John F Kennedy nonetheless a point of no return rede fining the process by which Americans choose their presidents Today it is interesting to think about how the 35th president of the United States is remembered Many Americans old and young can conjure up images of Kennedy his equally photogenic wife Jackie and their two children John and Caroline Many can also hear some of JFK’s famous lines particularly Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country com plete with that distinctive Massachusetts Kennedy twang It is also widely known that Kennedy was the youngest president ever elected And the first Roman Catholic But what many may not remember or even know in the first place is that before going into politics he worked as a news paper journalist first at the Chicago Herald American and then at the International News Service In addition he wrote sev eral books before becoming president one of which was a best seller and another of which garnered a Pulitzer Prize What many also may remember about John F Kennedy is how he died Images long black of the Kennedys in that 8 8
Introduction limousine in Dallas Tex were beamed live into television sets across America and then repeatedly afterward The shock of Kennedy’s assassination was followed by the heartbreaking visual of his young son John Jr whose third birthday it was on the day of Kennedy’s funeral saluting as his father was buried But Americans were left not just with sorrow but also with hope Hope that following JFK’s exhortations the space race would be won And that through programs such as the Peace Corps which he established Americans would indeed not just ask what they could do for their country but for the world Pivotal Presidents John F Kennedy pro files the life of a leader whose mystique lives on adding detail to the challenges and successes of Kennedy’s time in office as well as taking readers through his private life and early years This book explores examines and explains the indel ible moments and international crises of America’s first extensively televised presidency 9 9
Chapter 1 Early Life Early Life Early Life and Career and Career and Career and Career and Career and Career I n November 1960 at the age of 43 John F Kennedy became the young est man ever elected president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt had become president at 42 when President William McKinley was assassinated but he was not elected at that age On Nov 22 1963 Kennedy was shot to death in Dallas Tex the fourth United States president to die by an assassin’s bullet Kennedy was the nation’s fi rst Roman Catholic president He was inaugurated in January 1961 succeeding Republican President Dwight D Eisenhower In one of the closest elections in the nation’s history Kennedy had defeated the Republican can didate Vice-President Richard M Nixon by little more than 100,000 votes During 10
Early Life and Career John F Kennedy being sworn in as U S president Jan 20 1961 Encyclopædia Britannica Inc his time in office Kennedy faced a num ber of foreign crises especially in Cuba and Berlin but managed to secure several landmark achievements such as conclud ing the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom winning approval of the international eco nomic development program Alliance for Progress and creating a volunteer service the Peace Corps to help other countries in their development efforts 11
