Shortly after his inauguration, Kennedy permitted a band of Cuban exiles, already armed and trained, to invade their homeland. But the hard reality of the Communist challenge remained. With the Alliance for Progress and the Peace Corps, he brought American idealism to the aid of developing nations. He wished America to resume its old mission as the first nation dedicated to the revolution of human rights. His vision of America extended to the quality of the national culture and the central role of the arts in a vital society. Responding to ever more urgent demands, he took vigorous action in the cause of equal rights, calling for new civil rights legislation.

His economic programs launched the country on its longest sustained expansion since World War II before his death, he laid plans for a massive assault on persisting pockets of privation and poverty. His Inaugural Address offered the memorable injunction: “Ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.” As President, he set out to redeem his campaign pledge to get America moving again. Winning by a narrow margin in the popular vote, Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic President.

Millions watched his television debates with the Republican candidate, Richard M. In 1956 Kennedy almost gained the Democratic nomination for Vice President, and four years later was a first-ballot nominee for President. In 1955, while recuperating from a back operation, he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize in history. He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953. In 1943, when his PT boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer, Kennedy, despite grave injuries, led the survivors through perilous waters to safety.īack from the war, he became a Democratic Congressman from the Boston area, advancing in 1953 to the Senate. Graduating from Harvard in 1940, he entered the Navy. Of Irish descent, he was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. Kennedy was the youngest man elected President he was the youngest to die. On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand days in office, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was killed by an assassin’s bullets as his motorcade wound through Dallas, Texas. On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand days in office, JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, becoming also the youngest President to die. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States (1961-1963), the youngest man elected to the office. The biography for President Kennedy and past presidents is courtesy of the White House Historical Association. Get Involved Show submenu for “Get Involved””.The White House Show submenu for “The White House””.

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Jfk profiles in courage 2022