 1960, he and his brother Robert intervened to get Martin Luther King, Jr. released from jail early. In 1962, Kennedy sent 400 federal marshals and 3,000 troops to ensure that African-American student James Meredith could enroll in his first class at the University of Mississippi. Kennedy also intervened in 1963 when Alabama Governor George Wallace blocked the doorway of the University of Alabama in order to stop two African-American students from enrolling. Kennedy gave a famous speech on civil rights and proposed what became the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Kennedy's support of civil rights won him support of African-American voters. It also helped silence criticism from the Soviets that America's proclamation of freedom could not be true with such obvious segregation.
Kennedy's Legacy
Despite Kennedy's short term in office, his presidency is viewed positively by most historians. His shocking assassination embedded his image in the American psyche, solidifying Kennedy's charismatic reputation. Americans regularly vote him one of the best presidents, in the same league as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt (Wikipedia). He came in third in a Gallup survey of most admired people of the twentieth century (Wikipedia). His legacy is memorialized in many aspects of American culture such as the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and his visage on the half dollar. In regards to the Cold War, the policies of the Kennedy administration are generally regarded as successful despite initial failures. Although his legacy regarding the Vietnam War is ambiguous, most agree that Kennedy would have handled the war more successfully than Johnson. (For more information on Kennedy's Legacy see the movie below.)
Movie: Resolving Kennedy's Legacy (unitedstreaming)
(Note: The entire movie is about an hour long and is divided into two segments. If you choose to watch the film, I suggest starting it half way through. The first half discusses a lot about Kennedy's health, a subject that I did not include in this website.)
