Political Life Of Jfk Essay, Research Paper

JFK: His Life and Legacy

On November 22, 1963, while being driven through the streets of Dallas, Texas,

in his open car, President John F. Kennedy was shot dead, apparently by the

lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. The world had not only lost a common man, but a

great leader of men.

From his heroic actions in World War II to his presidency, making the decisions

to avert possible nuclear conflict with world superpowers, greatness can be

seen. Kennedy also found the time to author several best-selling novels from

his experiences . His symbolic figure represented all the charm, vigor and

optimism of youth as he led a nation into a new era of prosperity.

From his birth into the powerful and influential Kennedy clan, much was to be

expected of him. Kennedy was born on May 29,1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts.

His father, Joe, Sr., was a successful businessman with many political

connections. Appointed by President Roosevelt, Joe, Sr., was given the chair of

the Securities and Exchange Commission and later the prestigious position of

United States ambassador to Great Britain(Anderson 98). His mother, Rose, was a

loving housewife and took young John on frequent trips around historic Boston

learning about American revolutionary history. Both parents impressed on their

children that their country had been good to the Kennedys. Whatever benefits

the family received from the country they were told, must be returned by

performing some service for the country(Anderson 12). The Kennedy clan included

Joe, Jr., Bobby, Ted and their sisters, Eunice, Jean, Patricia, Rosemary, and

Kathleen. Joe, Jr., was a significant figure in young John’s life as he was the

figure for most of John’s admiration. His older brother was much bigger and

stronger than John and took it upon himself to be John’s coach and protector.

John’s childhood was full of sports, fun and activity. This all ended when John

grew old enough to leave for school.

At the age of thirteen, John left home to attend an away school for the first

time. Canterbury School, a boarding school in New Milford, Connecticut and

Choate Preparatory in Wallingford, Connecticut completed his elementary

education(”JFK” 98). John graduated in 1934 and was promised a trip to London

as a graduation gift. Soon after, John became ill with jaundice and

would have to go to the hospital. He spent the rest of the summer trying to

recover. He was not entirely well when he started Princeton, several weeks

later in the fall of 1935. Around Christmas the jaundice returned and John had

to drop out of school. Before the next school year began, he told his father he

wanted to go to Harvard(”JFK” 98). On campus, young people took interest in

politics, social changes, and events in Europe. The United States was pulling

out of the Great Depression. Hitler’s

Nazi Germany followed aggressive territorial expansion in Europe. It was at

this time that John first became aware of the vast social and economic

differences in the United States. In June 1940, John graduated cum laude(with

praise or distinction) from Harvard. His thesis earned a magna cum laude(great

praise)( “JFK” 98). After graduation, John began to send his paper to

publishers, and it was accepted on his second try. Wilfrid Funk published it

under the title Why England Slept. It became a bestseller. John, at

twenty-five, became a literary sensation.

In the spring of 1941, both John and Joe, Jr., decided to enroll in the armed

services. Joe was accepted as a naval air cadet but John was turned down by

both the army and navy because of his back trouble and history of illness(”JFK”

98). After months of training and conditioning, John reapplied and on September

19, John was accepted into the navy as a desk clerk in Washington. He was

disgusted and applied for a transfer. In June 1941, Kennedy was sent to Naval

Officers Training School at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and

then for additional training at the Motor Torpedo Boat Center at Melville,

Rhode Island. In late April 1943, Lieutenant John F. Kennedy was put in command

of a PT 109, a fast, light, attack craft in the Solomon Islands in the South

Pacific. Kennedy saw action in the form of night patrols and participated in

enemy bombings. On August 1, 1943, during a routine night patrol, a Japanese

destroyer collided in the darkness with Kennedy’s craft and the PT 109 was

sunk. Through superhuman effort, the injured Kennedy heroically swam back and

forth rescuing his wounded crew. Two were killed in the crash. The injury had

once again aggravated his back. Still, Kennedy pushed on swimming from island

to island in the South Pacific hoping for a patrol to come by. The lieutenant

had no idea he had been in the water for eight hours. Finally, an island was

spotted that could provided cover from Japanese planes. With no edible plants

or water, Kennedy realized that he and the crew must move on.

The next day, he once again attempted to search for rescue. After treading

water for hours, the lieutenant was forced to admit no patrol boats were

coming. He turned back for the island but was swept away by a powerful current.

Kennedy collapsed on an island and slept. He recovered enough energy to return

to the island and gathered the crew to move to another island in search of

food. JFK was now desperate enough to seek help from natives on a Japanese

controlled island. After making contact with the natives, Kennedy persuaded the

natives to deliver a message written on the back of a coconut shell to allied

forces. The coconut fell into the hands of allied scouts and a patrol was sent.

The coconut would appear again on the desk of an American President(Anderson

35).

The crew of the PT 109 were given a hero’s welcome when they returned to base,

but Kennedy would have none of it. He refused home leave and was given another

boat. In constant pain from the back injury, JFK soon contracted malaria,

became very ill, and lost twenty-five pounds. He was forced to give up command

and was sent home to Chelsea NavalHospital near Hyannis Port. The lieutenant

received the Purple Heart, the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and a citation from

Admiral W. F. Halsey. John’s back failed to recover was an operation was

performed on his spine in the summer of 1944.

During recovery, Kennedy received word that his brother Joe, Jr. had been

killed in action. Joe had been eligible for home leave, but had volunteered for

a special bombing mission. The bombs had detonated early and Joe and his

copilot were caught in the explosion. Kennedy put his feelings onto paper and a

second book was published for the family and close friends. He called it As We

Remember Joe.

The family- particularly JFK’s father- had assumed that Joe, Jr. would carry on

the family tradition and go into politics. Both of his grandfathers had been

active in politics(Anderson 41). Now , suddenly, JFK was the oldest Kennedy of

his generation. Kennedy’s first chance in politics came when Congressman James

Curley from the 11th District of Massachusetts decided to retire in 1946(Gadney

42). JFK won his first Congressional seat by a margin of more than two to one.

At the age if twenty-nine, JFK was placed on the front page of the New York

Times and in Time Magazine. He was often mistaken in Congress as a Senate page

or an elevator operator.

It was during this time period in which Kennedy met and fell in love with

Jacqueline Bouvier. “Jackie”, as she was known, came from a wealthy Catholic

background as prestigious as the Kennedys. She attended Vassar College and the

Sorbonne in Paris, France. She spoke French, Italian, and Spanish fluently.

They were wed on September 12,1953, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Newport,

Rhode Island. All seemed well, yet after three two-year terms as a Congressman,

Kennedy became frustrated with House rules and customs and decided to run for

Senate.

In 1952, Kennedy ran for Senate against Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge.

Fifteen years older than Kennedy, Lodge was the incumbent of two terms in the

Senate. JFK prevailed in the victory but was soon stricken with Addison’s

disease during his first year in the Senate and had to operate on a fifty-fifty

chance for survival procedure(Gadney 52). While recovering, Kennedy wrote

Profiles in Courage, a bestseller on examples of moral courage in the lives of

eight senators who risked their careers for a great cause or a belief. Kennedy

returned to Senate and participated in the powerful Senate Foreign Relations

Committee. He was also chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Labor. JFK

believed strongly in education, equal job opportunity, and the civil rights

movement. His biggest success came in the form of his Labor Reform Bill which

passed by a margin of 90 to 1 in Senate debate. Kennedy’s first child,

Caroline, was born during this time.

Due to his enormous success in Congress, the Democratic party nominated him for

the presidential ticket in 1960.Lyndon Johnson was chosen as the running mate

with Kennedy tosecure and build upon the democratic bases in the southern

states while the Kennedys sought out the younger voters, the factory workers,

and the liberals(Gadney 61).

During the Kennedy Administration, a great deal of events were going on. Jackie

had given birth to JFK, Jr., while all over the south, the civil rights

movement was going in full force with incidents breaking out. Specific

attention gathered around a black air force veteran, James Meredith, applied

for admission to the University of Mississippi. In Cuba both the Bay of Pigs

occurred, in which U.S. supported rebels revolted in a poorly laid out plan of

events that fell out beneath them, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in which the

Soviet Republic were building missile silos in Cuba, 100 miles away from

Florida. The Space Race was in full force with both Russia and the U.S. in

competition to reach the moon. U.S. involvement in Vietnam was in the latter

stages with plans to withdraw after the 1964 election.

On a trip to Dallas to stir up support for the reelection, the President’s auto

were coming down elm street when three shots rang out. The first projectile

entered at the base of Kennedy’s neck and exited through the back of his head.

The second bullet hit Texas Governor John Connally. Seconds later there was

another shot and the back of the president’s head was torn away. The assassin-

Lee Harvey Oswald with a mail-order rifle fired from the Texas School Book

Depository(Warren 5). Oswald had recently applied for a passport to Communist

Russia which led to a series of private meetings between Oswald and the Russian

Government(Warren 614). Oswald protested his innocence.

President Johnson set up what quickly became known as the Warren Commission

headed by Chief Justice Warren to find the motive behind the assassination, The

Commission finds the lone, depressed, mentally unstable, anti-social nut kills

an American president(”Theories” 1). Other theories have evolved over time

such as the Grassy Knoll theory. Witnesses say that a man in black was present

and fired simultaneously with Oswald and doubled the actual shots

fired(”Theories” 1) Another theory is that the fired CIA director Allen Dulles

used his considerable connections and plotted revenge(”Theories 2″).

On Nov. 24, 1963 as Oswald was being escorted from the city jail, Jack Ruby

shot Oswald with a single shot from a Colt .38 revolver(Warren 350). Ruby was

arrested and stood trial in Dallas. He was found guilty and was sentenced to

hang. He died in jail of cancer, on January 3,1967.

Kennedy was the first President to be born in the twentieth century and was

very much a man of his time. He was restless, seeking, with a thirst of

knowledge, and he had a feeling of deep commitment, not only to the people of

the United States, but to the peoples of the world. Many of the causes he

fought for exist today because of what he did for the rights of minorities, the

poor, the very old and the very young. He never took anything for granted and

worked for everything he owned. Perhaps Kennedy summed up his life best in his

own inaugural speech: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what

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