John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, into an Irish-Catholic family; his father was a businessman and diplomat, and there were nine children in the household. He was in frail health from childhood, hospitalized many times, and troubled by back problems his whole life; yet his privileged upbringing and a household steeped in politics paved the way for his later entry into public life.

He completed his studies at Harvard University and joined the Navy during World War II, commanding the torpedo boat PT-109. In a nighttime engagement the boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer; he led the surviving crew to swim to safety and managed to get them rescued, an episode that later became one of his best-known stories. After the war he turned to politics, winning election as a Representative and then a Senator, and earned a Pulitzer Prize for his book "Profiles in Courage."

In 1960 he won the Democratic presidential nomination, took part in the first televised presidential debates in American history, and was ultimately elected by a razor-thin margin. On taking office he was both the youngest elected president and the first Catholic president. In his inaugural address he issued the call "ask not what your country can do for you," and summed up his agenda under the banner of the "New Frontier."

His term fell in the tense years of the Cold War. The setback of the Bay of Pigs and the U.S.–Soviet standoff of the Cuban Missile Crisis were severe tests; he also advanced the space program, set the goal of landing on the Moon within a decade, and joined the Soviet Union and Britain in signing the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. On domestic matters he spoke out on civil rights and pushed related legislation, which was enacted after his death.

On November 22, 1963, he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, at just forty-six, and Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in that same day. Official investigations reached their conclusions about the events, but many differing accounts and doubts about the circumstances and background have persisted ever since. However he is judged, his brief term, his stirring oratory, and his abruptly cut-short life have made him one of the most endlessly discussed political figures of twentieth-century America.