John F. Kennedy 1917 – 1963

Biography

John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States and the youngest man ever elected to the office. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1917 into a prominent political family, he served in the Navy in the Second World War, commanding the patrol boat PT-109. He entered Congress in 1947 and the Senate in 1953, winning the presidency in 1960 in a narrow victory over Richard Nixon. His thousand days in office saw the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the first steps toward the nuclear test ban treaty, and the launch of the Apollo programme, alongside his celebrated inaugural call to public service. He was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His legacy endures in the Peace Corps, the space programme he launched, and the enduring image of youthful idealism his presidency came to represent.