FREE ESSAY ON JOHN F. KENNEDY JR.

JOHN F. KENNEDY JR.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States. He was the youngest
president ever to be elected, the first Roman Catholic president, and the first president
to be born in the 20th century. Although, he didn't get the chance to live out his term
and possible another one, he impacted the entire world. No other president was so
popular, especially with the young people. 
John F. Kennedy was born May 29th, 1917, child of Joseph P. and Rose Kennedy. John had
eight brothers and sisters: Joseph P. Jr. (1915), Rosemary (1918), Kathleen (1920),
Eunice (1921), Patricia (1924), Robert F. (1925), Jean (1928) and Edward M. (1932). All
of the children were born in Brookline, Massachusetts. They were all very competitive due
to their parents. The only thing that was important to them was winning.
John grew up in the nineteen twenties and thirties at his birth place of Brookline,
Massachusetts. John had once stated, life is unfair,1 yet for him the statement was
definitely not true. His childhood consisted of many things. Coming from a wealthy family
let him have the freedom to do what most kids couldn't. That still didn't keep him from
behaving like other kids. He and his brothers and sisters all participated in things such
as sailboat races, tennis matches, or even just a simple game of touch football. 
All family members were always encouraged to get involved with government issues. Small
talk wasn't allowed at the Kennedy dinner table2. They discussed world and national
issues. The impact of these discussions wouldn't be seen until later. Joseph and Rose
were trying to prepare their sons for public life and prepare their daughters for
marriages to distinguished young men.
In 1937, the Kennedy family moved to Great Britain so that John's father could become the
American ambassador there for three years. John stayed in the United States for an
education at Harvard University. John was a very good student at Harvard, yet he didn't
make the high grades that his brother had. So, John joined two clubs and spent most of
his time working on a newspaper published at Harvard, Crimson3. When he had finished his
school term his father decided to let him tour Europe. When he was there he started to
become interested in wars and politics, after noticing Hitler's actions. John went back
there the following summer and saw how Hitler never gave up and continued to strengthen
his army.
He knew of the war that was soon coming. The United States had sided with Great Britain,
so he knew he would have to go into the war. So, he went to enter the Air Corps, but was
turned away because of his back problems. Instead he went for the position on naval
officer and passes the health analysis. He was assigned to the intelligence division, he
thought it was very boring. Shortly after Pearl Harbor was attacked, John was sent for
motor torpedo (PT boat) training4. 
Officer Kennedy soon became Lieutenant Kennedy. In Tulagi, John was assigned to a dirty
old looking boat that had already been through nine months of combat. John experienced
his first real combat when his boat was attacked by a Japanese fighter plane. Only two
men were injured that time. They continued to stay there until one night when a full size
Japanese ship came full speed at Kennedy's boat. The boat was demolished and the Japanese
thought that all of the men had been killed. 
All of the men were forced to swim to Plum Pudding Island , three and one half miles
away, with Kennedy leading them. After his triumph he was promoted to Full Lieutenant and
was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for saving his crew. He also received a
Purple Heart for the severe back injury he suffered from the collision. After that, he
took command of another PT boat and took part in many more missions. 
For John one particularly bad thing happened in this war, his brother died. Which
impacted his life so greatly. The family had expected his brother Joe to run for public
office. Now that he was gone, John was now the eldest son and it was now his
responsibility. In 1946, he had the chance to run for Congress. Though he was still weak
from his war injuries, he campaigned aggressively. He won that election that November, he
was only 295.
He served three terms as a Democratic Congressman, from 1947 until1953. In 1952 he ran
for U.S. senate against Henry Cabot Lodge. He won that election and less than a year
later he enhanced his appeal to the people. He married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier on
September 12, 1953. He was a very popular and successful Senator.
He had almost become Stevenson's vice presidential running mate in 1956. His speech on
concession brought him into over 40 million homes in America. He quickly became one of
the most famous political figures in the country. Already his campaign for 1960
nomination had begun.
Kennedy had to make extreme efforts toward this campaign. People were saying that no
Roman Catholic man could ever become president. His mission was to prove them wrong. The
press loved him, he and his wife appeared on magazine covers, photographers followed them
everywhere. He had to do a number of speeches and appearances. So, to transport him and
his staff around the country, his father bought him a forty passenger Convair aircraft6.
In January 1960, Kennedy formally announced his presidential candidacy. His rivals were
Senators Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota and Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. Kennedy knocked
Humphrey out of the way and was still battling the rumors of a catholic president. He
dealt with that by winning the primary in West Virginia, which is primarily Protestant.
He was nominated on the first ballot, and chose Johnson as his running mate. 
Kennedy narrowly won the general election against Nixon. He was inaugurated on January
20, 1961. At the inauguration is where he made his famous speech. The speech was about
America's revolutionary heritage. Which is when he made this famous quote, Ask not what
your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.7 
Kennedy's first year in office brought him considerable success. Congress passed a bill
increasing minimum wage, and Congress passed his bill to create the Peace Corps. Which
was an agency to perform social and humanitarian services overseas. The program's goal
was to create peace and friendship with nations. Within two years the Peace Corps were
working in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 
Kennedy ran into some problems after the conservative Republicans joined with the
Southern Democrats to stop legislation they didn't like. A Medicare bill, a civil rights
bill, and a bill to create a Cabinet-level Department of Urban Affairs were all
defeated8. Kennedy didn't lose all of his approval because he get some of his bills
passed. Congress passed a bill to lower tariffs, authorized a purchase of over $100
million in United Nations bonds, and Congress appropriated more than $1 billion dollars
to send a man to the moon. 
Kennedy began to lose popularity after he started forcing universities in the south to
accept black students. People thought that he was limiting their rights as citizens. He
continued to speak out against segregation and lost even more populairty.
In 1959, after several attempts, a revolution led by Fidel Castro finally overthrew the
Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar. During the next two years Castro became very
hostile towards the United States. After some problems with $1 billion dollars in
properties and companies owned by the U.S., Castro began to proclaim his belief in
Communism. Cuba then became part of the cold war. Kennedy approved an invasion of Cuba by
CIA trained Cuban exiles. 
In April 1961, more then 1000 exiles landed in Cuba at a place called Bay of Pigs. Their
plan was to move inland and join with anti-Castro forces to stage a revolt. Castro's
forces were there to meet the invaders, and the revolt didn't happen. The CIA promised
air support, but that never came. The exiles were taken as prisoners. The prisoners were
released in exchange for food and medical supplies valued at $53 million. 
In March 1961, Kennedy introduced the Alliance for Progress, which would strengthen
democratic institution in the Latin American nation to prevent them from doing what Cuba
did. In August in was established by the charter of Punte del Este. This would be a Latin
American version of the Marshall Plan. All Latin American nations except Cuba joined ,
pledging  to bring our people accelerated economic progress and broader social justice
within the framework of personal dignity and individual liberty.9 This brought the U.S
popularity in Latin America. 
On June 3, 1961, in Vienna, Autstria, Kennedy and Khrushchev met and reviewed the
relationship between the U.S and the U.S.S.R. . There was a lot of hostility, considering
that there was a shooting down of a U.S spy plane in Soviet air space. The Bay of Pigs
invasion created hostility too. NO agreements were reached on any important issues. The
Soviet premier actually made it clear that the policies toward the Untied States would be
even more strict. 
In August 1961, the Communists ordered that there be a wall put up between East and West
Berlin. West Germany was under the control of the US, France and Britain. Those countries
protested the wall, but since East Germany was Communist, it was done anyway. Allied
forced weren't even allowed to travel through Berlin. This was the beginning of the Cuban
Missile Crisis. This was the closest the world's ever been to nuclear war. 
Khrushchev decided to supply Cuba with nuclear missiles that would be in range of the
Eastern United States. He denied it when asked if he was supplying Cuba with missiles,
but in the summer or 1962 there a US spy plane photographed a construction site managed
by the Soviets and then spotted a missile on October 14th. 
For seven days Kennedy met with advisors on how to handle and respond to this, while the
administration carried on as if nothing was wrong. On October 22nd, Kennedy told the
nation about the missiles, demanded that the USSR remove the missiles and declared the
water around Cuba a quarantine zone. Kennedy warned the USSR that if Cuba attacked the US
it would be considered an attack on the US by USSR itself. 
Troops were sent to Florida to prepare for invading Cuba and air units were alerted.
American vessels blockaded any Soviet ships that looked suspicious and searched them. For
several days Soviet ships avoided the quarantine zone while Kennedy and Khrushchev
discussed this. 
On October 26th Khrushchev agreed to remove all of the missiles. Before the US could
respond to that note, Krushchev sent another trying to negotiate other terms. The USSR
removed and dismantled all of the mistled and offered the US an on-site inspection.
Kennedy promised not to invade Cuba and to remove missiles from Turkey.
Cuba, angry at the Soviet submission refused the promised inspection. US spy planes
revealed that the missile bases were being dismantled. Kennedy was a hero, he had avoided
nuclear war and possibly World War III. As a result of him displaying courage and
strength. 
On November 22, 1963, President and Mrs. Kennedy were in Dallas, Texas. They were trying
to win support from the state that Kennedy had barely carried in 1960. AS the motorcade
approached an underpass, two shots were fired in rapid succession. One bullet passed
through Kennedy's neck and struck Governor Connally in the back. The other bullet hit the
president in the head. His car sped to Parkland Hospital. At 1:00PM he was pronounced
dead, he had never regained consciousness. Less then 2 hours after the shooting, on the
residential plane, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United
States. 
That afternoon, Lee Harvey Oswald, who was employed in the warehouse, was arrested in a
movie theatre and charged with murder. On November 24 the body of President Kennedy was
carried on a horse drawn carriage from the White House to the Rotunda of the Capitol.10
Hundreds of thousands of people filed passed the coffin of the president. The grave was
marked by an eternal flame that was lit by his wife and his brothers.