John F. Kennedy
35th President of the United States, who set the goal of landing a person on the Moon.
SpeechesInaugural Address
Why John F. Kennedy matters
The 35th President of the United States and the youngest person ever elected to the office. He led the country through the Cuban Missile Crisis and set the goal of landing a person on the Moon before 1970.
The journey
Kennedy was born in 1917 into a wealthy Boston family. He was ill often as a child and lived with severe back pain for the rest of his life; he also had Addison's disease and relied on painkillers and steroids.
In August 1943 a Japanese destroyer rammed his patrol boat, PT-109. He led the survivors to a small island, where they were rescued days later, and he was decorated, but the episode re-injured his back. After his older brother Joseph Jr. was killed in 1945, the family's political hopes passed to him. He won a House seat in 1946 and a Senate seat in 1952, then spent long stretches recovering from spinal surgery; during one of them he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
He narrowly lost the 1956 vice-presidential nomination, then won the presidency in 1960 at age 43, the first Catholic to do so. His presidency began with the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and included the near-nuclear confrontation of October 1962. He was assassinated in Dallas on 22 November 1963.
- 1917Born in Brookline, Massachusetts.
- 1943PT-109 is rammed; he leads the survivors to safety.
- 1957Profiles in Courage wins the Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
- 1960Elected president at age 43.
- 1962Leads the United States through the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 1963Assassinated in Dallas on 22 November.
Sources for this profile
- John F. Kennedy · Wikipedia
- John F. Kennedy: Life Before the Presidency · Miller Center
Written in our own words from the sources above. This profile is a draft and has not yet been reviewed by a person. How we source
Quotes
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage
Verified sourceInaugural Address · Watch at 2:43 · John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
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Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
Verified sourceInaugural Address · Watch at 3:36 · John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
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So let us begin anew—remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof.
Verified sourceInaugural Address · Watch at 8:54 · John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
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Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
Verified sourceInaugural Address · Watch at 9:09 · John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
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Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and commerce.
Verified sourceInaugural Address · Watch at 10:04 · John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
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All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
Verified sourceInaugural Address · Watch at 10:59 · John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
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In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it.
Verified sourceInaugural Address · Watch at 13:03 · John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
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And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.
Verified sourceInaugural Address · Watch at 13:52 · John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
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My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Verified sourceInaugural Address · Watch at 14:09 · John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
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