John Fitzgerald Kennedy or JFK was born on May 29th, 1917. He as elected in 1961 serving as the 35th President of the United States of America. Kennedy worked his way to becoming president by starting in the military. He served during WWII as commander of a torpedo boat. After his military stint, he was elected as a Democrat from Massachusetts to the House of Representatives. He was then elected to the US Senate in 1953. He served for 7 years before defeating Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election.
JFK recieved 303 electoral votes as compared to Nixon's 219. Many people believe Kennedy won because of his superior campaining skills. Historians also believe that since there are millions more catholics than protestants, JFK won the election. There were also 17 million more democrats registered than Rebuplicans. With JFK winning this election, he becomes the 2nd youngest president ever elected to office at the age of 43.
The Bay of Pigs Invasion or the Invasion of Cuba was a major event that happened during his presidency. It was previously planned by Eisenhower. The plan was to invade Cuba and overtake Fidel Castro. The plan failed. JFK was blamed for the loss of soldiers and an economic downturn. He later found out that it was planned to make Kennedy look bad.
Cuban Missile Crisis was another major event during Kennedy's reign as president. In 1962, a photographer from the United States flew over a Russian missile base in Cuba. It captured pictures of nuclear missiles shown in an offensive pattern. The pictures were shown to JFK and he decided to ambush the sites but many people saw it as "Pearl Harbor in reverse". After the United Nations inspected the missles, Russia was ordered to dismantle them and the United States promised never to invade Cuba again.
Many of the acts passed during JFK's presidency pertained to Cuba and not trading with them. The Sugar Act of 1948 was amended so that the US could not export sugar to Cuba. There was also an act brought back called Trading with the Enemy Act. This act said that there would be little to no trading with Cuba.
Kennedy also played a major role in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's. He helped to release the legendary Martin Luther King Jr. from jail. JFK supported integrated or mixed public places. He recieved support from African Americans during his presidential canidency. People believe that Kennedy was assasinated because he supported civil rights. He was killed on November 22nd, 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald.
I believe Kennedy was one of the greatest presidents of his time. He was a well like president that tried to change the shape of America through the civil rights movements that led to his assasination. I believe that if he wasnt murdered, he would be considered one of the greatest predsidents ever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1960
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