Who Was John Fitzgerald Kennedy?

The story of John F. Kennedy shows Kennedy and his administration as politicians that focused on half promoting and half downplaying civil rights as a national urgency. Shortly after Kennedy’s speech that was in favor of racial equality and his assassination, King considered his death a blessing for civil rights. "I am convinced that had he lived, there would have been continual delays and attempts to evade it at every point and water it down at every point" (922), and that as a result of Kennedy’s death, segregation would cease to

Kennedy called his new legislation program the “New Frontier,” with which he planned to promote educational support, aid to health care, redevelopment in cities and civil rights. However, he wasn’t able to keep many of these promises; Congress refused the pass most of his proposals, including a medical plan for the elderly, tax reductions, and more civil rights. He concentrated on promoting present civil rights, sometimes dispatching troops to enforce racial integration in schools. Although action to improve civil rights and health care wasn’t very successful, Kennedy still managed to improve the economy (e.g. Increasing minimum wage) and negotiate a limited ban on nuclear testing.

The civil rights movement that was happening during Kennedy’s presidency got him very inspired to start getting congress into civil matters, showing that the segregation of the United States was not only a social problem, but also a congressional concern of what America, as a whole, stood

“In November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was preparing for the next presidential campaign.” Although he didn’t announce his candidacy, it was clear that he was going to run for re-election,” Emely said. He seemed confident about his chances for the re-election. “At the end of September, he traveled west and speaked in nine different states less than a week”, explained Carli. “But Kennedy also used it to sound out themes such as education, national security, and world peace for his run in, 1964,” Applied Emely. “When he did become president in 1961, black americans were denied legal equality and human dignity. They could not vote, They were barred from public facilities, were subjected to routine insults and violence. On November 22, but a crowd of several thousand stood in the parking lot

JFK was involved in many aspects of domestic policy including civil rights and space exploration. JFK laid the foundation for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by proposing the legislation the year prior. President Kennedy supports equality for all, saying, “And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free” (Document G). President Kennedy also pushed for innovation and exploration of space. He “[believed] that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth” (Document D).

John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917 to a wealthy Catholic Irish family. Kennedy was the second oldest in a family with nine children. He attended Catholic prep schools in his childhood and graduated from Harvard University in 1940. After graduation, he joined the United States Navy and fought during World War Two. He received the Purple Heart for the injuries he suffered when the boat he was stationed on was attacked and the Navy and Marine Corps medal for heroically rescuing another wounded sailor.

When John F. Kennedy took the presidential office in January of 1961, the United States was at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Kennedy inherited a country that was mostly segregated in the southern states. African American civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. were busy trying to unify the south to allow for all equal rights. Protests, sit-in’s, and demonstrations became a common occurrence as African American people were being discriminated against. President Kennedy used his presidency to help transition a country of segregation to a country of integration.

Late in his brief term of a thousand days, Kennedy took up the civil rights issue because of the increased in violence in some of the southern states. He called for increased federal power so that voting rights could be enforced. The major civil rights acts included public accommodations opening and an end to job discrimination. (Salem, 2009)

John F. Kennedy supported the civil rights, he was doing everything he could to help the African-Americans. According to the article of The John F. Kennedy Museum, “Kennedy defined the civil rights crisis as moral, as well as constitutional and legal. He announced that major civil rights legislation would be submitted to the congress to guarantee equal access to public facilities, to end segregation in education, and to provide federal protection of the right to vote”(Museum of John F. Kennedy 1). John F. Kennedy supported the civil rights by saying that a civil rights legislation would be submitted, those

The Kennedy family was full competitiveness and excellence; so much so that when JFK was elected President of the United States, it may have been an every-other-day type event for them. With grandfathers as successful bankers and congressmen, a father as an ambassador for Britain and chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and siblings as senators, the U.S. Attorney General, and founder of the Special Olympics, John Fitzgerald was destined for greatness. One of the possible reasons why Kennedy was such a great president could be his interest in history growing up. He learned from history and saw the types of mistakes made by past presidents to avoid, a very valuable trait for a leader. President Kennedy’s lifetime held many successes and few failures.

“He announced major civil rights legislation to be submitted” (“The Right to Vote in Mississippi”). Civil rights were important during this time because of the segregation of the time period. “Kennedy voted against Eisenhower 1957 Civil Rights Act” (“The Right to Vote in Mississippi”). Eisenhower’s act was not strong enough to enact change. Another policy that Kennedy worked on was environment.

Kennedy was nominated as president, he went to college, served in the military, and was a politician. John went to Harvard University and graduated in 1940. This on its own is a large accomplishment considering the prestige of Harvard University. After college Kennedy wanted to serve his country, so he entered the navy. During his time in the navy Kennedy was injured , but still saved many lives, showing his willingness to give his own life for his comrades. In his biography in whitehouse.gov, it mentions this event saying, " In 1943, when his PT boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer, Kennedy, despite grave injuries, led the survivors through perilous waters to safety.". After the navy, Kennedy entered politics and advanced to the senate in 1953. As a politician he was almost nominated for the democratic party's choice for vice-president. When he was in the hospital at one point, according to whitehouse.gov, "In 1955, while recuperating from a back operation, he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize in history.". This is just one of Kennedy's successes and yet all he wanted to do was to help his country and the people living in it. "he took vigorous action in the cause of equal rights, calling for new civil rights legislation. His vision of America extended to the quality of the national culture and the central role of the arts in a vital society." (whitehouse.gov). Kennedy fought for the people of the United States all the way until his death where he was shot and killed In 1963 in Dallas, Texas; making him one of the youngest Presidents to

John Fitzgerald Kennedy also known as JFK was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is the son of Joseph and Rose Kennedy and he is one of nine children. JFK came from a very successful family. His father Joseph was a successful business man and a politician. He left his children a lot of money after he passed away. John went to Harvard. After John and his brother Joe graduated from Harvard, they enlisted in the navy. John became a Lieutenant in the Navy. He was assigned to the South Pacific as a commander of a patrol torpedo boat, the PT-109. John received many military awards and decorations. After his military service in the Naval Reserve in World War II, John represented Massachusetts's 11th congressional district in

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born into a family that would eventually have 11 people in it. John was born in Boston, Massachusetts in a small part of town called Brookline. He played football and did community service as a kid. John’s Father believed that if the kids were willing to do public

Throughout history, presidents have always had a strong impact. In these two essays it was very obvious that John F. Kennedy impacted the people and government during his presidency, but these two authors had very different opinions of his true goals and accomplishments. The way that Carl M. Brauer’s essay describes John F. Kennedy’s involvement in the civil rights movement in comparison to Nick Bryant’s essay, was completely opposite, in Brauer’s essay, JFK was a leader and promoted youth and need for change. JFK was seen to leave behind a legacy of what he started rather than what he actually did. According to Bryant, John F. Kennedy was just doing what he could without actually getting truly involved and that he was only doing it for the image he wanted to portray to the people. JFK was explained to be lazy and selfish and only able to identify with those he could relate to: privileged.