John F. Kennedy (D) - 35th President (1961-1963)
Background
- Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on Mat 29, 1917
- at the age of 3 he had scarlet fever and was admitted to the hospital, he was there for two months
- From childhood to teenage years he had diphtheria, appendicitis, whooping caugh, jaundice, asthma, and pneumonia.
- He was constantly sick throughout college, military service, and while in congress, and throughout his presidency
- He wrote a book called Why England Slept
- Graduated from Harvard in 1940
- served in WWII
- Was in the Navy
- When his PT boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer in 1943, he led the survivors to safety despite his injuries
- Back from war he was a Democratic Congress from Boston
- Advanced to Senate in 1953
- Married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953
- In 1955 recuperating from a back operation he wrote Profiles in Courage which won the Pulitzer Prize in history
- At age 43, he was the youngest to have been elected to the office
- The second-youngest president
- The first person born in the 20th century to serve as president to date, Kennedy has been the only Roman Catholic president and the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize.
Election
- Tuesday November 8, 1960
- Nixon (R) v. Kennedy (D)
- Kennedy won with 303 electoral votes to Nixon's 219
- First election to include all 50 current states
- JFK won 23 states and Nixon won 26
- JFK promised that he would "Get America moving again."
- Nixon promised he would continue "peace and prosperity"
Popularity Rating
- JFK had an approval rating of 70.1%
New Frontier
- a domestic program promising federal funding for education, medical care for the elderly, economic aid to rural regions, and government interventions to halt the recession
- resembling FDR
Accomplishments
- abolished the federal death penalty
- Signed executive orders prohibiting racial discrimination and laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Initiated Project Apollo as the first manned expedition to the Moon
- asked Congress to create the Peace Corps
- Signed the Partial M=Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
- Initiated the creation of security ties with Israel
- Began American involvement in Vietnam
Assassination
- Kennedy was shot at 12:29 p.m. by Lee Harvey Oswald
- Shot on Elm St.
- Brought to Parkman Memorial Hospital
- Governor Connally hit by same
- James Tague was hit (bystander)
- Oswald shot officer Tippit
- While being escorted to court, Jack Ruby shot Oswald
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