John F. Kennedy was born May 29, 1917 the second child of irish immigrants Joseph P. Kennedy and Roseland Fitzgerald. He was born in Brookline, MA. After breifly attending Princeton he entered Harvard University in 1936. During his stay there he wrote an honors thesis "Why England Slept" which was published the year he graduated (1940). He joined the U.S. Navy in 1941 and commanded PT 109 which was sunk by the Japanese. Kennedy heroically rescued his crew and aggravated an old back injury which caused him pain throughout his life. In 1946 Kennedy won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and was reelected to this post in 1948 and 1950. He supported social class legislation that benefitted the working class. He was also an advocate of a strong anti-communist foreign policies. In 1952 he won the a U.S. Senate seat from Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in 1952. In 1953 he and his wife Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy had three children: Caroline, John and Patrick(who died in infancy 1963). Kennedy did not do much as a senator because of his back ailments but wrote the book "Profiles In Courage" which was about American Heroes. "Profiles In Courage" revealed his admiration of forceful political figures and won the Pulitzer Prize. In 1956, JFK was a Democratic hopeful for the vice-presidential Nomination but fortunately for him, The Democratic Party decided on Adlai Stevenson. However in 1960 he became the Democratic Nomination for President. Being Northern and Roman Catholic he realized that he would not be able to recieve Southern Support and chose Texan Lyndon B. Johnson as his running mate. Through remarkable performances during televised debates and a well organized and well financed campaign he won the election over Nixon and ushered in his era of the "New Frontier." Kennedy's administration was marked by signifigant reforms in civil rights, social reform and the space program. In foreign policy, JFK was forced to deal with the threat of Communist expansion in Latin America. At the height of his popularity in 1963 John F. Kennedy was assasinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. The world mourned for this young President who revitalized America and provided the era of "Camelot."
