The Life Of John F Kennedy

Essay, Research Paper

The Life of John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline Massachusetts on May 29, 1917.

He attended Harvard University and graduated in 1940. From 1941-1945 he

served in the United States Navy, during World War II. In 1946 he was

elected to the United States House of Representatives. Then in 1952 he

was elected to the United States Senate. On September 12, 1953 he was

married to Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. Then in 1960 he was elected President

of the United States. On November 22, 1963 he was assassinated in Dallas,

Texas.

John grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. His father Joseph P. Kennedy,

was a self-made millionaire. During the administration of President

Franklin D. Roosevelt, he served as the first chairman of the Securities

and Exchange Commission, and as United States Ambassador to Great Britain.

During John’s childhood, his family often moved. Some of these moves sent

the family into New York. All of the Kennedy children developed a strong

competitive spirit. The boys enjoyed playing touch football together.

John Kennedy’s education included elementary schools in Brookline

and Riverdale. By the age of thirteen his father sent him to the

Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut. He then transferred to

Choate Academy in Wallingford, Connecticut, and graduated in 1935 at

eight-teen years old. In 1936, after a summer in England, John entered

Princeton University. After Christmas, of that same year, he developed

jaundice. Then in 1936 he entered Harvard University. At Harvard he

majored in government and international relations. In 1940 he graduated

from Harvard. He then enrolled at Stanford University, but dropped out

after only six months.

After serving in the United States Navy, where he won the Navy and

Marine Corps Medal as the skipper of a PT boat in World War II, John

decided to enter government. In 1946, he ran for the House of

Representatives and won the election over his Republican opponent. He

was reelected to the House in both 1948 and 1950. In 1952, he ran for

the United States Senate. He defeated his opponent Henry Lodge, who was

a popular and experienced legislator. After the 1956 Presidential election

he decided to try to run for the upcoming 1960 Presidential election.

In 1960 John Kennedy ran in the Presidential Election. His opponent,

Richard M. Nixon, was a popular person, he had previously been the

vice-president under Dwight Eisenhower. Together they became the first

Presidential opponents to debate face-to-face on television. John Kennedy

won the election. During his years as president, John helped pass a number

of laws. He also established the United States Peace Corps, through

executive order. On November 22, 1963 Kennedy went to Dallas Texas with

his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, and with Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife to

Dallas, Texas. There, while in a motorcade going through the streets of

Dallas, he was shot by an assumed gunman by the name of Lee Harvey Oswald.

After his death in Dallas, Johnson was sworn in as President of the United

States, on the plane back to Washington. Kennedy’s funeral was held on

November 25, 1963 where he was then buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

An eternal flame was lit over his grave, where it is still burning today.