One of the most famous and most popular U.S. Presidents, John F. Kennedy, is one American historical figure almost everyone knows about, but his popularity and influence have spread beyond the shores of North America.
The Prince of Wales created the Earthshot Prize through the Royal Foundation and named the prize with inspiration from the late U.S. President’s Moonshot; naturally, when it came time to host the second awards ceremony, Prince Williams chose Boston – Kennedy’s home city – as the location, and several events throughout the Prince and Princess of Wales’s trip to Massachusetts have involved the Kennedy family and centred around “JFK.”
As the youngest person ever elected President of the United States, President Kennedy’s tenure in the Oval Office ended too soon and tragically. The story of his assassination in Dallas, Texas, is well-known. On 22 November 1963, he was riding in a convertible with his wife, First Lady Jackie Kennedy and the Governor and First Lady of Texas. As the motorcade turned down Elm Street and passed the Texas Schoolbook Depository, shots rang out. The young, popular President was shot in the back and head and was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Parkland Hospital. The 46-year-old had only been in the White House 1,036 days.
Born in the Brookline area near Boston, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on 29 May 1917 into the prominent Kennedy family. He was their second child and was followed by seven younger siblings.
He was born into a political family; he had grandparents who served as U.S. Congressmen, Mayor of Boston and in the Massachusetts state legislature. His father, Joseph Kennedy, Sr., was the U.S. Ambassador to the U.K.
His mother, Rose, was a strong Catholic and devoted to her Irish roots. Pope Pius XII gave her the rank of a Papal countess in 1951.
JFK attended Harvard University, and his thesis eventually became a bestseller called “Why England Slept,” which discussed why the British military did not strengthen ahead of the war while also calling for a strong alliance between the U.K. and the U.K. against totalitarians. When World War II began, he put his plans to attend Yale Law School on hold and served in the Naval Reserve. Kennedy did eventually end up in the Pacific theatre commanding P.T. boats.
During his time in the Pacific, he became a hero for leading his surviving crew after a failed attack by the Japanese. Kennedy led his team to safety on a nearby island after a Japanese destroyer crashed into their boat, causing it to catch fire. He received a Purple Heart and medal from the Navy and Marines for “courage, endurance and excellent leadership [that] contributed to the saving of several lives and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”
JFK was not the son Joe Kennedy originally planned to have in the Oval Office; however, the eldest Kennedy son, Joseph Kennedy Jr., was killed in World War II, and John had to step into the role. He served first as a representative from Massachusetts in the House of Representatives from 1947-1953; he then was elected as a U.S. Senator and held that role from 1953-1960.
John F. Kennedy announced his plans to run for President of the United States on 2 January 1960, and as they say, the rest is history. He defeated future U.S. President Richard Nixon in a close race and was sworn in as the 35th President at the U.S. Capitol on 20 January 1961. It was during his inaugural speech that he uttered one of his most famous sayings, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”
His tenure in the White House was not an easy one with the ongoing Cold War. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba lost him support in the U.S. and gave him longstanding unpopularity with many Cuban Americans at the time. The Cuban Missile Crisis took place, and Kennedy helped the world avoid nuclear war. He was also responsible for creating the Peace Corps and worked hard to fight the spread of communism. He was also instrumental in enforcing racial equality and creating the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
John F. Kennedy was married to Jackie Bouvier from 1953 until his death. They had four children together: Arabella (who was stillborn in 1956), Caroline (b. 1957), John Jr. “John-John” (born in 1960 and tragically killed in a 1999 plane crash), and Patrick (who lived only two days after his 1963 birth due to infantile respiratory distress syndrome).
President Kennedy died in Dallas in November 1963; his death sent shockwaves through the United States. His funeral was held at St Matthew’s Cathedral on 25 November in Washington D.C. with around 1,200 guests, including Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. President John F. Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
