John F. Kennedy
In January of 1960, John Fitzgerald. Kennedy began his campaign as a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. He won the primary election in the states of Minnesota, Oregon, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Maryland, New Hampshire, Indiana, Nebraska, and Ohio. Lyndon B. Johnson, a senator from Texas, was his main opponent in the campaign. At the Democratic convention on July 13, Kennedy was nominated as their candidate and despite opposition from his staff and brother Robert, he asked Johnson to be his Vice President. Kennedy chose Johnson because he needed his strength in the South in order to win their votes as well as the presidency in what was sure to be the closest election since 1916.
Kennedy's campaign met many major issues including the crisis in Cuba, revamping the economy, outdoing the Soviets in the space race, and above all, his religion. Kennedy faced much controversy because he was Roman Catholic and no one with this religion had ever been elected before. In fact, many people believed that this was the reason why Al Smith was defeated in the election of 1928. In a speech he made in Houston on September 11, 1960, Kennedy explained his belief in complete separation of church and state and addressed that being Catholic should not impact his candidacy, saying, "I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party candidate who also happens to be a Catholic." Kennedy, age 43, would become the second youngest president in U.S. history if elected. His Republican opponent, Richard Nixon, had served two terms as Dwight Eisenhower's vice president.
In September/October, Kennedy appeared alongside Nixon in the the first U.S. presidential debate to ever be televised. This marked the point where television began playing a large role in politics, just like we see today. During this debate, Kennedy stayed cool and collected while Nixon appeared to be nervous and uncomfortable. Afterwards, Kennedy's campaign barely pulled ahead of Nixon's in many of the polls and on November 8th, Kennedy had defeated Nixon, leading the popular vote with 49.7% to 49.5%, a mere two-tenths of a percent. This was one of the closest presidential elections the world had ever seen.
On January 20, 1961, Kennedy was sworn into office as the 35th President of the United States. It was in his inaugural address that Kennedy famously said, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." He also said that the world needs to come together to combat poverty, disease, and war. Throughout his presidency, Kennedy made many notable accomplishments. He increased minimum wage, set up better Social Security benefits, and created the Peace Corps. Also, his vow to get a man on the moon by the end of the sixties was given an overwhelming amount of support. Even though Kennedy died before this was able to happen, Neil Armstrong successfully became the first man to ever step foot on the moon in 1969. In addition, Kennedy received the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 for his book Profiles in Courage and put an end to racial discrimination by proposing what would later become the Civl Rights Act of 1964.
Perhaps Kennedy's greatest achievement occurred in 1962 when he realized that the Russians were building missiles in Cuba. The Russians said they were only for defense purposes however. He was able to stop all shipments of weapons to Cuba, and brought in troops to Florida to prepare for invasion on Cuba. To stop them from attacking, the Soviets sent letters to the U.S. stating they would halt all productions as long as the U.S. agreed not to invade. Eventually, Kennedy and the Soviets compromised and the Russians withdrew their missiles. In August, 1963, the U.S., Great Britain, and Russia signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. By that time, Kennedy also ordered 16,000 troops to be sent to Vietnam to stop the spread of communism.
As far as scandals go, Kennedy was allegedly having an affair with Marilyn Monroe. One of his biggest failures during his presidency occurred during the Bay of Pigs invasion in which Kennedy attempted to overthrow Cuba's leader, Fidel Castro. On April 17, 1961, Kennedy ordered the plan that was originally conceived under the Eisenhower Administration, to finally be set in motion. In the invasion, 1,500 U.S.-trained Cubans were sent back to Cuba in hopes of getting rid of Castro. No U.S. air support was provided as was originally planned. Just two days after the start of the invasion, the Cuban government had either captured or killed the expatriots and forced Kennedy into negociating for their release with them. In exchange for $53 million worth of medicine and food, the Cubans resleased thier captives twenty months later. Overall the invasion was a huge failure as Kennedy was more focused on the political aspect of the operation rather than considering what kind of military strategies would be needed.
On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was traveling with his wife Jacqueline, Texas governor John Connally, and his wife Nellie, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. The group was riding in his presidential limousine with the top down when Kennedy was shot in the upper back. The bullet exited through his throat and hit Govenor Connally in his back, exited through his chest, into his wrist, out his wrist, and into his thigh. Then a second shot was fired which exploded into Kennedy's head and sent blood, brain matter, and skull fragments flying all over the car. His wife, out of shock, climbed onto the back of the limousine and, reached out and took pieces of his brain in her hand saying, "They have killed my husband, I have his brains in my hand." The car then directed its course to Parkland Hopsital where Kennedy was pronounced dead. Kennedy's personal doctor stated that his cause of death was from the head wound and there was no way he could have been saved. That same day, just two hours later, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the President of the United States, taking his oath of office aboard Air Force One.
Kennedy's alleged assassinator, Lee Harvey Oswald, was taken into custody in a movie theatre nearby. Just two days later, Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby. To this day, the assassination is still the subject of debate as many people believe that the whole thing was a conspiracy and Oswald denied shooting anyone, claiming that he was only arrested because he had once lived in the Soviet Union. After his funeral service on November 25th, Kennedy was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetary.
This blog topic was really interesting to write about. I chose it because I visited his grave at Arlington Cemetary when I went to Washington D.C. in eigth grade so I was interested in knowing more about him. I gained a lot more knowledge and understanding about Kennedy's assassination. From what I read about him, Kennedy was a great man and a great President and although he died a tragic death, his legacy will continue on.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination#Lee_Harvey_Oswald
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/johnfkennedy/p/pkennedy.htm
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