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In 1959, the third year of Sen. John F. Kennedy’s “unofficial” campaign for president (he would not formally announce until January 1960), he traveled extensively across the U.S., meeting with party officials, local press, and giving speeches before various interest groups in at least 27 states.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to as JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president.
In July 1960, as Democrats gathered at the year-old Sports Arena in Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention, there were still a number of other candidates who could alter the nomination process, including: Sen. Lyndon Johnson of Texas, the powerful majority leader of the U.S. Senate, who claimed to have 500 or more delegates ...
- Overview
- Early life
John F. Kennedy was reared in a large Roman Catholic family of Irish descent that demanded intense physical and intellectual competition among its nine siblings. Steeped in Democratic Party politics, the family produced three presidential candidates: John and his brothers Robert and Ted.
What were John F. Kennedy’s parents’ names?
John F. Kennedy’s father was Joseph P. Kennedy, who acquired a multimillion-dollar fortune in banking, bootlegging, shipbuilding, motion pictures, and the stock market and who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. His mother, Rose, was the daughter of John F. (“Honey Fitz”) Fitzgerald, onetime mayor of Boston.
When was John F. Kennedy born and when did he die?
John F. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, and he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. While riding in a motorcade, he was struck by two rifle bullets and died shortly after hospitalization. Lee Harvey Oswald was accused of the slaying.
What were John F. Kennedy’s jobs?
The second of nine children, Kennedy was reared in a family that demanded intense physical and intellectual competition among the siblings—the family’s touch football games at their Hyannis Port retreat later became legendary—and was schooled in the religious teachings of the Roman Catholic church and the political precepts of the Democratic Party. His father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, had acquired a multimillion-dollar fortune in banking, bootlegging, shipbuilding, and the film industry, and as a skilled player of the stock market. His mother, Rose, was the daughter of John F. (“Honey Fitz”) Fitzgerald, onetime mayor of Boston. They established trust funds for their children that guaranteed lifelong financial independence. After serving as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Joseph Kennedy became the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, and for six months in 1938 John served as his secretary, drawing on that experience to write his senior thesis at Harvard University (B.S., 1940) on Great Britain’s military unpreparedness. He then expanded that thesis into a best-selling book, Why England Slept (1940).
In the fall of 1941 Kennedy joined the U.S. Navy and two years later was sent to the South Pacific. By the time he was discharged in 1945, his older brother, Joe, who their father had expected would be the first Kennedy to run for office, had been killed in the war, and the family’s political standard passed to John, who had planned to pursue an academic or journalistic career.
Britannica Quiz
Comprehension Quiz: Cold War
Kennedy gained national prominence as the junior senator from Massachusetts when he served on the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor and Management Field, which held public hearings to investigate corruption in American labor unions.
Nov 21, 2023 · Sixty years after his assassination on November 22, 1963, Americans should reflect on John F. Kennedy’s unfinished yet transformational legacy on civil rights, writes historian Peniel E. Joseph.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. (November 25, 1960 – July 16, 1999), often referred to as John-John or JFK Jr., was an American attorney, magazine publisher, and journalist. He was a son of 35th United States president John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
