John F. Kennedy, 35th American President

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963) was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his death in 1963. After military service as commander of the Motor Torpedo Boats PT-109 and PT-59 during World War II in the South Pacific, Kennedy represented Massachusetts 11th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat. He served in the Senate from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election. He was the youngest elected to the office, at the age of 43, and the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president. He was the only Catholic president, and is the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize. Events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the African-American Civil Rights Movement, and early stages of the Vietnam War. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald. The FBI and the Warren Commission officially concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. However, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) concluded that those investigations were flawed and that he was probably assassinated as the result of a conspiracy. He continues to rank highly in public opinion ratings of US presidents

Restrictions Only for Ireland and United Kingdom

35th Assassinated Congressional Democrat Fitzgerald Heroic Presidency Pulitzer Recipient Representative Thirty Torpedo

Features In These Collections

> Contributors > PHR