John F. Kennedy, of Irish descent, was born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts. He later became the 35th President of the United States, serving in that office from 1961 until his assassination in November of 1963. Kennedy is an icon of American liberalism and a member of a politically prominent family that has dominated headlines for decades. During the Second World War, Kennedy was cited for his exceptional bravery demonstrated when he rescued fellow sailors in the South Pacific following an enemy attack. Kennedy served his home state as a member of both the House of Representatives and the Senate prior to becoming President. His election to the Presidency in 1960 was by one of the closest margins of victory in American history. Major events that occurred during his Administration included the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the start of the Space Race and the early events of both the Vietnam War and the U.S. Civil Right Movement. Generally, historians give Kennedy an above average ranking and rating. Among the general public, he oftentimes is said to be one of the greatest Presidents of all time. Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963. Officially, Lee Harvey Oswald was determined to be the sole assassin, according to the report of the Warren Commission. The assassination of President Kennedy is still considered to be one of the most defining moments in all of U.S. history because of the traumatic effect it had on the nation and because of its impact on political history that continues to this day. Mystery still surrounds the assassination of President Kennedy, after a special Congressional investigation held a generation ago determining that Oswald did not act alone. Conspiracy theories abound even to this day. In his Inaugural Address, Kennedy offered a time honored injunction: "Ask not what your country can do for you ... ask what you can do for your country." During his Presidency, he tried to redeem his campaign pledge of getting America moving again. Kennedy's economic programs put the country on the longest sustained economic expansion since World War II. Before his untimely death, Kennedy began plans for a massive assault on the persistent pockets of poverty in the United States.
Assassination:
John Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas (Texas); gun shots were heard during the movement of the President’s motorcade on the city streets. The first bullet entered his upper back and exited from the throat and the second bullet was shot at his head, which damaged the skull bones in the occipital portion and also damaged the medulla substance. President Kennedy was taken to an operation theatre and declared dead after half an hour of attempts to revive him. Also, John Connolly, Governor of Texas, who accompanied Kennedy in the vehicle, was also seriously wounded and a passerby also received a minor injury.
Lee Harvey Oswald, arrested on suspicion of the assassination, was killed after days in a police station by Dallas citizen Jack Ruby, who also died subsequently in prison.
The official report of the “Warren Commission” about the investigation of circumstances leading to assassination of Kennedy was published in 1964; according to the “Warren Commission” report, Oswald had carried out the assassination operation of John Kennedy and the shots were fired at Kennedy by Oswald from the top-most floor of the building. The “Warren Commission” report could not unearth any conspiracy leading to assassination.
Official information on the assassination of JFK is contradicting and possesses several “white spots”. Several clandestine versions exist with respect to the assassination of JFK: It is put under doubt, that Oswald fired at the vehicle or that he was the only one to have fired, a connection of several leading politicians and businessmen with murder was also looked into, the intended elimination of witnesses etc is also investigated. One such version is presented in Oliver Stone’s film “JFK”. The following were also made about John Kennedy: “PT 109” (1963) - about the participation of Kennedy in World War II; the serial “Kennedy” (1983) and “J.F.K.: Reckless Youth (1993).
In 1953, Kennedy married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. He is the father of four children; two of the four died immediately after the delivery; daughter Caroline and son John survived. John died in an air crash in 1999.
After the death of John Kennedy, Jacqueline remarried Aristotle Onassis.
Remembrance:
The portrait of Kennedy is represented on the 50-cent coin, issued in 1967;
In 1963, the New York International Airport Idlewild was renamed as the John F. Kennedy International Airport. Thus, the airport code was replaced with a combination of the letters JFK (the initials of John Fitzgerald Kennedy);
In 1966, the school of Government, one of the faculties of Harvard University, was named in the honor of JFK. |
