“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” – John F. Kennedy.
- John F. Kennedy was the United States‘ 35th president, from January 1961 until his death in 1963.
- ‘John F. Kennedy’ whose full name was ‘John Fitzgerald Kennedy’, was also known as ‘JFK’, ‘Jack’ and ‘Jack Kennedy’.
- John F. Kennedy was born in the United States’ town Brookline, in Massachusetts, on 29 May, 1917, and was of Irish descent.
- John F. Kennedy, as president, led the United States through the following events: Bay of Pigs Invasion, Cuban Missile Crisis, Berlin Wall construction, the Vietnam War, the African-American Civil Rights Movement and the Apollo Space Race.
- John F. Kennedy came close to death a number of times during his life, contracted scarlet fever as a child, damaged a disk in his spine while playing football, had colitis, and during his time in office had Addison’s disease, hyperthyroidism and ongoing back pain.
President John F Kennedy
Image courtesy of U.S. Embassy New Dehli /Flickr
- John F. Kennedy worked in the US Navy from 1941, retiring as a lieutenant in 1945, and during that time he was in charge of a patrol torpedo boat that was split in two by a Japanese destroyer ramming into it, resulting in Kennedy earning a medal.
- John F. Kennedy became involved in politics in 1946 after his politically orientated brother Joe was killed, first as a member for the United States House of Representatives, and later as a senator from 1953 to 1960.
- John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas, in the United States, on 22 November, 1963, murdered by Lee Oswald, previously a US marine who had Soviet connections, who was then killed by Jack Ruby, an operator of a nightclub, two days later.
- John F. Kennedy was a Pulitzer Prize winner, and at age 43, was the youngest US president to be elected, the first Catholic US president and the youngest US president to die at age 46.
- John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953, and had four children, Arabella who was stillborn, Caroline who is still living, John who died in a plane crash in 1999 at age 38, and Patrick who died two days after birth.
Bibliography:
John F. Kennedy, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, n.d, The White House, http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnfkennedy
