John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States, the
youngest
person ever to be elected President, the first Roman Catholic and the first to
be born in
the 20th century. Kennedy was assassinated before he completed his third year
as
President, therefore his achievements were limited. Nevertheless, his influence
was
worldwide, and his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis may have prevented the
United
States from entering into another world war. Kennedy was especially admired by
the
younger people and he was perhaps the most popular president in history.
Kennedy
expressed the values of 20th century America and his presidency had an
importance
beyond its political achievements. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in
Brookline,
Massachusetts where he was one of nine children. The Kennedy family was very
wealthy and provided means for the Kennedy children to pursue whatever they
chose
and John F. Kennedy chose politics.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1942 and as a new member Kennedy
supported legislation that would serve the interests of his elements. Kennedy
usually
backed bills sponsored by his party but would sometimes show independence by
voting
with the Republicans. He also joined with the Republicans in criticizing the
Truman
administration’s handling of China. In China, the Nationalist government of
Chiang
Kai-shek, which had been supported by the United States, was unable to
withstand the
advance of Communist forces under Mao Zedong. By the end of 1949 government
troops had been overwhelmingly defeated, and Chiang led his forces into exile
on
Taiwan. The triumphant Mao formed the People’s Republic of China. Truman’s
critics,
including Kennedy, charged that the administration had failed to support Chiang
Kai-shek against the Communists.
Despite Kennedy’s wavering within his own party platform, John F. Kennedy
easily
won reelection to Congress in 1948 and 1950. In 1952 he decided to run against
functioning Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. Kennedy was little known
outside his congressional district therefore he began his campaign two years
before the
election, meeting with hundreds of thousands of people in Massachusetts.
\"Kennedy
defeated Lodge by 70,000\"1 votes despite the fact that Dwight D.
Eisenhower, the
Republican Presidential candidate, carried the state by just over 200,000
votes.
As a candidate for the Senate, Kennedy promised the voters that he would do
more for Massachusetts than Lodge had ever done. During his first two years as
senator
he backed legislation beneficial to the Massachusetts textile, fishing, watch,
and
transportation industries. In 1953, however, he defied regional interests and
supported
the Saint Lawrence Seaway project and later in 1955 he was the only New England
senator to support renewal of the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act that gave the
President the power to lower U. S. tariffs, or taxes on import goods, in
exchange for
similar concessions from other countries.
In 1957 Kennedy became a member of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, and he later won a place on the Senate Committee on Improper
Activities in
the Labor Management Field. In 1958 he spent many of his weekends campaigning
for
reelection in Massachusetts senatorial contest. Kennedy wanted the 1960
Democratic
presidential nomination, and almost as soon as the 1956 election was over, he
began
working toward it.
Kennedy announced his candidacy early in 1960 and by the time the Democratic
National Convention opened in July, he had won seven primary victories. When
the
convention opened, it appeared that Kennedy’s only serious challenge for the
nomination
would come from the Senate majority leader, Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas.
However,
Johnson was strong only among Southern delegates and Kennedy won the nomination
on
the first ballot and then persuaded Johnson to become his running mate.
Two weeks later the Republicans nominated Vice President Richard Nixon for
president and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., for vice president. In the fast-paced
campaign
that followed, Kennedy made stops in 46 states and 273 cities and towns, while
Nixon
visited every state and 170 urban areas. The two candidates faced each other in
four
nationally televised debates. Kennedy’s manner, especially in the first debate,
seemed to
eliminate the charge that he was too young and inexperienced to serve as
president, and
many believe these debates gave Kennedy the edge he needed for victory.
The election drew a record 69 million voters to the polls, but Kennedy won by
only
113,000 votes which made it the closest popular vote in 72 years. Because
Kennedy
won most of the larger states in the Northeastern United States, he received
303
electoral votes to Nixon’s 219. Kennedy was inaugurated on January 20, 1961. In
his
inaugural address he emphasized America’s revolutionary heritage, \"The
same beliefs for
which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe,\"2 Kennedy
said. \"Let the
word go forth from this time and place to friend and foe alike, that the torch
has been
passed to a new generations of Americans.\"3 Kennedy called for \"a
new world of law,
where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.\"4
Kennedy’s first year in office brought him considerable success in enacting new
legislation. Congress passed a major housing bill, a law increasing minimum
wage, and a
bill granting federal aid to economically depressed areas of the United States.
Kennedy
put legislation through Congress which was a bill creating the Peace Corps, an
agency
that trained American volunteers to perform social and humanitarian service
oversees and
promote world peace, which was important at the time because of unsettling
foreign
affairs.
In 1959, after several attempts, a revolution led by Fidel Castro finally
overthrew
the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar. During the next two years,
Castro
would become increasingly hostile to the United States. When Castro began to
proclaim
his belief in Communism, Cuba became part of the Cold War, or struggle between
the
U. S. and its allies and the nations led by the USSR that involved intense
economic and
diplomatic battles.
Many Cubans began to flee to the United States and during the Eisenhower
administration the CIA had begun to train Cuban exiles secretly for an invasion
of Cuba.
In April 1961 more than \"1000 Cuban exiles made an amphibious
landing\"5 in Cuba at a
place called the Bay of Pigs. Their plan was to move inland and join with
anti-Castro
forces to stage a revolt simultaneously, but instead Castro’s forces were there
to meet
the invaders. The revolt in the interior did not materialize, and air support,
promised by
the CIA, never came. The exiles were defeated and the survivors were taken
prisoner.
Castro began to demand money for their release but Kennedy refused to negotiate
with
Castro. Kennedy did take steps to encourage both businesses and private citizens
to
reach an agreement with Castro and to contribute to the ransom. On December 25,
1962, \"1113 prisoners were released in exchange for food and medical
supplies valued
at a total of approximately $53 million.\"6
On June 3, 1961, in Vienna, Austria, Kennedy and USSR leader Nikata
Khrushchev met and reviewed relationships between the U. S. and the USSR, as
well as
other questions of interest to the two states. Two incidents contributed to
hostility at the
meeting, first being the shooting down of a U. S. spy plane in Soviet air
space, and the
second was the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in early 1961. The results
of the
conference made it clear that Khrushchev had construed Kennedy’s failure of the
Bay of
Pigs invasion as a sign of weakness. No agreements were reached on any
important
issues and the Soviet premier made it clear that the Soviet Union untended to
pursue an
even more aggressive policy toward the United States.
Amongst other problems President Kennedy faced, none was more serious than the
Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1960 Soviet Premier Khrushchev supplied Cuba with
nuclear
missiles that would put the eastern United States within range of nuclear
missile attack.
During the summer of 1962 U. S. spy planes flying over Cuba photographed
Soviet-managed construction work and spotted the first missile on October 14.
For
seven days Kennedy consulted with advisors, discussing the possible responses.
On
October 22, Kennedy told the nation about the discovery of the missiles,
demanded that
the Soviet Union remove the missiles, and declared the waters around Cuba a
quarantine
zone.
For several tense days Soviet vessels en route to Cuba avoided the quarantine
zone, while Khrushchev and Kennedy discussed the issue through diplomatic
channels.
Khrushchev, realizing his weak military position, sent one of two messages to
Kennedy in
which he agreed to remove the missiles. The following day, before the United
States
could respond to the first note a second was sent by Khrushchev to try and
negotiate
terms. Kennedy responded to the first message and an agreement was met for the
Soviet missiles to be dismantled and removed from Cuba. In return Kennedy
secretly
promised not to invade Cuba and to remove older missiles from Turkey. This was
perhaps Kennedy’s greatest moment as president. Many feel that because of
Kennedy’s
aggression that perhaps WWIII was avoided.
On November 22, 1963, President and Mrs. Kennedy were in Dallas, Texas,
trying to win support in a state that Kennedy had barely carried in 1960. On
his way to
a luncheon in Dallas, Kennedy and his wife sat in an open convertible at the
head of a
motorcade. Lyndon Johnson was two cars behind the president, and Texas Governor
John B. Connally and his wife were sitting with the Kennedy’s. As the motorcade
approached an underpass, two shots were fired, one bullet passed through the
president’s neck and struck Governor Connally in the back, with the other
bullet striking
the president in the head. The car sped to nearby Parkland Hospital where at
1:00 PM
Kennedy was pronounced dead.
Less than two hours after the shooting, aboard the presidential plane at the
Dallas
airport, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United
States.
The bullets that killed Kennedy were fired from a sixth-story window of a
nearby
warehouse. That afternoon, Lee Harvey Oswald, was arrested in a Dallas movie
theater
and charged with murder. Two days later, as the suspect was being transferred
from
one jail to another, Jack Ruby sprang out from a group of reporters and as
millions
watched on television, fired a revolver into Oswald’s left side. Oswald died in
the same
hospital to which the President had been taken.
On November 24, the body of President Kennedy was carried on a horse-drawn
carriage from the White House to the Rotunda of the Capitol. Hundreds of
thousands of
people filed past the coffin of the slain president. A state funeral was held
the next day
where \"representatives of 92 nations attended.\"7 It has been
estimated that as many as
\"1 million people\"8 lined the streets of Washington as the funeral
procession made its
way slowly to Arlington National Cemetery. The grave was marked by an eternal
flame
lighted by his wife and brothers. Five days after the funeral, President
Johnson
appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren chairman of a
committee to
investigate Kennedy’s death. The findings of the commission were announced on
September 27, 1964, which stated that investigators had found \"no
evidence of
conspiracy in the assassination.\"9 Their report concluded that \"the
shots which killed
President Kennedy were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald.\"10
Word Count: 1894