John F. Kennedy

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Birthday:

29 May 1917, Brookline, Massachusetts, USA

Birth Name:

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Height:

183 cm

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts, to Rose Kennedy (née Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald) and Joseph P. Kennedy. John was named after his maternal grandfather, John "HoneyFitz" Fitzgerald, the mayor of Boston. John was very ill as a child and was given the last rites five times, the first one being when he was a new-born. He was the second of four boys born to an Irish Catholic family with nine children: Joseph Jr., John, Robert F. Kennedy (called Bobby), and Ted Kennedy (born Edward). Because Rose made Joe and Jack (the name his family called him) wear matching clothes, they fought a lot for attention. When John was young, the family moved from Boston to New York. John went to Choate, a private school. Most of the time, though, he was too sick to attend. In the late 1930s, father Joe became the ambassador to England. He took sons John and Robert with him, as well as his wife and daughters Kathleen and Rosemary Kennedy. John went to Princeton, then Harvard, and for his senior thesis, he wrote a piece about why England refused to get into the war until late. It was published in 1940 and called "Why England Slept". His older brother Joe was a pilot during the war, and was killed when the bombs his plane was carrying exploded. Not long after that, John's sister Kathleen and her husband died in a plane crash. In the early 1950s, John ran for Congress in Massachusetts and won. He married Jacqueline Kennedy (thirteen years his junior, born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier) on September 12, 1953. He became a father rather late in life. Their first child, Caroline Kennedy, was born on November 27, 1957 when J.F.K. was forty and their son, John Kennedy Jr., was born on November 25, 1960 when J.F.K. was forty-three. They had a son named Patrick Bouvier, but he died a few days after birth. In 1954, J.F.K. had to have back surgery and in the hospital wrote his second book, "Profiles in Courage". His father always said that his son Joe was going to be President of the U.S.; when he died in World War II, though, that task was passed on to John. He ran for president in 1960 against Richard Nixon and won. His administration had many conflicts, the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis being key examples. In November 1963, he and Jackie (his wife's nickname) went on a trip to Texas. Everywhere they went there were signs saying "Jack and Jackie." On November 22, 1963, John was to give a speech in Dallas, but on his way an assassin hidden on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository opened fire at Kennedy, who was riding in an open car. Hit twice and severely wounded, Kennedy died in a local hospital at 1:00 P.M. The alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was captured a short time later after shooting and killing a Dallas policeman, and was himself assassinated before he could be thoroughly interrogated, let alone tried. In just a little bit of irony, considering the death of Abraham Lincoln a century earlier, Kennedy was shot in a Ford Lincoln (Lincoln was in Ford's Theater when he was shot). He was laid to rest on his son's third birthday. Show less «

Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

[5/25/61, in a special address to Congress] I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out...Show more »

[5/25/61, in a special address to Congress] I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. Show less «

[1/20/61 inaugural address, on joint US/Soviet scientific ventures] Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terr...Show more »

[1/20/61 inaugural address, on joint US/Soviet scientific ventures] Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Show less «

[1/30/61, State of the Union address] In a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon . . . it will be an entire nation. For ...Show more »

[1/30/61, State of the Union address] In a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon . . . it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there. Show less «

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend...Show more »

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. Show less «

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

[6/26/63, speech in West Berlin, Germany] Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was "Civis Romanus sum". Today, in the world of freedom...Show more »

[6/26/63, speech in West Berlin, Germany] Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was "Civis Romanus sum". Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner". All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!". Show less «

I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle...Show more »

I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics but for our contributions to the human spirit. Show less «

Victory has a thousand fathers but defeat is an orphan.

Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

[privately, about Richard Nixon] Richard Nixon's a conservative . . . and if he became President, we could expect Republican policy would sw...Show more »

[privately, about Richard Nixon] Richard Nixon's a conservative . . . and if he became President, we could expect Republican policy would switch to the right. He is a filthy, lying son-of-a-bitch, and a very dangerous man. Show less «

All my life, I've known better than to depend on the experts.

[9/12/62, speech at Rice University, Houston, TX] We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are e...Show more »

[9/12/62, speech at Rice University, Houston, TX] We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to measure and organize the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. Show less «

[on Marlon Brando] The greatest womanizer who ever set foot in Hollywood.

[ten days before his assassination] The high office of President has been used to foment a plot to destroy the American's freedom, and befor...Show more »

[ten days before his assassination] The high office of President has been used to foment a plot to destroy the American's freedom, and before I leave office I must inform the citizen of his plight. Show less «

Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.

[Harry S. Truman] regards an open convention as one which studies all the candidates, reviews their records and then takes his advice.

[6/10/63, in a commencement address] The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expe...Show more »

[6/10/63, in a commencement address] The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war. This generation of Americans has already had enough--more than enough--of war and hate and oppression. Show less «

We shall do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before the task or hopel...Show more »

We shall do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before the task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we must labor on--not towards a strategy of annihilation but towards a strategy of peace. Show less «

In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our ...Show more »

In the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's futures. And we are all mortal. Show less «

Our problems are manmade. Therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond hum...Show more »

Our problems are manmade. Therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Show less «

The civil rights movement should thank God for [Eugene 'Bull' Connor]. He's helped it as much as Abraham Lincoln.

[after the Bay of Pigs invasion] The advice of those who were brought in on the executive branch was unanimous, and the advice was wrong. An...Show more »

[after the Bay of Pigs invasion] The advice of those who were brought in on the executive branch was unanimous, and the advice was wrong. And I was responsible. Show less «

[1962] If anybody is around to write after this, they are going to understand that we made every effort to find peace and every effort to gi...Show more »

[1962] If anybody is around to write after this, they are going to understand that we made every effort to find peace and every effort to give our adversary room to move. I am not going to push the Russians an inch beyond what is necessary. Show less «

[in the fall of 1960] I suppose if I win, my poon days are over.

[1960, joking with a supporter] Do you realize the responsibility I carry? I'm the only person between [Richard Nixon] and the White House.

[1961] We are probably strong enough to prevent one nation from unleashing nuclear weapons on another. But we can't prevent infiltration, as...Show more »

[1961] We are probably strong enough to prevent one nation from unleashing nuclear weapons on another. But we can't prevent infiltration, assassination, sabotage, bribery, any of the weapons of guerrilla warfare. One guerrilla can pin down 12 conventional soldiers, and we've got nothing equivalent. Show less «

[in 1960, to Benjamin C. Bradlee, on how he intended to announce the appointment of brother Robert F. Kennedy to the position of US Attorney...Show more »

[in 1960, to Benjamin C. Bradlee, on how he intended to announce the appointment of brother Robert F. Kennedy to the position of US Attorney General] Well, I think I'll open the door of the Georgetown house some morning about 2:00 A.M., look up and down the street, and if there's no one there, I'll whisper, "It's Bobby". Show less «

[November 1961] This chimpanzee who is flying in space took off at 10:08. He reports that everything is perfect and working well.

[1962, to Theodore Sorensen] If we solve the Berlin problem without war, Cuba will look pretty small. And if there is a war, Cuba won't matt...Show more »

[1962, to Theodore Sorensen] If we solve the Berlin problem without war, Cuba will look pretty small. And if there is a war, Cuba won't matter much, either. Show less «

Some people have their liberalism "made" by the time they reach their late 20s. I didn't. I was caught in crosscurrents and eddies. It was o...Show more »

Some people have their liberalism "made" by the time they reach their late 20s. I didn't. I was caught in crosscurrents and eddies. It was only later that I got into the stream of things. Show less «

I must say, in defense of our own country, if the United States had not emphasized the military since 1945, the shape of the globe would be ...Show more »

I must say, in defense of our own country, if the United States had not emphasized the military since 1945, the shape of the globe would be very different than it is today. So that those who feel that we overemphasize it might consider the fate of freedom if we had not emphasized it. Show less «

[June 11, 1963] It is not enough to pin the blame on others, to say this is the problem of one section of one country or another, or deplore...Show more »

[June 11, 1963] It is not enough to pin the blame on others, to say this is the problem of one section of one country or another, or deplore the fact that we face. A great change is at hand, and our task, our obligation, is to make that revolution, than change, peaceful and constructive for all. Those who do nothing are inviting shame, as well as violence. Those who act boldly are recognizing right, as well as reality. Show less «

[June 11, 1963] If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his childre...Show more »

[June 11, 1963] If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who will represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels of patience and delay? Show less «

[1962] Too often in the past we have thought of the artist as an idler and dilettante and of the lover of arts as somehow sissy or effete. W...Show more »

[1962] Too often in the past we have thought of the artist as an idler and dilettante and of the lover of arts as somehow sissy or effete. We have done both an injustice. The life of the artist is, in relation to his work, stern and lonely. He has labored hard, often among deprivation, to perfect his skill. He has turned aside from quick success in order to strip his vision of everything secondary or cheapening. His working life is marked by intense application and intense discipline. As for the lover of arts, it is he who, by subjecting himself to the sometimes disturbing experience of art, sustains the artist - and seeks only the reward that his life will, in consequence, be the more fully lived. Show less «

It is only after you wield the powers of the presidency that you get hated. [Wayne Morse], [Jimmy Hoffa], Al Hayes, etc., all hate me now me...Show more »

It is only after you wield the powers of the presidency that you get hated. [Wayne Morse], [Jimmy Hoffa], Al Hayes, etc., all hate me now merely because of one bill. Presidents are bound to be hated unless they are as bland as [Dwight D. Eisenhower]. Show less «

[November 22, 1963, upon arriving in Dallas, Texas] We're really in nut country now.

[March 1962] I sometimes think we are too much impressed by the clamor of daily events. Newspaper headlines and the television screens give ...Show more »

[March 1962] I sometimes think we are too much impressed by the clamor of daily events. Newspaper headlines and the television screens give us a short view . . . Yet it is the profound tendencies of history, and not the passing excitements, that will shape our future. Show less «

[1960] Once you say you're going to settle for second that's what happens to you in life, I find.

[on Inauguration Day, January 21, 1961] The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavour will light our country and all ...Show more »

[on Inauguration Day, January 21, 1961] The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavour will light our country and all who serve it - and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. Show less «

[on Inauguration Day, January 20, 1961] Together, let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts...Show more »

[on Inauguration Day, January 20, 1961] Together, let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and commerce. Show less «

[to 49 Nobel Prize winners who came for dinner] This is the most extraordinary collection of talent that has ever gathered at the White Hous...Show more »

[to 49 Nobel Prize winners who came for dinner] This is the most extraordinary collection of talent that has ever gathered at the White House--with the possibility of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone. Show less «

We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or watch - we are going back from whence we came.