John+F.+Kennedy

__** John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy AKA JFK **__



In my wikispace I am going to talk about John F. Kennedy. I am going to try and touch briefly on his life and his involvement in some significant events. I will also talk about how much of a mentor and an important person this man was. He was highly respected by many people and he will never be forgotton. There will also be some reference on his assassination. For any important information that I have not included I will have some links to persue further research.

Politics ran in the family for JFK. His grandfathers and great grandfathers all played a role in the political world. His father was also a very successful business man who later on in his life became an ambassador to Great Britian. Before JFK became president from 1941-1945 he was involved in the U.S. military. He ended his role in the Navy as a Lieutenant after he went through a scary situation when his boat was rammed and he nearly didnt survive, and even lost some crew members. He was able to swim four hours and save a crew member which won him many medals in the army.Also before his presidency he spent some time as a journalist, which was when he got most of his writings done. In 1960 Against Richard Nixon JFK waselected as the 35th president of the United States, by a very small margin. He served from 1961 until November 22,1963, when he was assassinated. He was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts at three o'clock p.m. He was assassinated on Friday November 22, 1963 at 12:30 p.m. in Dallas, Texas. He was wounded by gunfire while he was riding with his wife in a presidential motorcage. He was shot twice, once in the back and once in the neck. The shot to the back of the head was the one that killed him. To watch original video of the horrible day in Dallas when JFK was assassinated, see below (I believe this is a copy of the Zaprudo film).

media type="custom" key="3877925" Kennedy was only 46 years old when he died, and to this date he would be the youngest president to ever pass away. There was a suspect to the murder of JFK, but before he could be proven 100% guilty he was shot by someone by the name of [|Jack Ruby]. Then Jack Ruby was convicted for murder but before his trial came to be, he became ill and passed away. John was very ill as a child and he was actually given last rights 5 times. Once he survived all of his childhood illnesses he ended up being a very sucessful person. If you would like to view a more detailed biography that touches on some different points of his life click [|here].

JFK had a pretty big involvement in the cuban missile crisis, which began on October 14, 1962. It all started when the Soviets took a picture of a missile site being worked on in Cuba. Kennedy was shown the pictures and subsequently faced a huge decision since there was a possibility that the U.S. would face a nuclear threat. Kennedy had to decide if he should order an attack, which could result in a nuclear war. Kennedys other decision was to just sit back, but that left the possibility of a unsuspected nuclear attack from close range, so either way the United States faced some danger. There was big talk about an air attack on the missile site, but Kennedy chose to just keep tight security on every ship arriving into Cuba. He then started ordering the Soviets to do things which did not turn out so good. In the end Kennedy made an agreement never to invade Cuba and in his future he was much more careful about approaching the Soviets



JFK had a huge involvement in putting an end or at least cutting down racial discrimination. He tried to include different races in different things. He also had a contribution to the civil rights act.

John F Kennedy also has a lot of places named after him. He has a airport in New York called the JFK International airport. This airport is the biggest international gateway in the United States. There is also a Library and Museum in Boston named after JFK. It is called the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. There is even the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All of these places named after JFK shows how much of an important person he was and that he will be remembered.



JFK also has two famous writings, one called Why England Slept (1940), and the other called Profiles in Courage (1956). His book Why England Slept was written while JFK was in his senior year at Harvard. This book was about how the British Government failed to prevent World War II. He talks about things that could have been sone differently and things that could have turned out worse. This book was only intended to be a college theses, and was said to be of poorer quality, even when it was published. But with the help of his father who pulled some strings and purchased over 30000 copies the book became a success. The book Profiles in Courage was written while JFK was a U.S. Senator. He chose eight of his colleagues and decided to profile them. All of these profiles were based on acts of courage in an overwhelming situation. This was the better of his two writings and it was even awarded.

To this day there are still people making assumptions about the assassination of JFK. Many people still have their own opinion of what happened. Right after the assassination of JFK happened it was a time of confusion for the U.S.A., and for the whole world. People were immediatley scared for the safety of the Vice President, others wondered if this was part of an attack involving the cold war, and some just hurried to get to the nearest T.V. or radio to get the real story on what was going on. This event was taken hard by everyone, and all were busy praying and crying for days after the shooting. When this happened it was almost as if the world came to a halt. Schools were dismissed early, traffic was stopped because of the news spreading, and all T.V. programs were pretty much shut down for constant coverage on what was going on. This non stop coverage went on for three days. Even now there is still media coverage of the anniversary of the assassination with memorial services held in his memory.




 * __SIGNIFICANCE TO TODAY__**

JFK was a very important person to the world. He had a very high status and everyone knew who he was. His actions in the political world made people recognize how good of a president and person he really was. His leadership towards civil rights had a huge affect of his status also. People were very appreciative to his motions towards race relations and things like that. JFK also has many quotes that he left behind that people still remember. Some are so well known that if people hear them they know exactly what it is. An example of one of his quotes is "I want every American to stand up for his rights, even if he has to sit down for them," this quote basically means that every American has their own rights and they need to be respected. One thing that shows how much of an important person JFK was is that if you ask anyone "Where were you when JFK was assassinated?" They will most likely be able to tell you where they were and exactly what they were doing. This shows that people will never forget JFK and he will always be appreciated.

To listen to the speech Kennedy delivered when he was made the 35th president of the United States click [|here]. media type="custom" key="3926917"

__** Bibliography **__
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