John Fitzgerald Kennedy Essay example -- Biographies Presidents Papers

John Fitzgerald KennedyJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy 35th chairman of the United States, the youngestperson ever to be elected electric chair. He was also the beginning Roman Catholicpresident and the first president to be natural in the 20th century.Kennedy was assassinated before he completed his third family as president.Therefore his achievements were limited. Nevertheless, his influence wasworldwide, and his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis may have preventedwar. Young people especially liked him. No other president was so popular.He brought to the presidency an awareness of the cultural and historicaltraditions of the United States. Because Kennedy expressed the values of20th-century America, his presidency was important beyond its politicalachievements. John Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He wasthe second of nine children.Kennedy announced his candidacy early in 1960. By the time the DemocraticNational Convention opened in July, he had won seven primary vi ctories. Hismost important had been in West Virginia, where he proved that a RomanCatholic could win in a predominantly Protestant state.When the convention opened, it appeared that Kennedys only seriouschallenge for the nomination would come from the Senate majority leader,Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. However, Johnson was strong only amongSouthern delegates. Kennedy won the nomination on the first ballot and thenpersuaded Johnson to become his running mate.Two weeks later the Republicans nominated Vice President Richard Nixon forpresident and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., who was embassador to the UnitedNations and whom Kennedy had defeated for the Senate in 1952, for vicepresident. In the fast-paced campaign th... ...approached an underpass, two shots were fired in rapidsuccession. One bullet passed through the presidents neck and struckGovernor Connally in the back. The other bullet struck the president in thehead. Kennedy fell forward, and his car sped to Parkland Hospital. At 100PM , he was pronounced dead. He had never regained consciousness.Less than two hours after the shooting, aboard the presidential plane atthe Dallas airport, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the thirty-sixth president ofthe United States.That afternoon, Lee Harvey Oswald, who was employed in the warehouse, wasarrested in a Dallas movie theater and charged with the murder.On November 24 the body of President Kennedy was carried on a horse-drawncarriage from the White House to the Rotunda of the Capitol. Hundreds ofthousands of people filed past the coffin of the slain president.