John Kennedy was. President with a boyish smile

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts.

John Kennedy grew up in a Catholic Irish family, his father was a major businessman, diplomat and politician, and his mother was responsible for raising children. In total, Joseph Patrick and Rose Elizabeth Kennedy had nine children - four boys and five girls.

Kennedy took the oath of office as head of state on January 20, 1961. The new president's action plan was called the New Frontier program. Under him, Congress approved the creation of the Peace Corps, raised the minimum wage, liberalized social insurance and passed laws on housing construction, assistance to distressed areas of the country, retraining the workforce and paying benefits to the temporarily unemployed. During Kennedy's presidency, a huge step was taken in the exploration of outer space - the Apollo program was launched.

Instead of the outdated doctrines of “rolling back communism” and “massive retaliation,” the Kennedy administration proclaimed the doctrine of “flexible response.”

At the same time, Kennedy approved US intervention in the civil war in South Vietnam; the Berlin and Cuban missile crises fell during his reign.

In late 1963, in preparation for the upcoming election year, the President began a series of trips around the country. On November 21, 1963, Kennedy flew to Texas. The next day, his motorcade solemnly moved through the streets of Dallas, then turned onto Elm Street, where at exactly 12:30, shots rang out in full view of a large crowd of people who had gathered to greet the president.

According to officials, there were three shots. The first bullet hit Kennedy in the back, went through and exited through the neck. It also caused the wounding of Texas Governor John Connally. Another bullet hit the president in the head and proved fatal.

Five minutes later, Kennedy was taken to Parkland Hospital. The doctors were unable to help and he died from his injuries. At about 1 p.m. on November 22, President Kennedy's death was announced. Connelly underwent two operations at the same hospital and survived.

Two hours later, police arrested 24-year-old Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine, on charges of assassinating President Kennedy.

According to another version, the conspiracy was led by Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who was eager to become president, and FBI Director Edgar Hoover, his close friend. According to supporters of this version, Hoover acted in the interests of the mafia, the fight against which became much more intense after Robert Kennedy, the president's brother, took over as attorney general.

There are also theories that Kennedy was killed by Soviet and/or Cuban intelligence agencies.

The reason for the assassination of the president is also connected with his alleged interest in UFOs and aliens that arose shortly before his death.

John Kennedy. The award went to him in 1957 for his biographical book Profiles in Courage, which tells about outstanding Americans who went down in history thanks to the steadfastness of their character.

John Kennedy was married to Jacqueline Bouvier, whom he met in 1952. From this marriage, four children appeared in the Kennedy family, two of whom died shortly after birth. Kennedy's eldest daughter Caroline studied law, worked at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was involved in charity work. In 2009, she ran for a Senate seat from New York State, but later withdrew her candidacy.

In October 2013, Caroline Kennedy became the first female US Ambassador to Japan. John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. was a journalist and lawyer who died in 1999 at the age of 38 in a plane crash.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

His reign was from 1961 to 1963, when he was assassinated. Kennedy was a participant in the war of 1939-1945, as well as a member of the Senate.

Childhood and adolescence

According to local American tradition, he was called Jack. He was first elected to the Senate at the age of 43. In the entire history of the United States, he was the youngest president. John Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in a small town called Brooklay into a Catholic family. He was the second child in the family.

As a child, John Kennedy had a very frail build, was often ill, and almost died due to scarlet fever. When he grew up, many women, on the contrary, were crazy about him. When the boy was ten years old, his family moved to a twenty-room house. At school, the future president was distinguished by his rebellious spirit, and his academic performance left much to be desired. Despite the fact that John Kennedy Jr. was very often sick, he continued to play sports intensively.

After graduating from school, he entered the truth, but did not stay there for long due to health problems. Returning to the States, Kennedy continued his studies - now at Princeton. He soon falls ill and doctors diagnose him with leukemia. Kennedy does not believe the doctors, and later they themselves admit that the diagnosis was incorrect.

Traveling through Europe and participating in hostilities

In 1936, John Kennedy returned to Harvard University. In the summer he travels to European countries, which further fuels his interest in politics and international relations. Under the patronage of his father, the future president meets the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Pius XII.

Despite poor health, Kennedy took part in hostilities, which lasted until 1945. At the front, he takes an active part in battles, showing courage in rescuing a boat sunk by enemy troops. And after leaving the armed forces, he takes up work as a journalist.

Beginning of a political career

In 1946, John F. Kennedy was elected to the House of Congress. Then the same post is occupied by him three more times. In 1960, his candidacy was first nominated for the post of president of the country, and finally, in 1961, he became the head of the United States. Many of Kennedy's contemporaries were impressed by his determination, intelligence and wisdom in governing the country. For example, Kennedy managed to achieve a ban on nuclear testing. He also carried out many popular reforms and became the lover of the entire nation.

Personal life of the president

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was married to Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, who was 12 years younger than him. Instead of flowers and chocolates, Kennedy gave her books, which he himself considered the most valuable. Their wedding took place in the city of Newport. Subsequently, the Kennedy family had four children. However, the older girl and younger boy died. Middle daughter Caroline became a writer. Son John died under tragic circumstances in a plane crash.

John Kennedy also had a large number of extramarital affairs. Among his passions was Pamela Turner, who worked as a press secretary for his wife Jacqueline. Swedish aristocrat Gunilla von Post described her relationship with the president in a book. Also, the infamous Marilyn Monroe had an affair with Kennedy.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy: death

Before the upcoming elections in 1963, Kennedy began a series of trips around the country. On November 21, 1963, his procession was on the streets of Dallas. Exactly at half past one, three shots rang out. The first bullet went through and also wounded the governor of Texas. Another of the shots hit the head and became fatal.

Within five minutes the president was taken to the hospital. But the doctors were powerless against such wounds, and already at about one o'clock in the afternoon the death of the president was reported. The governor of Texas, John Connally, survived. After two hours, the police arrested a murder suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald, and two days later he was shot dead by Jack Ruby, whom authorities suspected of having connections with the mafia. Ruby was sentenced to death.

But after filing an appeal, he managed to get a pardon. Before a new trial date had been set, Ruby was diagnosed with cancer. He died in January 1967. There are many versions according to which John Fitzgerald Kennedy could have been killed. According to one of them, the reprisal against the president was a response to his program to combat organized crime.

USA - John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Many scientific historical works and journalistic articles have been written about the life of this remarkable man, the circumstances of his death, and even about the biography of the murderer Lee Harvey Oswald. A variety of conspiracy theories are being built, trying to explain the murder of the American president as the machinations of a disgruntled part of the oligarchy, the Soviet intelligence services, and the “secret government.”

Representative of the US Democratic Party John Kennedy took the post of head of state in January 1961 (officially took office as President of the United States), having won the November 1960 elections. With the coming to power of John Kennedy, many associated the possibility of improving Soviet-American relations, which by that time were in a very bad state, literally “on the brink” of a grandiose conflict. Kennedy himself, however, had no intention of making concessions. His goal was to improve the position of the United States in both foreign and domestic policy.

Understanding the need to modernize the American economy, Kennedy prioritized the implementation of an economic growth strategy as a domestic policy goal. He inextricably linked it with improving the quality of human capital, which required certain social investments. It is here that the roots of the social policy of the new American president, progressive at that time, lie. Kennedy envisaged the need to increase the minimum wage (in the USA it is hourly), increase the terms of payment of benefits to the unemployed, and support farms. Kennedy was going to invest a lot of money in the implementation of programs for improving the skills of workers and retraining the unemployed who could not find work in their specialty.

However, the conservative part of the American congressmen successfully blocked Kennedy's numerous progressive initiatives. In particular, the president failed to secure funds for the development of health care and education and for a significant increase in the minimum wage. The vast majority of the low-wage American working class never received the long-awaited wage increase. The hourly minimum wage increased to $1.15 per hour for only 3.6 million workers out of 26.6 million workers earning the minimum wage. Meanwhile, promises of social support only “irritated” the Americans. The social situation in the country was rapidly heating up. Mixed with the discontent of low-paid workers and the unemployed were racial conflicts and the intensification of the student left-wing radical movement.

In foreign policy, John Kennedy also could not be called successful. Let's start with the fact that during his presidency, the United States “miserably” lost the confrontation with Cuba. John Kennedy's predecessor as head of state, Dwight Eisenhower, was going to overthrow Fidel Castro by supporting Cuban emigrants - counter-revolutionaries. The opposition was prepared and trained on American soil and paid generously, but John Kennedy was never able to take advantage of the previously prepared conditions to launch an operation against Castro. The operation plan to invade “Liberty Island” failed. Further more. Kennedy's next failure was the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Inspired by the successes of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev chose offensive tactics - and he turned out to be right. Also in 1961, in the first year of Kennedy's presidency, the Soviet Union decided to place missiles in Cuba to protect Castro and the geopolitical interests of the Soviet state. The world was one step away from disaster, but in the end, Kennedy managed to come to an agreement with Khrushchev. So the young president “recouped” for the failure of the invasion of Cuba and the construction of the wall in Berlin. Now Americans began to perceive him as the man who “saved the world from nuclear war.” However, in fact, the United States lost more than it gained as a result of the Cuban missile crisis. Indeed, as a result of agreements with Moscow, Washington had to abandon plans to openly overthrow Fidel Castro. In addition, and no less important, the United States withdrew its bases from the southern borders of the Soviet Union - from Turkey and Iran.

But Kennedy’s biggest strategic mistake, which cost the United States a decade and a half of bloody war, thousands of casualties, large-scale demonstrations, a wave of left-wing and African-American terrorism and, finally, a shameful defeat, was the outbreak of an aggressive war in Vietnam. Although the United States had previously, throughout the 1950s, actively intervened in politics in Southeast Asia, Washington still did not move on to the large-scale presence of American troops in Vietnam. It was the “peacemaker” John Kennedy, the charming “insider,” who initiated the transfer of a large American contingent to distant Indochina.

It turns out that it was John Kennedy who was responsible for the aggravation of the situation in Indochina, which led to the large-scale Vietnam War. As President of the United States, he was free to abandon ambitious plans in Vietnam, but chose to get involved in an adventure that ended in a global fiasco for the United States. For half a century, many media outlets have published materials presenting John Kennedy almost as a peacemaker who tried by all means to avoid the Vietnam War. In fact, it was John Kennedy who can be called its “author,” although the main events unfolded after his death. During the Kennedy years, American intelligence agencies sharply intensified their participation in the political life of South Vietnam.

Although the United States officially began hostilities in South Vietnam already in 1964, under the next President Lyndon Johnson, the ground for the invasion was prepared precisely under Kennedy. At the end of April - beginning of May 1961, at closed meetings of the US National Security Council, a special program was adopted to “pacify” South Vietnam. It was within the framework of this program that it was planned to increase the American military presence in the country - for now by increasing the number of military advisers and instructors. John Kennedy instructed the US Department of Defense to analyze the feasibility of deploying American troops in Vietnam. On May 12, 1961, a meeting between Vice President Lyndon Johnson and Ngo Dinh Diem took place in Saigon, at which the second US official directly asked the South Vietnamese leader how he felt about the idea of ​​sending US troops. But Ngo Dinh Diem rejected this idea, saying that he would use American help only if North Vietnam launched an open invasion of South Vietnamese territory. Ngo Dinh Diem hoped to cope with the partisans on his own. But the head of state did not have the resources for this, and this was well understood in Washington, watching with alarm the combat successes of the Viet Cong.

On October 3, 1961, John Kennedy ordered the development of a plan to pacify South Vietnam. Development management was entrusted to General Maxwell Taylor. The latter recommended increasing the size and mobility of the South Vietnamese army, as well as transferring additional American military units to Indochina, primarily special forces of up to 10 thousand people trained in counterinsurgency tactics in tropical climates and wooded areas. However, Kennedy did not dare to openly intervene militarily in the internal affairs of South Vietnam. Fearing a negative reaction from the world community, the “peacemaker” Kennedy preferred to choose the methods of secret war and subversive actions, since the American intelligence services had numerous agents in Indochina and ample opportunities for a wide variety of provocations.

In 1961, the first regular military units of the American army were sent to South Vietnam. These were two army aviation companies that were supposed to provide air mobility for South Vietnamese units involved in the fight against the guerrillas of the People's Liberation Front of South Vietnam. Before this, only American military advisers served in Indochina - officers and sergeants who helped South Vietnamese commanders modernize the country's army and police. The number of American troops in South Vietnam grew rapidly during Kennedy's presidency. If in 1961 there were 3,205 US Army personnel in South Vietnam, then in 1962 there were almost four times as many - 11,300 people, and in 1963 - 16,300 people.

In November 1961, American aircraft began destroying vegetation in the jungle using chemicals that posed a great danger to people. Thus, it was under Kennedy that the strategy for the use of chemical agents in Vietnam was formulated. However, the Viet Cong continued their successful offensive against the positions of the South Vietnamese troops. Washington showed increasing dissatisfaction with the policies of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. In the end, the American intelligence services decided to directly intervene in the political situation in South Vietnam, organizing on November 1-2, 1963 the elimination of Ngo Dinh Diem and a military coup that brought to power a military junta that followed completely in the wake of American politics. Thus, the South Vietnamese political leader was killed with the tacit but direct support of Washington. However, John Kennedy survived him by only three weeks.

John Kennedy was unable to normalize the political situation in the United States of America itself. Perhaps he tried to do everything in his power to reduce the intensity of internal political and social confrontation in American society, but he failed. On June 19, 1963, John Kennedy introduced a civil rights bill in Congress that would prohibit the segregation of whites and blacks in all public places. But the level of interracial tension in the United States did not subside. On August 28, 1963, the grandiose “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” took place in Washington, in which approximately 200-300 thousand people took part. Over 80% of the march participants were African Americans - blacks and mulattoes, and only 20% were white Americans and Asians. It was during the march that Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The march was attended by numerous human rights organizations, African American religious communities, and labor unions. In addition to the march, in the USA in 1961-1963. There were numerous clashes between black demonstrators and the police and with activists of right-wing radical organizations.

The most powerful wave of African-American protests took place across the United States in 1962. By this time, John Kennedy had been President of the United States for two years. The reason for mass protests, which soon covered almost the entire country, was the story of student James Meredith, who tried to defend his right to study at the University of Mississippi. Kennedy himself supported Meredith's right to study at a university; the US Department of Justice and the US Supreme Court sided with the young African-American. But Mississippi authorities refused to comply with John Kennedy's decision. Meredith continued to be banned from classes. Finally, on September 30, 1962, Meredith, accompanied by police and military personnel, arrived at the university to go to class. The response of the white public was mass protests by nationalists, as a result of which Kennedy was forced to send over 30 thousand troops to Mississippi. The riots continued for fourteen hours, two participants were killed, and 375 people were injured.

In addition to the African-American national movement, left-wing student groups also became more active in the United States. Back in 1960, the organization “Students for a Democratic Society” was created, uniting opposition-minded students - liberals, anarchists and even communists. Although the overall position of the SDS was relatively moderate, more radical groups operated within the movement, which later became the basis for the formation of the American “new left,” which played a key role during the anti-war demonstrations against aggression in Vietnam.

On November 22, 1963, John Kennedy was assassinated. He was mortally wounded while in Dallas, Texas. According to the official version, Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine and a man of remarkable destiny who managed to live for some time in the USSR. Perhaps Lee Harvey Oswald could later tell journalists a lot, but two days after Kennedy’s assassination, he was killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby while being transferred from one police station to another.

Perhaps John Kennedy can be called one of the most unlucky US presidents. He had a chance to serve as head of the American state for just over two years, and during this time the United States only dealt with old problems and received a new “headache” in the form of the Vietnam War.

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy, also known as JFK (JFK). Born May 29, 1917 in Brookline - died November 22, 1963 in Dallas. American politician, 35th president USA (1961-1963).

In the modern public consciousness, Kennedy is most often associated with his mysterious murder, which shocked the whole world, numerous hypotheses for the resolution of which are put forward to this day.

A World War II veteran who rose to the rank of lieutenant, Kennedy spent the entire Solomon Islands campaign commanding the torpedo boat PT-109. He was awarded many awards for his bravery during hostilities.

Immediately after the end of the war, he began his political career, in 1947 he was elected from Massachusetts to the US House of Representatives, where he remained until 1953. At the same time he became a Massachusetts senator and held this position until 1960. At the beginning of the decade, in the next presidential election, Democrat 43-year-old Kennedy narrowly defeated Republican Richard Nixon, thus becoming the only Catholic US president and the first president born in the 20th century.

Kennedy's almost three-year presidency was marked by the Berlin Crisis, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Bay of Pigs operation, the space race between the USSR and the USA, which led to the start of the Apollo space program, as well as serious steps towards equal rights for blacks.

On November 22, 1963, while visiting Dallas, Texas, John F. Kennedy was mortally wounded by a sniper rifle in his open limousine on one of the city's central streets. The President was immediately taken to Parkland Hospital, where, after unsuccessful attempts at resuscitation, he was pronounced dead at about 13:00 local time. The specially created Warren Commission showed that Kennedy's killer was lone shooter Lee Harvey Oswald. A huge number of social polls conducted across the country showed that more than 60% of the American population did not believe that Oswald killed the president or at least acted alone.

A large number of objects, streets, schools and others are named after Kennedy in the United States (for example, the international airport in New York). According to the majority of the country's citizens, Kennedy is one of the ten greatest American presidents in history.

John Kennedy's maternal grandfather was John Francis Fitzgerald (1863-1950), an eloquent politician, three times mayor of Boston. He graduated from Boston College and was elected to the US Congress in 1894. From 1906 to 1914, he served as mayor of Boston, regularly giving up this position to other politicians as their terms expired. Until the end of his life he remained one of the most prominent political figures in the area; he predicted to his grandson John that he would become president. He was married to his second cousin, Mary Josephine Hannon, and had six children.

Paternal grandfather - Patrick Joseph Kennedy (1858-1929), entrepreneur and politician, was elected to the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts. At the age of fourteen he left school and started working, since his family had nothing to live on. Over time, with the money he earned, he opened a small chain of bars and eateries, and founded an alcohol and coal company. He was married to the daughter of a bar owner, Mary Hickey, and the marriage produced four children.

Mother - Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald (1890-1995), philanthropist, matriarch of the Kennedy clan. She attended Catholic school and Manhattanville College.

Father - Joseph Patrick Kennedy (1888-1969), entrepreneur and politician, patriarch of the Kennedy clan, US Ambassador to Great Britain. He studied at the Boston Latin School and graduated from Harvard University. At a young age, he became president of the board of Columbia Trust Bank and doubled its capital.

Joseph and Rose met in 1906, but the girl, according to her father’s plan, was to marry another young man who she categorically did not like. In October 1914, Joseph and Rose married and moved permanently to Brookline, where a year later their first child, Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr., was born.

Kennedy Sr. believed that banking was above all and, as he later wrote in his memoirs, “all roads are open to the banker, since he plays an important role in the development of any business activity.” Joseph did not plan to be a major figure in his own city, he wanted to reach a higher level - the banking industry of Boston and New York. His plans were destroyed by World War I, he left the bank and went to the steel and shipbuilding company Bethlehem Steel in Quincy, thus avoiding the draft.

In the mid-1920s, Kennedy became a member of the Bramin brokerage firm, thereby becoming one of the most successful investors of his generation.

Joseph's persistent climb up the career ladder repulsed Rose; she wanted a more orderly and calm family life. By the early 1930s, she had already given birth to nine children and was worried about her huge family after doctors discovered that her eldest daughter, Rosemary, was lagging behind her peers in mental development. To take her mind off her family problems at least a little, Rose traveled a lot throughout the States and Europe. Joseph often cheated on his wife, in particular with silent film star, three-time Oscar nominee Gloria Swanson, in whose films he often invested his own money.

At the peak of his career, Kennedy Sr. was friendly with Pope Pius XII, newspaper magnate W.R. Hearst, and was a personal adviser to US President Franklin Roosevelt. Joseph expected that his eldest son Joe Jr. would go through the same path in life as himself, and pinned all his hopes on him, and not on John.

As historian and longtime Columbia University professor Alan Brinkley notes, “long before members of the Kennedy clan became prominent political figures, the family was already among the most famous Irish families in America.”

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the second of Joseph and Rose's children, was born in Brookline, on Beales Street, at 3 a.m. on May 29, 1917. The boy was named after John the Apostle and Rose's father, John Francis Fitzgerald. According to the old American tradition, John was called Jack by his loved ones.

Soon after John was born, the family moved from a cramped house to a huge one on Abbotsford Road. There he went to Dexter School, where only he and his brother Joseph were Catholics. As a child, John was frail, caused by all sorts of illnesses: from chicken pox to scarlet fever, from which he almost died. Kennedy's most vivid childhood memory was touring constituencies with his grandfather John in 1922, when he was running for governor.

Having become a major economic figure in the center of America and possessing a capital of $2 million, in 1927 Joseph Kennedy moved his family to the capital of stock trading - New York, more precisely, to its mini-district of Riverdale, and then to Bronxville. In Massachusetts, Kennedy Sr. still had property - a family estate in the small village of Hyannis Port. There John began going to Riverdale Country School, where he studied neither well nor poorly.

In the fall of 1930, thirteen-year-old John was sent to Canterbury Catholic School, which was located far from home - in the city of New Milford, Connecticut. He continued to get sick regularly and missed his family; in letters he complained to them that at school he was “being pestered about religion; The only time you can go outside is when the Yale team is playing Harvard, or the Armed Forces team." John spent almost the entire school year in the hospital, and in recent months he practiced home schooling. Despite his illnesses, he was active in sports at school, participating in baseball, basketball and track and field.

Kennedy began his ninth grade at the private boarding school Choate Rosemary Hall, where his brother Joseph had already studied, and before that his future political colleagues Adlai Stevenson II and Chester Bowles. At Choate, John also did not receive high grades; according to historian Alan Brinkley, "his work was sloppily completed, and he had a reputation for being unserious and unfocused in a school that made order a principle." Kennedy often called Choate a prison; his health did not improve; he spent a long time in the famous Mayo Clinic.

A rebel by nature, Kennedy joined the so-called "Maker Club", in which its members sang obscene songs concerning teachers and administration. Despite his defiant behavior, John was not expelled from school and he graduated, although not with a perfect certificate.

After completing his secondary education, Kennedy began to think about further education.

In 1935, he entered Harvard University, but at the very end of August he took his documents and went to the London School of Economics and Political Science, personally to a prominent economist, professor, who later spoke warmly of Kennedy. In the capital of England, John fell ill again, this time with jaundice, and returned to his homeland, where he was enrolled at Princeton University, in particular because his best friend Lem Billings was already studying there.

Princeton seemed to Kennedy "a depressingly provincial little university town." Having not completed his first semester, he again fell ill in one of the Boston hospitals with an illness unknown to doctors. For several weeks, John underwent examinations and tests, which he later called “the most difficult test in my entire storm-battered life.” Eventually the young man was diagnosed with leukemia. Kennedy did not believe it and turned out to be right - soon the doctors admitted that they had made a mistake.

John spent the rest of the school year at a resort in Palm Beach, at a ranch in Arizona, and in Los Angeles. In August 1936, he was again accepted into Harvard University, whose admissions committee issued its verdict about Kennedy: “Jack has excellent mental abilities, but does not have a deep interest in studying... There is reason to believe that he can enroll.”

At Harvard, John studied better than at Choate or Princeton, read a lot, and did not give up sports. Kennedy spent the summer holidays of 1937 on a large-scale trip to European countries with Lem Billings, which was sponsored by his father. He also arranged for John to meet the future Pope Cardinal Pacelli and several other major world figures. The young man was especially impressed by countries with fascist regimes, in particular Italy and Germany.

Upon returning from the cruise, the amazed Kennedy began to become seriously interested in history and political science. He was eager to succeed not only academically, but also in student society, setting himself the goal of getting into one of Harvard's social clubs. He soon became a member of the Hasty Pudding Club and was published in the university newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. However, John was most proud of being a member of the Spee Club and spent almost all his free time from studying at its headquarters.

Kennedy learned about the outbreak of World War II while vacationing at a resort in Antibes. Returning to Harvard, he entitled his senior thesis “The Politics of Appeasement in Munich,” with the help of a whole team, from his father’s assistants to stenographers and typists. “A poorly written but conscientious, interesting and intelligent analysis of a complex problem” was the verdict of Kennedy’s supervisors. Despite the mediocrity of this thesis, with the help of The New York Times journalist Arthur Kroc, it was published as a separate book under a different title, “Why England Slept.”

The analytical work of the young Kennedy caused a wide public response, which was dictated, according to Alan Brinkley, by “the almost complete lack of interest on the part of political analysts of that time in the question of the readiness of democratic states to resist totalitarian regimes.” In it, John also first mentioned a thesis that later became one of the key points of his political doctrine: “Democracy must be strong and combat-ready to endure the hardships of a long, intense struggle against the increasingly powerful communist world.”.

After graduating from Harvard, Kennedy, B.S., wondered what he should do next. There was an idea to start studying law; in 1941, he applied to Yale University and even studied for a few months at Stanford, but soon America was officially involved in World War II. John knew that due to constant illnesses he would not be enlisted at the front. A year before the events at Pearl Harbor, he attempted to undergo a medical examination, but was denied due to a back injury. Here my father and his acquaintances helped (in particular, Admiral Alan Kirk), with the help of whose influence in October Kennedy was sent to the US Navy's intelligence agency in Washington..

While in the Navy, Kennedy prepared reports for headquarters and found the job boring. He longed for real military action.

After spending a short time at intelligence headquarters, John was transferred to a naval shipyard in Charleston, South Carolina. In July 1942, he became part of the Naval School that trained officers (Chicago, Illinois). In Portsmouth (Rhode Island) he was trained in the basics of operating a fast torpedo boat and in the spring of 1943 he took command of the PT-109 boat. Before this, dreaming of becoming his commander, Kennedy again turned to his father and Massachusetts Senator David I. Walsh for help. John was immediately reassigned to the Pacific Ocean, where hostilities between the United States and Japan were in full swing.

On August 2, Kennedy received the task of attacking Japanese ships as part of fifteen other boats. During a night raid, an enemy destroyer jumped out of the darkness and rammed and cut the PT-109 in half. When he fell onto the deck, John severely injured his previously injured back. Of the thirteen sailors, two died instantly; the rest were saved thanks to Kennedy’s timely and clear actions. For five hours, the boat crew swam to the nearest shore, with Kennedy dragging one of the wounded along with him.

On the island of Nauro, John carved a small message on a coconut shell indicating the coordinates of the boat crew. A week later, Kennedy and his men sailed home on another New Zealand patrol torpedo boat from the New Georgia Islands.

In the following days, the American press wrote with admiration about the feat of Kennedy and the entire team, in which John was most often referred to as “Kennedy’s son.” For his courage during combat, John was awarded numerous orders and medals, including the Purple Heart and the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. The order honoring Kennedy was signed personally by Admiral William Halsey: “His courage, endurance and leadership helped save several lives, in full accordance with the high traditions of the United States maritime service.”

Ten days after the incident with PT-109, Kennedy returned to the front. In December 1943, he contracted malaria, his back injury reappeared, and due to his critical health, John decided to return home. Already in the new year, 1944, Kennedy arrived in San Francisco and was hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic, where he remained for several long months. In March 1945, a few months before the end of the war, he was officially transferred to the reserve.

A few months after his retirement, Kennedy took up journalism - covering the creation of the United Nations in San Francisco for W. R. Hearst's media conglomerate Hearst Corporation. Then he went on another tour of Europe, during which he again reflected on the key political events and personalities of that time.

After the death of the eldest child, Joseph, in August 1944, all hopes in the family were placed on John. Upon returning from Europe, his father began to persuade him to enter politics, although he doubted his political inclinations. John knew for sure that he would not engage in journalism. Kennedy Sr. helped lay the foundation for his son's future political career - he contacted Massachusetts Congressman in the US House of Representatives James Michael Curley, to whom he offered to vacate his seat in the House in exchange for resolving some of his problems. So John F. Kennedy entered the US House of Representatives and began his political career.

From 1947 to 1953, Kennedy represented Boston in the US Congress as a Democratic congressman. In 1953, Kennedy became a senator, winning a bitter battle with Senator Lodge. The future president's most controversial decision during this period was the decision not to participate in the Senate vote to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy over his leadership of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Researchers have suggested various motivations for this move (including hospital stays and a reluctance to undermine the trust of conservative voters), but Kennedy himself famously said in 1960: "I never called myself perfect. I fulfilled the usual quota of mistakes for a politician. The Joe McCarthy case? I was in a no-win situation. My brother worked for Joe. I was against it, I didn't want him to work for Joe, but he wanted. And how the hell could I stand up and denounce Joe McCarthy when my own brother was working for him? So it wasn't so much a matter of political duty as it was a personal issue.".

When John F. Kennedy, the Democratic presidential candidate, won the 1960 election, he was 43 years old.

When Kennedy officially announced his candidacy in early 1960, he was opposed in the Democratic primaries by Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson of Texas, and Adlai Stevenson. By the time the convention opened in Los Angeles, Kennedy had already secured his victory and was confirmed in the first round of voting. Two weeks later, the Republicans elected Vice President Richard Nixon as their candidate.

In televised debates with his rival Richard Nixon, Kennedy came across as businesslike, eloquent and energetic. During the election campaign, he spoke of the need to move decisively forward into the new decade, because “new frontiers are at hand - whether we are looking for them or not.” Kennedy concentrated his efforts on the populous states of the Northeast, counting on his running mate Senator Johnson to provide the Democrats with traditional Southern support. This strategy brought success, but the advantage was insignificant. Kennedy defeated Nixon with a majority of 119 thousand votes (out of 69 million voters). Kennedy and Johnson received 303 electoral votes, Nixon and Lodge - 219, Senator Harry Flood Bird - 15. The decisive role in ensuring Kennedy's victory was played, according to the press, not by the political platform of his party and not by the expectations of "energetic leadership" and the policies promised by Kennedy " flexible response" to the challenges of the outside world, but how it looked on the television screen.

Kennedy was to become the first Catholic president in the country's history.

On January 20, 1961, John Kennedy took the oath of office and thus became the 35th President of the United States. Kennedy ended his first inaugural address with the exhortation: “Think not of what the country can give you, but of what you can give it.” Along with the new president, the government included completely new people with connections in US financial-monopoly circles, or people who had already succeeded in the political field.

The Kennedy administration included: Vice President, Secretary of State D. Rusk (a specialist in political science, served in the Pentagon, State Department, since 1952 headed the Rockefeller Foundation), Secretary of Defense (professional businessman, president of the Ford concern), Secretary of the Treasury D. Dillon (served in the administration), Attorney General Robert Kennedy (Kennedy's brother, led the election campaign).

Of Kennedy's first 200 appointments to senior government positions, about half were government officials, 18% were university professors, 6% were businessmen, which contrasted sharply with the composition of his predecessor Eisenhower's administration, where only 6% were university professors, and 42% were businessmen.

The beginning of Kennedy's presidency coincided with a phase of cyclical recovery in the economy. However, by the spring of 1962, the economic situation had become noticeably more complicated: growth rates had slowed, the level of unemployment, which had begun to decline, froze at 5.5%, and the volume of new capital investments had also decreased. In May, this was compounded by a drop in stock prices on the stock exchange - the sharpest since 1929.

Ending the economic downturn was one of the new administration's top priorities, but Kennedy lost business confidence by pushing steel prices in 1962, which the government found excessive. The administration entered into a confrontation with steel companies led by the United States Steel Corporation, which, despite the insistence of the administration, which had previously forced the steelworkers union to limit its demands for wage increases to the framework of “benchmarks”, made a demonstrably sharp increase steel prices. Only by using all the levers of pressure did the White House manage to get this decision reversed at the cost of worsening relations with the monopolies.

He achieved this immediate goal, but lost the strong support of industrialists. For example, in January 1963, Kennedy sent Congress a program to cut corporate income taxes (from 52 to 47%) and reduce personal income tax rates (from 20-91 to 14-65%) for a total of about $10 billion with the actual refusal from tax reform. When Kennedy tried to pass a tax cut through Congress to stimulate savings and revive the economy, conservative opposition dashed any hope of passing legislation that would create a budget deficit. At the same time, he promised to reduce government spending on social needs and balance the federal budget.

Despite individual successes, Kennedy's presidency as a whole cannot be called successful in terms of legislation. He received no new funding for education and health care for the elderly, and the minimum wage rose only slightly. Thus, the extension of unemployment benefits in 1961-1962 left more than 3 million unemployed behind; increases in the minimum hourly wage (to $1.15 in 1961 and $1.25 in 1963) affected only 3.6 million of the 26.6 million low-wage workers. The government's measures to combat unemployment—the 1961 Depression Relief Act, the 1962 Retraining Act for Displaced Workers, public works funds, etc.—failed to produce significant improvements in employment. The movement for a shorter (35 hours) working week was gaining momentum.

Kennedy advocated for equal rights for blacks, taking the model of Abraham Lincoln, supported Martin Luther King and met with him in Washington in 1963.

One of President Kennedy's decisions was to stop issuing silver coins and certificates due to the constant rise in price of silver. In 1963, on his initiative, Congress passed Public Law 88-36, authorizing the Federal Reserve to issue $1 and $2 notes and prohibiting the Treasury from issuing silver certificates. Since the Treasury still had to issue these certificates during the transition period, Kennedy signed Executive Order 11110 on the same day, which delegated the authority to issue silver certificates to the Treasury. There is a conspiracy theory that mistakenly links this decree to the issue of US Treasury bills in 1963. It is assumed, therefore, that Kennedy was going to deprive the Fed of its monopoly on the issue of money and therefore this decision allegedly became the reason for the conspiracy against the president.

Kennedy advocated for improved relations between the United States and the USSR, but his reign was also marked by great foreign policy tensions: the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs landings, the Berlin Crisis, the Cuban Missile Crisis (one of the phrases recorded in the diary of the 35th president was “fear of loss breeds suspicion.” - this is how Kennedy himself argued for this crisis).

Under Kennedy there was increased US involvement in the South Vietnamese Civil War; in 1961, he sent the first regular units of the US armed forces to South Vietnam (previously only military advisers served there). By the end of 1963, the United States had spent $3 billion on the Vietnam War.

In March 1961, an organization called the Peace Corps was created, which on a voluntary basis provided assistance to the population of developing countries in eliminating illiteracy and acquiring basic labor skills and knowledge.

On March 13, 1961, Kennedy proclaimed the Alliance for Progress program, designed to promote the economic and political development of Latin American countries. The official goals of this program were: to ensure an annual increase in industrial output of at least 2.5% per year in Latin American countries, to eliminate illiteracy on the continent, and to carry out agrarian reforms. It was planned to allocate $20 billion to finance this program over a ten-year period, which was almost ten times the entire amount of American aid to Latin America from 1945 to 1960.

In 1961, Kennedy created the US Agency for International Development., with the aim of helping to solve the economic and political problems of developing countries.

John Kennedy did a lot for space exploration, initiating the launch of the Apollo program (“We decide to go to the moon”). He proposed to the First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Khrushchev, to join forces in preparing a flight to the Moon, but he refused.

In Moscow, on August 5, 1963, an agreement was signed between representatives of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain banning nuclear weapons tests in three areas - in the air, on land and under water. On October 17, representatives of the USSR and the USA voted for the unanimous decision of the UN General Assembly to ban the launch into orbit of objects with nuclear weapons on board.

In 1963, preparations began for the “Pan-European Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.”

Kennedy's political testament is a speech at American University on June 10, 1963, which calls for “ensuring peace not only in our time, but forever” by “expanding mutual understanding between the USSR and us.”

John Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas(Texas); While the presidential motorcade was moving through the city streets, shots were heard. The first bullet hit the president in the back of the neck and came out of the front of the throat, the second hit the head and caused destruction of the skull bones in the back of the head, as well as damage to the brain matter. President Kennedy was taken to the operating room, where he was pronounced dead half an hour after the assassination attempt. In addition, Texas Governor Connolly, who was riding in the same car, was seriously injured, and one of the passers-by was also slightly injured.

Lee Harvey Oswald, who was arrested on suspicion of murder, was shot two days later in police custody by Dallas resident Jack Ruby, who also later died in prison.

The Warren Commission's official report into the Kennedy assassination was published in 1964; According to this report, Oswald was the president's killer, and all the shots were fired by him from the top floor of the building. According to the report, no murder plot could be identified.

Official data on the Kennedy assassination is contradictory and contains a number of “blank spots”. There are many different conspiracy theories about this case: it is questioned whether Oswald even fired at the car or that he was the only shooter. It is assumed that the murder is connected with various major figures in politics and business, the deliberate elimination of witnesses is seen, etc. One of these versions is presented in the film “JFK” by Oliver Stone. Films about John Kennedy included: “PT 109” (1963) - about Kennedy’s participation in World War II; the series “The Kennedys” and “The Kennedy Clan” (Kennedy, in 1983 and The Kennedys in 2011); John F. Kennedy: Reckless Youth (J.F.K.: Reckless Youth, 1993).

Personal life of John Kennedy:

Brothers and sisters:

Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. (1915-1944)
Rosemary Kennedy (1918-2005)
Kathleen Agnes Kennedy (1920-1948)
Eunice Mary Kennedy (1921-2009). Husband - Sargent Robert Shriver (1915-2011). Their daughter, Maria Shriver (1955), was his wife.
Patricia Kennedy (1924-2006). She was married to American actor Peter Lawford (1923-1984).
Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968)
Jean Ann Kennedy Smith (1928)
Edward Moore Kennedy (1932-2009)

In November 2002, after the expiration of medical secrets, medical reports were made public. Kennedy's physical illnesses turned out to be more serious than previously thought. He experienced constant pain from his damaged spine, despite repeated treatment, in addition to troubles from severe digestive problems and Addison's disease. Kennedy repeatedly had to take Novocaine injections before press conferences in order to appear healthy.

He was the richest US president.

Bibliography of John Kennedy:

Profiles in courage. - NY-Evanston: Harper & Raw, 1957.
The book provides short biographies of people whom Kennedy considered models of courage in politics. In 1957, Kennedy received the Pulitzer Prize for this book, the highest award in journalism. In 1964, the book was republished.
Why England slept - NY, 1961. Edition of Kennedy's thesis.
A nation of immigrants - NY-Evanston: Harper & Raw, 1964.
America the beautiful in the worlds - 1964
“Personal Diary of the 35th President of the United States” - After Kennedy’s death, a diary was published in which John Kennedy wrote down his sayings and thoughts.

John Kennedy - 35th President of the United States (1961-1963)

Kennedy's career as a politician began in 1946, when he campaigned vigorously to become a Democratic member of the House of Representatives. During his three terms in the House of Representatives (1947-53), Kennedy served on the Labor and Education Committees.

In November 1952 he successfully ran for the Senate. As a senator (1953-61), Kennedy gradually leaned (although he was accused of condoning McCarthyism) toward liberal positions, especially on the issue of civil rights and liberties. He was a member of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, and, since 1957, the influential Committee on Foreign Affairs.

In 1961, Kennedy became the 35th President of the United States, from the Democratic Party. In 1947-61 in the US Congress, as president, he put forward a program of socio-economic reforms. He advocated strengthening military blocs and the US armed forces. At the same time, he was inclined towards a more realistic course in relations with the USSR. He was the youngest American president, as well as the only Catholic president in US history. Kennedy managed to overcome the inertia of the Cold War policy and, demonstrating statesmanship, achieved a mitigation of international tension.

An important step in this direction was the signing (August 1963) by the USA, Great Britain and the USSR of the Treaty Banning Tests of Nuclear Weapons in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water (Moscow Treaty), which marked the beginning of the process of containing the nuclear arms race. Presidency Kennedy's victory in the 1960 presidential election was largely facilitated by the powerful financial support of his family, although the image of a young, energetic politician of the new generation, who told Americans of his intention to take the United States to “new frontiers,” played an important role.

Kennedy's election domestic political program outlined a number of socio-economic reforms: tax reduction, legislation on civil rights for people of color, health insurance for the elderly, raising the minimum wage, etc., which, however, were only implemented by the L. Johnson administration. The novelty of “new frontiers” diplomacy consisted in updating and expanding the range of both peaceful and military methods of protecting US interests in the global confrontation with the USSR. Particular attention was paid to third world countries. In March 1961, the Peace Corps was created to serve American volunteers in developing countries. After the failure of the CIA-prepared invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro forces in the Bay of Cochinos (April 1961), the Union for Progress program for the socio-economic development of Latin American countries was created.

The military aspect of the policy of new frontiers was the doctrine of “flexible response,” which, along with waging a total nuclear war, provided for local and anti-guerrilla wars using nuclear and conventional weapons.

In foreign policy, Kennedy faced great challenges: (August 1961) and contributed to the manifestation of his best qualities: responsibility and realism. Since the spring of 1963, the president increasingly spoke out in favor of peaceful coexistence with the Soviet Union. At the same time, the signing of the Moscow Treaty, supplemented by an agreement on the refusal to place nuclear weapons and other means of mass destruction into Earth orbit (October 1963), caused dissatisfaction and criticism of Kennedy by supporters of the Cold War.

John Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. After his death, Vice President L. Johnson became President of the United States. John Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington.